Having much success developing half-power versions of his popular amps, the MAZ 18 and the Z Wreck Jr. being exemplary best-sellers, the impetus to distill the brilliant British character of the Z-80 down to a manageable 40 watts of dual EL-34 power was strong. And let’s face it, not every rockstar needs the full 80-watt potential of the Z-80, so the Z-40 seemed an obvious addition to the line. Yet the path it led Z down was winding, as trying to wrangle the Z-80’s behemoth tone by simply marrying it’s preamp to a twin tube power section wasn’t as easy as simply dreaming up the idea.
Finding the same robust, chiming clarity of the bigger amp challenged Dr. Z to rethink the technical design while retaining the essential features every player appreciated about the Z-80. Still present in the Z-40 is the smooth, fader-like post-phase inverter master volume to manage the overall output, the unique, individually cathode-biased EL-34 power tubes which gave the original design it’s harmonically rich character, and the versatility of the Metro “Zero-Loss” FX loop for the modern player’s pedalboard.
Re-designed was a proprietary output transformer from Heyboer, not a copy of any previous amp, vintage or otherwise. The gain-staging of the preamp was considered to maintain superb clarity and headroom, with chiming British cleans that bloom into defined, grinding saturation. This amp includes a first in Z’s design history: the use of TAD Hi-Grade 12AY7 preamp tubes in the first two positions which provide a punchy, well-balanced response across every note of the fretboard. Adding the novel “bootstrap” tone stack driver circuit from the previous amp to the Z-40 increased bandwidth and gain which was essential to its sonic signature. Finally, another tweak rarely employed by Dr. Z: a subtle, fine-tuning of negative feedback in the output section corrects any mushy artifacts and produces an accurate, extremely low noise amplification of the guitar’s signal.
But Dr. Z wasn’t satisfied with the Z-40 being the kid brother of the Z-80; the amp had to stand on its own with its own exclusive features. A new switchable rectifier mode allows the player to alter the headroom and response. Solid-state diode rectification, as in the original amp, produces pure, lucid cleans, with a snappy response. Switching in the 5U4 tube rectifier creates compression, a smoother play feel, and a bit more grit to the overdrive as the power section pulses to the player’s touch. The “cut” control, famous in many British-style amps, reappears in the Z-40 to fine-tune the all-important high mid chime to the player’s guitar and pickups.
Finally, the Z-40 will be offered not just as a head, but also as a 1×12 combo in sleek black-out tolex with classy silver appointments. The 1×12 combo features a WGS ET-90, a high headroom powerhouse speaker that throws the sound forward, and is the same top-mounted cabinet design as the lauded Z-28 Mk. II, which produces piano-like low mids, and resonant, room-filling projection, even at lower volumes.
All instruments from Music Makers are professionally evaluated and set-up in our historic Galesburg, IL. storefront prior to shipping.
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