Just got banned from the Dr. Z forum...

[Brad737]

[M Fowler]

OK what smart ass thing did you say Brad?

You wanted to order 10 Zwrecks?

[Brad737]

Well, Dr. Z is going to start selling the Z-Wreck. I just expressed my surprise because I no-kidding asked him to build me one after I found out that Brad Paisley had started playing one. Zaite said he couldn't build just one of them because it would be too expensive. So I said, if you don't want to build just one, would you build me 10? So he says he couldn't bear to make money off of his dear friend Ken's name. Anyway, I expressed my surprise that he was going to start selling the Z Wreck because of what he'd told me, and a bunch of morons freaked out because they love Zaite so much.

It's really kind of funny. I hadn't really hung out there since Zaite jumped my case for asking about Hammond organs. I was just asking if anybody had ever had any luck scavenging tubes from them. Turns out the Carmen Ghia isn't his design at all. All he did was take the reverb amps out of the old Hammonds, stick a Z on them and sell them as his own. I guess he was afraid I was gonna let the cat out of the bag or something. So he sent me a nasty letter telling me to go hang out with "those thieves on the Amp Garage".

What started his animosity towards me was when he wouldn't build a Z-Wreck for me, I discovered the source, and found all the guys here building tribute amps, using what Ken had taught us. When someone asked if my Mazerati GT, I truthfully replied that it was ok, but sold it because I found my Liverpool to be a whole lot better. Zaite's had it in for me since then. Oh well...

I can't help but notice that Zaite removed the Trainwreck logo from his version of the Airbrake after Ken passed on. Gee, I wonder if he's still paying the royalties to Ken's family?

[M Fowler]

It looks like Dr Z stated he would announce his decision at Z fest this summer whether or not he intends to bring the Zwrecks into production.

So nothing is final regarding that. Regardless that amp, it would be a great amp to own.

It is hard to hold back when guys are asking where can you get a hardwood cabinet like that. Well you make one first off or order one. The difference is between people who build amps and those who purchase them.

Why would Dr Z, a builder from way back, think what we do on TAG is any different than any other amp designer from RCA, Fender, Marshall, Peavey and others they all started making an amp based off their favorite amps and expanding from there. That is what we do. Some clone but 99.9 percent do not CLONE.

[Andy Le Blanc]

There are no new amps, just new markets for old ideas in more pretty boxes.
You threatened the market for his new pretty boxes.
Almost knocked the consumer goggles off his potential buyers....
If the truth ever gets out he'll be Z-screwed.

[Brad737]

Whatever. I really don't care. At this point, I just think it's funny. Guitar playing is a hobby of mine, and not a source of stress. I just think it's funny how some of Z's zealots think that only a Z amp sounds good, and every other amp sucks. They think Zaite's their buddy, just because he throws them a pizza party in June.

I do agree that it's lame how Z attacks other builders. He'll post calls-to-arms when someone asks people to compare a Z to something else on TGP. His forum is just a sales tool, and most of the folks there are just too dimwitted to see it. Like I said, I think it's kinda funny.

[Brad737]

No way! He's their friend! He bought them 3 slices of pizza!

If the truth ever gets out he'll be Z-screwed.

[Bear]

His amps generally seem pretty good and pretty fairly priced for what they are. The way he acts, though . . .

He probably wouldn't get savaged so much for being derivative if he wasn't so obnoxiously defensive all the time. It's like when a smart-ass comments about modern art "I could do that" -- well, you didn't, someone beat you to the punch in combining this set of elements into a coherent piece. I'm not aware of anything he's done (except maybe the Z-wreck) that is a real verbatim lift of another circuit. (The Hammond AO-35 doesn't have that eq circuit, and even if it's like a Matchless midrange control, the implementation as a one-knob tone control works brilliantly.)

Only ways to defend a guitar amp circuit, since there's rarely anything new to patent, are to goop or be an a-hole. Either is really an a-hole move. Really silly given that his prices are generally really fair for a well-built, well-supported, good-sounding product. And I place more stock in gurus who are straightforward and forthright about what they are doing, instead of shrouding things in mystery or bullshit. I don't catch a particular line of BS. Just a fear that people will see the man behind the curtain and not a magician.

[Brad737]

The very early Carmen Ghias were literally even still on the Hammond chassis, and screwed into a tiny head cabinet with a Z on it. You're quite right though. It wasn't just a lift of the Hammond circuit. It was literally the Hammond circuit and hardware, still on the Hammond chassis.

I'd equate that to me buying a JCM800, prying the plastic Marshall logo off of it, and spray painting a big B on the front.

I'm not aware of anything he's done (except maybe the Z-wreck) that is a real verbatim lift of another circuit. (The Hammond AO-35 doesn't have that eq circuit, and even if it's like a Matchless midrange control, the implementation as a one-knob tone control works brilliantly.)

[Sonny ReVerb]

The very early Carmen Ghias were literally even still on the Hammond chassis, and screwed into a tiny head cabinet with a Z on it...

Eerily reminiscent of the Zenith 'Z' of yore...

[Andy Le Blanc]

But when you play one gravity suddenly reverses.....

[Bear]

The very early Carmen Ghias were literally even still on the Hammond chassis, and screwed into a tiny head cabinet with a Z on it. You're quite right though. It wasn't just a lift of the Hammond circuit. It was literally the Hammond circuit and hardware, still on the Hammond chassis.

I'd equate that to me buying a JCM800, prying the plastic Marshall logo off of it, and spray painting a big B on the front.

Or reminiscent of what Randall Smith started out doing, modding Fender Deluxe (non-reverb) amps and selling them as Boogies without a real change of cosmetics. Finding one of the Hammonds back in those days before ebay wasn't as easy, either, nor were the prices what he charges for new construction, so while it sounds like a rip off and could still be, it isn't quite so blatant.

I'd probably join in the abuse if he had been a schmuck to me personally or if I thought the brand was unredeemed. Like Fulltone -- I refuse to touch their products or contribute to their resale market, not just because Fuller is a flaming ass with unoriginal designs, but also because I hear too many stories of paying customers dicked over. Zaite only seems to be a dick about people pulling down the curtain to reveal a good tech and builder with derivative but well evolved designs. I could live with buying that product.

[Andy Le Blanc]

I've had to watch a small business owner deal with fuller with warranty issues, jeez......, Major PIA.
Its hard to get up and running in the N American market with new products,
Too bad that too many successes are dependent on the "A-HOLE" quotient.
Your market share depends upon how far you can cram your own head up your arse.

Z probably can't see past his own teeth.
But he's selling amps.

[Zippy]

The very early Carmen Ghias were literally even still on the Hammond chassis, and screwed into a tiny head cabinet with a Z on it. You're quite right though. It wasn't just a lift of the Hammond circuit. It was literally the Hammond circuit and hardware, still on the Hammond chassis.

I'm not a buddy of Z, I don't play his amps, and I haven't eaten his pizza or drank of his coolaid.

The Carmen Ghia is NOT a straightup AO-35 in a new box. The circuit is modified. If you look at an unadulterated AO-35 - I have a couple on my bench - you'll see the differences.

"Similar"? You bet.

"Share components, iron, and chassis"? No contest.

"Same"? No.

If you hate the guy, face up to it. That's OK if that's what you need. Please let's not spread the "net wisdom" mistruths.

[jaysg]

Listen to the fool's reproach! it is a kingly title!

--- William Blake