JAZ 20/40

[johnnyreece]

Hey, all!

I've got a friend who's interested in the Dr. Z Jaz 20/40. It's got all the bells and whistles he wants, and, as I like to tinker, I'm thinking of working up my version of it. It's an out-of-production model, so I'd like to think it won't ruffle too many feathers. Just asking; if I decide to move forward, is it in bad taste to post schematics/layouts? I suppose this is probably better suited for the garage talk, but if I get the green light, I'll probably post progress here. If not...well, my buddy may get the only one that's *my* take on it. I'm never going to be a famous amp builder; mostly I put stuff together for friends for little-to-no profit. I'm definitely not putting anyone out of business.

If the good doc happens to read this, feel free to shoot me a message with your opinion.

[bal704]

I built a version of the Mazerati GT from a schematic I found online. Not sure if it was accurate to an actual Dr z, but the amp kicks 16 different kinds of ass. Very pleased with it.

It's been out of production for a while, so I didn't feel too guilty about building my version of it for myself. If I hadn't run across the schematic, I probably wouldn't have built the amp.

Posting your take on it may give somebody else some inspiration.

[M Fowler]

Big difference building for your self or a couple buddies versus going full production.

I would like to see what you come up with.

[johnnyreece]

I built a version of the Mazerati GT from a schematic I found online. Not sure if it was accurate to an actual Dr z, but the amp kicks 16 different kinds of ass. Very pleased with it.

That's interesting...from the doc's site, the JAZ has the Mazerati preamp with a 4x6V6 cathode-biased output (among other things...trem, reverb, etc.). I suppose we'll see what it sounds! As long as my friends let me play with their money, I'm up for whatever!

Unless I hear otherwise, I'll post up progress as it goes. I'm sure it will be slow going; I'm going to spend a fair amount of time scribbling this on paper before I attempt a full schematic. Once I do, though, I'll work up a layout and everything, and see what happens. I have a feeling it may be too much crap in one box, but we'll see.

[M Fowler]

I have Dr. Z Amplification DVD which is a great video of the history of Dr Z amps and he goes through many of his amps.

There is a portion on the DVD where Dr Z gives his friend Joe Walsh a new production Jaz 20/40 combo and it sounds fantastic with Joe playing through it.

[bal704]

The Mazerati was a very basic, simple amp. The original was known for being stupid loud, and perhaps that's why it didn't stick around.

My version has 4 EL84's in cathode bias, and it IS stupid loud. I had to put a master volume on it. I experimented with an effects loop, different MV's etc, but they all seemed to suck the life out of it. In the end, I went with a VVM type MV, and it seems to work well. Still a loud amp though.

I built a version of the Mazerati GT from a schematic I found online. Not sure if it was accurate to an actual Dr z, but the amp kicks 16 different kinds of ass. Very pleased with it.

That's interesting...from the doc's site, the JAZ has the Mazerati preamp with a 4x6V6 cathode-biased output (among other things...trem, reverb, etc.). I suppose we'll see what it sounds! As long as my friends let me play with their money, I'm up for whatever!

Unless I hear otherwise, I'll post up progress as it goes. I'm sure it will be slow going; I'm going to spend a fair amount of time scribbling this on paper before I attempt a full schematic. Once I do, though, I'll work up a layout and everything, and see what happens. I have a feeling it may be too much crap in one box, but we'll see.