Dr. Z AMA: "Shop Tour"

[@seamanjive]

That ain't no sweatshop production line, no wonder the quality of your stuff is so good. Many thx for sharing this Doc, gives me a warm feeling knowing the folks are looked after

[@jgreat4785]

The video showed us two employees that have been with the Doc for 20+ years. Just shows you that Doc builds great amps AND he is a great employer!

[@ScuffyTheDog]

"This is where the SWAG is". How not to love this man?

[@evanmiller2579]

Great example of a midwestern homegrown business. Proud to play through your amps. For sure the quality and quantity of my Dr Z amps out weighs my own ability but oh well. I love tone chasing. Cheers!

[@Spidouz]

That's the REAL definition of Boutique Amp... not like other companies that use this name, even thought they don't even build their amp in-house, or it's done in 3rd party "sweatshop". Thanks Doc for the tour, it really motivate me to save up for an EMS head... definitely on my wishlist!

[@Spidouz]

Watched the video again, and found my own comment. So here’s the update. Last year (so 4 years later my comment), I finally bought the Dr Z EMS, and I LOVE it. I’m glad I could score one of the very last in Europe. And this year, I just found another place with an EMS cab, so it’s gonna join the (home) studio. I’m not rich (far from it), but yet I save money for quite long time to be able to buy those boutique amps & cabs, and nothing makes me more happy to see I support a small business with real humans working hard to make this shiny toys we like to play with. Thank you Mike and the whole Z crew! Cheers from France

[@jeanlawson9133]

Very nice... thanks 😎 for sharing this Video content....

[@AdamGotheridge]

Love this video. Kind of what the best of America is, what it's all about.

[@alwaysmidnight3698]

I always thought that the shop would be a bunker or quonset hut in the dessert with a bunch of German scientists in lab coats and Tesla coils discharging electrons in the distance. I appreciate the tour and really appreciate the workmanship and attention to detail! Love the shop. I am proud to give my business to a company that puts a face to their name!

[@ebeep]

Thank you so much for the tour! Eye opening! Nothing at all posh, a small operation for what I consider to be Z biggest name in boutique amps. For those that complain about prices, it's what honest labor and quality components cost... and at tiny margins. The amp market never adjusted for inflation, so we're paying pennies on the dollar compared to 30 years ago, and with much better options and more of them than ever before. Somebody buy some Z swag...or a Z-Wreck!

[@DrZAmplification]

Definitely true. Old tweed twins would be nearly twice the cost of some of our amps if they came out today.

[@HFTONE]

Cool to see my future employment shop!

[@buzzcrumhunger7114]

It's like a trip to Disneyland for amp geeks. Love it.

[@roscoenyc]

Love the tour! Especially loved seeing the bottle of Advil by the swag! You guys got it all there!

[@bencrandall5514]

I come from the land of Mesa / High gain and recently discovered your amps. I actually reside about 30 minuets from your shop! Your new EMS amp looks to be more my speed. I wonder how mean one could get that thing with a drive pedal in front of it... Possibly a Z Drive ;) Anyways glad to see a local builder putting out such great products!

[@thephotoyak]

Just a shining example of a North American small business. This is what drives our economy. Awesome. Glad to have a Z amp.

[@tommyzegers]

I love this guy. Thanks Doc for everything you do.

[@fiddlist1934]

Hey Dr Z, This is Scott the fiddle player you talked with a while back about the Carmen Ghia I bought recently. I forgot to mention that I bought it used and injured so to speak from a player that was on tour with her. Apparently they started getting what I call a show boat type sound from it intermittently so the tour tech took it and changed a tube or two and then it started arching and his recommendation was to change all the caps out in it. Needless to say I didn't do that at all. My amp guy checked it all out and that tour tech put a different power tube and not a matching set in it and switched valve 1&2 around with some weird slovek I think tubes and that was the whole problem. My amp guy watched all your videos on the C.G and tubes and biasing and such and got her purring like a kitten again. Best fiddle,banjo,mandolin and acoustic sound I've ever gotten from an amp hands down. The first show I did with it was a couple of weeks ago and everybody was drooling over it both the immaculate pristine showroom condition it is for a 2013 amp and in the red safe case and the killer natural sound it puts out. I use a digitech IPB-10 pedalboard that's iPad based and it was set to my old amp so I had to do a little adjusting but for me, about 9 or 9:30 is my top out volume and the tone at 11:30. To me this amp is a God sent. What I've been wanting all my career and now the Carmen Ghia is my life amp. I've got a friend that owns a sign business and I took him the amp to get the case labeled and he did me a custom Carmen Ghia racing stripes identical to the label on the amp down the sides and my band logo with Dr Z up in the corners on the front and back. For sure a cool custom look. Looks like it came from your shop that way. Anyways, thanks for your input and for your videos.

[@toddgrubb4320]

Thanks for the tour. Great to see where you make your awesome amps.

[@jwhite1016aol]

This was pretty much exactly as I was expecting.

[@kurtismurata9630]

shop tours are always cool for gear geeks

[@stevegriffith1363]

Dr. Z. you're awesome!

[@mefirstandthegimmiegimmies5160]

maybe one day i will be good enough or worthy enough for one of these fine amps!

[@acoustic61]

What a cool operation. Can't wait to own a Dr.Z amp.

[@alexwoolridge94aw]

This is fantastic

[@SteveHacker]

Gaaaaaaah!!! What I wouldn’t do to spend some time there! Wow! I’d make everybody’s lunch and coffee and scrub the toilets for free just to spend some time there learning from these masters, and THEE Master! Amazing!

[@nobbynose4254]

I really get a sense of the personal touch and real investment and care in these amps

[@bruceanderson8720]

enjoyed the tour

[@tcarad2]

I like the transformer/lawn mower room.

[@thejoshuatree03]

what is that beautiful Vox looking Z in the first testing room I see? I don't think ive seen that before!

[@DrZAmplification]

It's a Z-80, which is a special order amp. 80 watts cathode bias quad EL34.

[@slickcross]

Great Video! Any chance you guys will do a 2 channel amp that is switchable with a footswitch? It'll be great if you had an amp with 2 -3 channels, reverb, effects loop, power selector (Attenuator )

[@DrZAmplification]

slickcross We made a two channel amp back in the day called the 6545! You can see it on the top shelf early in this video. It wasn't a big seller! Unfortunately when you get into having all the features you mentioned, the amount of components involved requires you too go to a PC board which is simply something we do not do. Thankfully though, our MAZ series and Z-PLUS utilize great onboard spring reverb, a buffered effects loop, and a variable boost footswitch that can allow you to go from clean to dirty with the right settings. Install one of our Brake Lite attenuators inside the cabinet, and you have most of the features you are looking for in a true turret board hand-wired package.

[@kellyjackson7889]

LOL

[@soldanovht]

It's good to be the king. You hiring. I'm real good with a broom.and do you give employee discounts. lol Nice place Z

[@johnnytruck2009]

Cool beans!

[@shyammohabir8283]

MADE IN AMERICA! - I got to get one of our amps .. just to support this company ... how can I purchase an amp from you guys?

[@DrZAmplification]

Any of our great US dealers can help you with that: drzamps.com/info/dealers/

[@michaeljohnson7892]

Dr.Z Your House ROXX !!!

[@ourlifeinwyoming4654]

Will the Maserati do 185?

[@acoustic61]

Is Dr. Z RoHS compliant? Do you use lead-free solder? Have you compared sound differences between leaded vs lead-free solder? I noticed you don't seem to use real fancy solder stations. They look like Weller WES51 type analog stations vs newer JBC and Pace irons with with quick recovery integrated heater/tip cartridges. I guess technique is more important than fancy tools? #drzama

[@DrZAmplification]

acoustic61 I’ll forward your question to Dr. Z for a more thorough explanation but yes RoHS, CE, and ETL certified, and no, lead free solder isn’t up to snuff physically or tonally.

[@l_shaun_bunds_l]

Dude, every single tube amp manufacturer and even tube makers use a mix of low end harbor freight pumps to pfeiffers or hi end metcal to low end weller. Look at their process: they don’t need 2k pace stations for board level repair because they are manufacturing and their work is mostly simple wire lead and peg board joints... not giant ground planes requiring all kinds of hi wattage and intricate temp control to not create trace lifts. Maybe this affords them better parts. Pace hadn’t change anything but pin configuration since the 80s anyway. In the end, none of it matters as long as you are devoted to a consistent product and your employees don’t have internet access. Haha

[@titomartinez9653]

Well, I just assumed there'd be a bunch of Sorcerers doing Sorcery, but I was PLEASANTLY let down.

[@mikecamps7226]

Looks like you subcontract out the metal chassis and the cabinets...…. I thought your facility would be a bit bigger, but you have a very interesting space and assembly line. I guess you do your own distribution rather than a third party ?

[@DrZAmplification]

Mike Camps shipping occurs directly from our shop to our dealers. Cabinets are made by SSI in Cincinnati and loaded in shop. S&M metals fabricates the chassis in Twinsburg, 20 mins from the shop.

[@DrZAmplification]

S&B metals rather (not sado-maschism metals)

[@mikecamps7226]

@@DrZAmplification That's funny..... I was dealing with the Williams company here in Pittsburgh, but they pulled out of town about 20 years ago and the closest office is in Cleveland hahahaha. I tend to bend my own chassis as I'm a custom builder by contract. I hope to join you soon in the arena though...….and ya like Ken I have been affected by chronic fatigue syndrome back in the 1980's..... ROHS...watch out for the chemicals.....the legacy of living in a steel town and the nature of the beast with electronics......

[@qua7771]

No nurse Z's?

[@geraldhinson]

You didn't show us the wine cellar!! Stop holding out on us Z. 😊

[@kellyjackson7889]

Sure he did it's where all his builders were situated....

[@mlwilliam213]

I kept expecting Brad Paisley and Joe Walsh to be somewhere in there playing PlayStation.

[@theguitarczar]

So, why not show us the "Experience" room, eh? :)

[@edgeofeternity101]

I always preferred working in a small shop compared to a large corp. and I did both.

[@kellyjackson7889]

"Thats where I sit and troll The Gear Page"

[@kellyjackson7889]

Skid Tone amps!

[@marshallohio5512]

This place is a freaking mess!!! I wonder how many times an employee has tripped over something throughout this mess? Absolutely no organization. Just stuff stacked any and everywhere. This place needs someone from the military in getting this place organized !! LOL

[@kellyjackson7889]

So if your combo smells like left over meat loaf you know why