weber z matcher experience

[Mikoo69]

so i recently bought a weber Z matcher with the goal of adding a 4ohm 2x12 extension cabinet to my deluxe reverb, so i could have 3 12 inch speakers going and get some more stage volume/spread, like a 4x12.

 

only problem was it seemed like the main speaker in the DR was now getting less power, and the rig felt quieter and weaker overall.

 

has anyone had this experience? in the DR i have a celestion gold, and in the 2x12 i have 2 george scholz sugarcones.

[guitarbilly74]

sounds like user error. What's the internal speaker impedance and how did you set up the Z matcher?

[Mikoo69]

fender deluxe reverb is 8ohm load with 8ohm speaker. cabinet is 2x12 with 4ohm.

 

i set the input to 8ohm on the zmatcher and the ouput to 2.6 ohm. just like they told me to do so.

 

it sounds as if the internal speaker is not getting as much power as before whcih is making the tone sound duller and lower in volume a bit

[guitarbilly74]

If I understood it correctly, the problem is you are using 2 speakers different impedance after the z-matcher so yes, the power will be distributed unevenly.

[Mikoo69]

all speakers are coming after the zmatcher - i have the amps speaker output into the zmatch input. the internal speaker out of the main z matcher output, and the 2x12 cab out of the secondary zmatcher output

[guitarbilly74]

 

all speakers are coming after the zmatcher - i have the amps speaker output into the zmatch input. the internal speaker out of the main z matcher output, and the 2x12 cab out of the secondary zmatcher output

 

 

exactly, so all the z-matcher is doing at this point is keeping the load stable at 8ohms on the amp side BUT since all speakers are connected after the z-matcher the power will still be distributed unevenly between them.

 

It's not really an "issue" with the z-matcher, as it is doing what it is supposed to do: keeping the load stable at 8ohm for the amp.

 

But ideally you would need 2 cabs of same impedance to get an even tone across all speakers.

[Mikoo69]

i see.

 

so if i loaded the cabinet with 2 16ohm speakers, making an 8 ohm cabinet, would this solve my problem?

[guitarbilly74]

 

i see. so if i loaded the cabinet with 2 16ohm speakers, making an 8 ohm cabinet, would this solve my problem?

 

 

yes. Then you can set the input to 8ohm/output to 4ohm and have the speaker/cab in parallel.

[Mikoo69]

worth a shot. anyone want 2 george scholz sugarcones (8ohms each) for 2 celestion golds?

[guitarbilly74]

try placing an WTT ad on the classifieds section sugarcones are highly sought after speakers so you will probably find someone willing to trade with you.

[Badside]

By the way, of course the internal speaker will be quieter, since you still have the same output power spread over more speakers.

[Mikoo69]

yeah. tried it last night with another 8ohm cabinet. same problem. the power to the main speaker was lower making the overall amp sound duller and quieter in volume.

 

no luck!

 

the fender deluxe reverb looks awesome sitting on top of the fender 2x12 (both matching 1960s originals).

 

now i'm wondering what i can do to run that cabinet on stage. maybe another small powered amp to run them in dual mono/stereo? id like to find some use for it. i own the cabinet to use with a fender bassman, but the bassman is just too loud as a gutiar amp and when run with the deluxe, overpowers it.

[Barry Wuthrich]

Have you considered using the Deluxe as a pre-amp to feed great tone into the bassman's clean channel?

A tech can add a line level out by adding a 1/4 inch phone jack and two resistors at the speaker terminals.

He could also convert the ext speaker out jack to a line out,  but you might not want to do that on a vintage amp, although it is easy to change back. The extra speaker jack has one wire connecting it to the main speaker jack. Replace the wire with a 2.2K ohm resistor (1/2 watt). Then place a 100K ohm resistor (1/2 watt) across both terminals of the extra speaker jack. It is now a line out. You have to leave the stock speaker plugged into the regular speaker jack. I got this mod from Gerald Weber's book 'A Desktop Reference of Hip Vintage Guitar Amps' pg 37.

 

Next send the z-matcher to me. I'll give you $50 bucks for it.

 

I have done this with a 6 watt champ into my Mesa Boogie's clean channel, and it works fine. Or, you can go direct to the PA now and feed the deluxe tone into the mains.

 

Just a thought.