Since the new Mezzabarba valve head, which will fill the Z series to which the Z18 and Z35 belonged, was presented at M-Day, it has only seen the Music Wall fair in Pizzighettone and then subsequently the Second Hand Guitar, but despite the few occasions the product has still managed to make itself recognized even in a convoluted and confusing scenario such as that of a musical instrument fair.
A naked and raw headline that, if you want to quote a historical film by Verdone, would say “Po esse fero e po esse feather”, but obviously with the necessary variations on the theme.
Aesthetic Considerations
Yet another proof that good taste reigns in that of Farnese, the headboard is clean, elegant and sober, no detail or jumble to dirty the line to make it unnecessarily aggressive to the eye, it looks like a luxury suitcase, a single piece of minimalist style and 'essential that makes it recognizable with the only use of two elements of form.
Very little expense but a lot of graphic rendering, it is recognizable using very little, an example of functional and modern design.
Technical Considerations
Such a linear project, without frills or particular modern options, focuses on the uncompromising choice of components of excellent quality, the preamp section is managed by three valves 12AX7 together with the phase splitter while the finale is run by a quartet matched di EL34.
The interior is instead accompanied by resistances allen bradley and capacitors Philips "Tropical Fish" e Mustard for maximum sound performance and exceptional reliability.
The section dedicated to transformers instead we have the non plus ultra, the very efficient custom transformers by Honors already known with the Skill , Mzero, in this case particularly optimized for this project more vintage oriented.
Uncompromising equipment for uncompromising sound, nothing to add.
As for the controls section, that is to say, it's a mold head old school so do not expect a great breadth of controls, volume equalization and potentiometer that manages the cut of the mid-highs as on the Z 18 (the so-called courtesy potentiometer would also be possible, a second volume that acts as a master and allows you to manage the gain of the head ).
On the back instead the slave output with relative potentiometer and the classic outputs from the head.
SEND - Return not received, and it is also given that we are talking about a classic project and this addition would distort it, for lovers of modernity the house offers the Mzero which is designed for this use.
Sound Considerations
The test was very simple, Fender Lonestar attached by cable References at his cashier 4 × 12 always Half-beard.
Let's say that an agreement was enough. . . .
The whole head is manageable through just the guitar volume control and obviously the hand of the instrumentalist, the transition from a full clean with a pinch of pepper seasoned with a hallucinating headroom and thickness.
The only juxtaposition my mind was able to make was the one withHiwatt dr 103 of the 1974, but we are talking about two sound pastes which, although similar, travel on parallel routes but never cross each other.
When you start to play louder, or even just by increasing the volume threshold you switch to the sound that this head remains a real killing machine, already when you begin to crash go back to the heyday of rock when the great sounds came from cannon-fired heads without getting too many frills.
Its state of the art is in fulloverdrive, it is an indissoluble cream of surgical precision, you hear any part of the instrument brought to the apex, with single coils you never hear chokes of any kind, every part of the sound remains intelligible, with the equalization you can go through different sound carpets, although most of the test was performed in flat, which we already liked so.
But this has to be supported by something very, very important, it is an extremely dynamic head and this is something that is beautiful to see in an amplifier, but it is also a head that does not forgive you for anything, the belief that you must have when you play it. it must never go down, otherwise like an old-fashioned teacher, he punishes you without mercy. . . . . . and makes you feel like a donkey.
The courtesy potentiometer, at the expense of its playful nickname, made the test much more feasible at non-reporting volumes, and allowed us to have a complete idea of the magazine and what it offers:
- Gains 1-3 - We are in the middle of clean of the head, arriving towards the three of the first potentiometer the head acquires the needle of saturation which makes it warm and enveloping and in any case bad and decisive when needed, a very nice clean and full of headroom as mentioned above, very manageable with just one touch.
- Gains 4-6 - Here comes the cream, we are in full swing sound Some years 70, here everything is allowed, a crunch nice big mighty e harmonically incredible, hear the valves that begin to sing, the dynamic response of the power tubes is just the icing on the cake, from here you can't escape, this is rock and roll.
- Gains 7-10 - Here we flow into that sound that I loved, love and will continue to love as long as I have life which is the sound of bands like Deep Purple, Iron Maiden e AC/DC, a grandiose overdrive, full of harmonics, you hear the tubes giving their best, a wall of unstoppable power at the guitarist's disposal.
Economic Considerations
Unfortunately with a price of 2300 €Let's face it, you pay for high-end products, but you don't just buy a vehicle or a physical product, you buy a well-defined sound, not a reference.
The sound that Pierangelo has created over the years has been able to have its say not only on stages or in studios but also in the minds of every person who listens to or tries one of these tube beasts, a sound that remains permeated even after a long time.
So the matter is very simple, you cannot put a price on a philosophy of life, here we do not compromise on anything, from conception to realization, so we users too should begin not to have compromises even in our wallets.
The price is in line with a high-level title of any other foreign production, the quality is there and in industrial quantity with an impeccable construction with a cost in line with the titles such as Mes Boogie, Marshall, hiwatt custom shops, Carol Ann e Custom Audio Design.
Final considerations
PRO
- Dynamic
- Great sound performance
AGAINST
- To play it properly you need adequate space
- Perhaps the lack of a Send-Return, but much of the project towards which the head is oriented would be lost
Useful Information
Price: 2300 euros including VAT
Producer's website: www.mezzabarba.com
