Dr. Z DB4 Brad Paisley

A new amp design in collaboration with Brad Paisley

March 24th 2016, Cleveland, Ohio

The DB4 is the fourth collaboration between Dr. Z and Brad Paisley (hence the name DB4: Doc & Brad’s fourth amp design). Brad asked for a rich and warm sounding British-voiced amp. I started with a clean sheet of paper.

The input of the amp uses a 5879 U.S. made pentode preamp tube. This was the tube selected by Les Paul to be used in his Gibson GA-40 Les Paul amp. The full-bodied silky tones of the 5879 are then driven into a rotatory frequency ﬁlter. This control selects between jangly brilliance to deep and full resonant tones and everything in between. To help ﬁne adjust the hue of delivered frequency to the four EL84 output tubes is a cut control. Think of this as a tone control for your output tubes.

This original amp design has its own voice, one that doesn’t sound like any EL84 amp you have ever heard. It will be oﬀered as a head, 1×12 “Classic-Lite” combo loaded with a Celestion Alnico Gold, and 2×12 “Blues-breaker” combo loaded with two Celestion Alnico Blue speakers.

Dr. Z releases DB4 in collaboration with Brad Paisley

Speciﬁcations

Power Output	18/38 watts
Output Tubes	4 – EL84
Preamp Tubes	2 – 12AX7
Rectiﬁer	5AR4
Controls	Volume, Rotatory Tone Switch, Cut
Other	4, 8, 16 Ohm speaker outs Half/Full power switch Removable casters (2×12 combo only)
Conﬁgurations	Head 1×12 “Classic-Lite” Combo 2×12 “Bluesbreaker” Combo
Colors	Head and 1×2 Combo: Black, Blonde, Red 2×12 “Bluesbreaker” Combo: Black, Red, Navy Blue
Dimension & Weight	Head: 19”W x 9 ¾H x 9 ½D 26 lbs. 1×12 “Classic-Lite” Combo: 23”W x 20 1/8”H x 10”D 42 lbs. 2×12 “Bluesbreaker” Combo: 32 1/4”W x 23 1/8”H x 10 1/2”D 68 lbs.