Which 18 watt EL84 head? Goodsell, Badger or Maz 18?

[bjjp2]

Anybody who has tried all three of these?

[Sean French]

I've owned a Maz 18 and played a Badger.
Never played a Goodsell.
If you are wanting Marshally tones then the Badger is a good choice.
The Maz 18 is good with humbucker but,excels with single coils IMO.
The Maz has it's own voice which some may not care for.
I also owned a Reinhardt 18 and Titan(36) and I would highly recommend them for that Marshally thang.

[K.E.P.]

Don't count out the Gabriel Voxer or Low Carb heads!!!!!

Goodsells are great too.

KEP

[onestop]

I've owned a few Goodsells and the Badger and an old bandmate had a Maz 18 JR.

IMHO:
Goodsell = Very wide open and organic sound. VERY UNIQUE! (owned a head and a combo)

Badger = Unique Marshally tone out of an EL-84. Very versatile with power scaling (owned the head)

Maz 18 JR = (for what I can recall) Very eq-able and spanky sounding EL-84. Now he had a combo. Definitely some gain on tap. Probably not as much as the Badger... or at least without the power scale if you're going for "manageable (don't piss off your wife or the sound guy) levels.

Honestly, depends on what you're looking for. Do you plan on tossing pedals in front of the amp? If so, what effects? What guitar are you using?

[dankayaker]

I've owned a Badger and have a Goodsell S17 combo and have played the Maz Jr. combo.

Here's my take.

I think the S17 sounds the best to my ears. It is capable of vintage tones but additionally transitions from clean to OD the smoothest of any amp I've experienced and gives my /13 a run for it's money.
The Goodsell is a simple amp with not much in the feature department, but if the fundamental tone is the concern . . . .It would be my choice.
The Badger is very cool and sounds a bit more Marshally but has an FX loop and power scaling. One other I would mention is the Budda SD II 18. Certainly the highest gain of the bunch, with cleans that are nearly as good as the Maz and Badger but with a drive channel that is among the best IMO.

[mild]

You can't go wrong with any of them...

... but it was the Goodsell that ended up taking my money, and I couldn't be happier. It even kicked my DC-30 out of bed!

[Jatmosphere]

+1 on the Super 17. not as "marshally" as the Badger, but such sweet tone for your $. the Maz 18 never did it for me. tried it @ a few rehearsals, and always left me cold. give the S17 - 30 minutes to warm up & "get in the zone" and watch out. sweet, bubbly phat tone... part 50's tweed, part vintage vox chime, part marshall 18 watt-ness. but full-on Goodsell. Richard's got a unique take on the 17 (uhh, 18) watt scheme of amps. plus he's behind his stuff 110%. tubes, updates, whatever is on your mind w/ it he's there to help. he also triple bias's his tubes and sell them @ a really great price too.

[Dr. Tweedbucket]

I had a Maz and didn't like it. I really, REALLY like the GDS Marshall 18W clone. I don't know about the others you mentioned.

[Timinator]

If you want to go "Marshally" I'd look at a Aiken Tomcat. I believe it's 18 watts too and it's alot more down the marshall trail than the Goodsell. It also has a very, very nice clean channel that's almost as good as the Goodsell, just a bit more creamy. I currently have both the Goodsell and Aiken but have not played a Badger.