School me on Wizards

[Mr. Burton]

Went to King Amps and tried out a Wizard Custom 100 that was built for Mark Slaughter today. The amp had very little saturation and was extremely bright. Single input, one channel. It had full/half power and presence knobs, push/pull volume and gain boosts, and the usual mid, treble, and bass knobs. With all of the boosts, I was really surprised that I couldn't dial in a decent distorted tone. It was clear that the amp was a plexi clone and I think I may have been more satisfied had I been able to dime it. Still pretty disappointing even at half the cost of a new one.

All of this said, I have heard stellar clips of most of the production models. The Metal, Vintage Classic, and Modern Classic models all seem pretty solid. I guess my main issue the price point. I can buy almost 4 vintage JMP's for that. Are they really worth the price tag or is it the AC/DC connection that is driving the cost?

 

[glpg80]

if cost is of concern dont bother wasting your time as the resell value on them is terrible, they do not fetch anywhere close what they cost new.

which brings up the next point - always buy them used. If you live in the states, the sheer cost of buying new is added to the importing trade costs from being made in Canada, which makes a 4-5k amplifier a 6k amplifier which is astonishing considering features, warranties, and equal build quality for much less.

 

[thegame]

That Mark Slaughter one has been bought and sold so many times over the years. Its a one off, so not an accurate respresentation of the rest of the lineup. Some of the really early 90's ones could be a bit thin sounding, but by the mid 90's the Metal and MC series were all very fat and full sounding amps indeed, which is how they are voiced to this day.

 

[glassjaw7]

 

[Tone Monster]

I own a '90s era Metal and it's crazy good!

 

[JerryP]

They are loud and expensive... And have terrible re-sale values. Other than that, they are cool

I heard a Wizard Metal modded by FJA that was one of the best amps I have ever played.

Thanks Dave!
The Metal and Modern Classic are pretty similar and share a lot in common. The Vintage Classic is a straight up Plexi with a PPIMV. All of them seem to be on the brighter side tone wise and cut thru real well.
Jerry

 

[chunktone]

I'm sure they are great amps, but I would MUCH sooner go with a CCV.

 

[joolzriff]

i had a wizard metal....one of the best amps i'll ever have the pleasure of owning, Alas i play small rooms and you could never test drive it so i sold it for a SLO..
I Love marshalls to death but HATE the SAG they do when i turn em up....the Wizard was the marshall i always wanted & it NEVER ever Sagged
miss that amp

 

[LP Freak]

If you buy one be prepared to take it to the grave.

 

[Greazygeo]

Thanks Dave!
The Metal and Modern Classic are pretty similar and share a lot in common. The Vintage Classic is a straight up Plexi with a PPIMV. All of them seem to be on the brighter side tone wise and cut thru real well.
Jerry

Yep the MC and Metals are similar, a few different features depending on which one you have in front of you. The older VC's didnt have the MV, that's on the newer ones. Awful things.

 

[petejt]

All I know about 'em is that some of James Hetfield's truly best ever guitar tone was due to a Wizard Modern Classic. He reckons it's "a hi-fi sounding amp, has all the highs, all the lows". I guess that means "full-sounding"? 3D?

 

[joolzriff]

All I know about 'em is that some of James Hetfield's truly best ever guitar tone was due to a Wizard Modern Classic. He reckons it's "a hi-fi sounding amp, has all the highs, all the lows". I guess that means "full-sounding"? 3D?

Clean Clear sounding...definition on all notes and strings..very firm on low end SOLID! ...

 

[LP Freak]

All I know about 'em is that some of James Hetfield's truly best ever guitar tone was due to a Wizard Modern Classic. He reckons it's "a hi-fi sounding amp, has all the highs, all the lows". I guess that means "full-sounding"? 3D?

Clean Clear sounding...definition on all notes and strings..very firm on low end SOLID! ...

And don't forget to add, it has plenty of unusable gain and a loud pop when footswitching channels.

 

[Greazygeo]

And don't forget to add, it has plenty of unusable gain and a loud pop when footswitching channels.

Mine is all useable. Is yours messed up maybe?

It does have a slight pop when changing channels.....not a big deal for me, I never change them.

 

[rocker]

And don't forget to add, it has plenty of unusable gain and a loud pop when footswitching channels.

Mine is all useable. Is yours messed up maybe?

It does have a slight pop when changing channels.....not a big deal for me, I never change them.

I've had 6 Wizards, and still have a bunch, love em. Everyone have had useable gain, one off them had a little pop when chancing channels.

 

[rocker]

All I know about 'em is that some of James Hetfield's truly best ever guitar tone was due to a Wizard Modern Classic. He reckons it's "a hi-fi sounding amp, has all the highs, all the lows". I guess that means "full-sounding"? 3D?

Clean Clear sounding...definition on all notes and strings..very firm on low end SOLID! ...

And don't forget to add, it has plenty of unusable gain and a loud pop when footswitching channels.

We get it, you don't like Wizards.

 

[jcj]

They are loud and expensive... And have terrible re-sale values. Other than that, they are cool

I heard a Wizard Metal modded by FJA that was one of the best amps I have ever played.

Amen....'cept I didn't play the one Jerry modded

 

[LP Freak]

All I know about 'em is that some of James Hetfield's truly best ever guitar tone was due to a Wizard Modern Classic. He reckons it's "a hi-fi sounding amp, has all the highs, all the lows". I guess that means "full-sounding"? 3D?

Clean Clear sounding...definition on all notes and strings..very firm on low end SOLID! ...

And don't forget to add, it has plenty of unusable gain and a loud pop when footswitching channels.

We get it, you don't like Wizards.

Not that I don't like them because they do sound good and there was definately nothing wrong with mine. I'm simply stating the facts. I just didn't like the idea of a $4500 amp that's gain starts to become unusable after 6 and pops loud when you change channels...... that's it. There's too many options these days that have comparable tone for way less. My opinion is look elsewhere or try before you buy.

 

[Greazygeo]

Not that I don't like them because they do sound good and there was definately nothing wrong with mine. I'm simply stating the facts. I just didn't like the idea of a $4500 amp that's gain starts to become unusable after 6 and pops loud when you change channels...... that's it. There's too many options these days that have comparable tone for way less. My opinion is look elsewhere or try before you buy.

If yours was unusable past 6 there was something wrong with it.

 

[Superunknown]

My Wizard comes in around the 3:45 mark... Please check it out and compare it to all of the other amps in this shootout.