Getting more JCM clunk out of my Wiz MC1..

Catthan

Catthan

Active member
Any tips? can't find where this exists in the dials as they're so interactive and it's a slightly different kind of top end and high mids the amp brings (yeah ok maybe that's the answer but still..)
Things that help but don't work too well:
-Suhr koko v1 with toggle in the middle. it brings 'it' but makes everything icepicky; it overloads the presence or lead bright frequencies even when those are set low
-OCD v1.4 - better than Suhr, doesn't overload anything but amp lacks definition - like spreading margarine across the EQ range
-messing with IRs- using Greenbacks or Euge ones. Brings more 'Britishness' in the mix but not the target outcome..

Some Cameron/ Jose plugins-modellers have this. Whilst I can match the chewy squishy present mids of said tones, I can't get it to clunk.
Diming the Treble makes it clunk but also bit recto-ish..

Any pedals, cab/IRs, dial settings or, dare I say (sacrilege) component values I could try (pots, diodes etc).. don't tell Rick..
I even thought of getting a Syn1 w. the BE-DLX module in the FX return which should be same lineage but don't like the Friedman smoother Marshall style

So far it's the only thing that I can't get the Wiz to do well enough to my liking. Other than that, it's dethroned every other amp or boutique plugin.

Perhaps even more sacrilegiously, the trigger for all this was trying a CCV preset on a Fractal but it's a lot of dosh and digital hypertrophy I don't need for 1 tone.
GAS'ing for a Cameron is hopeless too..
 
I think the MTL are more alike a 2203. While the MC is sort of Super Lead.

I like the MTL better. I’ve always been more familiar with 2203
 
RaceU4her said:
i always get confused, i always see people associating Wizards with Marshall tones, yet no Wizard clip ive ever heard really sounds anything "Marshall" like at all.
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My impression too from owning mine for 8mo - it can resemble some characteristics found in Marshalls and other amps but doesn't sound like any in particular, which ain't a bad thing. So I'm not trying to make it like something else, rather bring out some of that character (if it's there at all).

Greazygeo said:
Let the Wizard be a Wizard and buy a JCM?
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That's a realistic option although I'd rather not spend much money at this point..
 
The Wizards simply don’t accept boost/OD flavoring as readily as Marshalls do and are not nearly as responsive to tube rolling either. Their tone and response is in a weird way kind of set in stone and they just cannot be molded into something else as much as other amps can be.
 
Bxlxaxkxe said:
You will bang those upper strings til your picking hand fingers bleed trying to get that sound out of it but it’s not there. Your life will be easier if you let the wizard be a wizard and save some pennies for a marshall
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yeah but if that amp, say a Marshall or mod, doesn't feel and behave like the Wizard my life will get complicated again.. I'm more inclined to try something like the Myasnikov CCV pre or a Syn module through the Wiz tbh, perhaps the BE-DLX. that way, in my mind at least, I preserve the back end of the Wiz and change the pre character.
 
Catthan said:
yeah but if that amp, say a Marshall or mod, doesn't feel and behave like the Wizard my life will get complicated again.. I'm more inclined to try something like the Myasnikov CCV pre or a Syn module through the Wiz tbh, perhaps the BE-DLX. that way, in my mind at least, I preserve the back end of the Wiz and change the pre character.
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My brother in christ, why do you think everyone else's life is complicated? :hys:

Honestly instead of buying an 800, i'd buy a superlead and have someone do a CCV mod to it, since that's the tone you're really into?
 
RaceU4her said:
i always get confused, i always see people associating Wizards with Marshall tones, yet no Wizard clip ive ever heard really sounds anything "Marshall" like at all.
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The MC1 and VC sound like Marshalls without all the shit that sucks about a Marshall.
All the clips posted are of the more current Wizards, MTL, MC2, Hell Razor etc. Those don’t sound like Marshalls.

Mine sounds like my old Marshall rig. Super lead I modded myself into load box, eq/ fx, power amp etc. Now I don’t have to carry all that stuff.
If mine sounded like a JCM 800 2203 I would be bummed.
 
Catthan said:
My impression too from owning mine for 8mo - it can resemble some characteristics found in Marshalls and other amps but doesn't sound like any in particular, which ain't a bad thing. So I'm not trying to make it like something else, rather bring out some of that character (if it's there at all).


That's a realistic option although I'd rather not spend much money at this point..
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I guess if you want the 800 sound. Turn the bass to zero. mids maybe up a tiny bit, presence and treble pretty high. Master up high, gain maybe ten oclock and hit it with a tube screamer/ sd1.
 
Catthan said:
yeah but if that amp, say a Marshall or mod, doesn't feel and behave like the Wizard my life will get complicated again.. I'm more inclined to try something like the Myasnikov CCV pre or a Syn module through the Wiz tbh, perhaps the BE-DLX. that way, in my mind at least, I preserve the back end of the Wiz and change the pre character.
Click to expand...

What is the actual "sound" you're after from either the Wizard or a Marshall? A combination of the two in some way? Post some clips of the sound you're searching for.
 
FourT6and2 said:
What is the actual "sound" you're after from either the Wizard or a Marshall? A combination of the two in some way? Post some clips of the sound you're searching for.
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that's a bit hard to do bc it's in my head. I played through a CCV present on an AXE and liked the clunk of it, which I also hear in JCM800. I thought if my Wiz had smidge of that it would be even more killer..
 
The clunk comes from large bright caps on gain pots. They shave off bass frequencies and boost treble. I don’t think wizards use them, and if they do they’re in another part of the circuit.
 
Catthan said:
that's a bit hard to do bc it's in my head. I played through a CCV present on an AXE and liked the clunk of it, which I also hear in JCM800. I thought if my Wiz had smidge of that it would be even more killer..
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redplated had a CCV and said it sounded very similar to the Hellion i think it was. thats what my cameron mig does, it has that top end chime with the kerrang that is just slightly smoother and round.
 
pipboy90 said:
The clunk comes from large bright caps on gain pots. They shave off bass frequencies and boost treble. I don’t think wizards use them, and if they do they’re in another part of the circuit.
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Which would certainly be easy to check and try options as I imagine they’re flying leads from the pots and turret board? Adding a bright cap to the pre gain would be pretty easy.
 
I have the MC2-style build I mentioned when I bought your 101b - it’s a Headfirst from back in the pre-Alta days. So this isn’t apples to apples by any means. That said, I like Marshall tones and the best tones (to my ears) I’ve had from mine so far are pictured below. I’m running the KTR into the Low Input, have jumped the FX loop, (so I can use the FX knob as an additional Master) and I’m running through the Lead Channel with the onboard boost engaged. With EMGs or Alnico 4 PAF style pickups you can get some pretty tight, percussive stuff going, although it’s not quite the same as a Marshall clank. I tried my Buxom Boost and OD808X with the amp and it didn’t gel with those pedals at all. Seems to like the Klon-style circuit however.


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