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Congrats! The SSV2 is the probably my favorite Friedman that I have owned. The SS channel on that amp is a masterpiece and definitely had attributes in common with the blue channel on my old '96 Ecstasy, namely the woody attack and great feel. Voicing wise, it does have a bit more Marshall in...

I still have a w800 and was surprised how close I can get to it in feel and tone with my MCII on the rythm channel with the blackat and boost engaged. My RS is a bit different than my w800. It is both more vintage in voicing and has a bit more gain on tap. With the voicing options, it can also...

Agreed man! I feel like the RS is an amp a ton of guys would really love if they tried it. That said, most players, if they are ponying up money for a Wizard (in most cases a first/only Wizard) they are going to get an MC/MTL/Hellrazor. And I get that. But I do love mine and it is certainly...

Awesome man! I am still loving mine; a more vintage voiced/feeling Wizard with a lot of ways to sculpt your tone. I actually set mine up very similar to how you have yours. The RS can get absurdly bright and mid-forward if you want it to.

Peavey 5150/5150II/JSX/XXX/VTM/ULTRA Hughes & Kettner Triamp mkI and mkII Marshall Jcm 2000 DSL and JVM 210 and 205 Mesa DC 50, Stiletto and RA 100

Define "better". An SLO is a modern classic for good reason. And I don't think modern SLO derivatives/analogues like a Mezzabarba or modded SLO type amps like a KSR (owned both....still own a KSR) do what a real deal SLO 100 does.

Mezzabarba Trinity

1) My Wizards. Can't pick a favorite. They all fit how I play just perfectly, just in slightly different colors. 2) Mesa Boogie mkIV. My favorite Mesa and I have now owned a bunch of them. THE modern mark sound IMO. 3) Bogner Ecstasy 101b. Other top amps: Fryette pittbull ultra lead, Soldano...

There was some of that back then for sure. I mean, there just wasn't as much stuff available overall, so when you combine that with an amp doing something novel/unique combined with rarity....you get hype. Taking a VH4, for example, in 2002 not many players would have played one in N.America...

Ya...the amp hype train is real. Go a little earlier and I remember when Diezel VH4's were touted as the "be all, end all" high gainer. Around that same time, everybody raved about SLO's still. Friedman came a little later, but for sure guys were hyping them up as the pinnacle of high gain...

Agreed. I played around with Tungsols as well and ended up taking them out (went with ehx 7025's) as it was too gainy. Even then I don't think I ever needed to go above 12 o'clock for enough gain/saturation for leads or thrash style playing. Then again, I am not really a gainiac.

This all day long. You can absolutely dial in an Ecstasy 101b, sans boost, to do killer, tight, aggressive metal tones. I had a '96 Ecstasy where the red channel has less gain than later 101b's and Anniversary models and I could dial up some great hardcore and thrash tones on it.

He is definitely still working on MKIV's. He did all the work on mine as well and I got it back a couple weeks ago. Same as Jim, I didn't specify Mike B to to work on mine, but he must still be the go-to for all the old Marks. Same experience as yours though: my MKIV sounded good going in and...

Have wanted another SLO for a while now and have a blacked out 2004 on the way. Pretty stoked to have one in the arsenal again. Yeah, it is a dinosaur. But it is one of those amps that made me go "wow" within seconds of playing it. Easily one of the best lead amps and a killer rock machine.

Awesome man!! I just got my mkiv back from Mesa a couple weeks ago. Mike B also did the work and ya....sounded great going in and absolute fire breather now! Keeper for sure; not going to be stupid and sell like I did with my first one in the early 00's.

He compares its response to the Fryette stuff, but any Fryette I have owned sounds MUCH better than this; there is a grating grainy-ness that is prevalent that I don't think can be dialed out. I would be curious to hear the builders rationale on how they came up with that exorbitant price..

Right now I have an MCI and MCII, although they may not be the best "like for like" comparison as the MCI is an EL34 with "C" transformers and the MCII is a 150w kt88 model. That said, the MCII is the more versatile amp overall. Much more gain on the rhythm/clean channel that does great cleans...

Owned a Trinity in 2022 for a minute. Sounded pretty good; like others have said, definitely in the SLO camp. I do prefer tight/quick amps and the Trinity I felt had neither the tightness or the feel I prefer. I think if I went that route again, I would just get another SLO.

I used a Hughes and Kettner Triamp mk2 for a number of years. It was during a phase where I had offloaded a bunch of amps and needed something that could do it all. I would still rate it as a very good multi channel, "jack of all trades" amp. Never tried the mk3 though. Here, H&K don't get any...

I have owned three Ubers. Ranking them for "brutal" capability, I would go: UU > Rev Green > Rev Blue However, my order of actual preference would go the exact opposite. The Rev Blue was my favorite Uber. Certainly not as massive sounding as the Rev Green or tight/aggressive as the UU, but it...