Search results

'99 Mesa Recto cab with accompanying 8ohm Mesa V30's.

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...