Help me buy my next amp - Wizard/Diezel/Friedman

Just made a clip with my Warshall. I switched back to a tubescreamer. I don't like gates with this amp, cuz it tames down the ferocity. so it is just guitar>ts>WizardW800 (100 watts)

 
Just keep in mind that it needs to be loud to sound it’s best. A lot of those complaints about it lacking low end go away when you play it loud enough. It’s also surprisingly responsive to tube swaps despite being a newer amp. With the vintage Siemen EL34’s I have it was by far the best and got bigger and punchier low end with those. It will never get the fatness or wall of sound though like the other Recto’s. Not in the cards for the Badlander. It’s like a Recto that was tweaked for thrash in a way
It matters what you call loud. It’s definitely not its best at bedroom volumes but it’s far from bad. Once you get it up to band volumes it sounds great though. I don’t buy 100w heads to play next to a baby sleeping.
 
It matters what you call loud. It’s definitely not its best at bedroom volumes but it’s far from bad. Once you get it up to band volumes it sounds great though. I don’t buy 100w heads to play next to a baby sleeping.
In my opinion, you are wasting your time if you are playing les than 103 decibels with my amp. I have never tried a MTL or MCII. Hopefully, I can go play on Matt's soon, lol.
 
Also, 50 Watts always leaves me wanting more. The punch isn't there. You max out the volume and are left wanting more. 100Watts is a good bedroom amp.
 
It matters what you call loud. It’s definitely not its best at bedroom volumes but it’s far from bad. Once you get it up to band volumes it sounds great though. I don’t buy 100w heads to play next to a baby sleeping.
I don’t either. I like it just fine at low volumes too, but once the volume gets loud enough those complaints about not enough low end or fullness go away is all I meant and no longer much to complain about with it. I was surprised to hear a decent amount of guys not like it when it first came out and am guessing that maybe they just didn’t play it loud enough or they just were expecting it to be more like the other Recto’s (the wall of sound kind of thing with that sag)
 
Also, 50 Watts always leaves me wanting more. The punch isn't there. You max out the volume and are left wanting more. 100Watts is a good bedroom amp.
In general I agree and like even more than 100 when possible, but there are definitely some exceptions like my 50 watt ‘67 Plexi and 60 watt Naylor. Both of those sound bigger and punchier than many 100 watt amps I’ve had, but very possible the 100 watt versions would be better still (haven’t tried them). Also, when I had both a 50 watt ‘82 JCM800 and 100 watt ‘79 JMP2203 both with the same mod by monomyth, the 50 watt sounded a lot bigger, punchier and tighter even with identical tubes in both. I did though get the 100 watt put back to stock and then it sounded a lot bigger than the 50 watt monomyth, so who knows. Maybe just wasn’t a good fit for that mod

Also, my ‘63 AC30 (30 watt amp) and ‘80 Jim Kelley (60 watt) sound bigger than some of my 100 watters. I think in those cases it’s because they have 4 powertubes (el84’s and 6v6’s). Maybe there’s something to 4 vs 2 powertubes sounding bigger regardless of wattage
 
Guitar Sanctuary has some in stock and aren't far from me. Maybe worth a trip tomorrow. Or whenever the Butterslax sells.
Do it, the Badlander is a killer amp, As said, it doesn’t have the huge lows and Recto wall of sound, but it does it own thing and it excels at that. It growls like a junkyard dog. It’s tight, yet has the feel of a thicker amp with more bounce. I didn’t realize how tight it was until I heard my buddy playing through it, because when your playing it yourself, it feels much more fluid and bouncy that an amp that tight typically does. It’s got a good master, but really comes alive and fills out with moderate volume. At close to, and at band levels, it fucking rages. Its also remarkably quiet, even at high volume with high gain. Another cool thing it does is the way it blooms into singing feedback. Strike a nice bend and hold it, and it will obediently feedback and sing that note indefinitely, like a Sustainer was switched on. All that being said, I agree with LP, they should have called it something else, because it really does it’s own thing.
 
Hey everyone,

I have been hemming and hawing between a few different amps. Maybe you can help me decide. I currently have a Diezel VH4 with a Rear Loaded 4x12 that I very much enjoy. I love it because of the versatility. Ch1, the cleans are amazing, Ch2 has a nice low gain option, and obviously Ch3 kills it. Ch4 I do use for lead work as I primarily play lead but still do most of my work on Ch3. I play ambient/ethereal/alt rock/metal-ish. Here's my old band, the music hasn't changed too much but we've evolved a little since this one: https://www.reverbnation.com/elision

Lately I have been listening to a lot of Architects, Tesseract, Coheed. Influences are also A Perfect Circle, Circa Suvive, Tool, Red, Breaking Benjamin, as well as the bands above. I mainly play ESP Horizons and Les Pauls with A5 passive pickups, BKPs: Riff Raffs, Emeralds, A-Bomb, Silo, Black Dog, Impulses but have been looking at some Fishman Moderns at some point as well.

Here are the amps I have been eyeing:
  • Wizard MTL MKII
  • Diezel Herbert MKIII
  • Friedman JJ-100
The Friedman is on the list, but tbh I think it's probably between the Herbert MKIII and the MTL MKII. I know some people might mention the SLO but I've never been super impressed with clips I've listened to, maybe someone can tell me why. Obviously I would be buying the Wizard MTL MKII new for $5.5k. I could probably buy the Herbert or Friedman used and save $2-2.5k which is another factor in the decision.

Thoughts? Opinions? Other options to further confuse me? Should I just get a Kemper?! :ROFLMAO:

Thanks!
Dude, you’re band sounds great. Great songs, playing, production, tones, everything. For your bands sound, IMO you should also consider a Badlander, Multi Watt, or a Naylor as suggested.
 
My ‘67 Trem 50 watt I’d say sounds bigger and has actually deeper lows than my 100w MTL 2016 and in a way punches more than the Wizard, it’s just that the Wizard punches much harder. It’s like the Wizard is punching you with blocks of granite, while my Plexi is punching you with pillows or something softer. If it could just match that hard punch of the Wizard it would have sent it packing
I got to say braintheory, that description gave me a good chuckle LOL. I think it is funny how we all try to describe sound with physical attributes, it is intriguing how linguistics just does that. "Chewy", we ALL know what it sounds like, but to a non-musician they are like "WTF? Chewy?"

The Plexi, according to your description in sound, is VERY safe in comparison to the Wizard! :unsure::cool:
 
I got to say braintheory, that description gave me a good chuckle LOL. I think it is funny how we all try to describe sound with physical attributes, it is intriguing how linguistics just does that. "Chewy", we ALL know what it sounds like, but to a non-musician they are like "WTF? Chewy?"

The Plexi, according to your description in sound, is VERY safe in comparison to the Wizard! :unsure::cool:
Yeah these things are definitely hard to put into words. Maybe I’ll say the ‘67 Plexi is deceiving in being safe because it has such a rich, pleasant sound, nothing remotely harsh, ear fatiguing or grating about it (yet still very cutting) that I never realize how loud the damn thing is until comparing to my other amps and then it’s like yeah this is one of my louder amps actually. With amps like the Wizard it’s volume is obvious
 
I will say that I don't know what the fuck chewy or hairy or any of that shit means. But I trust braintheory's tastes enough to jump when he says...lol
I am going to do my personal best at describing these two adjectives, based on my own experience with countless amps and sounds etc. Each to their own ears and description ofcourse, tomato = Tomah-to.

"Chewy", to me that is when the amp has this very slight kind of sag in the feel, not too stiff, so the mid frequency seems to have a touch of added thickness to the sound, so much so that it sounds like it is bigger due to the sag. Play a bogner 101 B on blue channel for a great example.

"Hairy", to me that is when the amp gain structure has this "hair" on notes, searing gain that is like a controlled explosion. The "hair" on your chords or power chording, is the little bit of grainy sizzle you hear or "grind". It is not smooth or raw, but a perfect combination of the two. Mesa mark series are great examples imo as well as the Wizard amps.
 
Info on what? They are two entirely different amps.

The owner of the metal in the classifieds already posted in this thread what a metal is compared to a MTL.
In the beginning, Rick was making NMV amps for Malcom and Angus. His next offering was the Metal, which like previously explained is more like today’s MCI.
 
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