this Wizard MCll sounds amazing!!!

[fuzzyguitars]

Contour knob has crazy amount of effect on the sound and feel of the amp.

 

[halebox]

I can't even remember what it did it was more of why the hell is it there? Sorry was frustrating. Same with bright knob on back. It was a weird balancing act. It felt like an ongoing expensive experiment. Next year we're all going to spend 5k on the MCIII! With even more knobs! Maybe a dark knob to balance out the brite knob! I like when amps have less knobs and sound perfect right away. Treble bass mid presence 2 gain 2 masters loop done. Anyways I couldn't get it where I wanted without those knobs and having them extra was like ever further away from where I needed to be. Same with overdrive pedals too many switches and knobs are a distraction and time waste. I wish it also had a crunch channel. The clean never got to the crunchy type rhythm I need and if I used the overdrive channel as crunch and boost for lead the difference wasn't enough. Basically I wanted it to be an SLO ha.

 

[Racerxrated]

One players amazeballs is another's 'wtf?'.....just the way it is.

 

[flimz]

I can't even remember what it did it was more of why the hell is it there? Sorry was frustrating. Same with bright knob on back. It was a weird balancing act. It felt like an ongoing expensive experiment. Next year we're all going to spend 5k on the MCIII! With even more knobs! Maybe a dark knob to balance out the brite knob! I like when amps have less knobs and sound perfect right away. Treble bass mid presence 2 gain 2 masters loop done. Anyways I couldn't get it where I wanted without those knobs and having them extra was like ever further away from where I needed to be. Same with overdrive pedals too many switches and knobs are a distraction and time waste. I wish it also had a crunch channel. The clean never got to the crunchy type rhythm I need and if I used the overdrive channel as crunch and boost for lead the difference wasn't enough. Basically I wanted it to be an SLO ha.

Seems that amp really frustrated you! I had the exact opposite experience with the MTL. I plugged in, set the eq & bright knobs to 12 oclock, and right away it sounded balanced to me.
Prior to the Wizard, my main amp was an XTC 20th. Many, many knobs and switches! To me, that amp was way more of a balancing act than the Wizard. Plus some extreme knob settings. Getting the Blue and Red channels in their sweet spot was always tricky. Very rewarding, but tricky.
I love that amp too, no doubt. But the MTL wizard immediately felt just right. And with a shared eq, I think the bright knobs are essential to matching up the 2 channels.
I don't have experience with the MCii, but for me the MTL is perfect!

 

[halebox]

I still want to try the mtl. I love the xtc options as they were closer to what I wanted to hear and easy to dial in for me. I liked all the easily accessible in between sounds you could get on the fly. I've only had 100B's though. It sounded great and actually me and redplated^^ did a trade for his loop modded SLO. I think I prefer the upper mid of the slo to the lower mids of Bogner. The SLO is so simple with one footswitch and I love that 2 killer usable sounds. Anyways back on track. Hopefully the newer MTL would be more up my alley.

 

[RedPlated]

I still want to try the mtl. I love the xtc options as they were closer to what I wanted to hear and easy to dial in for me. I liked all the easily accessible in between sounds you could get on the fly. I've only had 100B's though. It sounded great and actually me and redplated^^ did a trade for his loop modded SLO. I think I prefer the upper mid of the slo to the lower mids of Bogner. The SLO is so simple with one footswitch and I love that 2 killer usable sounds. Anyways back on track. Hopefully the newer MTL would be more up my alley.

You really should try the MTL. It's quite a bit different than the MC ii. Really just an almost perfect amp. Very easy to dial in. Mine is a 16' with newest transformers and updates. I haven't played an older one to compare.

The MTL isn't "metal" like a boosted 5150. Its "metal" in a totally different way.

 

[Racerxrated]

I still want to try the mtl. I love the xtc options as they were closer to what I wanted to hear and easy to dial in for me. I liked all the easily accessible in between sounds you could get on the fly. I've only had 100B's though. It sounded great and actually me and redplated^^ did a trade for his loop modded SLO. I think I prefer the upper mid of the slo to the lower mids of Bogner. The SLO is so simple with one footswitch and I love that 2 killer usable sounds. Anyways back on track. Hopefully the newer MTL would be more up my alley.

You really should try the MTL. It's quite a bit different than the MC ii. Really just an almost perfect amp. Very easy to dial in. Mine is a 16' with newest transformers and updates. I haven't played an older one to compare.

The MTL isn't "metal" like a boosted 5150. Its "metal" in a totally different way.

Yes, MTL is not a Metal amp like one would think. I had a 2012 50w MTL, and it's crazy how much gain you can dial up without ANY mush or loss of string definition. Tight as a frogs ass too. No matter how high you dial the lows.

If I had the kind of disposable income that would let me keep a few 3-4K amps around I'd still have it, and probably an MCII also.

 

[fuzzyguitars]

i have 2016 mtl and 2016 mc2

they are different beasts

but they still sound like wizards with that visceral gut punch when they are brought up to gigging volumes.

the 2016 and up versions have a much better taper on the master volume than the previous iterations

but when played past the 9 o clock position on the master volume both sound identical.

the loop when the master volume low does have some tone difference when enaged, but again ince the amp is up to a respectable volume i dont hear much of any difference when the loop is engaged in and out.

the mids on the mc2 is highly dependent on the countour knob, with this knob full clockwise gives you the most mids and punch, turning down begins to scoop the mids.

the mtl is my favorite for what i do, sounds thicker, and has more gain than the mc2.

another trick is that you need to turn the bright knob up and dial the treble and presence down to retain that wicked slice on the amp. keep it at least half way up and then dial the amp in from the on the overdrive channels.

 

[lespaul6]

The SLO was too thick and round for me.. not enough marshall stringiness and string zing.. when I got my first Marshall slash 2555sl it sent the SLO packing.. try playing anything off appetite with a SLO- impossible, too dark, too compressed, too smooth.

 

[RedB4Black]

I think my MCII is a 2014 and I got my MTL direct from Rick in July 2016. I don't notice much difference on the volume taper between the two. I usually have them around 11:00 when I play. I agree on the bright knobs. I'm usually at 3:00 with the MTL and 1:00 on the MCII. I like it brighter & grinding so my presence and treble are up a bit too. The contour on my MCII has a huge impact. I usually have it set around 1:00

 

[RedPlated]

Btw, does anyone know what "WRDS" stands for? Been having me curious for a while....

 

[sg guy]

Btw, does anyone know what "WRDS" stands for? Been having me curious for a while....

-(WRDS)-is what MALCOLM called WIZARD's, Then---------WRDS- became the name of MALCOLM'S amp's-

 

[Racerxrated]

The SLO was too thick and round for me.. not enough marshall stringiness and string zing.. when I got my first Marshall slash 2555sl it sent the SLO packing.. try playing anything off appetite with a SLO- impossible, too dark, too compressed, too smooth.

If you dial the gain to around 5, crank the presence and put the treble at 0-4, mids at 4 then clean boost it you'd be surprised at how 'modded Marshall' the SLO can be....

 

[braintheory]

The SLO was too thick and round for me.. not enough marshall stringiness and string zing.. when I got my first Marshall slash 2555sl it sent the SLO packing.. try playing anything off appetite with a SLO- impossible, too dark, too compressed, too smooth.

If you dial the gain to around 5, crank the presence and put the treble at 0-4, mids at 4 then clean boost it you'd be surprised at how 'modded Marshall' the SLO can be....

That's more of less what I did when I had an SLO. It sounded great and I thought it had that modded Marshall sound in spades and was my next favorite amp behind my IIC+, but then I got a Wizard and the SLO sounded comparatively small, smooth (like lespaul6 said), compressed and tame. I agree with lespaul6's finding except for the part about it sounding dark. It can sound dark maybe compared to some Marshall type amps, but compared to most amps it's not dark at all. As other said the MTL doesn't quite have the upper mid thing of the Marshall's but I didn't think the SLO had it either. That's where my modded Marshall's shine. The Helios had the upper mids too, but I still felt my modded Marshall's had it better when AB'ed

 

[Alex_S]

i have 2016 mtl and 2016 mc2

they are different beasts

but they still sound like wizards with that visceral gut punch when they are brought up to gigging volumes.

the 2016 and up versions have a much better taper on the master volume than the previous iterations

but when played past the 9 o clock position on the master volume both sound identical.

the loop when the master volume low does have some tone difference when enaged, but again ince the amp is up to a respectable volume i dont hear much of any difference when the loop is engaged in and out.

the mids on the mc2 is highly dependent on the countour knob, with this knob full clockwise gives you the most mids and punch, turning down begins to scoop the mids.

the mtl is my favorite for what i do, sounds thicker, and has more gain than the mc2.

another trick is that you need to turn the bright knob up and dial the treble and presence down to retain that wicked slice on the amp. keep it at least half way up and then dial the amp in from the on the overdrive channels.

Great post! Thanks a lot! Do you know what's the difference between the treble in the front and in the back?

Is the MTL as tight, fast and slim in the bass as the MC2?

Ciao Alex

 

[RedPlated]

Btw, does anyone know what "WRDS" stands for? Been having me curious for a while....

-(WRDS)-is what MALCOLM called WIZARD's, Then---------WRDS- became the name of MALCOLM'S amp's-

I thought that was "ARD".... I've seen early Wizards with that logo.

 

[oldmtlhed]

I think it sounds like mid-scooped PANTERA style metal.

And yeah, if I ever spent $4k on ANY amp... not only would I expect it to sound PERFECT right out of the box,
I would expect it to play the guitar FOR ME!

 

[Alex_S]

I think it sounds like mid-scooped PANTERA style metal.

And yeah, if I ever spent $4k on ANY amp... not only would I expect it to sound PERFECT right out of the box,
I would expect it to play the guitar FOR ME!

It really doesn't. Actually the MC2 has some strong classic rock vibes in it as well. Depends on player, dialing in and speakers of course.

Only thing you wouldn't be happy: it's is the contrary to play for you Actually it dissects what's shitty player one is. It is like a sports car. Very direct. Doesn't forgive anything. But if you get it under control, boy...

 

[sg guy]

Btw, does anyone know what "WRDS" stands for? Been having me curious for a while....

-(WRDS)-is what MALCOLM called WIZARD's, Then---------WRDS- became the name of MALCOLM'S amp's-

I thought that was "ARD".... I've seen early Wizards with that logo.

-that's it!! -ARD- Rick's WIZARD Prototype, as the legend and WIKI goes, I couldn't find anything about it on the WIZARD website, just a pic of Malcolm & Angus standing next to a couple of stack's with -ARD- in the upper left corner of the amp. There listed as "ARTIST'S WHO USE WIZARD AMP'S"..

 

[thegame]

Btw, does anyone know what "WRDS" stands for? Been having me curious for a while....

Wizard Research & Development Systems.