Wizard Amps: Guys swear by them, clips don't do justice. Are there any clips - even of other amps - that come close?

[Faded Abyss]

Is it just me, or that clip do nothing else for anyone else as well? I mean, it sounds great, but it sounds kind of flat and 2D to me, pointing to a recording issue rather than something wrong with the build.

Wondering if the only way to capture something like the Wizard is one of those 3D audio audio recorders from Zoom and stuff.

yeah… hasn’t that always been par for the course? Headfirst makes really good quality amplifiers but I’ve never heard them sound good on their own channel. Wizard is similar in that there is the other thread saying they can’t find any good sounding examples (not counting records they were actually used on)

The difference now days is that I trust Jason from Headfirst in that he did a good job. I know that people think Ceriatone amps are best to do if you upgrade the transformers and I’m sure a Wizard will sound way better due to so many different reasons even if the circuit is identical

 

[nightlight]

Yes, well aware they are Headfirst clones of the MCII and the MTL. But they didn't sound too impressive.

 

[VonBonfire]

Yes, well aware they are Headfirst clones of the MCII and the MTL. But they didn't sound too impressive.

I bet your JAMES TYLER would smoke through a Wizard MCII half stack.

 

[nightlight]

I bet your JAMES TYLER would smoke through a Wizard MCII half stack.

'Tis a great guitar, and that's a great amp, or so I've heard. Chances of snagging one are less than one in a million these days. In that regard, I bet you playing through one would sound like a million bucks, @VonBonfire . Keep dreaming about gear, that's what I do these days as I scour job portals looking for work.

 

[VonBonfire]

'Tis a great guitar, and that's a great amp, or so I've heard. Chances of snagging one are less than one in a million these days. In that regard, I bet you playing through one would sound like a million bucks, @VonBonfire . Keep dreaming about gear, that's what I do these days as I scour job portals looking for work.

Aw thanks nightlight. There are a lot of great amps out there. I wish Wizard made a 50 watt combo tbh but I still probably will never be able to afford it.

 

[nightlight]

Aw thanks nightlight. There are a lot of great amps out there. I wish Wizard made a 50 watt combo tbh but I still probably will never be able to afford it.

Never say never. I hear Oracle just sacked 30,000 people, while Meta was also prepping for a big announcement. Google, Microsoft, the rest of them too. The way things are going with the economy, you may suddenly see unobtanium amps and guitars coming up for sale all around the place.

 

[VonBonfire]

Never say never. I hear Oracle just sacked 30,000 people, while Meta was also prepping for a big announcement. Google, Microsoft, the rest of them too. The way things are going with the economy, you may suddenly see unobtanium amps and guitars coming up for sale all around the place.

I'm in the lowest spot in gear fund $$$ myself this year trying to pay down some debts. If a Wizard came up for $500 I'd have no choice but to pass right now. I told myself it was gonna be maintenance items only and I could still use a quartet of power tubes, a JBL reconed, my old Maestro repaired, and a fret dressing on my #2. I've been cutting it down to the bare essentials.

 

[innogator]

When I picked up an MCII EL34 100W, it was quite an experience the first time I played it. What people say is true about the punch and clarity, it's unlike anything else I've played. The word that comes to mind when I play it is authority. It's a fun amp to play but can definitely see how capturing it is tough.

With that said, it wouldn't even be a top 5 amp for me. It just doesn't nail the sounds I personally go for so amps like the Snorkler, JEL50, Jose, Ground Zero Hellion V2, and SLO100 all get played more than it does. I do like to keep it around though, it's a sweet amp.

 

[Faded Abyss]

Yes, well aware they are Headfirst clones of the MCII and the MTL. But they didn't sound too impressive.

I just got the Orange Dual Dark white edition on a hunch because the clips that exist on YouTube are shit and there is a thread here on RigTalk full of people that have never played the amp, saying it sucks.

I have owned 4 Orange amps and have liked all of them. They do something unique definitely not a top 3 type of amp but really fun when you want to play something greasy under the fingers like you just got done eating chicken wings.

When I powered it up and played through it I just couldn’t believe how much better it sounded than all the clips and what the people that have never played it claimed. Had I not already had such a good personal experience with Orange amps, I may have passed up on a deal that doesn’t happen very often throughout life all because of a combination of misrepresentations and different preferences. The 4 orange amps I’ve had before do not play or sound as good as this one.

I owe Reza because he has saved me so much money from his amp demo’s. I think he should be honored for all the bank accounts that didn’t get drained due to his demo’s.

So yeah… back to talking about clips of wizard amps that don’t do it justice

 

[nightlight]

I'm in the lowest spot in gear fund $$$ myself this year trying to pay down some debts. If a Wizard came up for $500 I'd have no choice but to pass right now. I told myself it was gonna be maintenance items only and I could still use a quartet of power tubes, a JBL reconed, my old Maestro repaired, and a fret dressing on my #2. I've been cutting it down to the bare essentials.

That's good. Be smart with finances, I know I have to. None of us is getting any younger, and I have a hunch most of us RTers aren't like the tan pants dentists and lawyers on other sites. It's almost like buy now, cry later.

Personally, I'm going to try to stick to the resolution I made a few years ago and then conveniently forgot. Enough with the gear, time to start playing.

In that regard though, sites like this are enablers, with people posting NGDs and NADs all year around haha

 

[VonBonfire]

Personally, I'm going to try to stick to the resolution I made a few years ago and then conveniently forgot. Enough with the gear, time to start playing.

Agreed. I'd rather be playing guitar than working a job just to buy more gear. Spend less, work less, play more. Live cheap=do what I want=play guitar.

 

[mermer]

I just got the Orange Dual Dark white edition on a hunch because the clips that exist on YouTube are shit and there is a thread here on RigTalk full of people that have never played the amp, saying it sucks.

I have owned 4 Orange amps and have liked all of them. They do something unique definitely not a top 3 type of amp but really fun when you want to play something greasy under the fingers like you just got done eating chicken wings.

When I powered it up and played through it I just couldn’t believe how much better it sounded than all the clips and what the people that have never played it claimed. Had I not already had such a good personal experience with Orange amps, I may have passed up on a deal that doesn’t happen very often throughout life all because of a combination of misrepresentations and different preferences. The 4 orange amps I’ve had before do not play or sound as good as this one.

I owe Reza because he has saved me so much money from his amp demo’s. I think he should be honored for all the bank accounts that didn’t get drained due to his demo’s.

So yeah… back to talking about clips of wizard amps that don’t do it justice

I really like some of the videos of Reza, and he is an absolute gentleman. His Fortin modded Marshall video (link) made me realize that the guitar can sound in a certain way that I did not come up before. I am not very old, also had not been around the block for a very long time but he really inspired me in this journey. Some of the videos might not sound optimal but this is just one perspective; another perspective is he is passionate (like all of us, most probably more) about this gear thing and distributes this 'poison' in a nice way.

 

[nightlight]

I really like some of the videos of Reza, and he is an absolute gentleman. His Fortin modded Marshall video (link) made me realize that the guitar can sound in a certain way that I did not come up before. I am not very old, also had not been around the block for a very long time but he really inspired me in this journey. Some of the videos might not sound optimal but this is just one perspective; another perspective is he is passionate (like all of us, most probably more) about this gear thing and distributes this 'poison' in a nice way.

I remember Reza posting on one of my older videos, "That sucks, learn to mic up a cab".

 

[Beyond Black]

I remember Reza posting on one of my older videos, "That sucks, learn to mic up a cab".

Spoken like an absolute gentleman.

 

[no.mids.brando]

Never say never. I hear Oracle just sacked 30,000 people, while Meta was also prepping for a big announcement. Google, Microsoft, the rest of them too. The way things are going with the economy, you may suddenly see unobtanium amps and guitars coming up for sale all around the place.

didn’t think abt it this way but this is likely why i saw a Wizard Rock Standard pop up at a Guitar Center near me. my first time even seeing a Wizard IRL outside of the Aerosmith ride @ Disney. i got a clip of me playing thru it with an MXR overdrive, not the best quality/placement but you can still tell how good this thing sounded

 

[311boogieman]

^ file not playing in player

 

[Jakem]

Was searching for MCII clips today and damn the amp sounds sick.

 

[heavision]

I think it's commonly accepted on the forums that no one has captured a Wizard amp in all its glory. Or at least, I haven't seen people posting definitive clips, most of them sound pretty similar to the other high gain amp clips that do the rounds.

Despite that, so many people swear by them on Rig Talk.

I've never even been in the same room with a Wizard, the closest was the Wizard cab half stacks (wasn't sure if they were using Wizard heads as well) at a Foo Fighters concert. Couldn't tell much at that distance.

So are there any clips people can say, "Yeah, that sounds like a Wizard"? How would you convey the sound to someone who is quite keen to separate facts from hype?

I mean, let's face it, not a lot of us want to buy an amp that no one can even mic up. And if there's pants flapping in the room, is that really the metric we want to judge our amps by, or is it tone?

Here is the infamous Reza doing a recording of the MTL MKII:



He's a pretty established Youtuber, but the tone sounds like it's farting out on the settings he's raving about at the start.

In comparison, when I hear all the descriptions tossed about on the forum like moving air and thump, I think of this clip captured with a simple cellphone:




Feel free to beat me up about that clip of a Sig:X, but I found it better than Reza's MTL demo and quite a few others of Wizard amps. Does anyone else find it close or comparable to what owners talk about?

Just wondering how to bell the cat, from the perspective of the "words don't do justice" argument.

This probably won’t help, but I have a MCII that I love so I’ll chime in.

It’s the epitome of “you have to actually play one.” Loud. Good guitar. Good 412. Spend ample time with one.

I say “ample time” because, for me anyways, it took a while to bond with the amp. It sounded great right away, but it was weird. Incredibly touch-sensitive, dynamic. Awesome as that is, it can be kinda crazy at first. Not unlike getting on an ultra high performance motorcycle or race car—it’s amazing and exhilarating, but it takes some time to get the hang of it. Hard to control at first. There’s definitely a “feeling it out” phase, way more than other amps IME. But once you get the feel of it, holy shit.

My MCII is quite different from my other amps—I have a bunch. Totally its own thing IMO. It’s “own thing” is defined by its touch-sensitivity/dynamics, clarity, punch and massive sonic footprint.

The tone—the character of OD—is great but it is not what separates it from other amps. If there is something unique about its tone, I’d say it is its clarity, richness, harmonic content; other than that it is just a killer M-type tone.

It is the feeling under your fingers, the symbiotic interaction with the amp, that sets it apart. And that is something clips can’t really capture or convey.

Also; the MCII is an amp that truly comes to life loud, live, in a mix. She wants to be opened up. Sitting alone noodling on it can be fun for sure. But when you put the spurs to her, let her breathe and get her blood pumping, loud, live: it’s a visceral experience.
My $.02.

 

[nightlight]

This probably won’t help, but I have a MCII that I love so I’ll chime in.

It’s the epitome of “you have to actually play one.” Loud. Good guitar. Good 412. Spend ample time with one.

I say “ample time” because, for me anyways, it took a while to bond with the amp. It sounded great right away, but it was weird. Incredibly touch-sensitive, dynamic. Awesome as that is, it can be kinda crazy at first. Not unlike getting on an ultra high performance motorcycle or race car—it’s amazing and exhilarating, but it takes some time to get the hang of it. Hard to control at first. There’s definitely a “feeling it out” phase, way more than other amps IME. But once you get the feel of it, holy shit.

My MCII is quite different from my other amps—I have a bunch. Totally its own thing IMO. It’s “own thing” is defined by its touch-sensitivity/dynamics, clarity, punch and massive sonic footprint.

The tone—the character of OD—is great but it is not what separates it from other amps. If there is something unique about its tone, I’d say it is its clarity, richness, harmonic content; other than that it is just a killer M-type tone.

It is the feeling under your fingers, the symbiotic interaction with the amp, that sets it apart. And that is something clips can’t really capture or convey.

Also; the MCII is an amp that truly comes to life loud, live, in a mix. She wants to be opened up. Sitting alone noodling on it can be fun for sure. But when you put the spurs to her, let her breathe and get her blood pumping, loud, live: it’s a visceral experience.
My $.02.

Thanks for the review. I guess that the question remains the same though: why is no one able to capture this beast on a recording? And why is it on such a few recordings?

I mean, feel is great, and I rate amps highly because of it. But I've never played a Wizard, so it's just hearsay.

There are guys with massive budgets and access to top shelf studios, but - at least in most of the music I have - it doesn't figure. The "new" Judas Priest may be the exception, as well as some of the 1990 and onwards ACDC albums.

Anyhow, this is going in circles and there were some cool tracks shared here, so thanks for that guys.

Wondering if there are other similar amps that you have to try out to explain how good they are.

 

[ZEN Amps]

All recordings are a compromise and only capture a part of the experience. In this regard, I don't find Wizards any harder to record.

But...the Wizard power section is particularly punchy (maybe where the Hiwatt reference comes into it?) so you could argue that recordings are less likely to convey the in-room experience. Thanks to the Mercury iron and healthy plate voltages a 50W Wizard decimates others 50s - and hangs with most 100 watters just fine. Dynamics, transient response, trouser-flappedness - it's not going to translate.

Wondering if there are other similar amps that you have to try out to explain how good they are.

Pretty much every real amp that people typically play loud via a cab.