Wizard guys 100w versus 50w

cragginshrd

cragginshrd

Active member
I owned a couple of 50w Wizards and struggled with ch 1 using bad cat pull feature and boost into front. For those who have tried BOTH the 50 and 100w versions have you noticed the 100w saturate at higher volumes on ch1 allowing for a more useable rock crunch (boosted) tone on ch1 ?

I always struggled with ch1 -too bright too much gain,..turn gain down nope... For my use ch 2 was for solos only.
 
I haven't owned any 50W, only 100W, but theoretically there will be less saturation at high volumes because there's more headroom available. So you're farther away from being at a volume level needed to start pushing the power tubes.

As a side note, I think it can be agreed that a 50W Wizard has enough power running on the plates to match a normal 100W amp. Therefore a 100W Wizard = 150W normal amp, 150W Wizard = 200W normal amp, etc. Also, the 100W MCII and MTL I had were ~ 55 lbs each and sucked to carry to a practice space every week. Keep that in mind. I think most people with 100W+ Wizards keep them at home (lol).
 
No. The 100w's I have played and the ones I own now (w800, MC1) definitely don't saturate as the volume goes up. They stay tight, clear and just get bigger and punchier. I for one, am glad that is their response, as that more dry and almost acoustic like attack is what I love.
 
VHTStark said:
No. The 100w's I have played and the ones I own now (w800, MC1) definitely don't saturate as the volume goes up. They stay tight, clear and just get bigger and punchier. I for one, am glad that is their response, as that more dry and almost acoustic like attack is what I love.
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I ask because as I tried articulate in the op is the 50 ch1 at a loud band volume either had too much or too little gain so I ran the gain higher. Just wondering if the 100 would be easier to get a killer rock crunch

That s always the crux. Ch 2 is a no brainer
 
I tried to use Ch1 (Rhythm with black cat engaged), using Ch 2 for leads also.

Didn’t work.
My problem was the black cat rhythm channel just sounded (and felt) anemic compared to the lead channel, which was glorious.
Now, I realize, most Wizard owners don’t care and don’t use the rhythm channel on their amps 99.99% of the time, so it’s not a concern.
I just found, for me, there was no way to get the Ch1 Blsck Cat to sound and feel as full and meaty as the lead channel.

I even went as far as putting different NOS tubes in each channel designated preamp tube slot to make it closer… nope.

They just didn’t work well together.
On the other hand, setting up the rhythm channel for cleaner tones, I could get a better ‘balance’ as far as eq goes, but I was looking for a chunky rhythm tone to go well with the lead channel.

Wizard lead channels are superb though, no doubt at all there😉👍
 
People use CH 1? 😆

My MC1 CH2 does pretty much anything (except 7 string). We did everything from Tom Petty, John Cougar to Metallica, Megadeth Ozzy etc. Ch2 without the gain boost, gain about 7, LED’s about half way up. Then toggle a TS9 I modded years ago for some things. Adjust the gtr vol here and there. Covers it all.
This amp has been with me since ‘05 so kinda know how to make it do what I want.

50 watt amps never stick around very long for me. Never tried a 50 Wizard though.
 
SQUAREHEAD said:
I tried to use Ch1 (Rhythm with black cat engaged), using Ch 2 for leads also.

Didn’t work.
My problem was the black cat rhythm channel just sounded (and felt) anemic compared to the lead channel, which was glorious.
Now, I realize, most Wizard owners don’t care and don’t use the rhythm channel on their amps 99.99% of the time, so it’s not a concern.
I just found, for me, there was no way to get the Ch1 Blsck Cat to sound and feel as full and meaty as the lead channel.

I even went as far as putting different NOS tubes in each channel designated preamp tube slot to make it closer… nope.

They just didn’t work well together.
On the other hand, setting up the rhythm channel for cleaner tones, I could get a better ‘balance’ as far as eq goes, but I was looking for a chunky rhythm tone to go well with the lead channel.
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Agreed and still loving the Alta but the million dollar crux is string clarity/kerrang versus crushing thick tone the Wizard offers. I did get very close on ch1 with a lot of harmonic complexity but as stated in the OP finding the right amount of highs and gain was tough -below is a clip of mostly ch1 live unless Im playing leads then it was 2

@Greazygeo any clips of doing the classic material without the ch2 pull feature? One of the things I love about the Alta is that it sounds Killer at lower gain settings. I tried ch 2 on the MC II and it was still so saturated. Like so many high gain monsters that don't do low gain well

 
cragginshrd said:
Agreed and still loving the Alta but the million dollar crux is string clarity/kerrang versus crushing thick tone the Wizard offers. I did get very close on ch1 with a lot of harmonic complexity but as stated in the OP finding the right amount of highs and gain was tough -below is a clip of mostly ch1 live unless Im playing leads then it was 2

@Greazygeo any clips of doing the classic material without the ch2 pull feature? One of the things I love about the Alta is that it sounds Killer at lower gain settings. I tried ch 2 on the MC II and it was still so saturated. Like so many high gain monsters that don't do low gain well

Click to expand...

I don’t think I have any classic stuff. That would have been the 200-2008 period and not much video of that era. A few vids here and there on Facebook. I will look and see what I might have.

What I don’t do is try to 100% nail tones for covers. I just do my thing. If they want 100% there are original cersions they can listen too. 😁
 
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