Wizard MCII vs Morris Perplex'd

[Crash-VR]

I’ve never played or heard a Wizard in my life. But I’ve owned almost all of Glen’s models at some time or another. All of them were great but I narrowed them down to find the best one for me…….satisfying and painless to do when you get the best customer service ever.

Based on YouTube clips, you need to be comparing the Wizard stuff to the Morris XSIII. That is the only one I still own. It is like a Marshall/Hiwatt/Fryette mashup that can pretty much do anything I want with the dual gain pots. Sounds great at any volume. I will never get rid of this amp. I recently had to sell of my Morris 69/70’ due to some unexpected bills, but that was also an incredible head.

One thing about Morris amps is that they really show the difference in subtleties like guitar wood, pickups, tubes, etc. So I could easily see why someone might have a bad experience.

I’ve heard that the XSIII compares favorably to the MCII, and it’s half the price with two completely separate channels.

it’s funny, Glen and Rick are opposites to communicate with. Rick keeps it very short and to the point and rarely answers follow up questions. Glen will talk your ear off.

 

[MetalHeadMike]

I’ve owned two Morris Perplex’d amps, and six Wizards. An early, VC100, an MCII 50, MCII 100, MTL 100, and currently own the MCII 150 and the MC25. For me Wizards have much more of the fundamental in the note, and Morris seems hollow by comparison. The Wizard rhythm tone just does it for me. A Perplex’d with a good boost is a seriously amazing lead tone. The controlled feedback and the way feels and sounds like the amp could blow, but it just holds together, is awesome. A Wizard by comparison stays way more composed at all times. I prefer the Wizard in every way except that boosted lead tone. But I have yet to experience any amp come anywhere close to a Wizard in a mix. The Morris disappeared by comparison, but was easier to play in its own.

I've also owned six Wizards and the Perplex'd you sold me and I agree with your take. The Morris had much more gain and compression while the Wizards are more raw, open, articulate, punchy, crunchy and hold together better. I thought the Morris was an amazing amp, but the MCII is on another level. That Perplex'd had an amazingly deep/huge low end response and could get very thick I thought.

 

[Crash-VR]

I've also owned six Wizards and the Perplex'd you sold me and I agree with your take. The Morris had much more gain and compression while the Wizards are more raw, open, articulate, punchy, crunchy and hold together better. I thought the Morris was an amazing amp, but the MCII is on another level. That Perplex'd had an amazingly deep/huge low end response and could get very thick I thought.

I agree with that. Morris are hard to beat for the price. Wizard just can’t be beat at any price. IMHO of course.

 

[Crash-VR]

I used the Morris Dismorrtion pedal as a preamp into my Wizard MC25 in the studio the last couple days. Amazing tone. Sat right where the producer/engineer wanted it in the mix with my Ruokangas Unicorn. Massive sound.

 

[Exo-metal]

I just received a Morris '69/70 Muscle. This is based off of a old Marshall tremolo. I've heard this amp described as the single channel version of the Perplex'd, however when talking w/ Glen Morris he stated the '69/70 is more raw than the Perplexed. I've only played the '69/70 at low volumes and have not had a chance to play this in a band setting yet so can't give a full review yet. I will tell you that when I was looking for a raw, open, punchy amp w/ full Marshall character. Obviously Marshall was at the top of my list as well as Wizard. I also wanted the ability to play at low volumes. I know from personal experience Wizard excels at this and covered the open, raw and punch. Ruled out Marshall, at this time, due to price point and manageable volume issue (I didn't jive w/ power station attenuator). Now I 've only played this at home and at low volumes so this review doesn't carry much weight, but so far it has surpassed my expectations. Probably the best master volume I've ever used. Once I get a new amp I automatically characterize the amp as a Marshall w/ a mix of this or that... This just sounds like a vintage Marshall w/ more gain on tap and a great master volume. Looking forward to trying this in a band contexts.

It's been a while and no further review after you posted. Do u still have the amp or not?

 

[bobbtoz]

Still got it and still digging it! I've played it in band situations and it checks all the boxes! Love that it has a punchy, open tone with great dynamics. I bought this amp w/ the full intension on goosing the front end w/ a boost or eq, but it just sounds great on its own. Definitely the best master volume I've used.

 

[Exo-metal]

Any clips of that amp?

 

[bobbtoz]

Not currently set up to do clips. I've got a few days off next week maybe I'll look into that.