Wizard modern classic II or I vs Friedman BE100

[volt13]

Hi all,

I have already posted this question in the wizard section, but as some said it will be easy to find traffic and answers here.



I 'm looking for my new amp, and i finally have two on my short list (Wizard MCII and BE 100). But impossible to test by myself and compare these two heads.

I saw that some of you , own or owned these 2 beast. So, I m very curious for your feedback on each of them. Is there main difference? comments or advices ?

I know these are 2 greats amps but i have to make a choice, so any help welcome

 

[thegame]

Both have much Marshall influence and very organic, natural sounding mids with nice harmonics. Friedman more a well done straight up modded high gain Marshall with more (not excessive) smooth compression. Wizard more a Marshall/Hiwatt hybrid with more percussive Hiwatt upper mid grind to it.

 

[joepete77]

To me they both seem to Have a thick in the mids and somewhat dark voicing. I guess it's just taste and other factors that will help one make up their minds.

 

[LP Freak]

The Friedman is way more versatile.

 

[lespaul6]

The Friedman is way more versatile.

No way! clean on the wiz blows doors on the be 100 and the wiz is just a bigger sounding amp in comparison imo

 

[LP Freak]

The Friedman is way more versatile.

No way! clean on the wiz blows doors on the be 100 and the wiz is just a bigger sounding amp in comparison imo

Yea way...and besides that you can't give away a used Wizard.

 

[lespaul6]

Thats just flavor of the month tendencies... I remembers when you couldnt give away a bogner ecstasy a few years ago...lol

 

[rlord1974]

...and besides that you can't give away a used Wizard.

I'll take it!

 

[IntenseJim]

...and besides that you can't give away a used Wizard.

I'll take it!

SOLID GOLD

 

[pstar]

not going to give any of mine away unless u r a good friend.......

have a mc2 in the coral, and have heard the friedman. MC2 clean is huge , warm and blew me away, was not expecting it in the least. Not a clean type of guy, hahaha, but any country or jazz cat would be in heaven. The dirty side has great note articulation and separation with warmth and fullness, not chiminess and no bottom end as many hot rodded marshallesque amps do. Not an amp to hide behind fuzziness sizzle.
Not to be used as a fill in string synth pad as many modern high gainers tend to be used for, u know hold bar chords to full up the ears/just to make noise.

thread says mc2 not mc.... 2 different animals.

 

[VC4Ever]

The Friedman is way more versatile.

No way! clean on the wiz blows doors on the be 100 and the wiz is just a bigger sounding amp in comparison imo

Yea way...and besides that you can't give away a used Wizard.

...you are an idiot.

 

[LP Freak]

The Friedman is way more versatile.

No way! clean on the wiz blows doors on the be 100 and the wiz is just a bigger sounding amp in comparison imo

Yea way...and besides that you can't give away a used Wizard.

...you are an idiot.

Thanks man, the truth hurts don't it.

 

[glip22]

Hi all,

I have already posted this question in the wizard section, but as some said it will be easy to find traffic and answers here.



I 'm looking for my new amp, and i finally have two on my short list (Wizard MCII and BE 100). But impossible to test by myself and compare these two heads.

I saw that some of you , own or owned these 2 beast. So, I m very curious for your feedback on each of them. Is there main difference? comments or advices ?

I know these are 2 greats amps but i have to make a choice, so any help welcome

Shoot Steve K a PM. He had them both together.

 

[VC4Ever]

yea your truth is the earth is flat. Steve_K sold both his Wizard MCII in no time. And you don't see to many Wizards for sale cause poeple are too busy playing them. Haven't heard much about Freidman amps lately cause it was the flavor of the month or week or whatever.

 

[J.B.]

I’ve had both multiple times. Wizard all the way… Especially considering people are giving them away. Way better resale...

 

[joepete77]

Yeah the clean and semi clean on the mc sound pretty killer but i wouldnt buy an amp for its clean tone. its the overdrive that would win me over, along with build quality and availability of warranty work if needed. Would be cool to do a side by side demo with these two. You will probably get more honest opinions via pm from the guys who have actually owned both. Then again it comes down to personal choice with tone.

 

[LP Freak]

Why PM? If it's good it's good, if not oh well. It's just one guy's opinion right?

 

[jcj]

Do you have any volume restrictions?

 

[steve_k]

Hi all,

I have already posted this question in the wizard section, but as some said it will be easy to find traffic and answers here.



I 'm looking for my new amp, and i finally have two on my short list (Wizard MCII and BE 100). But impossible to test by myself and compare these two heads.

I saw that some of you , own or owned these 2 beast. So, I m very curious for your feedback on each of them. Is there main difference? comments or advices ?

I know these are 2 greats amps but i have to make a choice, so any help welcome

The BE100 is a collection of Marshall tones with a few manual voicing options. It is going to be compressed more than the Wizard and works well too at low volumes. I found the HBE fairly noisy and the gain unusable as compared to the Wizard. The MC2 is pretty much in your face and you need to be able to play with a little volume. But, it has 4 levels of gain and rhythm/lead switching that you won't find on the BE100. So, the MC2 as far as functionality is a far better amp. The MC2 was tamed a bit over the originals. Rick builds a good amp and the quality is top shelf. Price is the biggest thing though with the Wizards. Rick plays by the rules and the export duties get passed on to you. Keep your eyes open for a used one. But, you would definitely opt for a MC2 over an original, mainly due to the quiet switching and channel/gain selection - and the voicing isn't cloned. British flavor, but certainly not copied and cloned.

Steve

 

[volt13]

Thank you all !!

@jcj: i dont realy have volume restriction, i mean, i live in a house and play at little gigs volume daily, but if I need I can use a good amp attenuator.

@LP Freak: you wrote that BE 100 is more versatile ? What do you mean ? more versatile in high gain sound ? or more usuable in classic rock tone.

@steve-k: i agree , the sample of the HBE seem a little bit too much for my use. to detail a little my search: I play some southern hard rock stuff and I need sounds from ZZtop, darkness, Lynyrd, to Hard rock 80/90's. Having a good classic crunch warm and dynamic could be important too and a massive lead tone.

For clean and blues sound I probalby will go on a two rock, or keep my Suhr Badger 30 in the no master mode. For Metal and modern sounds I own an Ubershall Bogner . So what I need is A head that will cover all the classic and hard area but with a real growl ,dynamique, and" in your face" feeling.