Wizard MTL MK2 VS Marshall JMP 2203 (full mix)

[That1Guy]

As is they compliment each other nicely! The Wizard is my fav and I’d love to hear it brighten up a little in isolation though. That was fun, thanks for sharing!

 

[saxxamafone]

Where do you set the presence, treble, mid sweep and bright? I tend to run them all pretty high and it gives it that grinding snarl I love about the amp.

Presence 8, treble 8, sweep 10 and bright was 5.
I threw an example in the follow up clip to share how it sounds in my rig with putting the bright up to 8 too.

I hate being negative, but I think the attack is a bit too scratchy on both, but particularly on the Marshall. What kind of pickups were you using? Because the Wizard is completely unboosted, right? Almost sounds TCIP-ish to me.

Not negative at all mate! We all hear things differently. I tend to like the brighter tones with the low tuning otherwise it's a little muddy to me.
Pickups were Bareknuckle Painkillers.
Yep Wizard was straight in, no boost.

This is what I heard too. I did like the wizard more but it sounded a bit thin. I think I’d liked it more frowny EQ boosted to help thicken it up.

Captured a clip with the mids on full in the follow up to show how it sounds more thickened there

What was the recording chain? Micced cab or direct? If a live cab, what speakers?

The MTL sounds a little too dark for my taste. I'd back off both the depth and bass to between 9-10:00. Also up the lead gain a touch to 2-3:00. It looks like you had the presence around 3:00 which is where it needs to be to open up the amp, maybe a touch higher at 4:00.

I liked the 2203 better in this clip... but would love it with the presence at 3:00 and bass at 11:00.

Gutiar to Amp to mic'd V30 speaker into my interface.
Tried your presence on 4pm tip in the follow up video... can definitely brighten the amp!

Tried a 2203 clip with the presence at 3:00 and the bass backed back too... that sounds real nice actually, i dig it.

This is what I think as well. Both sounded great but I prefer the Wizard. What pickups did you use? Also, I wonder how the Marshall would sound if you moved the tone to 1 o'clock and dimed the level on the SD.

Thanks, Bareknuckle Painkillers in this. Follow up clip includes tone on SD at 1pm and tad more gain on the amp, sounds nice.

Yep, Brights, Treb and Pres up around 2:30 - 3 o’clock sits nice in mix?
I like sweep around 1-2 o’clock
The MTL will cut very nicely in a mix, without harshness if you just turn the knobs with your ears and not your eyes.

I tried this and really liked it, example in my follow up clip

 

[saxxamafone]

As is they compliment each other nicely! The Wizard is my fav and I’d love to hear it brighten up a little in isolation though. That was fun, thanks for sharing!

Captured some brighter wizard tones in the follow up. Thanks for checking it out!

 

[saxxamafone]

Ok, rather than hypothesize how things could sound with various tweaks... I took the feedback and threw down some more tests.... I was curious myself to hear how it would sound!

@SQUAREHEAD
@glpg80
@mhenson42
@Wizard of Ozz
@MetalThrasher

 

[LPMojoGL]

Both sound killer! I’ve been wanting a 2204 (clone or otherwise) to go with my MTLs

Funny, I was thinking as I listened that a 2204 would split the difference, having a bit more mids than the 2203 but still having the krang.


Dig the clips and the newer, OP! The MTL has such a meaty tone, you can take a bite out of it. Both sound great. Both is always the answer.

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

Ok, rather than hypothesize how things could sound with various tweaks... I took the feedback and threw down some more tests.... I was curious myself to hear how it would sound!

@SQUAREHEAD
@glpg80
@mhenson42
@Wizard of Ozz
@MetalThrasher

Very cool. I liked this run through much better. The tone is way more alive and cutting.

 

[gbsmusic]

They both sound incredible but to my ears I prefer the wizard it just sounds more aggressive and Tighter. Nice job!

 

[Greazygeo]

Marshall has that scritchy high mid sound those 03/04 have. Not a fan of that. Wizard sounds much more even from low to high. Clarity in the chords is better. Would like to try one in person sometime.

 

[skoora]

The Marshall cuts a little better it seems?? but the Wizard doesn't have that shitty snarling, broken sounding texture over top of the sound like the Marshall does... it seems that Marshall is just gasping for more gain but can't deliver, even with the pedal. I like the Wizard better tonally.

Like he said, the pre is only on 6 (but in my experience 6-7 is the sweet spot on those anyway) and only using an SD1 for boosting. There are so many pedals now that would boost that Marshall into more gain than you could deal with. Personally I prefer the rawness of the Marshall, which for you may be that shitty, snarling, broken sound…lol
edit….Just listened to the follow up and still prefer the Marshall. It really shines on those higher voicing stabs by being richer and better top end. Plus a I like the attack it has. The “evenness” of the Wizard actually bores me a little.

 

[anomaly]

Marshall has that scritchy high mid sound those 03/04 have. Not a fan of that. Wizard sounds much more even from low to high. Clarity in the chords is better. Would like to try one in person sometime.

You don't like that sound either, hey? I'm with you on that. I'm not really a huge Marshall fan to be honest. I must be the only one here that doesn't care for them that much?? I mean, I could live with a 2203 at a gig, but I wouldn't exactly be thrilled about it. I don't mind some recordings with boosted 2203's either, mostly Slayer... They gotta unique sound out of them at least.

 

[saxxamafone]

Marshall has that scritchy high mid sound those 03/04 have. Not a fan of that. Wizard sounds much more even from low to high. Clarity in the chords is better. Would like to try one in person sometime.

Like he said, the pre is only on 6 (but in my experience 6-7 is the sweet spot on those anyway) and only using an SD1 for boosting. There are so many pedals now that would boost that Marshall into more gain than you could deal with. Personally I prefer the rawness of the Marshall, which for you may be that shitty, snarling, broken sound…lol
edit….Just listened to the follow up and still prefer the Marshall. It really shines on those higher voicing stabs by being richer and better top end. Plus a I like the attack it has. The “evenness” of the Wizard actually bores me a little.

You don't like that sound either, hey? I'm with you on that. I'm not really a huge Marshall fan to be honest. I must be the only one here that doesn't care for them that much?? I mean, I could live with a 2203 at a gig, but I wouldn't exactly be thrilled about it. I don't mind some recordings with boosted 2203's either, mostly Slayer... They gotta unique sound out of them at least.

All of this makes sense to me.
One man's rawness and character is another man's brittle/scratchiness.

@skoora I get your comment around the evenness of the wizard, it's so balanced and to some 'so perfect' that it's at risk of becoming generic or boring too.

My preference between the 2 is changing by the hour at the moment. I should just keep 1 panned left and 1 panned right and call it a day ??

 

[Greazygeo]

You don't like that sound either, hey? I'm with you on that. I'm not really a huge Marshall fan to be honest. I must be the only one here that doesn't care for them that much?? I mean, I could live with a 2203 at a gig, but I wouldn't exactly be thrilled about it. I don't mind some recordings with boosted 2203's either, mostly Slayer... They gotta unique sound out of them at least.

Not really a fan of the 03/04 sound. Grew up when that was about all there really was. Tried to make them work back in the day, just ended up using them as power amps.

 

[MetalThrasher]

Ok, rather than hypothesize how things could sound with various tweaks... I took the feedback and threw down some more tests.... I was curious myself to hear how it would sound!

@SQUAREHEAD
@glpg80
@mhenson42
@Wizard of Ozz
@MetalThrasher

They all sound great! I think the Wizard with the new settings seemed to sound better. It sounded less compressed and more open / clearer. The settings that I recommended on the pedal with the Marshall sounded great as well! Nice demos! I feel a Sevendust vibe going on in your playing!