Let's talk Mezzabarba

[RedB4Black]

@fullthrottlesolo @braintheory have y'all tried a w800, the clips sound great. Im contemplating between the wildly different w800, the mzero, redseven leviathan and oddly enough the badcat lynx(just cos of the recent hype) to complement my omega grano. Will be running at home, so its mostly low volume. Thoughts?

I had my w800 up for sale recently. Still would sell, but haven't been bumping the thread as I'm happy to keep it as well

https://www.rig-talk.com/forum/threads/fs-23-wizard-w800-50w-el34.272485/#post-3351922

Can't really compare to the Mezz, R7 or badcat. The grano is much more modern, has more gain the mids are fairly honky (more similar to the Uber Ultra I think). The w800 is more of the classic JCM 800 tone with more gain and voicing options. Mids are more raw and in your face like a Marshall.

 

[SidViscous]

Haven’t tried a w800, but have owned a MTL and MC. Great amps. Very punchy, defined, clear and open, but their Achilles heel for me (some don’t seem to mind) is their lack of growl in the mids and I’d say overall tone in the midrange that I find to be hollow and not as interesting as say a good Marshall. I found they needed to be loud to really do their thing well. I liked the Wizards more than the Mzero I had. I haven’t tried a redseven

I was afraid of the loud thing, it's strange cos wizard owners have given very contrasting feedback, some say it needs to be turned up but others say it sounds better than all other amps at low volume.

 

[SidViscous]

i can source a leviathan for you easily- dm if you are serious

also havent played a grano yet but hopefully mine is done soon

and Megalith Beta was made by MI who dont make them anymore- if you are ever near nj feel free to come try them lol

Sick, you have a way to get new redseven or on the used market? I'll check out more demos and DM you if that's the one for me. I think it sounds phenomenal but worried that it is similar to the omega.

 

[braintheory]

I was afraid of the loud thing, it's strange cos wizard owners have given very contrasting feedback, some say it needs to be turned up but others say it sounds better than all other amps at low volume.

IME they can sound good at low volumes too, but what makes them special to me from other amps is the hard hitting punch and air they move, which I found you really gotta go loud to get that full experience. The tone itself of them I’m not actually too crazy about. I like that they sound very raw and organic for a non-vintage amps, but the lack of midrange growl or tonal richness in that region on chords just isn’t satisfying to my ears, but there is certainly a big wow factor to playing those amps in person

 

[Yehuda]

Sick, you have a way to get new redseven or on the used market? I'll check out more demos and DM you if that's the one for me. I think it sounds phenomenal but worried that it is similar to the omega.

definitely has its own sound compared to grano based on people i know who have both- and yeah new or used

 

[LPMojoGL]

@fullthrottlesolo @braintheory have y'all tried a w800, the clips sound great. Im contemplating between the wildly different w800, the mzero, redseven leviathan and oddly enough the badcat lynx(just cos of the recent hype) to complement my omega grano. Will be running at home, so its mostly low volume. Thoughts?

I've only played the Mzero from those choices. It's killer. Like an upgraded, more versatile SLO, with an EL34 power section, footswitchable between 3 different sounds, negative feedback knob.
Has more upper mid grind than an SLO. Sounds more pissed off, not as polite or refined, but can get really close to the SLO. Great for just about anything rock.

 

[VHTStark]

@fullthrottlesolo @braintheory have y'all tried a w800, the clips sound great. Im contemplating between the wildly different w800, the mzero, redseven leviathan and oddly enough the badcat lynx(just cos of the recent hype) to complement my omega grano. Will be running at home, so its mostly low volume. Thoughts?

I currently own a Wizard w800 and have owned the Mezzabarba Trinity. Very different amps.

The w800 is Wizards idealized take (not direct copy), of a jcm 800. It has much higher plate voltages, more useable gain, an excellent boost, great effects loop and very powerful tone controls (includes the contour and push/pull tone on treble). It has all the upper mid kerrang and aggression of a great Marshall and is incredibly tight, fast and clear like all Wizards.

The Trinity was a cool amp. Great control layout, excellent cleans, amazing sounding crunch channel with awesome and usable boost and brights. SLO like high gain channel, that I found a bit more Marshally and tight. Tone rating: excellent! I just never got on with the particular feel of the amp.

For me, it isn't even close: Wizard all day long. The Mezzabarba is a top tier amp, with great tone, that didn't last for me, while the Wizard checks every box and will be a lifer amp.

This is a biased opinion though: as a guy coming from Fryette and having a love of the feel of old Hiwatt amps, it makes sense I would prefer the Wizard. I know it can be tough, but best bet is to find a way to try one out!

 

[SidViscous]

I had my w800 up for sale recently. Still would sell, but haven't been bumping the thread as I'm happy to keep it as well

https://www.rig-talk.com/forum/threads/fs-23-wizard-w800-50w-el34.272485/#post-3351922

Can't really compare to the Mezz, R7 or badcat. The grano is much more modern, has more gain the mids are fairly honky (more similar to the Uber Ultra I think). The w800 is more of the classic JCM 800 tone with more gain and voicing options. Mids are more raw and in your face like a Marshall.

sick thats a great description, im clearly heading in a direction where i'll own all these amps at some point. Now the question is what first. The mzero was the frontrunner for me till the damn grounding thing

 

[SidViscous]

IME they can sound good at low volumes too, but what makes them special to me from other amps is the hard hitting punch and air they move, which I found you really gotta go loud to get that full experience. The tone itself of them I’m not actually too crazy about. I like that they sound very raw and organic for a non-vintage amps, but the lack of midrange growl or tonal richness in that region on chords just isn’t satisfying to my ears, but there is certainly a big wow factor to playing those amps in person

im curious about the hollowness, are we talking about the marshall bite/bite snarl...is the W800 just too polished for htat?

 

[SidViscous]

I've only played the Mzero from those choices. It's killer. Like an upgraded, more versatile SLO, with an EL34 power section, footswitchable between 3 different sounds, negative feedback knob.
Has more upper mid grind than an SLO. Sounds more pissed off, not as polite or refined, but can get really close to the SLO. Great for just about anything rock.

this is exactly what i gleaned from the demos!! i might just get one and have a tech look at the amp to make sure there are no grounding issues

 

[SidViscous]

I currently own a Wizard w800 and have owned the Mezzabarba Trinity. Very different amps.

The w800 is Wizards idealized take (not direct copy), of a jcm 800. It has much higher plate voltages, more useable gain, an excellent boost, great effects loop and very powerful tone controls (includes the contour and push/pull tone on treble). It has all the upper mid kerrang and aggression of a great Marshall and is incredibly tight, fast and clear like all Wizards.

The Trinity was a cool amp. Great control layout, excellent cleans, amazing sounding crunch channel with awesome and usable boost and brights. SLO like high gain channel, that I found a bit more Marshally and tight. Tone rating: excellent! I just never got on with the particular feel of the amp.

For me, it isn't even close: Wizard all day long. The Mezzabarba is a top tier amp, with great tone, that didn't last for me, while the Wizard checks every box and will be a lifer amp.

This is a biased opinion though: as a guy coming from Fryette and having a love of the feel of old Hiwatt amps, it makes sense I would prefer the Wizard. I know it can be tough, but best bet is to find a way to try one out!

i keep hearing that ppl didnt get along with the feel of the amp, its so common now that im curious what that means. To me feel is definitely one of the biggest factors. Sometimes u just know. So many ppl saying they didnt get along with the feel of the amp is a bit concerning

 

[pipboy90]

i keep hearing that ppl didnt get along with the feel of the amp, its so common now that im curious what that means. To me feel is definitely one of the biggest factors. Sometimes u just know. So many ppl saying they didnt get along with the feel of the amp is a bit concerning

It's plays like a SLO-100 (because it's mostly a copy of one with some tone stack tweaks). If you like the saggy response of a SLO, you'll like the Mezzabarba stuff. You can always boost it.

 

[CrystalSky]

i can source a leviathan for you easily- dm if you are serious

also havent played a grano yet but hopefully mine is done soon

and Megalith Beta was made by MI who dont make them anymore- if you are ever near nj feel free to come try them lol

Wait, MI Audio stopped production?

 

[SidViscous]

It's plays like a SLO-100 (because it's mostly a copy of one with some tone stack tweaks). If you like the saggy response of a SLO, you'll like the Mezzabarba stuff. You can always boost it.

gotcha so its just whether u like the SLO feel, thanks for clarifying

 

[braintheory]

im curious about the hollowness, are we talking about the marshall bite/bite snarl...is the W800 just too polished for htat?

No they’re not polished at all. They’re plenty raw and aggressive overall, which I like, maybe 90-something percent there in rawness vs vintage amps, the midrange itself on Wizard is just smoother and more neutral in nature sorta like a Hiwatt or Fane speakers. If you play various powerchords or chords in general they just don’t growl much in that region and I just find the tone itself in that area to be a bit bland/uninteresting, while Marshall’s (the good ones at least) sound very rich and growl in the mids and uppermids and can have some nice juiciness, while wizards are more dry. If you play a chord on the various Fryette’s and Hiwatt’s they have that same quality on chords that I find just doesn’t satisfy me enough with the growl I like to hear on chords. It leaves me feeling a little empty, hence hollow lol. My Hermansson’s are in some ways even more hollow and lacking richness than these amps, but have other redeeming factors making them keepers. Strat bridge pickups too or H magnet Celestion speakers all have hollow tone that I feel isn’t good personally, but some guys maybe don’t notice it as much, I’m not sure

 

[SidViscous]

No they’re not polished at all. They’re plenty raw and aggressive overall, which I like, maybe 90-something percent there in rawness vs vintage amps, the midrange itself on Wizard is just smoother and more neutral in nature sorta like a Hiwatt or Fane speakers. If you play various powerchords or chords in general they just don’t growl much in that region and I just find the tone itself in that area to be a bit bland/uninteresting, while Marshall’s (the good ones at least) sound very rich and growl in the mids and uppermids and can have some nice juiciness, while wizards are more dry. If you play a chord on the various Fryette’s and Hiwatt’s they have that same quality on chords that I find just doesn’t satisfy me enough with the growl I like to hear on chords. It leaves me feeling a little empty, hence hollow lol. My Hermansson’s are in some ways even more hollow and lacking richness than these amps, but have other redeeming factors making them keepers. Strat bridge pickups too or H magnet Celestion speakers all have hollow tone that I feel isn’t good personally, but some guys maybe don’t notice it as much, I’m not sure

I think I know what you mean, I haven't played a lot of the amps you mentioned so I'm just going by demos

 

[LPMojoGL]

gotcha so its just whether u like the SLO feel, thanks for clarifying

Just played through, and listened to others playing through, a jcm800 50 watt with boosts, modded Roccaforte, Friedman Phil X, and SLO100. Love em all, but I'd take the SLO in a heartbeat if I could have only one. It has the best sound, ever.
A lot of folks prefer the SLO30 to the 100. I am not one of them. I'll put my 100 up against any 30, anytime. In every amp shootout we do, I'm super happy I have this SLO.
Out of 6 overdive pedals, the Timmy V2 was choice for the JCM (Tim right there, but Timmy had the edge in the mids). Demonfx TS clone into a Klone was a killer combo for heavy, modern sounds.