Interesting revelation with my Wizards

I purchased a 100 watt Wizard MCII new in 2013 after playing tons of other boutique amps. A few years later I bought a new 100 watt Wizard MTL and I have an MC25 on order from Rick that is due in about a month. I love my Wizards. Even as good a I think they are, I just tried something with great results that has me pretty stoked. Thought I'd share in case it helps anyone else.

My guitar room at home is not the greatest, as far as sound treatment goes. I have a studio room next to it that I treated and it sounds decent. I've been trying to get back into recording and micing my cabs has proven a little difficult because I couldn't get enough isolation to dial things in like I wanted. What I heard while tracking (through the monitors and through the walls) wasn't really what was being recorded. So, I decided to try a Suhr Reactive Load and IRs. Pretty good results overall. However, I started hearing something that started to bug me. A little sizzle. I hate sizzle.

Sizzle isn't necessarily a bad thing and it kind of comes hand and hand with distortion to a certain degree. The isolated guitar tracks on VanHalen 1 are pretty darn sizzling, if you ask me, and that tone is sought by many guitar players today. And granted, in a mix it can work out great. I'm just not a fan of what I was hearing.

I've done everything to get my recording chain worked out, such as, making sure I'm connecting the Reactive Load into a High impedance input, using a tube pre amp etc.. However, once I heard it in my recordings I started hearing it through my speaker cabinet as well. It wasn't bad but it was there. Time to re-read all the Wizard threads on all the gear forums, which I did. Two things I read made a pretty big positive improvement for me. May be obvious for others so YMMV etc.

1. I have carpet on my floor. I read where people stated that getting the cab off the floor, or just not having carpet at all (not an option for me yet), helped control the low end. Maybe the uncontrolled low end was causing me to set the other controls higher than need be to get the amp to cut and keep the low end tight. I had 4, 2'x4' sheets of 1/4 inch ply wood laying around from another project and so I stacked them on top of each other and put my Wizard cab on top. That one inch of wood made a big improvement. Allowed me to turn up the Bass control more too because the low end was tighter. No effect on the sizzle though.

2. I don't like JJ pre amp tubes. They are just dull sounding and noisy to me. Shortly after I got my first Wizard I replaced all the JJ long plate preamp tubes with high grade Chinese tubes and thought all was right with the world. Replaced the JJs in my MTL as soon as it hit the door. I read on this forum where glip22 said that the JJ long plate worked well in the PI slot. Hmmm... Maybe Rick designed the amp around that tube and maybe the "dullness" in the PI could make a difference. Another big improvement (thanks glip22). The sizzle was gone both in the room and when I was recording with the Reactive Load. This also allowed me to change where I had the presence, treble and bright controls set and so I didn't loose any "lively-ness". Gave the amp more meat.

This may not work for anyone else so take this information with a grain of salt. However, I've heard people say that Wizards are harsh and I never got that. But maybe they were hearing what I was hearing and it translated to harsh in there minds. Maybe their cabs were on the carpet and they were overcompensating with the presence, treble and bright controls like I was. Maybe the PI tube wasn't optimal. Or, maybe not.

Just thought I'd share.

IMHO, YMMV etc.
 
Great info, thanks! I haven't experimented with tubes yet, except for the FX loop tube. I put a JJ 12au7 in there to cut some of the noise. That worked out well.
As soon as I got my Wizard 4x12 I put 3" casters on it. No boominess, and I can dial up the depth control if I need to. Theres no shortage of low end punch on the MTL!

What differences do you notice btw the MCII and the MTL?
 
There was another thread about this that I looked for but couldn't find it. So, here's the short and sweet version:

My MCII has the "C" transformer and my MTL has the "V" so they are not the same there. Plenty of threads on those differences so I won't beat that horse anymore. I think the MCII is a little punchier and the MTL is smoother and has more gain. I use the Rhythm channels as a clean channel and I think the MTL clean is slightly better. They can be dialed in close but not identical. I'm glad I have both as I can cover all the gain ranges from slight breakup to full saturated shred.
 
Back
Top