If this were me, and keeping tone + budget in mind:
Triple Rec, mk3 Herbie, ENGL, REVV in that order.
And of that list, I would put the Rec and Herbie a fair bit higher than the 3rd placed ENGL. I probably would not consider the REVV at all....I really disliked both the feel and tone of the...
I think it is because we inherently gravitate to the guitar sounds we grew up with that had the biggest musical impact.
So if you were a 70's/80's kid, that was probably a humbucker equipped strat or Gibson into a Marshall or Marshall related amp (some exceptions, obviously).
The Diezels are...
Yup, the Hiwatt for me as well. When @thegame Mentioned open amps cutting through a mix better than more compressed amps, I immediately thought back to my early punk rock days in the mid 90's with my band playing shows with a 4 hole DR 504.
This post makes me chuckle. Not because you are wrong, but because it brings back an early band memory from the early 00's that fits this exact scenario.
Our other guitar player picked up a Herbert mk1. He would play on channel 2+ or 3 with the depth up and that mid cut way up. Only way he was...
Between these two amps? Herbert.
The Herbert is a versatile beast and while it can do thrash stuff, I do think Marks inherently do the fast stuff better. Herbert is a huge, "wall of sound" style amp, so it takes a bit more careful eq'ing to get there. IME anyways.
I am also in the camp that...
Dude I am jealous. A buddy has one of those and ya....sounds amazing. You are spot on with it being the massive sounding 1x12!
He also has an mk50 amp....also very very killer!
Really great question. I have gone both amp where to minimalist back to where I am now, which is somewhere in between.
The journey started once I got my Ultra Lead in the early 00's. I LOVED that amp, but instead of being satisfied....it gave me a hunger to try out everything. So then came a...
The 57/08's were the first PRS pickups that made me go "wow"! Agreed, they are fantastic PAF style humbuckers.
I have on OG NF3 and love the narrowfields in that guitar: clear and punchy. The bridge pickup actually rips for high gain stuff!
You are right though; these won't be USA pickups in...
I miss Avenue. That is going waaaay back. For local sales I would say I do most of my business with Northerner Guitars. Joel runs a good ship and is a great dude!!
Hermansson still your numero uno?
Man....I would say in most cases for me, I sell or trade. And in most cases, that is the right call and I don't really end up missing what I got rid of. There have been a couple of times I wish I had waited on an amp though....
Ya, the ENGL's are amps I have really tried to give a fair shake to, but they just don't really work for me. I have a friend who is a great player and he swears by them, but I find they have this over-compressed thing that squashes dynamics too much and makes it feel disconnected. It isn't...
It is crazy how big of a difference the different transformers make with Wizards....even with the same tube! I have an EL34 2016 MC1 100W with "C" transformers. Preamp updated to 2023 specs by Rick. Compared to the 2021 MCii EL34 I have played there is absolutely enough difference to be...
Man...I used to be very "anti-boost" and all about the multi channel behemoth amps. Don't get me wrong, I still dig some of them, but plugging in to a good, old single channel with a boost and giving it some volume has really become one of my favorite ways to play now.
I mean, who knew taking a...
Agree! And you know, the take home is that there really is never a "be all, end all" amp that checks every single box at the pinnacle. And that is completely OK! I have learned over the past few years to love an amp based on its strengths, and if those strengths inspire you and work for...
Everyone has certain things that make an amp a "keeper" or just another amp to trade/sell. Reading posts on here, I find some guys put high priority on specific tonal traits/requirements and some guys put more priority on response/feel.
I am firmly in the response/feel camp. I find I can make...
You will be OK. The MTL mk2 has a sweep knob that allows you to fine tune your mids alot more. I won't say from experience they can get the upper mids of an MC1 or MC2, but between the sweep, bright and your tone controls, you should no problem cutting through a mix. And even with the slightly...
No problem!
The other Wizards I have played are an MCII mk2 and a MTL. No experience with a Hellrazor. Compared to the MC1, MC2 and w800, the MTL has more low and low-mid content and is capable of more gain and saturation.
Oh ya....both can do 80's thrash very very well! The MC has more...
Currently own a 100w MC1 and w800. I have also owned and played plenty of Friedmans, including the JEL and currently own the SSv2 100...another model touted as being a more punchy/raw/etc Friedman.
My opinion: All the Friedmans, including the JEL, are more similar than different; they are all...