Fryette VHT amps. Educate me

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tone Junkie
  • Start date Start date
I can't see why it wouldn't. I haven't played one but Steve knows his way around his power section designs. If the 120 fell apart too early I would say there's a problem with the amp.
 
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From my experience

UL with GEQ - SUPER tight and dry. No saturation. Highly flexible voicing wise. Makes you a better player after using everyday for 30+ days.
UL w/o GEQ - These are the older models. Same sound. A tad less flexibility due to lack of GEQ. Actually sound more ballsier IMO.
CLX/6L6 - Modern high gain heaven with tight lows, sterile mids and biting highs. Mid heavy boost pedals bring amp to life.
CLX/EL34 - same as 6L6 but with more high end bite
D60 - A high gain perfected JCM800 with a pissed off voicing
D120 - same as 60 but higher headroom and less compression
Sig:X - Boring and sterile for high gain. Amazing cleans and low gain tones however.
 
It is not first time I read comparison with Wizards. Are they really that similar ? Buddy in the band has D60 i got for him few years ago so I want to play it whenever I want. Price was hilarious $600 at time. Hopefully I will have a chance to get MCII in few weeks but for $4500.
 
I've had the CL 100 / 50 - Ulta Lead and the one I've kept is the D60. I have yet to try the 120 version but man the sixty sounds massive! Tons of tight low end + it can get juicy / more saturated than the CL/ Ultra.
 
Tone Junkie said:
High gain. Tight tone from overdriven Marshall to next gen full out modern
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All of them can do that stuff. Definitely more Hiwatt than Marshall.
The individual amps all are slightly different.
 
I have a d60 (one of the first ones made) and I used to have a UL and a CL50. They are all great amps but I kept the d60 and moved the others on.

The deliverance has some of the biggest in your face tone you will ever hear. Open string chugs are percussive like a 2x4 banging into your head. It has great cleans too and the knobs are crazy interactive.
 
bubucci said:
It is not first time I read comparison with Wizards. Are they really that similar ? Buddy in the band has D60 i got for him few years ago so I want to play it whenever I want. Price was hilarious $600 at time. Hopefully I will have a chance to get MCII in few weeks but for $4500.
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VHT/Fryette are similar to Wizards in the sense they're articulate, punchy, fast in the attack, and relatively open in the gain structure when compared to many other high gainers. However, the Wizards take all I just mentioned to the next level, especially the open gain structure & lack of compression. Voicing is of course different. From the VHT/Fryettes I've owned, the D60 is closest to Wizard, but it's still not a Wizard. There's honestly nothing I've owned that sounds quite like a D60 and nothing that sounds quite like a Wizard except each respective amp. Similar but very different.
 
MetalHeadMike said:
VHT/Fryette are similar to Wizards in the sense they're articulate, punchy, fast in the attack, and relatively open in the gain structure when compared to many other high gainers. However, the Wizards take all I just mentioned to the next level, especially the open gain structure & lack of compression. Voicing is of course different. From the VHT/Fryettes I've owned, the D60 is closest to Wizard, but it's still not a Wizard. There's honestly nothing I've owned that sounds quite like a D60 and nothing that sounds quite like a Wizard except each respective amp. Similar but very different.
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Thx for your valuable input !
 
I had a Sig-X for awhile. I liked it best with the Fryette cabinets and P50E speakers. It shocked me at first because I thought it was a bit dry and didn't have a lot of gain.

Once I figured it out though, I realized that it is just very tight (some people say dry is tight, maybe the same thing?) and articulate with a ton of sustain. Like some said, it isn't a saturated type of gain like other amps. You hear every note you play. Very cool amp with a ton of sounds. I've love a Ultra Lead and/or a Deliverance someday.
 
jeff5 said:
I had a Sig-X for awhile. I liked it best with the Fryette cabinets and P50E speakers. It shocked me at first because I thought it was a bit dry and didn't have a lot of gain.

Once I figured it out though, I realized that it is just very tight (some people say dry is tight, maybe the same thing?) and articulate with a ton of sustain. Like some said, it isn't a saturated type of gain like other amps. You hear every note you play. Very cool amp with a ton of sounds. I've love a Ultra Lead and/or a Deliverance someday.
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Exactly. Especially when you're coming from something like a 5150 or JVM.

Was said above the Sig X's gain is boring, granted that's one persons opinion whereas I don't here that at all. In fact I much preferred the X to the UL Pittbull I owned. Now that is a dry high gain amp, the Sig is a little more juicy for lack of a better term. For the Pitbull players I could see where the Sig misses the mark though. Agree also in that Fryette cabs make a noticeable difference with those amps. They just go together whereas - obviously as that's how Steve designed them.

The original D60 is a beast and arguably my favorite Fryette. At the time (years ago) when I bought the X, I just needed more flexibility and a loop and why I didn't purchase the D60. Lords knows I played the D60 a ton trying to determine if I could live without a loop...at that time. Now that's a common mod you can buy from them.

I think not putting a loop in the D60 and D120 when they first debuted was a huge mistake, IMO that would have been a big selling amp. No loop, alot people just walked away.
 
I have a bunch of amps that are keepers.
The Ultralead is my main/go-to baby.
You rarely hear about reliability issues with these amps.
Oh either love them or you hate them.
Those that hate them usually say the same thing..."I sound like shit when I played one."
I believe the Ultralead makes me a better player.
The Sig-X was the only VHT amp I didn't love within 2 minutes.
From the ST-50 pitbull to the classic to the Ultralead,I loved them all.
Deliverance 120 was great with a little boost up front and graphic in the loop(to my ears). Poor mans Pittbull?
VHT Ultralead make your dick bigger.
VHT pittbull amps make your balls stronger(in case someone kicks you there).
Drinking while playing a VHT amp is encouraged. Meth....not so much.
I shoulda stopped typing several lines ago.
 
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bubucci said:
It is not first time I read comparison with Wizards. Are they really that similar ? Buddy in the band has D60 i got for him few years ago so I want to play it whenever I want. Price was hilarious $600 at time. Hopefully I will have a chance to get MCII in few weeks but for $4500.
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I've only ever played the Wizard MCII but I found it to be quite similar in many ways to my old D60
 
I've been through most models so far...UL 2x, Sig X 2x, D60 2x, SigX 2x and CL50 once. The D60 is my favorite for high gain tones but older ones lacked a loop as well as having no clean channel so they never worked for me as an only amp setup. The CL50 was a great middle of the road amp between the UL and the D60 IMO. The Sig I liked least of all for whatever reason, maybe it was too many options and tinkering with the amp too much.
 
Devin said:
I've only ever played the Wizard MCII but I found it to be quite similar in many ways to my old D60
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The great clarity, thumping power section and Marshall/HiWatt thing are prevalent with both. Similar yes.
And, for more confusion, the 2005 D60 I had could sound damn close to my boosted SLO I had then. I literally unplugged the speaker cable and went back/forth between them. Through my G12 65 cab it was almost spot on. Putting the amps on standby of course.
 
Devin said:
I've only ever played the Wizard MCII but I found it to be quite similar in many ways to my old D60
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Having owned three MCIIs and three D60s, I agree. I'll add that I as many similarities as I find, there are considerable differences too. MCII hits harder, has a more concrete or hard low end impact, is more articulate/revealing, and is more open. The D60 has more saturation, more overlying grit to the gain texture, is a bit juicier and easier to play. Two of my favorite amps.
 
bubucci said:
It is not first time I read comparison with Wizards. Are they really that similar ? Buddy in the band has D60 i got for him few years ago so I want to play it whenever I want. Price was hilarious $600 at time. Hopefully I will have a chance to get MCII in few weeks but for $4500.
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I’ve had both . I’d say they got a lot of the same punch but the wizard has more richness and fuller overall harmonic saturation. Which makes it feel colorful in my mind . The dryness of the deliverance made it more grey area
 
I dial in my wizard really dry a lot, so I would probably love the deliverance. I want one of the old 60s with a choke. I love choke amps. But the marshall sound with grit is what i hear with deliverance 60 clips, and i like it.
 
I’ve been listening to more audio clips. Like the gain structure a lot. Dry and tight very cool.

I should have known before I posted. This could lead to a thinner wallet. 😂
 
For the life of me I don't get where people say Fryette amps are dry. I've owned several Ultra Leads, my most recent I've had since early 2012, a CLX, a Sig-X, and about 8 or 9 Deliverances. They are tight and clear, but there's plenty of gain and saturation...just no fizz or compression that a lot of amps tend to have. I guess for that reason, when compared to such other amps, people call them stiff or dry.

I'm a big fan of the Deliverance, but next to my UL, I always end up selling them, or with my most recent D60II, trading. They only amps I consider to be better than a Fryette (for my tastes) are Wizards. If you like Fryette, Wizard just takes it up a notch, IMO.
 
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