NAD: Wizard Modern Classic 2 MkII - (with more clips)

  • Thread starter Thread starter TheGreatGreen
  • Start date Start date
TheGreatGreen said:
1mp1Psy.png


I've wanted one of these amps for a long time now. About 10 years ago I went to Vintage King audio in Nashville and tried one, and ever since I've told myself I'd get one some day.

Well, "some day" came around and as of now there's a Modern Classic 2 MkII in my studio, and guys... what an amp. I've been building this thing up in my head since I played it back then, and funny enough it's actually better than I remember. It's a modern high gain amp that's dynamic, clear and articulate, and takes boosts like a champ. This thing isn't going anywhere.

One thing I didn't remember from playing them the first time which surprised me is just how EXTREMELY tweakable this amp is. The basic "tight articulate modern gain" character is always there more or less, but between the EQ, Treble-Shift function, Presence, Contour, and Bright knob, it's ridiculously adjustable. You can kind of give it whatever EQ profile you want.


Here's a clip of my general take on what the amp is best at doing. There's a few db's of treble boost EQ at the input just to offset how dead my months-old guitar strings are, lol.



Here's a stereo "Bleeding Me" test with a decent amount of high cut in the DAW to try and get in the ballpark of the album tone. This was guitar (old strings and all) straight into the amp.



And just to show that this thing has some hidden tricks up its sleeve, here's my attempt at making it sound kind of like an Ecstasy 101B with the "low Treble, high Presence, max Gain" trick people do with that amp. Beware, lots of aimless noodling here. Of course it’s still a Wizard and definitely not a Bogner, but I was kind of surprised at what I was able to dial up.
Click to expand...

beautiful sounding amp and demos!
 
VonBonfire said:
Glad Wizard doesn't make a combo or I'd have to confess the sin of acquisitiveness in front of my priest.. Wizard=awesome.
Click to expand...
They do, or did. But getting back to all that time you spend in front of your priest, are you facing forward or backwards?
 
thegame said:
They do, or did. But getting back to all that time you spend in front of your priest, are you facing forward or backwards?
Click to expand...
You don't like the way I act here but then do your best to provoke me. Sorry man, my priest is a good guy, married with kids and holds a couple doctorate degrees and two jobs plus is a priest. Dude has given up a lot in self sacrifice to do what he is doing. Even landed me a gig or two on top of it. He doesn't actually play guitar but if he did he would have better tone than you.
 
thegame said:
Not at all my friend. You don’t deserve my best commentary.
Click to expand...
We're friends now? That is good commentary. Since you asked, during an orthodox confession the priest stands at your side as a witness while you confess your Wizard combo gear lust-acquisitiveness to an icon of Christ. Sometimes I wrestle with this because there is a lot of nice gear out there and dudes here are always posting tube vibes and sweet LP's for sale in the marketplace. Then there is Wayne at Griffin Analog with his delightful pedal offerings. My wallet just doesn't cooperate. Be blessed today my friend. I have a gig tonight and that always makes my day a little sweeter so you are getting me started on the right foot this afternoon.
 
VonBonfire said:
We're friends now? That is good commentary. Since you asked, during an orthodox confession the priest stands at your side as a witness while you confess your Wizard combo gear lust-acquisitiveness to an icon of Christ. Sometimes I wrestle with this because there is a lot of nice gear out there and dudes here are always posting tube vibes and sweet LP's for sale in the marketplace. Then there is Wayne at Griffin Analog with his delightful pedal offerings. My wallet just doesn't cooperate. Be blessed today my friend. I have a gig tonight and that always makes my day a little sweeter so you are getting me started on the right foot this afternoon.
Click to expand...
Hallelujah
 
thegame said:
Hallelujah
Click to expand...
Since I am broke and can't afford a Wizard of my own right now those are my thoughts exactly. Winter is always tough in the money dept for me so getting a few dates on the calendar is great.
 
TheGreatGreen said:
I took another shot at the Bleeding Me mix. Slightly less high cut this time, and with drums and bass:

Click to expand...

Sounding good. I always like some bite in the EQ. Might even come off the treble cut a little more if only to see what happens. Both of those takes sound good though. What I wouldn't do to hear some edge of breakup from a big Wizard like that. I hope you realize you are a lucky guy rocking a Wizard on a saturday afternoon.
 
VonBonfire said:
Sounding good. I always like some bite in the EQ. Might even come off the treble cut a little more if only to see what happens. Both of those takes sound good though. What I wouldn't do to hear some edge of breakup from a big Wizard like that. I hope you realize you are a lucky guy rocking a Wizard on a saturday afternoon.
Click to expand...
I don't have any recordings (learning....getting better), but the Wizards can do the edge of breakup, lower gain crunch stuff exceptionally well also. One of my favorite settings on my w800 is pulling the tone stack shift, which is more "American", upping the treble and presence a bit, backing the mids to 10 o'clock or so, contour counterclockwise to 9 o'clock or so, gain at 9 o'clock, give it some volume and it really reminds me of a good bassman in tone and feel! I know just about every demo you hear will be about their high gain attributes, but they are no one trick ponies! :)
 
VonBonfire said:
Sounding good. I always like some bite in the EQ. Might even come off the treble cut a little more if only to see what happens. Both of those takes sound good though. What I wouldn't do to hear some edge of breakup from a big Wizard like that. I hope you realize you are a lucky guy rocking a Wizard on a saturday afternoon.
Click to expand...

Man I’ve been on cloud 9 since this thing showed up on my doorstep a few days ago. I realize I'm still deep in the honeymoon period so my perception is a bit skewed at the moment but yep I do feel real fortunate to be able to hang with this awesome piece of gear. I know these amps have an almost "mythical artifact" reputation among guitar players (at least they certainly do to me, lol) so I'm trying to see past that and get to know it as simply a tool to make music, but damn if it doesn't totally live up to its reputation from where I'm standing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top