New High Gain Amp Discussion

[jbru91]

I’ve had the Perplex’d S3 and currently have the XSIII and Wizards KT150 MCII. For my style and tastes, the MCII is a better fit. Glen prefers the slightly saggier saturated “brown sound”. I prefer the more strident in your face Wizard tone. But Morris amps are half the price, and definitely not half the amp. Probably the best bargain going. All hand wired and built by the man himself. I can’t speak highly enough about Morris amps. But what I want from an amp, I’ve only found in a Wizard.

Thanks for some insight on the Wizard and the Morris, so good to be able to have folks on here with experience with some of these great amp builders. If you don't mind me asking, what are the types of music you play that the MCII fits better with over the Morris?

 

[jbru91]

I love my Friedman Marsha. Not apples to apples with the BE 50 DLX, but still shares the Friedman DNA. It's the only Marsha-type amp I currently own. Just a great sound IMO.

That's awesome. Tell me more about that one. I've seen some clips of the Friedman naked etc. Not sure how folks get the non-standard production models or if its as simple as reaching out to the company and asking for one of these models.

 

[Crash-VR]

Thanks for some insight on the Wizard and the Morris, so good to be able to have folks on here with experience with some of these great amp builders. If you don't mind me asking, what are the types of music you play that the MCII fits better with over the Morris?

It’s original rock/alt rock I guess if you had to put a label on it. I’ve never had interest in playing other peoples music. I write mostly on acoustic, but for that to translate on electric, I need some epic power chords, but also full chord/ edge of breakup tones. On the lead channel of the Wizard, I can use my guitars volume knob and the the boost and have it all. The boost is preset at the perfect volume and gain boost to keep it simple. Then there’s still the insanely high headroom clean channel if I ever need it. I love the clean to gain transition of a good NMV Marshall type of amp, but the gain tends to fall apart on those amps and at the very least require a boost pedal and an an Attenuator to get close to what the Wizard does at all volumes. And the Wizard NEVER falls apart. And it always has a that huge clean fundamental note a volume knob or light pick attack away.

But it is a beast that requires good technique to tame. And a band to really get the most out of it. Like you need to take a real super car to the track to see what it’s all about.

 

[jbru91]

It’s original rock/alt rock I guess if you had to put a label on it. I’ve never had interest in playing other peoples music. I write mostly on acoustic, but for that to translate on electric, I need some epic power chords, but also full chord/ edge of breakup tones. On the lead channel of the Wizard, I can use my guitars volume knob and the the boost and have it all. The boost is preset at the perfect volume and gain boost to keep it simple. Then there’s still the insanely high headroom clean channel if I ever need it. I love the clean to gain transition of a good NMV Marshall type of amp, but the gain tends to fall apart on those amps and at the very least require a boost pedal and an an Attenuator to get close to what the Wizard does at all volumes. And the Wizard NEVER falls apart. And it always has a that huge clean fundamental note a volume knob or light pick attack away.

But it is a beast that requires good technique to tame. And a band to really get the most out of it. Like you need to take a real super car to the track to see what it’s all about.

Thanks very much that overview. I really appreciate it.

 

[jbru91]

The Marsha is one of Dave's early production BE/HBE models. Mine is 50 watts with the simple clean, C45, Fat, SAT and treble reducer. From what I've read, the earlier versions are much more open and less smooth. As refinements were made, I guess the amp has gradually gotten more dark/smooth, or whatever adjective you want to use. I bought it used some time ago, but about the price of an average BE100. Well worth it to me. I think it was made in 2010, but don't recall exactly.

Dave does do custom runs every so often. Not sure what his current plans are, but if you email him, he usually responds pretty quickly.

Excellent. Thanks a lot for providing some insight. Glad to know he's fairly responsive to inquiries.

 

[Achilles]

Genres I'm looking to cover are 80's hard rock & hair metal, thrash, shred, up to as heavy as Death, Lamb of God, Pantera etc.

You don't have to spend a fortune.
Neither do you need a mountain of amps.
Better sell the small boogie and buy one of those and a good cab:

Marshall JVM 410H
Mesa TC100
EVH 5150 III 100W EL34 Stealth

 

[jbru91]

I have a Skeleton Key and an Ares. I've also owned an Orthos and a buddy loaned me his Gemini for a couple weeks to try before I place my order for the Ares. I've played several Friedman and owned a JJ jr briefly. I bought the JJ jr after having to sell my Monomyth Superlead trying to fill that void. Needless to say it did work. The Ares is my go to amp for 75% of my playing with my Mark IV and Skeleton Key equally divided with the remaining 25%. I bought and sold a lot of amps over the past couple years and came back to Monomyth and KSR. The Ares has 2 masters so its basically 2 channels with a shared EQ. I love it even though its kind of a 1 channel amp it covers a lot of ground. I can do a slight crunch to high gain.

The Monomyth is a high gain monster and as far as high gain Marshall type its my favorite. Followed by Ceriatone, Splawn, and Friedman last. Ive owned a Kemper, HX Stomp, and QC plus tried the Neural DSP Slo plug in and I have never liked the SLO models. I know that is not a fair judgement of the actual amp but its made me adverse to trying the real one but its enough to make me not want to take that chance.

I would love to try a Wizard but I wouldnt be able to crank it so thats probably going to prevent me from ever chunking out 5k for one. Really there are only 2 amps that are on my wish list and my price range which is the KSR Juno and Omega Granophyre. Honestly we as guitarist are terrible at getting relatively the same amps repackaged with maybe 5% more features or 5% better tone. I think you have the right idea of having a specific amp to cover a range of tones. Thats what I have decided to do myself - a hot rodded marshall, a 5150 type amp, a mark series, and a KSR.

Hey man,

What are your preferred cabs with the Monomyth and KSR? Feel like we're have pretty similar tastes and views on the different types of amp categories. I'd be curious to get your take on your playing style / genres you typically play.

Cheers,

 

[ClintN667]

With the Skeleton Key I've only used my ksr cab but I have redbacks on one side and creambacks 75's on the other. I can use either side or all 4.

I've had other monomyth modded amps that I have used a Creamback 75/v30 cab and I have used a Marshall 1936v.

The KSR sounds great but if I was buying one cab to use with only the monomyth I would get another Marshall with V30's or a Mesa.

I usually play anything from old punk, doom, stuff like Mastodon, to stuff like carcass and bolt thrower. I also like to play 70's rock and 80's hair metal and Thrash. Just depends on what my mood is.

My favorite tones are usually Bill Steer or earlier Mastodon.

 

[ClintN667]

With the KSR Ares the Redback and creamback 75 is perfect. Really for me a KSR sounds best with a Creamback 75 in the mix.

 

[jbru91]

With the Skeleton Key I've only used my ksr cab but I have redbacks on one side and creambacks 75's on the other. I can use either side or all 4.

I've had other monomyth modded amps that I have used a Creamback 75/v30 cab and I have used a Marshall 1936v.

The KSR sounds great but if I was buying one cab to use with only the monomyth I would get another Marshall with V30's or a Mesa.

I usually play anything from old punk, doom, stuff like Mastodon, to stuff like carcass and bolt thrower. I also like to play 70's rock and 80's hair metal and Thrash. Just depends on what my mood is.

My favorite tones are usually Bill Steer or earlier Mastodon.

That is really helpful. Yea I'm really wanting to try the v30 Creamback 75 combination. I have a 2x12 recto with the V30s so been wanting to try a different combination. The cream back 75/v30 gets a lot of love around here. I will need to try that out. Hoping to just stick with a 2x12 but I know many here always suggest a 4x12 if you can do it.

 

[ClintN667]

That is really helpful. Yea I'm really wanting to try the v30 Creamback 75 combination. I have a 2x12 recto with the V30s so been wanting to try a different combination. The cream back 75/v30 gets a lot of love around here. I will need to try that out. Hoping to just stick with a 2x12 but I know many here always suggest a 4x12 if you can do it.

V30 and creamback is a great combination. Check out the KSR RCS 2x12HW. Kyle makes cabs for several amp manufacturers like Wizard. I don't think you can go wrong with them. They also put just about any speaker you want in it.

 

[jbru91]

V30 and creamback is a great combination. Check out the KSR RCS 2x12HW. Kyle makes cabs for several amp manufacturers like Wizard. I don't think you can go wrong with them. They also put just about any speaker you want in it.

Oh wow i did not know that! Love the fact that you can choose the speaker combination. Are the speakers split diagonally (top-right, bottom-left)? Also dumb question, with the v30 / H75 combo, do you put the v30 in the bottom and H75 on top?

 

[RedB4Black]

Oh wow i did not know that! Love the fact that you can choose the speaker combination. Are the speakers split diagonally (top-right, bottom-left)? Also dumb question, with the v30 / H75 combo, do you put the v30 in the bottom and H75 on top?

I have 2 412s that until recently both had H75s and v30s in an X-pattern (now the are 4 and 4, just to see how they are separate). I think that is best when mixing speakers with the same sensitivity (both are 100db). In cases where they are different, put the lower sensitivity speaker on top so the louder speakers don't over power them.

 

[jbru91]

I have 2 412s that until recently both had H75s and v30s in an X-pattern (now the are 4 and 4, just to see how they are separate). I think that is best when mixing speakers with the same sensitivity (both are 100db). In cases where they are different, put the lower sensitivity speaker on top so the louder speakers don't over power them.

Thank you sir! Appreciate the help there.