Reconsidering the Wizard Hell Razor

[VonBonfire]

I have a bedroom that’s my music room, and no professional knowledge, and my house has shit acoustics and electrical wiring haha- I’ll never have any professional quality recordings lol- I put a sm7b on one speaker, sm57 on the other, and hard pan them



If it was my job I’d care more, but it’s something I do when I’m high and bored after work lmao

What are you talking about "no professional recordings"? That sounds exceedingly nice right there and I am assuming very little EQ after the fact with those mics? If you are after more thump it would possibly just be interfering with a bassist. You might just be after more "room" in reality.

If you want to expand your sound get a decent condenser mic and face the amp to the long end of the room if possible or just wherever it sounds good to you usually. Get the room condenser about five feet out from the amp and about six or so feet up in the air for a starting point and dial it in from there. You gotta play with it for a while but you should find a sweet spot. Might have to move the mic around a bit or you might need to relocate the amp depending on your results. I think it might add what you are looking for but your close mic'ing is solid album worthy already. Once you put a band around it it sounds like it should sit in a mix nice.

I guess what I'm saying in too many words is once I added a room mic I wouldn't want to go back to close mic'ing only. I find myself running 50/50 close mic/room mic +/- 10 percent in the mixes and every time I dial out either mic it becomes less dimensional and loses a greater richness. Lose the close mic, goodbye punch/cut. Lose the room mic and the tone is much flatter and one dimensional. Anyways just shooting you some ideas that have worked good for me and were worth the hassle. Once you know your room, you're golden. Home studio>many "pro" studios for that reason alone among others, believe that.

 

[Beyond Black]

I'm just gonna chime in on this and say that shellac finishes, if done right, are really really nice.

My pink tele with the porter vintage pickups sounds like you're literally hearing the wood; especially clean

I did the shellac really thin, though

I’ve got a Flying V coming from Precision Guitar Kits that I’m gonna shellac per Sam’s experience/advice.

 

[inyarak74]

What are you talking about "no professional recordings"? That sounds exceedingly nice right there and I am assuming very little EQ after the fact with those mics? If you are after more thump it would possibly just be interfering with a bassist. You might just be after more "room" in reality.

If you want to expand your sound get a decent condenser mic and face the amp to the long end of the room if possible or just wherever it sounds good to you usually. Get the room condenser about five feet out from the amp and about six or so feet up in the air for a starting point and dial it in from there. You gotta play with it for a while but you should find a sweet spot. Might have to move the mic around a bit or you might need to relocate the amp depending on your results. I think it might add what you are looking for but your close mic'ing is solid album worthy already. Once you put a band around it it sounds like it should sit in a mix nice.

I guess what I'm saying in too many words is once I added a room mic I wouldn't want to go back to close mic'ing only. I find myself running 50/50 close mic/room mic +/- 10 percent in the mixes and every time I dial out either mic it becomes less dimensional and loses a greater richness. Lose the close mic, goodbye punch/cut. Lose the room mic and the tone is much flatter and one dimensional. Anyways just shooting you some ideas that have worked good for me and were worth the hassle. Once you know your room, you're golden. Home studio>many "pro" studios for that reason alone among others, believe that.

Good info Von

 

[RedB4Black]

mine was one of the first 5 non prototype ones- I believe the production ones @RedB4Black and @WizardSouth-JP got were from the same time

Yeah…and we both sold ours for some reason. lol

I’m sure it’s better now based on the updates and from what @WizardSouth-JP says. I’ve been tempted to get a newer one as well, but I’m pretty happy with what I already have now.

 

[xfactor23]

I think the in the room thump is very tough to capture while micced, and when i can, the highs arent done justice-it has insane note clarity and punch at once

Using the word thump here is putting it lightly. This amp fucks hard. Just smashes your chest and if you want the top end is just crazy. It blew my mind how it sounded.

It’s definitely not a boomer amp. It’s one of the newest amps I’ve found actually pleasing to play and hear. There’s a lot of garbage out there and I think Rick did an amazing job with it.

 

[Yehuda]

What are you talking about "no professional recordings"? That sounds exceedingly nice right there and I am assuming very little EQ after the fact with those mics? If you are after more thump it would possibly just be interfering with a bassist. You might just be after more "room" in reality.

If you want to expand your sound get a decent condenser mic and face the amp to the long end of the room if possible or just wherever it sounds good to you usually. Get the room condenser about five feet out from the amp and about six or so feet up in the air for a starting point and dial it in from there. You gotta play with it for a while but you should find a sweet spot. Might have to move the mic around a bit or you might need to relocate the amp depending on your results. I think it might add what you are looking for but your close mic'ing is solid album worthy already. Once you put a band around it it sounds like it should sit in a mix nice.

I guess what I'm saying in too many words is once I added a room mic I wouldn't want to go back to close mic'ing only. I find myself running 50/50 close mic/room mic +/- 10 percent in the mixes and every time I dial out either mic it becomes less dimensional and loses a greater richness. Lose the close mic, goodbye punch/cut. Lose the room mic and the tone is much flatter and one dimensional. Anyways just shooting you some ideas that have worked good for me and were worth the hassle. Once you know your room, you're golden. Home studio>many "pro" studios for that reason alone among others, believe that.

Thanks so much! No EQ or anything

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

Yeah…and we both sold ours for some reason. lol

I’m sure it’s better now based on the updates and from what @WizardSouth-JP says. I’ve been tempted to get a newer one as well, but I’m pretty happy with what I already have now.

I'm considering doing a run through of the guitars I have at the moment as I was inspired by Michael Neilson's (Big Hairy Guitars Dude) vid showing off some guitars he has. If I do I may use the Hell Razor or MTL40.

 

[Nashville Riff Co]

I'm considering doing a run through of the guitars I have at the moment as I was inspired by Michael Neilson's (Big Hairy Guitars Dude) vid showing off some guitars he has. If I do I may use the Hell Razor or MTL40.

if you'd consider using at least one humbucker guitar to compare them both at "similar" settings, that would be massively appreciated!

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

if you'd consider using at least one humbucker guitar to compare them both at "similar" settings, that would be massively appreciated!

comparing the MTL40 to the Hell Razor 100w? I could try to capture that - might be an interesting experiment

 

[braintheory]

Using the word thump here is putting it lightly. This amp fucks hard. Just smashes your chest and if you want the top end is just crazy. It blew my mind how it sounded.

It’s definitely not a boomer amp. It’s one of the newest amps I’ve found actually pleasing to play and hear. There’s a lot of garbage out there and I think Rick did an amazing job with it.

Definitely a lot of garbage out there. Maybe that’s why so many recent made amps sound so cardboard-y. They’re built ready to be thrown away

 

[Nashville Riff Co]

comparing the MTL40 to the Hell Razor 100w? I could try to capture that - might be an interesting experiment

yes that would be much appreciated, i know its a wattage mismatch but its all but impossible to find a hell razor to try and i'm trying to figure out how much more additive it would be on top of an MTL. i've read all the comments on here, which is great but a vid would be much appreciated!

 

[glip22]

There were only a few Hell Razors that went out without the updates per Rick. Anything from 2023 has the updates

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

yes that would be much appreciated, i know its a wattage mismatch but its all but impossible to find a hell razor to try and i'm trying to figure out how much more additive it would be on top of an MTL. i've read all the comments on here, which is great but a vid would be much appreciated!

there's more gain on the HR, the MTL benefits from a boost to get the most aggression out of it, but both can get pissed off depending on where the brights on the back are and the presence/treble - the sweep on the MTL is one thing the HR doesn't have - they're close tonally. I'll see if I can get a video up soon.

 

[Nashville Riff Co]

there's more gain on the HR, the MTL benefits from a boost to get the most aggression out of it, but both can get pissed off depending on where the brights on the back are and the presence/treble - the sweep on the MTL is one thing the HR doesn't have - they're close tonally. I'll see if I can get a video up soon.

if i remember correctly, the 100W 6L6 MTL Mk II i have is yours originally. It traded a lot of hands before getting to me but i was told you were the original guy who got it.

that amp honestly has way too much gain for me (haha), so is it fair to say tone wise i'm not missing much? i dont need more gain, but am curious if the feel/sound was different?

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

if i remember correctly, the 100W 6L6 MTL Mk II i have is yours originally. It traded a lot of hands before getting to me but i was told you were the original guy who got it.

that amp honestly has way too much gain for me (haha), so is it fair to say tone wise i'm not missing much? i dont need more gain, but am curious if the feel/sound was different?

no clue where my old amps went, the feel is different yes. but if you don't need that much gain I'd go for the Rock Standard as the eq controls is similar to the MTL with a more classic rock, hard rock (boosted it can get mean) type of feel.

 

[RedB4Black]

there's more gain on the HR, the MTL benefits from a boost to get the most aggression out of it, but both can get pissed off depending on where the brights on the back are and the presence/treble - the sweep on the MTL is one thing the HR doesn't have - they're close tonally. I'll see if I can get a video up soon.

Would be bad ass to have a Wizard with the gain controls of the Hell Razor but also with a mid sweep. Who needs a clean channel! That thing would be an absolute flame thrower!

 

[Nashville Riff Co]

no clue where my old amps went, the feel is different yes. but if you don't need that much gain I'd go for the Rock Standard as the eq controls is similar to the MTL with a more classic rock, hard rock (boosted it can get mean) type of feel.

cool, thank you for that! i have an EL34 MCII which is honestly perfect for me. The 6L6 MTL is as metal as i get and i'm not even taking full advantage of all thats on tap. based on what you've written it seems like i might be all set on the wizard front (until gas strikes again lol)

this MTL is the one you sold to redb4black and then he sold it on to someone else etc etc.

 

[RedB4Black]

this MTL is the one you sold to redb4black and then he sold it on to someone else etc etc.

That was one of the better Wizards I’ve owned.

 

[Nashville Riff Co]

That was one of the better Wizards I’ve owned.

i love plugging into it man, it just gets angrier and angrier the more you progress from the base rhythm tone and never loses tightness. absolutely insane amp!

 

[Bram576]

Last clip of my hell razor I did was this quick recording double tracked. It was a V30 and Mesa angled. I play metal, so it is what it is. Honestly if you don’t play metal and more hard rock stuff I’d just stick with a MC or MTL. Click the arrow at the top if it doesn’t auto play.



The amp kicks ass, lot of fun to play. Wizards have a weird mid range. Which I honestly think has a bit to do with sounding cool in the room as it fills it out, but weird under a mic because it amplifies it up close. Similar to vhts. I always go back and forth whether I gel with it or not frequency wise because of that. The rest of the amps frequency spectrum lows, high mids, presence is all super tasty. The hell razor is a Super flexible amp, clarity is nuts… but I understand why some people don’t gel with wizards in general and vhts. That mid range took me a bit to get used to.