VHT/Fryette amps - best high gain tones....ever?

[midnightlaundry]

Never played a Wizard, but I get the impression they are really bright.
The Fryettes I have seem to go for a more filled out tone overall but can be bright if you dial it in that way..
Could be wrong..

 

[Redneckstomp]

For clarity/articulation nothing I’ve tried yet touched the Dino I tried recently, but the next best ones IME for that (and better imo for that than Fryette’s) have probably been the Hermansson mods & Wizards

Can you tell me what cabs and speakers did you tried with Larry??

 

[Racerxrated]

I had a first version D60, that was killer. 700 used. Then, bought a 120 for 900. Preferred the 60 by a mile. Easily the best bang for the buck ever. Definitely can remind you of a Wizard in that it punches like a 100w amp…with great clarity like a wiz. Sounded kinda modded modern Marshall….but since then I’d put my Naylor and Rev C far above the D60 for a modern Marshall type amp…darker of course but the lead tones are way better to my ear than the D60.

 

[Dan Gleesak]

Other than Helmet, what are some gnarly Fryette tones?

One of my favs

 

[braintheory]

Can you tell me what cabs and speakers did you tried with Larry??

I don’t remember 100% each one, but if I recall correctly there was a Bogner 412 loaded with V30’s, some old Marshall 412’s loaded with white voice coil GB’s, and a WEM cab loaded with vintage 65’s. They all sounded cool in their own ways

 

[braintheory]

Other than Helmet, what are some gnarly Fryette tones?

I don’t really associate Fryette with gnarly tones. I think of them more as precise & clear, but in a way kinda bland or safe

 

[VESmedic]

LMAOOOOOOO……. No.

 

[braintheory]

Never played a Wizard, but I get the impression they are really bright.
The Fryettes I have seem to go for a more filled out tone overall but can be bright if you dial it in that way..
Could be wrong..

I found they are generally brighter than Fryette’s (Wizard’s have this frosty quality in the highs that I like) and open, but my MTL also has a heavier, deeper low end than them too. I think the Fryette’s tend to have maybe a more “balanced” (imo boring), neutral eq curve and I can see that seeming more filled out maybe depending on context

 

[MetalHeadMike]

I would love to try a deliverance or two. Need to try 60 and 120 just because you hear so many differences between the two. I usually just want the bigger for he

Other than Helmet, what are some gnarly Fryette tones?

Huntress uses(d) them. Seen them live a couple times and they sounded other worldly.

 

[MetalHeadMike]

Never played a Wizard, but I get the impression they are really bright.
The Fryettes I have seem to go for a more filled out tone overall but can be bright if you dial it in that way..
Could be wrong..

Wizards can be set brighter for sure, or anything in between. The presence, contour, bright, treble, and mids all interact to an extremely high degree allowing endless tone sculpting. Even when they're set extremely bright, it's not harsh or strident...at least to my ears. It'll cut your head off if you want, but still in a musical way.

Some Fryettes can be set bright...namely those with graphic eq on board. I find the Deliverance series to be dark requiring some pretty extreme eq'ing with onboard knobs and eq in the loop to get enough bite for my taste.

The highs are different between Wizard/Fryette regardless...the 100CLX is the most similar in the high end in that it gets relatively open/uncompressed but still not the same.

 

[Redneckstomp]

I don’t remember 100% each one, but if I recall correctly there was a Bogner 412 loaded with V30’s, some old Marshall 412’s loaded with white voice coil GB’s, and a WEM cab loaded with vintage 65’s. They all sounded cool in their own ways

Thanks!! I can't wait to try my Larry.

 

[Techdeth]

I had a first version D60, that was killer. 700 used. Then, bought a 120 for 900. Preferred the 60 by a mile. Easily the best bang for the buck ever. Definitely can remind you of a Wizard in that it punches like a 100w amp…with great clarity like a wiz. Sounded kinda modded modern Marshall….but since then I’d put my Naylor and Rev C far above the D60 for a modern Marshall type amp…darker of course but the lead tones are way better to my ear than the D60.

I had an original d60 my dumb ass sold for $700 . Can’t believe I did

 

[Greazygeo]

I don’t find a Wizard MC and UL sound anything alike really. Would love to have another UL, for fusion it was awesome. Pretty interested to see how the new version will be.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

I always hear people talk more fondly about the D60 than the D120. In almost every other case, the higher wattage amp is more highly praised. What's so much worse about the D120 that its higher wattage doesn't even make up for?

 

[braintheory]

I always hear people talk more fondly about the D60 than the D120. In almost every other case, the higher wattage amp is more highly praised. What's so much worse about the D120 that its higher wattage doesn't even make up for?

I can’t recall for sure if I actually tried the D120 or not (I’ve tried the D60 a few times), but I disagree about higher wattage amps getting more praise generally. Often times I actually found many lower wattage amps to have better tone, but just not sound as efficient or big. The 5w tweed champs & Princeton’s, for example always sounded better to me than their bigger brothers like the Deluxe’s, bassman’s, or twins (same story with the old Gretsch amps). Likewise, I always felt the 85w twin reverbs had worse tone than the super reverb, vibrolux or Vibroverb, sometimes 2204’s sound better than 2203’s, many guys prefer the sound of 60w IIC+‘s over 100w ones, the list goes on. In terms of just pure quality of tone I actually can’t think of an amp where the higher water version was better IME, just bigger and more efficient sounding aka headroom

 

[Techdeth]

I always hear people talk more fondly about the D60 than the D120. In almost every other case, the higher wattage amp is more highly praised. What's so much worse about the D120 that its higher wattage doesn't even make up for?

I’ve always wondered thus as well. My D60 was great .Never tried the 120 . Was told I didn’t need too . What’s the difference? Idk either

 

[braintheory]

here’s an iPhone video I did comparing the UL and KT150 MTL. Straight in, no external boost. Fat Bottom cab with Fane F70s

In that clip the Wizard totally buried/killed the Fryette imo from the first few chords and chugs. I don’t actually remember it being as drastic when I AB’ed my Wizard and Pittbull UL in person, but it’s been many years now since then lol and I’ve also only had EL34 loaded wizards fwiw, no KT88/6550 ones like yours in that clip

 

[MatrixClaw]

Fryettes have a very specific voicing. It's intriguing but everytime I play one, I feel left wanting more. Most recently, I had a SigX and it got some good high gain tones, but I just can't see how the voicing on those amps cuts well in a mix. I know people rave about how great they sound live but they always sound super hollow in the mids with a really extended low and high end to me. It's a super unique sound, but I also didn't find the SigX had enough gain for me, which is how I felt about the UL, too. I also didn't think the SigX was particularly articulate compared to my other amps - but holy moly was that clean/Plexi channel freaking amazing. It's been years since I played a Deliverance but I remember really liking the D60 and would like to pick up one again but prices are crazy balls on Fryettes now.

 

[Techdeth]

In that clip the Wizard totally buried/killed the Fryette imo from the first few chords and chugs. I don’t actually remember it being as drastic when I AB’ed my Wizard and Pittbull UL in person, but it’s been many years now since then lol and I’ve also only had EL34 loaded wizards fwiw, no KT88/6550 ones like yours in that clip

I liked my wizard more than my vht . The wizard is almost like a harmonically super rich vht . Especially my MTL2 6l6 . It’s very much on the vht side but richer .

 

[braintheory]

Fryettes have a very specific voicing. It's intriguing but everytime I play one, I feel left wanting more. Most recently, I had a SigX and it got some good high gain tones, but I just can't see how the voicing on those amps cuts well in a mix. I know people rave about how great they sound live but they always sound super hollow in the mids with a really extended low and high end to me. It's a super unique sound, but I also didn't find the SigX had enough gain for me, which is how I felt about the UL, too. I also didn't think the SigX was particularly articulate compared to my other amps - but holy moly was that clean/Plexi channel freaking amazing. It's been years since I played a Deliverance but I remember really liking the D60 and would like to pick up one again but prices are crazy balls on Fryettes now.

Agreed. Maybe because of the hollowness and some dryness it’s like it never fully quenches that thirst. I don’t know if I exactly find them so specific/unique though. I feel the Fortin Natas was somewhat similar, Omega Obsidian also and feel my Mako Mak4 is in some ways like a better version of that sound. I hear some Hiwatt influence in its sound