Wizard MTL ⚡️ ZEN Amp Vault Ep11 ⚡️ More than just a metal machine
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- Опубліковано 14 чер 2024
- Welcome to the amp vault at Zen Amplification in sunny Sydney, Australia. R&D for our very own tube amp is in full swing (more on this below) - but in the meantime we thought we'd have a little fun and invite you into the vault.
🎧 What to Expect:
Good friend and Aussie guitar legend Leon Todd will host what will become an entire series directly from Zen HQ. Leon and a bunch of other great players will showcase every amp in our collection with a minimum of fuss or distraction. No reviews, chatting or zaney clickbait antics here - just pure tube tone, from super clean through to metal.
We'll feature mostly raw samples, plus some full mixes and double-tracked clips for kicks.
Check out Leon's awesome channel if you haven't already: / leontodd
🗂 Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:40 - Full Mix
REFERENCE CLIPS
02:01 - Ref A: James' Fury
02:34 - Ref B: Lamb of Zen
03:31 - Ref C: Holt's Day To Die
04:14 - Ref D: Low & Filthy
RAW CLIPS
04:42 - 1. Frankie Rocks
05:29 - 2. Kiss of Lynch
06:22 - 3. Drop C# Rock
07:03 - 4. Tool Time
07:46 - 5. PRS Metal
08:43 - 6. LP Metal
09:30 - 7. RIP Dime
10:25 - 8. Ragey Tele
11:15 - 9. Montrose '73
12:04 - 10. LT Noodling
12:15 - Recording Info
13:01 - Player Comments
🎼 About 'Reference' Clips
A reference clip is a consistent one that will be used across different videos via the magic of re-amping, i.e. nothing in the chain will change but the amp. This is a good way for those interested to compare amps until we get around to collating them all into a mega shootout.
Typically each video will feature 3 or 4 reference clips of appropriate styles highlighting the signature tones of the amp.
🎴Our Mantra:
In short - tubes still rule.
In an endless sea of digital promises, we firmly believe that traditional tube circuitry still offers so much that simulators just can't. Punch, depth, immediacy, interactivity and attack are some words that come to mind. Not to mention the simplicity and the tactile advantages of real amps.
For us, the feeling of playing through a great tube amp is inspiring, distraction-free and simply brings joy. When this tonal trinity occurs, great music is made and good times are had - and that's what it's all about.
🇦🇺 We built a wall - to keep bad tone out:
The vault houses modern classics from companies such as Wizard, Friedman, Diezel, Bogner, Soldano, 65 Amps, Landry, Splawn, Mesa, Orange, Rivera, Divided by 13, Tone King and Peavey. And of course there's a number of vintage stalwarts around the studio from Marshall, Fender, Vox, Hiwatt and more.
To top it off the vault also houses a similarly impressive selection of vintage and modern guitars from Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, Suhr and PRS.
🎤 Analogue Recording Gear:
• 4x12 cabs close mic'd with a Shure SM57 / Sennheiser E906
• Combos and open cabs close mic'd with a Shure SM57 / SE VR1 ribbon mix
• Pair of Neumann U67 room mics 4.5m back, mixed in just a touch
• Neve 1073 preamps for close mics
• API 3124 preamp for rooms
• Little Labs Redeye3D DI (some clips reamped)
• KHE amp switchers to manage the wall, Mogami cabling, Neutrik connectors
🖥 Digital:
• Recorded via an Apogee Symphony A/D converter
• Waves reverb added to some clips
• Minimal post-processing - just a LPF and HPF to better reflect how it sounds in the room
🎛 The Zen Amplifier:
We can't reveal too much right now but there is a very special amplifier design underway in the Zen workshop. It is an all-tube design that incorporates some next-generation innovations, enabling it to compete with the versatility of digital - whilst retaining the responsiveness and punch of traditional tube amps of course.
More details to come later, but sufficed to say we're very excited about this project and can't wait to share it with you.
Thanks for checking out our channel, and don't forget to subscribe to keep up-to-date with all things Zen.
Special thanks to all our amazing guitar playing friends that helped out - Leon Todd, Joel McDonald, Ryan Thomas, James Norbert Ivanyi, Dave Bleus, Cale Storer, Dave Longo, Voya Milutinovic, Ned Koncar, Odin Wolf, Jesse Turner, Daniel Willington, Alex Wichello, Tim Maxwell, Seb Bartels, Jimmy Lardner-Brown & Cameron Henderson.
Thanks for the comparisons. Each of these speakers is responding nicely to your great sound and set up. Nice playing!
Love the rage tele.
Kiss of lynch tone was great👍
Came for the amps. Stayed for the playing.
Good lord this is amazing!!
Some holy grail tones in there.
HFS - the Silver Burst / Boogie V30 combo absolutely heaves, with clarity to boot.
Just caught the Tele clip at the end too - that is rad! Yes! Cherries all day.
Worshipping at the altar of tone is something we do everyday, glad you could join us!
Nice - the Kiss of Death clip sounded better than the album, lol.
love this amp, if I only had the money I probably both this and the MCII. They are both excellent
What a monstrous amp!
Lovely amp indeed ! Grail amp for sure Leon!
Agree and since you inherently have a deeper relationship with Cliff than pretty much everyone else, it would be so nice for there to be some greater pressure to get a MCII and MTL in Fractal land!
@@Tiger1016. Agree but an amp like a Wizard is extremely difficult to reproduce the punch and power in a modeler. Same with a Slo 100 has such a punch and clarity that I've never heard anything close come out of a Fractal or Kemper.
@cragginshred If my Quad Cortex Captures can recreate the punch and feel of my Wizard amps as good as the results I get running them through a load box into the same IR (i.e. apples to apples A/B test of recorded guitar tones through FRFR speakers), then I have complete faith that the Fractal team could do it justice just as well. There is no doubt the punch and feel from an amp/cab in a room makes a world of difference compared to recorded tones through FRFR monitors as the recorded tones neuter the punch and dynamics. That said a Wizard QC Capture has noticeably more punch and lack of compression compared to a comparable Friedman capture or model, so if Fractal could at least preserve the relative differences on recorded tones, then we should all be happy.
For the time being, my Axe Fx is collecting dust while my QC and also ToneX is getting all of the use when I am not using my actual amps, because the Wizards are it for me.
@@Tiger1016. That's funny! Next you will say your getting that at bedroom volume...😆
Thanks for the killer demos as always. Surprised that I prefer the Modern Classic II demo over this one even though I'm a metal player.
Since you guys have the MTL and MCII, you can also create the equivalent of the Hybrid (MTL preamp and MCII power amp), which is Wizard's best all around amp in my experience and opinion. My personal struggle with my MTL is the mids come off as relatively hollow and underweight compared to my MCII KT75 or MCI, but the Hybrid with the MCII power amp helps to remedy this while also preserving the MTL's more versatile preamp controls. The missing mids is something I have not been able to remedy with the MTL via drive pedals or EQ before the input, parametric EQ in the loop, speaker/cab changes, or post mic/IR EQ, but I am also aware that I am over the top with how particualr I am about the mids. Anyway, the Hybrid configuration is definitely worth experimenting with whenever you might have the time, if you ever have the time haha.
Interesting, haven’t tried that but will put it in the list!
I own the mk2 100 watt MTL and it is second to none. MC2 in future at some point
Great amps!
Great channel , great content and playing ! So refreshing to see wizard amps out in front ! - Subbed
Many thanks!
@@zenamplificationpleasure need more vidz please! 🙌
Best tones yet
Chug comparison #1 (James' Fury):
- Wizard MTL: ua-cam.com/video/W2spvokbK6M/v-deo.html
- Diezel VH4:* ua-cam.com/video/EaV8AjiupDI/v-deo.html
- Diezel Herbert:* ua-cam.com/video/YLW2WGEODLc/v-deo.html
- Bogner Uberschall Rev Blue: ua-cam.com/video/eoYfea_AT88/v-deo.html
Chug comparison #2 (Lamb of Zen):
- Wizard MTL: ua-cam.com/video/W2spvokbK6M/v-deo.html
- Diezel VH4:* ua-cam.com/video/EaV8AjiupDI/v-deo.html
- Diezel Herbert:* ua-cam.com/video/YLW2WGEODLc/v-deo.html
- Bogner Uberschall Rev Blue: ua-cam.com/video/eoYfea_AT88/v-deo.html
* Slight clipping of converters or mic pre on the Diezel tracks, unfortunately.
Fantastic ! Think I will grab the Kemper profile of this amp from amp guru
I got the privilege of playing through a Wizard and it was amazing! One of the best sounding amps I have ever heard in person. Thanks for the demo! I see that Rivera in the wall... When are we going to see a demo of it? I would love to hear a proper demo of a Rivera!
Yeah they're pretty awesome amps, lots of power and clarity. Rivera video is in the works, along with 20 others!
@@zenamplification great! I am a huge fan of Rivera amps, but they don't seem to have very good demos of them. What I hear in the room vs what I hear in videos sound far from each other. I know your team will make it sound awesome!
Will look forward to it as well, thanks Zen Amps!
G12H(75) always the best speaker, it sounds almost identical to the WGS Invader.
It may be just me but it kind of reminds me of the ADA MP1's girth, though less compressed and punchier. Definitely not as "modern" as I would have expected, but very cool! (my choice is still for the Modern Classic :P go ahead Zen! )
This is the sickest amp channel on planet earth. These amp demos are fantastic. Hey Wizard is now offering a MTL/MC2 Hybrid, can y’all get your hands on one and do a demo like this?
Going to be hard to get one, but I think we can mock one up by running the MC2 FX send into the MTL return...will look into it. Thanks for the kind words and for tuning in btw!
@ZEN Amplification That will totally work and is highly recommended. The MTL power amp has relatively more punch but the MCII power amp changes the voicing in pleasing way by helping to fill the mids and is more versatile. Also, the Contour/Negative Feedback control in the MCII adds more versatility compared to the Depth control from the MTL. But damn the MTL is the king of the hill in the punch and kick department.
So the question is this. I just got my bonus and money is no object. If you could buy any one of these amp - which would you buy. Out of all the ones you’ve demo’d on your channel?
I like / play hard rock / blues rock but prefer metal type dirty. I’m thinking the wizard MTL. Let me know money burning a hole in my pocket !!
@@robertalsbury Hmm, tough one. The MTL is hard to beat for crushing gain although the new Bogner Ultra is very impressive (for metal anyway). Even with videos like ours around, owning one for a week is really the only way to assess if it's right for you. The MTL is certainly worth trying - the rhy channel with an overdrive pedal is very versatile, and the lead channel speaks for itself. Good luck in your tone search 🤘🏼
@@zenamplification thanks bro. Would you get the MTL over the MCii? That Bogner Ultra, can it do classic / hard rock, or is it just metal?
This makes me wanna try redbacks with mine . Damn killer
I was really looking forward to this review. I wasn't that impressed with the MCII for metal and the 2203 'shucked' it, but the MTL - for my tastes - absolutely killed it. That opening mix with G12H was HUGE sounding. BTW: the note "squeals" on the E-string reminded me of Alice Cooper's "Step on You": ua-cam.com/video/ClKRJLweuOY/v-deo.html&ab_channel=AliceCooper-Topic.
Keep it up! Looking forward to comparing the BE100 with the MCII for rock.
Yep some have had luck with the MCii for metal but it always struck us as a rock / hard rock amp. The MTL really delivers for the heavier stuff 🤘🏼
The Hybrid with the MTL preamp section and MCII power amp is in my opinion the best all around Wizard amp. This configuration helps to balance out the MTL's relatively hollow mids and gives it the ability to be the best of both worlds. I really should give up and part ways with my MTL because I always reach for the Hybrid instead for the tones I would otherwise get from the MTL, yet I still enjoy the uniqueness of what my MCII KT75 and MCI bring to the table and can't imagine parting with those.
@@Tiger1016. I'm curious how the MCII KT75 differs from your MCI which I'm assuming is EL34?
I don't like the style of music being played to demo this amp (to put it mildly0....but I LOVE the tone they dialed up to demo it. *I'm telling you guys....if every amp demo was done this well, regardless of amp, buying one would be a MUCH better experience. But, get rid of Leon. He refuses to bath, and slobber's too much. 🤣* Nothing seemed to lose articulation with this amp in this video. Very well done guys. You can tell what guitar hero's influenced these players. You guys have cracked the code on dialing in amps.
Thanks for the kind words, but lay off our boy Leon. His hair smells like fresh cinnamon and drooling is for drummers. The only saliva involved is via his merciless licks 🎸
@@zenamplification LOL! OK, no more harassing Leon, but only if his hair truly smells like -pork fat- cinnamon. P.S. I forgot to mention that drums are my first instrument…. 👍
Was this amp an EL 34 version? This sounds immense and versatile.
Yes EL34’s 🤘
@@zenamplification thank you!
How's a Wizard compare to VHT/Fryette in terms of dryness and feel?
Not much experience with Fryette unfortunately, except for a Pitbull a few years back that we didn't bond with.
I played an Ultra lead for years. Currently have a Wizard w800 and MC1. All three are what I would call tight and dry amps. What sets them apart is the Wizards have a bit more clarity and punch. While also super tight, they have more give/bounce in their feel. They are unforgiving because they are so immediate and accurate...but they feel great to play!!
Can you gents do a headfirst Alta 100 demo?
Will do if we get one in the house.
This amp is so punchy . You have to be infront of it to know what I’m saying . Nothing hits like wizard MTL2
Waiting for Fractal and Kemper to release amp model for Wizard amps that better than pay 5k for amp head and wait for one.