Wizard amps Vintage Classic

[Roe]

perhaps I should buy a vintage classic just to clone it and sell it

[Colex]

Can the diodes on this board be for clipping? :O

[Greazygeo]

Can the diodes on this board be for clipping? :O

Yep.

I have a Modern Classic 100 and Metal 100. They cost alot and are killer sounding. There are alot of high gain amps that are modded Marshalls that don't sound like Marshalls anymore...the Wizard stuff does. They are very consistent sounding, I never have to fiddle with the knobs.

They love the microphone too. Ended my amp search long ago.

[MHProd]

I have a Vintage Classic. The design is different from a traditional plexi but I have to say it sounds in the same ballpark of my original Plexis. Not quite the same but better for some application, not as good for others. I guess Rick changed the design a bit to mimic what modern components can't do compared to the old ones. The transformers are his own design and made by MM. Many components are from old military stock.

For someone who build his own amps, I understand why his stuff may seem overpriced... I don't.

Sound wise, this is the best amp I've ever compared to original Plexis. That is somehow ironic because I do not like the sound of Orange Drops or the sound of MM trannys (but here, the trannys are made to Rick's specs).

The other great thing that I really like about this amp is the master volume on the back. I wasn't planning on using it because I've never heard a Plexi type amp that sounded good with any type of MV. BUT this one DO SOUND GREAT !!! I don't believe it's the traditional PPIMV.

[Spodeeodee]

I have a Vintage Classic.

Would you be willing to post some gut shots of your Vintage Classic? I would be very interested in seeing what's in there, as I'm sure many other board members would too. Information on these amps is farely scarce.

[Guitar Adjuster]

I got the chance to listen to a new Modern Classic a few weekends ago and it did sound good, but better the louder it got. Kinda like a hot rodded 800 sound to me. Still that $4700 price tag is a bit much. It sounded like a $2500 amp to me.

[Greazygeo]

I got the chance to listen to a new Modern Classic a few weekends ago and it did sound good, but better the louder it got. Kinda like a hot rodded 800 sound to me. Still that $4700 price tag is a bit much. It sounded like a $2500 amp to me.

What does a $4700.00 amp sound like?

[photios]

What does a $4700.00 amp sound like?

[Guitar Adjuster]

What does a $4700.00 amp sound like?

THIS

Seriously, to me an amp in the $4000 price range should have midi switching, 3/4 channels, external biasing, all the bells and whistles plus killer tone. To me the Wizard is not in that league.

[Greazygeo]

Seriously, to me an amp in the $4000 price range should have midi switching, 3/4 channels, external biasing, all the bells and whistles plus killer tone. To me the Wizard is not in that league.

Example?

[Guitar Adjuster]

Diezel, Fortin, Engl SE, or 2 Wizards

George I know you love Wizards and that's great so lets just leave it at that.

[Greazygeo]

Diezel, Fortin, Engl SE, or 2 Wizards

George I know you love Wizards and that's great so lets just leave it at that.

....sorry if it's not cool to ask a few questions....

[Guitar Adjuster]

Diezel, Fortin, Engl SE, or 2 Wizards

George I know you love Wizards and that's great so lets just leave it at that.

....sorry if it's not cool to ask a few questions....

No, it's perfectly cool and I don't mind at all. I just don't want to get into a pissing match over Wizard amps and it seemed to be heading in that direction.

[HTH]

The other great thing that I really like about this amp is the master volume on the back. I wasn't planning on using it because I've never heard a Plexi type amp that sounded good with any type of MV. BUT this one DO SOUND GREAT !!! I don't believe it's the traditional PPIMV.

looks like a big ohmite rheostat to me... http://www.ohmite.com/cgi-bin/showpage. ... _wirewound" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[photios]

willing to post some gut shots of your Vintage Classic? I would be very interested in seeing what's in there, as I'm sure many other board members would too. Information on these amps is farely scarce.

I recently built this amp with a friend of mine...its a VC but in an aluminum rack enclosure. Right now I'm too busy enjoying the hell of playing it but ultimately I plan to send it off for anodizing and laser engraving. The only things not stock about this compared to my other Wizard VC's is:

we added a VVR
we had to make some educated guesses on the tranny's though we took several measurements
we upped the wattage ratings on some of the resistors...like instead of using 1/4 watt we used 1/2...instead of 1/2 watt we used 1 watt
we used PEC pots instead of CTS like my factory Wizard
we used ceramic tube bases instead of plastic
we put in a precision pot with external bias points

Other than that, we scoured the earth for the rare components that were used in the VC that I own and cherish as my favorite amp (though this new build is rapidly ascending to take over that fav spot in my heart)...its a dead ringer tone wise...and I LOVE that its rack mounted (what can I say, I'm a rack player). The VVR is nice too...and useful...because even though this VC is only 50 watts, its like all other Wizards: REALLY loud. The external bias is handy but it still has to be un-racked to have the top removed to access the power tubes...I've considered modding the case (ala MESA gear) so that I can get to the tubes w/o having to take off the top but, nah...its still safer/easier with the external bias even with the minor inconvenience of removing the top...and the precision pot allows biasing to extreme accuracy (if that's your thing...and yes, it is mine...I'm kinda anal).

Here's a few pics:

FRONT OF UNIT W/O KNOBS


BACK OF UNIT


GUT SHOT


PROPOSED ARTWORK FOR ANODIZING & LASER ENGRAVING