The Gower Killer Kali++ is in.. "Frankenstein"

suhrimmetal

Well-known member
1st off..I have no way to record clips so please don't ask :LOL: :LOL: ..hopefully in the near future.

So I've had my Gower Killer Kali++ for a few days now and had the chance to let her breathe last nite at rehearsals. :rock: :rock: :yes: :yes: :)
I wanted a 2 ch amp w/ master 2 for leads and buffered series/parallel fx loop that was transparant and bypassable.. Well, Dan delivered and then some! I've owned some great amps in the past..some ok ones..some meh ones.. The Kali hands down has found a home with me. Mine came loaded with 3 way clipped circuit AND added 4th gain stage. I know clipping diodes is the shit on here and people chase down this tone.. myself included... well, until now. The added 4th gain stage is where it's at! It does everything that a clipped circuit does but so much better..and without the volume drop and increase amp noise. I use this for my stock rhythm tone. Aggressive, big, juicy, open, harmonic with oodles of articulation, string separation while maintaining the ballz. Very playable with just enuf squish/saturation for that warm Thump :rock: I then use added 4th gain with Master 2 for my leads... every tone in this amp is incredible but here is where I can't stop smiling. Notes are just so warm and sustain in their space forever.. the top end doesn't get shrill, harsh or thin at all. With my tc flashback in parallel loop, this is the lead tone I've been searching for. Dan even added a bit more gain to the stock jcm800 platform so playing the amp straight up with no mods is fun as hell... plenty of gain and girth for classic to modern rhythms.. I just happen to be in love with the 4th gain stage. I find the mids of the amp to sit somewhere between Friedman and Cameron... IMO Friedmans seem to have the darker voiced mids.. the Camerons a bit more exaggerated mids and the Kali sits right in the pocket. The 'feel' of the amp can tighten or loosen up the amp and I like this almost midway.. The tone shaping of this amp is almost limitless.. from the poweramp voicings with glass/depth/freq to the mid shift/feel/prez to the gain/bright swithes.. You have every GOOD Marshall tone at your fingers!! I've got my settings down and I could not be happier.. to sum it up.. we played about 25min at rehearsals last nite and my guitar player looked at me..shook his head, and said 'Wow'! Said it's the best sounding amp he's ever heard... and a funny side note.. he is a HUGE SLO advocate, and tho he doesn't have one, that is his amp...all other amps are compared to the SLO in his opinion. He's sitting there looking at me and says, 'Well, that pretty much kills the idea of me ever getting a SLO".. :D

A quick review of clean channel...which I haven't messed with much but have utilized. Full clean, separate eq with bright switch. Very nice and useable clean and complements my OD tone perfectly. Doesn't have the complete warmth of the PT100 clean, but has this 'real' tone to it.. It's still warm and chimey, plenty of headroom... notes are very fast coming off the board. Reminds me of Aldrich's clean parts on Whitesnakes 2004 london DVD... very organic and real feel to the tone and harmonics. Tube buffered series/parallel fx loop is amazing. Transparent, no tone loss, no adjusting gain level on inside of amp to match master volume when loop is on or off.

Last but not least... Dan's attention to detail and the professionalism that goes into his work is inspiring! The amp looks so damn good... and sounds THAT much better. For those here that have kept up with my amp flipping..the gas has been getting the best of me.. Like I said, I've owned some great amps..Friedmans, Suhrs, Bogners, Chupa, Cornford...some decent Diezel, Peavey,etc..and some meh... My Gower Killer Kali++ is everything that 'I' look for and need in an amp. I could not be happier, my gas is no more...and its a F'n Great feeling :rock:
I know I have an amp that can cover my every tonal and functional need... now all I can blame my tone on is my playing :D Dan could not be a better guy, modder/builder, human being. This whole process has been a pleasure and I have a feeling you're going to be seeing and hearing lots of his work in the future!!

I thank you all for your input, experience and opinions over the past year or so on here. I've learned alot from a good handful of you and its made me a better player and a much better 'listener' of the amp I'm playing. Cheerz and All my Best

Cory
proud owner of my Kali++ 'Frankenstein"
 
sixty-niner":2ytqkw5c said:
bummed Dan isnt in the US. shipping costs suck!!! great review!!!


There is one for sale here in the US. It is a Metro kit one, but it supposed to be awesome, plus the KK++ is pretty much gutted and rebuilt according to Dan.
 
sixty-niner":3tonybx1 said:
bummed Dan isnt in the US. shipping costs suck!!! great review!!!

Yes, true. They gouge on shipping. (lets not forget vac/port tax etc ). However, its worth the pain in the wallet considering what you get back in return........
VIVA LA GOWER! :rock: :rock: :rock:
 
a24fretman":2ujer95g said:
sixty-niner":2ujer95g said:
bummed Dan isnt in the US. shipping costs suck!!! great review!!!

Yes, true. They gouge on shipping. (lets not forget vac/port tax etc ). However, its worth the pain in the wallet considering what you get back in return........
VIVA LA GOWER! :rock: :rock: :rock:


:thumbsup:

:rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock:
 
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