2nd impressions on the Cali

DanTravis62 said:
Let's hope @maddnotez takes long walks on the beach with his Cali
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I think I might. It does sound really good. Just pretty foreign to me but there's something really unique about it. If I hated it it would already be in the classifieds as I got a fair price.

For now it's a keeper. More testing to do when my cab gets here and I can't see myself selling it anytime soon unless the Monomyth just kills it in every way.

On the flip side after all my whoring I've done last month I could sell it all and buy a Wizard :p

I would buy a Larry but.........you know.
 
maddnotez said:
On the flip side after all my whoring I've done last month I could sell it all and buy a Wizard :p

I would buy a Larry but.........you know.
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A wizard is always a good choice.

And the Larry wait isn't for everyone, but I can tell you one thing - the sooner you do it, the sooner it'll be over. And it's totally, totally worth it ;)

You go on your journey man, find what works for you. Maybe it the Cali? Who knows.
 
Yeah, pretty great sounding amp. Does get a little brittle/bright at high volumes, where the wizzard MTL just keeps getting better at higher volume.
 
CrazyNutz said:
Yeah, pretty great sounding amp. Does get a little brittle/bright at high volumes, where the wizzard MTL just keeps getting better at higher volume.
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It does but im learning to manage. Turning down the gain helps quite a bit. It's just one of those mental things - needz moar gainzzz...

Dial with your ears and not your eyes. I have it sounding good at a volume I wouldn't ever want to get past, at least in my situation. Im not playing arenas and couldn't imagine getting any louder. This 50w amp is insanely loud, louder than most 100w/120w that I have had tbh.
 
maddnotez said:
Not that anyone cares but Im digging this amp, it is pretty unique. Getting some great sounds and the more I experiment the better I get with the dials and the more I like it.

I will say it is not perfect for me. I think inherently the amp doesn't have enough saturation compared to what I like. The frequencies are all unique and new to me and still adjusting. Top end is a bit brittle but that makes the open notes sound really good and I bet it cuts in a mix.

It is a good amp and I like it enough to where it's going to stay for a while. Want to test my new cab when it comes and I have a couple of different boosts on the way as well. Maybe I'll try an eq in the loop and I need to test in a band setting.

One thing I will praise that I haven't seen mentioned about the Cali is the clean channel. It is excellent and one of the best I have played. The down side that will never change is the shared EQ. This kind of bugs me tbh. For the price it should be a 3 channel amp with 3 separate EQ's.

The good thing is I am not gigging so it wont be a big deal.

Just wanted to update my thoughts. I will make my final judgment in a couple of weeks I would imagine. Just need to test more. Cabs, pedals, another guitar and weather or not the Monomyth knocks it out of the park. If it does I may be tempted to sell the Fortin to pay for the Skeleton Key as I do want that amp. On the flip side the Cali is very unique so who knows.
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I wonder if the "Saturation", or the lack of when you give the amp volume, is the speaker movement...
This is quite common, since when you're playing at very low volume you're not pushing the cone as much as when playing at high volume. So, at lower volume you are moving more mids and presence, while at volume you're also moving the bass with them.
And as you bring the volume up, the low end will increase, giving you a more balanced eq, and the perception that you lost saturation, since now the mids and presence are no longer dominant over the low end. This happens with pretty much every amp with master volume that I have.
 
SBlue said:
I wonder if the "Saturation", or the lack of when you give the amp volume, is the speaker movement...
This is quite common, since when you're playing at very low volume you're not pushing the cone as much as when playing at high volume. So, at lower volume you are moving more mids and presence, while at volume you're also moving the bass with them.
And as you bring the volume up, the low end will increase, giving you a more balanced eq, and the perception that you lost saturation, since now the mids and presence are no longer dominant over the low end. This happens with pretty much every amp with master volume that I have.
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Very possible. The cab I have here has a horrible speaker combo as well.
 
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