Cantrell mod for Shiva

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drk666

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Hi new guy on here, can anyone give me the details on how to do the Cantrell mod to my green chassis Bogner Shiva so I can pass it on to my tech, or should I just use an overdrive pedal, thanks.
 
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The Cantrell mod is usually done to JCM 800s or Bogner Fish Preamps. Not sure if you can do it to a Shiva. I know on the Fish it requires completely replacing the entire board, which is why Reinhold doesn't like to do it.
 
The Cantrell mod is usually done to JCM 800s or Bogner Fish Preamps. Not sure if you can do it to a Shiva. I know on the Fish it requires completely replacing the entire board, which is why Reinhold doesn't like to do it.
When he did mine he said he hadn't done the mod at that point in 10+ years. It is apparently a giant pain in the ass.
 
Also, if I can be blunt, I had a Cantrell-modded Fish (actually the one @itsgoodnow mentioned above) paired with a VHT 2150 power amp, and while it was very cool, it's not a tone I would spend that much money chasing. You can get that tone from other amps out there at lower prices that are much more versatile. For example the Headfirst Alta 100 with the Clip and Bright switches engaged in Modern Voice will get you 95% of the way there for a fraction of the cost of a Cantrell-modded anything, and you'll have a kickass amp that does a lot of other tones to boot.

The Cantrell mod also kind of "ruins" your amp. There's no way to turn the mod on and off. It just turns your amp (whether JCM 800 or Fish) into a flamethrower that really does only that one thing. (Save for the fact that you'd still have the other channels on the Fish; but, TBH, the Brown channel on the Fish is 80-90% the same sound as the Cantrell-modded Shark channel anyways.)
 
Also, if I can be blunt, I had a Cantrell-modded Fish (actually the one @itsgoodnow mentioned above) paired with a VHT 2150 power amp, and while it was very cool, it's not a tone I would spend that much money chasing. You can get that tone from other amps out there at lower prices that are much more versatile. For example the Headfirst Alta 100 with the Clip and Bright switches engaged in Modern Voice will get you 95% of the way there for a fraction of the cost of a Cantrell-modded anything, and you'll have a kickass amp that does a lot of other tones to boot.

The Cantrell mod also kind of "ruins" your amp. There's no way to turn the mod on and off. It just turns your amp (whether JCM 800 or Fish) into a flamethrower that really does only that one thing. (Save for the fact that you'd still have the other channels on the Fish; but, TBH, the Brown channel on the Fish is 80-90% the same sound as the Cantrell-modded Shark channel anyways.)
Couldn't agree more. The novelty on it was chasing the tone and checking it out. There aren't that many of the FIsh unit, let alone with the Cantrell mod. I suspect @hellzington and I have very similar musical tastes in a lot of areas and when you're chasing tone looking for the pimp juice in these albums you go to a lot of lengths to satisfy curiosity. AIC in particular is a constant obsession for me. But, the various Cantrell mods are a 1 trick pony and the price for entry is stiff as hell. I would take a dozen other amps off the top of my head for significantly less money that can cop similar tones and are more versatile.
 
I don’t remember what the mod involves on a regular Shiva, but I can confirm that the 20th Shiva can definitely mail his tone. He used a “regular” Shiva on Degradation Trip, I think it was a silver chassis that was tweaked a little bit. My green chassis could never get that much gain. Sold it and bought a 20th Shiva and that got pretty damn close to that tone.

Also had one of the reissue Fish preamps that had the Cantrell mod, it was the same main board, just a few components were different and some of the traces on the board were cut and rewired. Jorg said the traces needed to be cut to modify the signal path to turn the Shark channel into super high gain territory. Crazy good sounding amp, but honestly a 20th Shiva, XTC Red, or a Uber gets close. My early Uber honestly sounds like an improved version of the Cantrell Fish.
 
I don’t remember what the mod involves on a regular Shiva, but I can confirm that the 20th Shiva can definitely mail his tone. He used a “regular” Shiva on Degradation Trip, I think it was a silver chassis that was tweaked a little bit. My green chassis could never get that much gain. Sold it and bought a 20th Shiva and that got pretty damn close to that tone.

Also had one of the reissue Fish preamps that had the Cantrell mod, it was the same main board, just a few components were different and some of the traces on the board were cut and rewired. Jorg said the traces needed to be cut to modify the signal path to turn the Shark channel into super high gain territory. Crazy good sounding amp, but honestly a 20th Shiva, XTC Red, or a Uber gets close. My early Uber honestly sounds like an improved version of the Cantrell Fish.
Agree with this 100%. I am not a Cantrell tone chaser by any means, although I do like playing some of the old AIC stuff and have never owned a fish preamp, but I can definitely say that the 20th Anny Shiva I owned really nailed the Cantrell tone. Better than my Rev Blue Uber, '96 Ecstasy, 20th Ecstasy and Helios (which can get close, like you said).

Actually, I also preferred the Shiva 20th for Cantrell type tones compared to the BE 100 and JJ I owned. Great heads!!
 
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