Caswell #39

  • Thread starter Thread starter richardt4520
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I have been wondering about this amp for a long time.
 
I was actually looking at Studio Electronics site regarding info on an old analog synth I used to have and came across that. I knew of the mod itself but the amp actually has 5 different circuits from different Marshalls and mods that Caswell had done in addition to the motorized knobs. Looks versatile as hell if you're looking for a modded Marshall that would cover a lot of ground.
 
I put $ down on one years ago. Never got the amp, never got all my $ back :thumbsdown:
 
Damn, that sucks! I think I just lost my curiosity about that amp. :doh:
 
That's surprising. I've always heard good thing about Tim. He lives close to me here in Wi...he's a good keyboard/guitar player for a local blues band. I've contacted him before about modding an 800 for me a year or two ago. You should try contacting him again to get your refund sorted out.
 
I wish I could find the article that I read a little while back about this amp and the history. The supposed "real" story that I read was that Tim Caswell did originally mod #39 but noone was wanting to rent the thing and that it just didnt really sound all that well. There was another employee whos name I cant remember also worked at S.I.R and did some mod work on amps as well. It was either this guy himself, or his boss that suggested that he take a look at #39 and see what he could do to it to make it a little more desirable to play / rent. After this guy did his work in the amp, that is when it started to get the reputation that it currently has. So in a nutshell it wasn't Caswell's mod that Slash and everyone else was playing, it was this other guy. God I wish I could find that article again or just remember the dude name! I gotta find it to verify...
 
No I think that's wrong too. I read that Caswells 39 was the one everyone wanted, but it was always rented out. So the company had Frank Levi mod another to 39s specs. That was 36. I think that because 39 was with Lynch on tour with Dokken, AFD was actually recorded with 36, which was a Frank Levi version of Caswells mod. But when 39 came back, Slash grabbed it and used it for touring/rehearsals. But his tech brought it back to SIR after Slash told them it was stolen....Slash trying to pull a theft lol. Both Slash and Lynch both said 39 was the perfect Marshall. But that AFD tone wasn't 39, it was 36....from what I remember reading anyway.
 
Racerxrated":2623hylg said:
No I think that's wrong too. I read that Caswells 39 was the one everyone wanted, but it was always rented out. So the company had Frank Levi mod another to 39s specs. That was 36. I think that because 39 was with Lynch on tour with Dokken, AFD was actually recorded with 36, which was a Frank Levi version of Caswells mod. But when 39 came back, Slash grabbed it and used it for touring/rehearsals. But his tech brought it back to SIR after Slash told them it was stolen....Slash trying to pull a theft lol. Both Slash and Lynch both said 39 was the perfect Marshall. But that AFD tone wasn't 39, it was 36....from what I remember reading anyway.
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^
This was the way that I understood the story, as well.
 
I did eventually find something that had Frank Levi's name so that did jar some kind of memory. I'm not much of a Slash fan so I never really cared much about his gear. Just thought it was a nice article that I read once. Does this Levi guy still build amps? You'd think that people that wanted Slashes tone would be looking him up rather than buying that AFD that Marshall put out.
 
Ok now I'm confused. The story that I always heard like what was stated in this thread already was that Caswell modded #39 and that was the magic amp. Then the article I read a while back sounded like Levi removed Caswell's mod from #39. I found something on the Metroamp forum while doing a bit of reading that sounded like what I read in this interview with Levi not long ago. Levi was quoted in saying: "As for #36; ALL OF THE DRAWINGS ARE TOTALLY WRONG! I completely removed Tim Caswell's mod to #39 and replaced it with my own. #36 is a copy of what I did to #39. #39 does have better transformers, though. AT THIS POINT I AM NOT RELEASING THE CORRECT VALUES, etc. FOR #39/#36...I HAVE BUILT ANOTHER ONE I AM IN THE PROCESS OF TRYING TO COME OUT WITH A LINE OF AMPS WITH MY PARTNER BASED ON THE MODS I DID PRION TO #36/#39....WHICH ARE HEAVIER METAL SOUNDING & NOT SO HARSH/BRITTLE. SORRY"

Maybe Levi removed Caswell's mods after Slash used/borrowed/stole the amp? Who knows man.
 
Yeah that's the question. It could be that Levi added this years later to try and drum up some business for himself, who knows. Because this fact about Levi re-modding 39 is kind of recent. He did clone Caswells mod for other amps at SIR, but the amp that was always out on rental was 39. Before Levi got there it was the #1 rental so 39 originally must have been special. Levi became the go to tech after Caswell left, and surely knows the Caswell circuit. Not sure if he is modding now or not.
 
Racerxrated":1mrp7s6v said:
That's surprising. I've always heard good thing about Tim. He lives close to me here in Wi...he's a good keyboard/guitar player for a local blues band. I've contacted him before about modding an 800 for me a year or two ago. You should try contacting him again to get your refund sorted out.
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I was suppose to get #2 about 2 months after ordering. After a year or so I tried to track down the amp at NAMM, it was suppose to be in the Taylor booth. Amp never made it. The person that worked with/for Tim eventually told me he quit, and that I would never get my amp or $. I did track Tim down, got a partial refund, but he simply didn't have the $ or amp - even though I later found out a few amps did get out there. So long ago I just gave up. Amp was a hell of an idea, would have loved to see it in production.
 
Frank had Caswells mod circuit, after Caswell left SIR had Levi mod some Marshalls to clone #39, which Lynch had rented out for tour. So the actual amp that recorded AFD was Levi modded #36, not #39 which was unavailable. But the mod is still Caswells originally, and the amp that was #39 was a 69 super trem. Number #36 was a JCM 800 I think? #39 was sooo popular that SIR wanted more versions of that amp, every pro wanted to rent it out apparently. If anyone is interested I can find out if Caswell is still modding, I believe he still lives about 30 min away. Mod was 800 last I checked, lead channel with a boost, full clean and a switchable loop w/foot switch.
 
lespaul6":32nhykv4 said:
Here is an interesting article about Levi and some of his clients like Warren Demartini... and the Caswell mod

http://theguitarzombie.blogspot.com/201 ... s-out.html
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:lol: :LOL: I don't know man, its pretty obvious Franks pulling the chain a bit there. To say he ripped out Caswells mod and put his in, and it was never Caswells mod on 39 in the first place?? George Lynch is on record talking about #39 and how Caswell modded it, and George had Tim subsequently mod more amps for him because of it. I'm quite sure if it were true about #39 being all Frank Levi, Lynch would have had a bunch of Levi modded Marshalls. I'm sure his mods are killer, but he's trying to change the facts up a bit methinks.. :D
 
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