Hairy Brown eye or Cali

[tweed]

Mike needs to send Cliff a cali modded slp for modeling

no, he doesn't

?

 

[danhops]

I own a Cali modded Marshall and I'm borrowing a Friedman modded 50 watt amp. The Friedman has a BE, and a JBE mod along with FAT and Saturation switch. No matter how i set the Friedman it doesn't have the gain that the Cali mod has.

I will lend you my Randall rig with the Friedman BE and HBE modules among others, but that way you can kinda get an idea what the difference is between a BE and a HBE if you care to know. I have the sat switch on both, but the sat switch on the HBE is really kinda overkill. Thought it would be more useful, but for me, not really Cool module though to say the least.

 

[Schaf]

Being in Canada, I'd probably lean to Fortin. I haven't played one though - but I'm sure it sounds good. I have played a KS modded Marshall. I thought the HBE would be what I liked best because I generally like more gain - but I really like the BE with the Saturation mod the best. All the other switches didn't do much for me. A very cool amp nonetheless.

Thanks for the input. I'm worried that the Cali is going to sound too fat and not enough top end grind that Marshall is known for...I love fat but it has to cut! I hear more high end in the Friedman. Though I would like to hear a Cali in person because the recordings of the Fortin that I've heard haven't been very high quality.

The Cali has plenty of top end grind should you want it and it cuts like glass in a band mix.

It's one of the best modded marshalls ive ever played and Ive played a ton of them

I recorded this just by sticking a mike in front of the amp and the presence was tame. I could have easily added a TON more!

http://www.netmusicians.org/files/13-6-test.mp3

Dude, that is SICK!!!!

 

[MrDan666]

Hey Dan, is the hair switch an extra gain stage added via an extra tube or res\cap config?

No the Hair switch doesn't add any gain, just changes the voicing

 

[War Admiral]

Thanks for everybodys .02....it looks like I had the right idea at the beginning. I'm calling Mike.

 

[Digital Jams]

Hey Dan, is the hair switch an extra gain stage added via an extra tube or res\cap config?

No the Hair switch doesn't add any gain, just changes the voicing

Hey bro did Angus get his yet???

 

[AmpliFIRE]

Before you mod it...have you tried boosting it? There are a ton of good dirt pedals out there that I'm sure could get the tones you're looking for. I've got a stock JCM800 and it sounds killer with a boost...

 

[War Admiral]

Before you mod it...have you tried boosting it? There are a ton of good dirt pedals out there that I'm sure could get the tones you're looking for. I've got a stock JCM800 and it sounds killer with a boost...

Yeah, I got those tones covered with my '79 2204 and SD-1...sounds killer! The amp I'm sending is a SLP thats been modded a couple of times already...no harm done just potentially different tones on the way.
My other amps are an Elmwood M60 and an Orange...I think a Fortin Cali modded SLP will round out my tone machines.

 

[MrDan666]

Hey bro did Angus get his yet???

He did indeed, he received it last Saturday morning and gigged it Saturday night! I'm sure he'll post up a review soon when he gets chance

 

[Digital Jams]

Hey bro did Angus get his yet???

He did indeed, he received it last Saturday morning and gigged it Saturday night! I'm sure he'll post up a review soon when he gets chance

Oh man the panties must have been flying at my sexified bro

Can't wait for some of his sexified playing on a clip!

 

[tonmazz]

All I can say is this. I never heard the Fortin Cali but all reviews say it's killer. My experience with Mike and Dan666 in my interactions is that they are awesome guys and know their shit inside and out and I wouldn't hesitate dealing with either of those guys. Hope to have a Cali someday soon! Top notch!!

I'll also say that my Friedman KS mod is the best Marshall mod I have heard to date and I've had/heard Caswell, several Camerons, Golub, Suhr, Voodoo, etc and they were all great in their own way. The KS covers all the bases, especially now that I switched to JJEL34s in the power section from winged Cs. It added that tiny bit of bottom I was missing and Dave suggested this right off the bat, I should have listened. The HBE is heavy as hell and I can't imagine any more gain! Brown Eye is great and boosted is even better and the Sat switch takes you into 80s heaven. HBE is just over the top heavy fun and where I like to be most of the time. Fat switch and C45 are nice tweaking devices for more bottom or bright. Just for me the perfect amp!! My 2 cents. I dont think you'll be unhappy either way you go.

 

[War Admiral]

All I can say is this. I never heard the Fortin Cali but all reviews say it's killer. My experience with Mike and Dan666 in my interactions is that they are awesome guys and know their shit inside and out and I wouldn't hesitate dealing with either of those guys. Hope to have a Cali someday soon! Top notch!!

I'll also say that my Friedman KS mod is the best Marshall mod I have heard to date and I've had/heard Caswell, several Camerons, Golub, Suhr, Voodoo, etc and they were all great in their own way. The KS covers all the bases, especially now that I switched to JJEL34s in the power section from winged Cs. It added that tiny bit of bottom I was missing and Dave suggested this right off the bat, I should have listened. The HBE is heavy as hell and I can't imagine any more gain! Brown Eye is great and boosted is even better and the Sat switch takes you into 80s heaven. HBE is just over the top heavy fun and where I like to be most of the time. Fat switch and C45 are nice tweaking devices for more bottom or bright. Just for me the perfect amp!! My 2 cents. I dont think you'll be unhappy either way you go.

Dave is one of the few who like the JJ's in Marshalls and I agree with him. JJ's get a lot of bad rap but the EL34's and EL34L's sound great IMO.

Probably because Dave's amps are on the bright side and JJ's are dark sounding tubes...hmmmm.

 

[Gainfreak]

All I can say is this. I never heard the Fortin Cali but all reviews say it's killer. My experience with Mike and Dan666 in my interactions is that they are awesome guys and know their shit inside and out and I wouldn't hesitate dealing with either of those guys. Hope to have a Cali someday soon! Top notch!!

I'll also say that my Friedman KS mod is the best Marshall mod I have heard to date and I've had/heard Caswell, several Camerons, Golub, Suhr, Voodoo, etc and they were all great in their own way. The KS covers all the bases, especially now that I switched to JJEL34s in the power section from winged Cs. It added that tiny bit of bottom I was missing and Dave suggested this right off the bat, I should have listened. The HBE is heavy as hell and I can't imagine any more gain! Brown Eye is great and boosted is even better and the Sat switch takes you into 80s heaven. HBE is just over the top heavy fun and where I like to be most of the time. Fat switch and C45 are nice tweaking devices for more bottom or bright. Just for me the perfect amp!! My 2 cents. I dont think you'll be unhappy either way you go.

Dave is one of the few who like the JJ's in Marshalls and I agree with him. JJ's get a lot of bad rap but the EL34's and EL34L's sound great IMO.

Probably because Dave's amps are on the bright side and JJ's are dark sounding tubes...hmmmm.

That's weird because Ive always heard that Daves Mods are dark? (which I actually like!)

Just goes to show you that we all really need to try one because you sometimes get conflicting info lol

 

[tonmazz]

All I can say is this. I never heard the Fortin Cali but all reviews say it's killer. My experience with Mike and Dan666 in my interactions is that they are awesome guys and know their shit inside and out and I wouldn't hesitate dealing with either of those guys. Hope to have a Cali someday soon! Top notch!!

I'll also say that my Friedman KS mod is the best Marshall mod I have heard to date and I've had/heard Caswell, several Camerons, Golub, Suhr, Voodoo, etc and they were all great in their own way. The KS covers all the bases, especially now that I switched to JJEL34s in the power section from winged Cs. It added that tiny bit of bottom I was missing and Dave suggested this right off the bat, I should have listened. The HBE is heavy as hell and I can't imagine any more gain! Brown Eye is great and boosted is even better and the Sat switch takes you into 80s heaven. HBE is just over the top heavy fun and where I like to be most of the time. Fat switch and C45 are nice tweaking devices for more bottom or bright. Just for me the perfect amp!! My 2 cents. I dont think you'll be unhappy either way you go.

Dave is one of the few who like the JJ's in Marshalls and I agree with him. JJ's get a lot of bad rap but the EL34's and EL34L's sound great IMO.

Probably because Dave's amps are on the bright side and JJ's are dark sounding tubes...hmmmm.

That's weird because Ive always heard that Daves Mods are dark? (which I actually like!)

Just goes to show you that we all really need to try one because you sometimes get conflicting info lol

Yeah I never found Dave's mod to be overly bright. I would say it is a nice in between. If you want that bright, the C45 takes sort of into the VHish grindy plexiish territory but otherwise balanced. Now the old 2205 I used to have was bright.

 

[War Admiral]

All I can say is this. I never heard the Fortin Cali but all reviews say it's killer. My experience with Mike and Dan666 in my interactions is that they are awesome guys and know their shit inside and out and I wouldn't hesitate dealing with either of those guys. Hope to have a Cali someday soon! Top notch!!

I'll also say that my Friedman KS mod is the best Marshall mod I have heard to date and I've had/heard Caswell, several Camerons, Golub, Suhr, Voodoo, etc and they were all great in their own way. The KS covers all the bases, especially now that I switched to JJEL34s in the power section from winged Cs. It added that tiny bit of bottom I was missing and Dave suggested this right off the bat, I should have listened. The HBE is heavy as hell and I can't imagine any more gain! Brown Eye is great and boosted is even better and the Sat switch takes you into 80s heaven. HBE is just over the top heavy fun and where I like to be most of the time. Fat switch and C45 are nice tweaking devices for more bottom or bright. Just for me the perfect amp!! My 2 cents. I dont think you'll be unhappy either way you go.

Dave is one of the few who like the JJ's in Marshalls and I agree with him. JJ's get a lot of bad rap but the EL34's and EL34L's sound great IMO.

Probably because Dave's amps are on the bright side and JJ's are dark sounding tubes...hmmmm.

That's weird because Ive always heard that Daves Mods are dark? (which I actually like!)

Just goes to show you that we all really need to try one because you sometimes get conflicting info lol

You are correct sir! Listening to everybody sometimes makes you dizzy...I need to try one for myself but I don't see that happening.

 

[MrDan666]

Actually it's funny that you guys should mention the JJ's being darker sounding tubes, since i'm finding the opposite. Atleast power tubes anyway, but JJ preamp tubes are certainly a darker sounding tube for sure.

I did some testing recently between a few sets of EL34's, and the JJ EL34 turned out to be the brightest of the bunch. It was also the tightest of the bunch too.
The Winged C's were smoother and had more of a fluid midrange, whilst still retaining tightness. And then the other set i tested were Ruby EL34B-STR. Those sound really good and they have a little more 6L6 flavor in the lows, but still a typical EL34 upper mid/top.

This was all in my Cali Mod JMP by the way

 

[tonmazz]

Actually it's funny that you guys should mention the JJ's being darker sounding tubes, since i'm finding the opposite. Atleast power tubes anyway, but JJ preamp tubes are certainly a darker sounding tube for sure.

I did some testing recently between a few sets of EL34's, and the JJ EL34 turned out to be the brightest of the bunch. It was also the tightest of the bunch too.
The Winged C's were smoother and had more of a fluid midrange, whilst still retaining tightness. And then the other set i tested were Ruby EL34B-STR. Those sound really good and they have a little more 6L6 flavor in the lows, but still a typical EL34 upper mid/top.

This was all in my Cali Mod JMP by the way

Dan, I'm with you. I just found it gave the amp some more girth and less sizzle in the mids than the winged Cs. Didn't darken it up. By the way your Super Cali looks awesome! Might have to discuss shipping across the pond.

 

[tonmazz]

And then the other set i tested were Ruby EL34B-STR. Those sound really good and they have a little more 6L6 flavor in the lows, but still a typical EL34 upper mid/top.

yes, definitely like a 6L6 with too much bass for higher gain IMO.

What does the 6l6 bring to the table over the EL34?

 

[Gainfreak]

And then the other set i tested were Ruby EL34B-STR. Those sound really good and they have a little more 6L6 flavor in the lows, but still a typical EL34 upper mid/top.

yes, definitely like a 6L6 with too much bass for higher gain IMO.

What does the 6l6 bring to the table over the EL34?

They are rounder, have more bottom end, less rasp on the highs , they hold together more when pushed and they don't mud out like some 34's do when they are being used for longer durations.
It's really a preference though. I dig both 34's and 6l6's

 

[tonmazz]

And then the other set i tested were Ruby EL34B-STR. Those sound really good and they have a little more 6L6 flavor in the lows, but still a typical EL34 upper mid/top.

yes, definitely like a 6L6 with too much bass for higher gain IMO.

What does the 6l6 bring to the table over the EL34?

They are rounder, have more bottom end, less rasp on the highs , they hold together more when pushed and they don't mud out like some 34's do when they are being used for longer durations.
It's really a preference though. I dig both 34's and 6l6's

They don't go into sterile 6550 territory, do they? Almost time to retube but I don't want to get burned on experimentation. Thanks