Question on Fortin Cali, Friedman, and Cameron Mods

[Gainfreak]

I'm extremely familiar with the Camerons and the Fortins. They are two of my favorite amp builders
With that said, The Cali mods that I have played are anything but scooped. As a matter of fact Even with the mids on zero there is plenty of midrange on the Cali and I should know since I had the Cali mod that was featured in Carl roa's video for many months . Id ask Mike if there is a possibility that you have a one off mod.
To be honest with you the Camerons Ive played had more of a scooped sound then any of the Cali's. I don't say that as a bad thing either since I love the tone of Marks stuff

all in all something sounds like it is different with you amp IMHO

all the best!

 

[MrDan666]

I'm extremely familiar with the Camerons and the Fortins. They are two of my favorite amp builders
With that said, The Cali mods that I have played are anything but scooped. As a matter of fact Even with the mids on zero there is plenty of midrange on the Cali and I should know since I had the Cali mod that was featured in Carl roa's video for many months . Id ask Mike if there is a possibility that you have a one off mod.
To be honest with you the Camerons Ive played had more of a scooped sound then any of the Cali's. I don't say that as a bad thing either since I love the tone of Marks stuff

all in all something sounds like it is different with you amp IMHO

all the best!

Agreed 110%. I also have a lot of experience with the Cali Mods, as i do the Cali mods for the UK and European customers, and the Cali definitely has a ton of midrange. More than the Camerons that i owned in the past. Give Mike a call and talk to him about your amp and see what he says

 

[Digital Jams]

That is the problem with modding a marshall, due to age and componets they will be different as they will vary a tad. I have heard 3 different Calis and while they were voiced the same they each had a little something different. I know the same can be said of Mark's stuff as well as Dave's.

Mike's stuff is not scooped though, they have strong mids if anything.

 

[ampjunkie]

The high mids are there in spades. High mids aren't as punchy as low mids .... maybe that's what I'm missing, the punchiness.... I'm starting to find some settings combinations that bring out the low mids a little more. The controls are very interactive, so like someone else said, it takes some time to really learn all that's there.

Even so, compared to the Landry, it's very scooped sounding. It's not a bad thing, just a comparison...

I really think Cameron has really taken the best of the Bogner XTC (an amp with a lot of low mids) and made it more Marshally (more upper mids, like alot of people want, that's where all the "it's like someone threw a blanket over it" comments come from with the Bogner) ....

 

[ampjunkie]

I love my Landry too man.I believe Bill modeled the LS100 after a really great JMP head he had.It's got some Plexi character in it too.I just recapped mine with Sozos and its beastly.

The Landry is killer .... check this out

 

[Meathead]

I love my Landry too man.I believe Bill modeled the LS100 after a really great JMP head he had.It's got some Plexi character in it too.I just recapped mine with Sozos and its beastly.

The Landry is killer .... check this out

I'd love to try out a Landry amp!
Alex should use one on the next Rush CD.

 

[gibson5413]

That is the problem with modding a marshall, due to age and componets they will be different as they will vary a tad. I have heard 3 different Calis and while they were voiced the same they each had a little something different. I know the same can be said of Mark's stuff as well as Dave's.

Mike's stuff is not scooped though, they have strong mids if anything.

Totally agree. I have been told that mine sounds like it has more gain than others they have heard. Either way, the voicing is right up my alley and the amp is more versatile than the IIC+ I owned.

 

[RedB4Black]

I love my Landry too man.I believe Bill modeled the LS100 after a really great JMP head he had.It's got some Plexi character in it too.I just recapped mine with Sozos and its beastly.

The Landry is killer .... check this out

What Rush song is that. It's killing me. I can't think of it.

 

[needtopractice1]

I've got a 1969 Friedman modded angry Hippie of you wanna try him out.

So I've picked up a couple great amps lately. I bought Psychodave's Cameron, which sounded great. It was nice and fat, more gain than I could ever use. Eq-wise, I loved it. Got all the tones I want. Ultimately, I liked my Landry a bit more, (also had a clean channel and verb), so I sold it.

Next up, a Fortin Cali 1987 mod. Different beast. More along the lines of hair metal. Thing is, I've loved all the clips of the Cali's, but I'm not bonding with it. Too scooped for me. Is this normal, in comparison to a Cameron? The Carl Roa clips have the tone I want, but I'm having a hard time dialing it in. I have the mids almost dimed, and my Landry has more ....

Any recommendations on speakers, settings, would be great.

So ... the Friedman mods ... would I be getting fatter mids with those? I've also got my eye on a V-Rock.... they sounded KILLER at the Amp Show, and I love the Global control, to set the mids from low to high ... (I owned a GREAT voodoo-modded Marshall years ago, miss it....).

But for now, I wonder why I'm not getting the tones I've heard in other clips on this Cali....?

 

[ampjunkie]

Well I finally nailed it. I wrote down all the settings immediately, I'll post em later. The strangest setting though, was presence at 4:30.... Also changed to scumbacks which are thicker with softer highs.

 

[Meathead]

I love my Landry too man.I believe Bill modeled the LS100 after a really great JMP head he had.It's got some Plexi character in it too.I just recapped mine with Sozos and its beastly.

The Landry is killer .... check this out

What Rush song is that. It's killing me. I can't think of it.

The Tree then La Villa

 

[ampjunkie]

Here are the settings I'm using:

Deep 10:30 switch right
Presence 4:30 hair on
Bass 12:00
Mids n treb 1:00
Master 11:00 switch right
Left gain 3:00 switch left
Right gain 10:30 switch center

 

[ampjunkie]

I'm even closer now to my ideal tones... I like the setting without any clipping. That retains the punch and thump. Way less compressed... It's WAY closer to the Cameron now.

I'm actually really liking it alot now! Finally... My Landry gets back on Tuesday, I think they are going to sound very close now.

 

[ampjunkie]

Bumping.

Met w Gybe! Today and bought his Friedman kitchen sink jcm800. So now I can compare them directly.

Haven't had a whole lot of time comparing, but the Fortin has less gain, is more open, has better string definition, and is brighter. The Friedman is thick and saturated, closer to my Landry, but not as bright. I'll probably only keep 2 of the three amps.

By the way, my earlier issues with the Fortin were the 2 clipping settings. They just thin out the amp too much, no balls. With both clipping switches off, the mids and punch are there big time.

Oh and I got to ride in Gybes very sweet Porsche. Nice ride.....

 

[IntenseJim]

Great Scott, Marty. Bump to the future.