Real Jose amps

[Alex_S]

Hi all,

As far as I understand there are a lot of beloved amps out there with interpretations of Jose mods. So how about the originals? How scare are they? Is he still doing mods? Are they all the same, or did he do different mods? Has anyone of you had the chance to play an original? What's the chance of getting one?

Really don't know much about the originals besides that I probably heard the a million times on 80s records and these are the most copied mods over all..

Ciao Alex

 

[Jayy]

I've never even laid eyes on a real Jose. I'd love to have a chance to play one. I am quite certain Jose is no longer modding amps. He died a long time ago.

 

[Alex_S]

I've never even laid eyes on a real Jose. I'd love to have a chance to play one. I am quite certain Jose is no longer modding amps. He died a long time ago.

I didn't know that....

 

[Alex_S]

Found a good starting point: https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index ... m.1008116/

Am I allowed to link to TGP here

 

[Jayy]

I've never even laid eyes on a real Jose. I'd love to have a chance to play one. I am quite certain Jose is no longer modding amps. He died a long time ago.

I didn't know that....

Yeah. His name certainly lives on though. He made his mark for sure in hot rodding and modding Marshall amps. Many builders still use versions of his mods to this day.

 

[Racerxrated]

He was EVH's amp guy from his early years and on. I've only seen 2 come up for sale, and both went for 5K or more. At that price there is the specter of forgeries, and the telltale is an ARCO sticker on the amp chassis. But, there is a right way and a wrong way of spelling ARRCO and I'm not sure which is correct.
The word is they are VERY inconsistent, moreso than most modded Marshalls. But if you get a good one they are unreal.
Steve(Sah5150) used to own 2, and Mike Fortin has one that he has used to influence his Jose mod.
There's a shit ton of info on the net about EVH and Jose, google is your friend....too much to write about lol.

 

[Alex_S]

He was EVH's amp guy from his early years and on. I've only seen 2 come up for sale, and both went for 5K or more. At that price there is the specter of forgeries, and the telltale is an ARCO sticker on the amp chassis. But, there is a right way and a wrong way of spelling ARRCO and I'm not sure which is correct.
The word is they are VERY inconsistent, moreso than most modded Marshalls. But if you get a good one they are unreal.
Steve(Sah5150) used to own 2, and Mike Fortin has one that he has used to influence his Jose mod.
There's a shit ton of info on the net about EVH and Jose, google is your friend....too much to write about lol.

Thanks Racerxrated. That helps. Google is already working hard for me on the topic. I guess I will forget about the idea ever play a real one

 

[psychodave]

As I understand it, Jose has a specific set of mods with the same values. So if the amp you brough him sucked, it still sucked after the mod, but had more gain. On the other hand, if the amp was killer before the mods, it was killer after. I don't believe Jose did a custom mod to each amp he modded.

The funny thing is these days, everyone who has one says it's is the best. ...and everyone who owned one way back when says their amp was killer and should have kept it.

 

[scottosan]

I remember seeing a gut shot of a real Jose and I recall it having a coiled telephone wire in the chassis

 

[Rick Lee]

I'd questionable as to whether Jose really modded any of EVH's amps beyond putting a MV in his '68 Plexi. Plenty of well-known amp builders have had that amp on their benches (after Jose passed away) and swore it's bone stock. Of course, you can see the MV knob on the back of the chassis in that photo from the VH II recording sessions. I think Ed mentioned Jose in an interview to throw him some business and his business then boomed.

A few years ago there was an eBay listing for an old JMP head Steve Vai had owned that had been modded by Jose. It was used to either record EEAS or on that tour. I forget the details, but I think it was pretty well-documented.

 

[Racerxrated]

As I understand it, Jose has a specific set of mods with the same values. So if the amp you brough him sucked, it still sucked after the mod, but had more gain. On the other hand, if the amp was killer before the mods, it was killer after. I don't believe Jose did a custom mod to each amp he modded.

The funny thing is these days, everyone who has one says it's is the best. ...and everyone who owned one way back when says their amp was killer and should have kept it.

I was in contact with a guy who had one for sale on Craigslist in Tn somewhere..he sent me pics of the chassis and the sticker which it appeared to be the real thing. He had the provenance of the amp and I forget which 80s player originally owned it? I had a trade plus cash in the works but before I made the drive he texted me and someone offered him a 68 LP +4K. Gonzo.

 

[Racerxrated]

I'd questionable as to whether Jose really modded any of EVH's amps beyond putting a MV in his '68 Plexi. Plenty of well-known amp builders have had that amp on their benches (after Jose passed away) and swore it's bone stock. Of course, you can see the MV knob on the back of the chassis in that photo from the VH II recording sessions. I think Ed mentioned Jose in an interview to throw him some business and his business then boomed.

A few years ago there was an eBay listing for an old JMP head Steve Vai had owned that had been modded by Jose. It was used to either record EEAS or on that tour. I forget the details, but I think it was pretty well-documented.

Yeah, the EVH thing has been beaten to death. Friedman, Suhr, and many more have seen that amp and said the same thing.

But, pretty easy to restore an old Marshall to stock wouldn't you say? And, these guys saw the amp YEARS after VH1-WCF. Easily could have had the original Jose mod and then changed back.
There's a vid of EVH playing with Letterman's band and he has a shit ton of gain, no pedal and no attenuator. That amp if cranked would have blown everyone off the stage. Something was up at least that night.

 

[Rick Lee]

But, pretty easy to restore an old Marshall to stock wouldn't you say? And, these guys saw the amp YEARS after VH1-WCF. Easily could have had the original Jose mod and then changed back.

It's not pretty easy to plug the hole drilled in the back of the chassis for that MV. And that's something everyone who had the amp on their bench would have noticed. I think it's pretty easy to see when an amp, especially one that old and so well documented, has been modded at all, even if meticulously returned to stock. You can see if the legs on the Mustard caps are of original length or have been clipped and lengthened, the original white shield on wires turns cream color, the pink shielding turns pastel and on and on.

I also sort of wonder why Ed would have had that precious head flown up to NYC just for the Letterman show, when he stopped touring with is because it had been lost in air freight for a few months after one of the early tours. That doesn't make any sense to me. He could have rented or borrowed anything he wanted in NYC, or shipped one of his gazillion other Marshalls there for the show. Why ship the '68 Plexi just for that?

 

[NewWorldMan]

The word is they are VERY inconsistent, moreso than most modded Marshalls...

I remember an interview with James and Kirk (mid-90s, perhaps?) where they said that (I'm paraphrasing) before the recording of the Black Album, both of them and Bob Rock all had Jose mod them a Marshall. They said James and Kirk's turned out horrible, but Bob's turned out great, so they turned to his when they wanted to use one.

 

[CP5150]

I'd questionable as to whether Jose really modded any of EVH's amps beyond putting a MV in his '68 Plexi. Plenty of well-known amp builders have had that amp on their benches (after Jose passed away) and swore it's bone stock. Of course, you can see the MV knob on the back of the chassis in that photo from the VH II recording sessions. I think Ed mentioned Jose in an interview to throw him some business and his business then boomed.

A few years ago there was an eBay listing for an old JMP head Steve Vai had owned that had been modded by Jose. It was used to either record EEAS or on that tour. I forget the details, but I think it was pretty well-documented.

Yeah, the EVH thing has been beaten to death. Friedman, Suhr, and many more have seen that amp and said the same thing.

But, pretty easy to restore an old Marshall to stock wouldn't you say? And, these guys saw the amp YEARS after VH1-WCF. Easily could have had the original Jose mod and then changed back.
There's a vid of EVH playing with Letterman's band and he has a shit ton of gain, no pedal and no attenuator. That amp if cranked would have blown everyone off the stage. Something was up at least that night.

Variac. Ed used it as a master volume of sorts. Turned to whatever he was using. 89 volts? 88? Whatever it was with a drummer live it fits in volume wise. Also by the Letterman days he was using H&H power amps to control his stage volume. He started using them on the 1984 tour.

Jose never modded Ed's amp. Not the "Jose mod" anyway. He repaired some I think. And yes Ed said his name to get the guy business. The secret to Ed's amp is out. Variac and bias to match the 89 volts.

 

[ewill52]

If you want to see a room full of guitar nerds devolve into name-calling argumentative assholes, just throw out the VH\Jose mods as a discussion and wait....

 

[journeyman73]

wait, wait...i havent heard this before.... you guys are suggesting ed's plexi was NOT stock? lol

 

[EXPcustom]

I heard that towards the end Jose's amps didn't sound that great. His early mods sounded more consistent and better. Towards the end of his life they started to be very inconsistent and I also heard he wasn't really much of a guitar player. I still would love to own one.

 

[Racerxrated]

But, pretty easy to restore an old Marshall to stock wouldn't you say? And, these guys saw the amp YEARS after VH1-WCF. Easily could have had the original Jose mod and then changed back.

It's not pretty easy to plug the hole drilled in the back of the chassis for that MV. And that's something everyone who had the amp on their bench would have noticed. I think it's pretty easy to see when an amp, especially one that old and so well documented, has been modded at all, even if meticulously returned to stock. You can see if the legs on the Mustard caps are of original length or have been clipped and lengthened, the original white shield on wires turns cream color, the pink shielding turns pastel and on and on.

I also sort of wonder why Ed would have had that precious head flown up to NYC just for the Letterman show, when he stopped touring with is because it had been lost in air freight for a few months after one of the early tours. That doesn't make any sense to me. He could have rented or borrowed anything he wanted in NYC, or shipped one of his gazillion other Marshalls there for the show. Why ship the '68 Plexi just for that?

I thought there was a pic somewhere of the amp with the MV removed, and a plug in its place? Don't really want to go down this rabbit hole but I and many others believe it could have been returned to stock especially if the mod was very minor.
But good points on the magic marshall to NY, he'd have plenty other amps to use I'm sure. Of course, maybe he was in town anyway for some other reason and had it with him?
Who knows, this is another subject that has been beaten to death ha ha....

 

[Racerxrated]

I heard that towards the end Jose's amps didn't sound that great. His early mods sounded more consistent and better. Towards the end of his life they started to be very inconsistent and I also heard he wasn't really much of a guitar player. I still would love to own one.

Poor guy was probably still modding in between chemo treatments, and I can imagine he was on some painkillers too.
When he passed there was a shitload of amps waiting to be modded. Neal Schon, Bruce Bouillet, and others lost their amps to his estate.
I also heard that the original Atomica was in that hoard, and the person who bought it up was using MC as a tech and that amp is how Mark got the Atomica circuit?