The "Saturation Station!" Headfirst Cali 50w

hellzington

hellzington

Well-known member
Hey Guys,

Late in 2021, I placed an order with Jason Tong ( @burger ) for a Headfirst Cali 50w. I got it in January and have been playing around with it for a few months, and I am really loving this amp.

Jason's headfirst (see what I did there?) dive into diode-clipping yields a ton of great sounds. Everything from classic Plexi tones to Cantrell-style saturation live in this amp, and with a clean channel, excellent master volume, and simple footswitch the amp is gig-friendly, too. The Cali has become one of my go-to amps that I keep coming back to time and time again when I need a juiced up classic Marshall-inspired sound that's a little brighter and gnarlier than my Friedmans.

My YouTube channel is very small and I don't have a ton of content but I thought this amp was worthy of making a review video. If you've seen any of my videos before, then you know that I don't really do knob-turning review videos. It's more of me talking about the amp, giving my thoughts, opinions, and criticism. Kind of a "fireside chat" sort of vibe. I apologize for the sloppy playing, it was super hot in the room and my fingers kept slipping around. Either way, I hope you enjoy! Cheers on a job well done, Jason!



PS - This is not a paid video or promotion of any kind. I'm doing this because *I* want to, not because Jason asked me. Jason did not offer me any discounts or anything of any kind. I paid full price for this amp and paid with my own money. I don't care about making money off YouTube.
 
Hey Mike, thanks for the awesome write up and review. It's always a huge buzz to see an amp that I built being put to great use. It looks like the amp has some formidable competition there in your racks to keep up with!!
 
hellzington said:
Hey Guys,

Late in 2021, I placed an order with Jason Tong ( @burger ) for a Headfirst Cali 50w. I got it in January and have been playing around with it for a few months, and I am really loving this amp.

Jason's headfirst (see what I did there?) dive into diode-clipping yields a ton of great sounds. Everything from classic Plexi tones to Cantrell-style saturation live in this amp, and with a clean channel, excellent master volume, and simple footswitch the amp is gig-friendly, too. The Cali has become one of my go-to amps that I keep coming back to time and time again when I need a juiced up classic Marshall-inspired sound that's a little brighter and gnarlier than my Friedmans.

My YouTube channel is very small and I don't have a ton of content but I thought this amp was worthy of making a review video. If you've seen any of my videos before, then you know that I don't really do knob-turning review videos. It's more of me talking about the amp, giving my thoughts, opinions, and criticism. Kind of a "fireside chat" sort of vibe. I apologize for the sloppy playing, it was super hot in the room and my fingers kept slipping around. Either way, I hope you enjoy! Cheers on a job well done, Jason!



PS - This is not a paid video or promotion of any kind. I'm doing this because *I* want to, not because Jason asked me. Jason did not offer me any discounts or anything of any kind. I paid full price for this amp and paid with my own money. I don't care about making money off YouTube.
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In terms of gain, how does it compare to the MGL?

Awhile back I was seriously considering pulling the trigger on either the Headfirst or the MGL.
 
burger said:
Hey Mike, thanks for the awesome write up and review. It's always a huge buzz to see an amp that I built being put to great use. It looks like the amp has some formidable competition there in your racks to keep up with!!
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It's in good company but the Cali definitely offers something different and very flexible when compared to all the other amps in the room. I really love it and it's become a go-to amp for me because of it's great sound, amazing feel, and versatility.
 
psychodave said:
Amp is pretty cool. I understand the cost is $2,200 plus $400 shipping?
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I ordered mine in early November 2021 and it was $2100 plus $150 for the clean channel mod, plus shipping (which to California was $390 for UPS Air at the time, charged at the end; I didn't pay any import duties or fees). 50% due up front; 50% at completion. I don't know if these prices have changed or been affected by the recent shortages and inflation.
 
jabps said:
In terms of gain, how does it compare to the MGL?

Awhile back I was seriously considering pulling the trigger on either the Headfirst or the MGL.
Click to expand...
So that's the MGL 50 HG up there. Fantastic amp and an amazing value, and Mark is a super nice guy. I really love that amp for its juiced-up JCM 800 tone. I took a chance buying it and I have zero regrets. It's a fun amp to play and it sounds great with a wide variety of guitars. It's the high gain model, so it has quite a bit more gain than the regular MGL 50 and is supposedly a slightly different circuit.

The Headfirst Cali has a lot more gain than the MGL 50 HG. That's not to say the MGL doesn't have a lot of gain but it's not like the Cali. The Cali does that super saturated, compressed, high gain Jose thing. Chords and single notes both have a lot of weight and thickness. The MGL 50 HG is more open, raw, and punchy. There is definitely compression on the MGL as you turn the gain up but overall it's less compressed and has a little more gnarly "kerrang" like an old Marshall. It's a bit more sensitive to your pick attack instead of immediately catching fire like the Cali. The Headfirst is also brighter than the MGL.
 
Great video. The Cali 50 sounds awesome.
I'd put it on my wish list but I've been a bit more interested in his Alta 100 and following that development progress. I think it was a few days ago that Jason posted he's finalized the design and getting ready to start that prototype build.
 
hellzington said:
So that's the MGL 50 HG up there. Fantastic amp and an amazing value, and Mark is a super nice guy. I really love that amp for its juiced-up JCM 800 tone. I took a chance buying it and I have zero regrets. It's a fun amp to play and it sounds great with a wide variety of guitars. It's the high gain model, so it has quite a bit more gain than the regular MGL 50 and is supposedly a slightly different circuit.

The Headfirst Cali has a lot more gain than the MGL 50 HG. That's not to say the MGL doesn't have a lot of gain but it's not like the Cali. The Cali does that super saturated, compressed, high gain Jose thing. Chords and single notes both have a lot of weight and thickness. The MGL 50 HG is more open, raw, and punchy. There is definitely compression on the MGL as you turn the gain up but overall it's less compressed and has a little more gnarly "kerrang" like an old Marshall. It's a bit more sensitive to your pick attack instead of immediately catching fire like the Cali. The Headfirst is also brighter than the MGL.
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Thanks man, exactly what I wanted to know.

I would imagine the MGL would take a OD pedal to get it close to the Cali in terms of gain, which might not be a bad thing as you wouldn't lose as much volume.

Maybe a comparison one day lol.
 
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MadAsAHatter said:
Great video. The Cali 50 sounds awesome.
I'd put it on my wish list but I've been a bit more interested in his Alta 100 and following that development progress. I think it was a few days ago that Jason posted he's finalized the design and getting ready to start that prototype build.
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I just saw his video on YT this morning. Definitely exciting and I would consider buying an Alta. @burger could you maybe tell us the differences between the two sound wise?
 
jabps said:
Thanks man, exactly what I wanted to know.

I would imagine the MGL would take a OD pedal to get it close to the Cali in terms of gain, which might not be a bad thing as you wouldn't lose as much volume.

Maybe a comparison one day lol.
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I can create one. Give me a few days. I'll do a review of the MGL then have a section at the end comparing it to the Cali, and maybe something like my Friedman modded Marshall.
 
hellzington said:
I just saw his video on YT this morning. Definitely exciting and I would consider buying an Alta. @burger could you maybe tell us the differences between the two sound wise?
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Hey Mike, thanks again for the review! The Alta is quite a different amp, being based around a post tone stack master vol - so while it has clipping modes, it's more versatile across a range of high, mid and low gain tones. Still Marshall based, but coming at it from a different angle than the Cali.
 
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jabps said:
Thanks man, exactly what I wanted to know.

I would imagine the MGL would take a OD pedal to get it close to the Cali in terms of gain, which might not be a bad thing as you wouldn't lose as much volume.

Maybe a comparison one day lol.
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Here's the video of the MGL50 HG. Sorry that I didn't do a direct back-and-forth comparison with the Cali--the video was already too long--but I think you'll hear what you need to hear. To my ears, the MGL is a bit darker and far less compressed than the Cali, and it has more low mids and thump while the Cali has more upper mids and treble sizzle. Hope it helps.



FYI - I'm going to be listing the MGL for sale shortly if you're interested @jabps (I got a Cameron-modded Marshall :D)
 
burger said:
Hey Mike, thanks again for the review! The Alta is quite a different amp, being based around a post tone stack master vol - so while it has clipping modes, it's more versatile across a range of high, mid and low gain tones. Still Marshall based, but coming at it from a different angle than the Cali.
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Sounds cool, Jason! I'm looking forward to seeing it in action and possibly picking one up to expand my Headfirst collection. I'm going to be clearing out some amps shortly so I should have some room on the wall :LOL:
 
hellzington said:
Here's the video of the MGL50 HG. Sorry that I didn't do a direct back-and-forth comparison with the Cali--the video was already too long--but I think you'll hear what you need to hear. To my ears, the MGL is a bit darker and far less compressed than the Cali, and it has more low mids and thump while the Cali has more upper mids and treble sizzle. Hope it helps.



FYI - I'm going to be listing the MGL for sale shortly if you're interested @jabps (I got a Cameron-modded Marshall :D)
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Sounds good man. Thank you.
 
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