Who does the Cali mods now...?

[dwizted]

You could just buy a chupacabra. Pretty much the same amp. Compared mine side by side to a Cali and there was very little difference.

I second that. The chupa is a bad mofo. Heard it and the cali at the last ampfest and to be honest liked the chupa better. I think a couple others would agree as well.

 

[bubbastain]

You could just buy a chupacabra. Pretty much the same amp. Compared mine side by side to a Cali and there was very little difference.

I second that. The chupa is a bad mofo. Heard it and the cali at the last ampfest and to be honest liked the chupa better. I think a couple others would agree as well.

Hmmm, I have not played either but have to say that based only on clips, I don't hear too many similarities. The Chupa seems like a really cool amp and the one video that FourTSixandTwo put up is really the only one that gets my interest. There are a good number of Cali clips that sound bad ass. Like I said, I haven't played either live and I know most clips don't do an amp justice, but some of those Cali clips have a killer grind(especially with thrashy riffs like Warhead78 put up) that I just love and don't really hear in the Chupa clips. WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE BREAK OUT WITH SOME THRASHY RIFFS ON A CHUPA.

 

[zee1usa]

Dan's the man!

He should change the last name from Gower to MOWER !

my cali rips!


Oh, and don't forget about BFG.. he is in Oregon. He can give you anything you want at the best price.

 

[verderacer]

You could just buy a chupacabra. Pretty much the same amp. Compared mine side by side to a Cali and there was very little difference.

I second that. The chupa is a bad mofo. Heard it and the cali at the last ampfest and to be honest liked the chupa better. I think a couple others would agree as well.

No doubt the Chupa is a killer amp, but if you cant tell the difference then one of 2 things are goin on.

1: Somethings wrong with the Cali
or
2: Somethings wrong with you ears !

IMHO

 

[MrDan666]

There are many Jose style mods out there and there will always be some similarities between them. However, the Killer Kali is a totally different animal and not like anything else I have seen/heard over the years

 

[steve_k]

There are many Jose style mods out there and there will always be some similarities between them. However, the Killer Kali is a totally different animal and not like anything else I have seen/heard over the years

Jose on steroids......or awesome tube gain. Take your pick with the KK.

BTW, Dan has my last stock Marshall (a 78 - 4 hole JMP 2203 Super Bass) in his possession right now and getting ready to turn it into a beasty boy

 

[Jofipe]

There are many Jose style mods out there and there will always be some similarities between them. However, the Killer Kali is a totally different animal and not like anything else I have seen/heard over the years

Jose on steroids......or awesome tube gain. Take your pick with the KK.

BTW, Dan has my last stock Marshall (a 78 - 4 hole JMP 2203 Super Bass) in his possession right now and getting ready to turn it into a beasty boy

What are you having made?

 

[dwizted]

You could just buy a chupacabra. Pretty much the same amp. Compared mine side by side to a Cali and there was very little difference.

I second that. The chupa is a bad mofo. Heard it and the cali at the last ampfest and to be honest liked the chupa better. I think a couple others would agree as well.

No doubt the Chupa is a killer amp, but if you cant tell the difference then one of 2 things are goin on.

1: Somethings wrong with the Cali
or
2: Somethings wrong with you ears !

IMHO

Could have been something wrong with the cali... I assure you nothing wrong with my ears as several people agreed on that day. On that day we ran the Fortin and the chupa through a Cameron 412 and the chupa came out on top.

I am a Fortin fan believe me I think he is one of the best out there for sure, But on this day the chupa delivered... Maybe this particular chupa had some different mojo going I don't know. Maybe people need to understand tone is subjective and what
sounds good to some might not have the same opinion on that particular gear. Just like I have a jca 22h it doesnt say Fortin, Cameron, Gower it says BFG and it kicks ass to my ears. Point being dont knock it till "you" try it.

 

[LP Freak]

You could just buy a chupacabra. Pretty much the same amp. Compared mine side by side to a Cali and there was very little difference.

I second that. The chupa is a bad mofo. Heard it and the cali at the last ampfest and to be honest liked the chupa better. I think a couple others would agree as well.

No doubt the Chupa is a killer amp, but if you cant tell the difference then one of 2 things are goin on.

1: Somethings wrong with the Cali
or
2: Somethings wrong with you ears !

IMHO

Could have been something wrong with the cali... I assure you nothing wrong with my ears as several people agreed on that day. On that day we ran the Fortin and the chupa through a Cameron 412 and the chupa came out on top.

I am a Fortin fan believe me I think he is one of the best out there for sure, But on this day the chupa delivered... Maybe this particular chupa had some different mojo going I don't know. Maybe people need to understand tone is subjective and what
sounds good to some might not have the same opinion on that particular gear. Just like I have a jca 22h it doesnt say Fortin, Cameron, Gower it says BFG and it kicks ass to my ears. Point being dont knock it till "you" try it.

I'll second that. I've got an '80 JMP that was previously modded with a "Jose" mod that was just horrible. I sent it to Brian for a custom one off mod with a clean channel. I got exactly what I was looking for all in one amp. It's stayed in my arsenal while many other mods and amps have come and gone. Brian's customer service is also second to none.

 

[FourT6and2]

I really like the two Cali clips Gower has on his YouTube channel. Good stuff!

 

[steve_k]

There are many Jose style mods out there and there will always be some similarities between them. However, the Killer Kali is a totally different animal and not like anything else I have seen/heard over the years

Jose on steroids......or awesome tube gain. Take your pick with the KK.

BTW, Dan has my last stock Marshall (a 78 - 4 hole JMP 2203 Super Bass) in his possession right now and getting ready to turn it into a beasty boy

What are you having made?

I told Dan to start drilling holes and packing the chassis. When he runs out of room, we can stop

Thing I like about Dan's Cali mods, is functionality and setting up various foot-switching options, for boosting, adding gain, 2nd master, loop engage, etc, plus the usual suspects. Since I am not getting a clean channel, that frees up a lot of real estate. We are going to be using some vintage components in the amp too. So, Dan is on the hunt. I am in no hurry and told him to take his time gathering the right stuff.

To the posters regarding the different Cali mods delivering, there certainly are differences from amp to amp. Much depends on the donor amp and the transformers/components. Having owned several Cali's and many of Mark's Jose mods, they seem to all have a mind of their own. Most are good, but some are better. I don't think you can ever take a 90's SL as a donor and make it sound like 71 SL or an early JMP, if the stock iron and components are used. Another thing on the Cali is to dime G1 and run the master up to around 2:00 then ride gain 2 up, effectively as your master to the level you want with the diode clipping circuit in the 2nd position. They really deliver the goods then. If you attempt to set the amp up in a conventional manner, you leave a lot on the table.

Steve

 

[thiswaythatway]

So is this one of those threads that the 80's haters get bothered by?

 

[steve_k]

So is this one of those threads that the 80's haters get bothered by?

This will be the Millennium version

 

[FourT6and2]

Man, I'd love to send my Metro build to Dan for a Cali mod. Hmmmm..... This sounds great:

Dan, better to do a Cali mod (with a master?) to a Super Lead or a JCM800? Think you could work your magic on my DIY amp? It's built to late 70's JMP Lead spec. and has MM oversized 2" transformers.

Here's the 1959 I built. It has .68 caps in V1 and V2 and a PPIMV. This pic was taken before I finalized the build.

 

[FortinAmps]

Man, I'd love to send my Metro build to Dan for a Cali mod. Hmmmm..... This sounds great:

Dan, better to do a Cali mod (with a master?) to a Super Lead or a JCM800? Think you could work your magic on my DIY amp? It's built to late 70's JMP Lead spec. and has MM oversized 2" transformers.

Here's the 1959 I built. It has .68 caps in V1 and V2 and a PPIMV. This pic was taken before I finalized the build.

That one should be alright as it seems to be done with some quality. Dan and I have felt the pain more than a few times accepting Metro kits amps. Great kits and quality.....person putting it together can sometimes make more work in the end;-)

 

[MrDan666]

Dan, better to do a Cali mod (with a master?) to a Super Lead or a JCM800? Think you could work your magic on my DIY amp? It's built to late 70's JMP Lead spec. and has MM oversized 2" transformers.

Here's the 1959 I built. It has .68 caps in V1 and V2 and a PPIMV. This pic was taken before I finalized the build.

Sure i could definitely work with that, as like Mike said, it looks nicely built. Some clone/kit builds are built like crap and make it a nightmare when we work on them, but i think yours looks like a fine candidate

 

[FortinAmps]

Dan, better to do a Cali mod (with a master?) to a Super Lead or a JCM800? Think you could work your magic on my DIY amp? It's built to late 70's JMP Lead spec. and has MM oversized 2" transformers.

Here's the 1959 I built. It has .68 caps in V1 and V2 and a PPIMV. This pic was taken before I finalized the build.

Sure i could definitely work with that, as like Mike said, it looks nicely built. Some clone/kit builds are built like crap and make it a nightmare when we work on them, but i think yours looks like a fine candidate

Yeah, this one is nice and neat

 

[FourT6and2]

haha, well thanks guys. I'll definitely be in touch in the near future about a cali mod.

 

[MrDan666]

haha, well thanks guys. I'll definitely be in touch in the near future about a cali mod.

No problem man, just give me a shout whenever you're ready. My email is Dan@DanGowerAmps.co.uk

 

[FortinAmps]

haha, well thanks guys. I'll definitely be in touch in the near future about a cali mod.

No problem man, just give me a shout whenever you're ready. My email is Dan@DanGowerAmps.co.uk

and for anyone interested, a brand new Marshall 1959HW cali w/ a loop in a couple weeks via http://www.modsquadmusic.com