Angry Amps

tekbow

Quite Digging the sound of angry, high gain, plexi type amps after hearing a demo of one of Dan Gower's Killer Kali ++ modded JMP 2203's

So i want something in that vein.

What i got from it was that it was a really hairy raw, reasonably uncompressed for a high gain amp, bright, crunchy defined type tone, but with growl and and solid but not overpowering low end.

This is to pair with an SLO. Well.. in my head.

From Demo's the following seem to have those kind of "pissed off" thing going on, any have any experience of them? other suggestions welcome. I'm not so interested in the likes of Bogner or Friedman as they seem to have super thick low ends.

Gower Killer Kali modded 2203
Wizard Modern Classic 2
Cornford MK50 II

prlgmnr

Splawn Quick Rod (maybe a bit more on the compressed side)
Fortin Meshuggah (Rare and stupidly expensive, but I know of a guy who's shifting one if you've got a spare 3500)
KSR Juno

A JCM800 with a tubescreamer or an sd-1 (or a JCM2000 DSL, or a JCM900 SL-x)

Marshall 8100 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSf--G0wOjg)

digitalscream

I'm thinking a Jet City Amelia might be right up your alley there. Cheap beyond all reason relative to your alternatives too, so no great loss if it turns out you don't like it (which I think is unlikely).

CHrisP86

I've had a Cornford MK50 and I don't think it would give you what you are looking for.

One of my favorite amps but probably quite similar to an SLO (or at least they do get compared to the Soldano's quite often).  I never felt it did 'pissed off' very well.

Splawn are a good shout.  Do Richtone still have the Nitro for sale?  That seemed a monster amp.

ThorpyFX

Diezel D-Moll

Stevepage

Larry John Schaefer amp from what I remember of it. Very rare and stupid expensive too

Peavey 6505

Fortheloveofguitar

CHrisP86 said:

I've had a Cornford MK50 and I don't think it would give you what you are looking for.

One of my favorite amps but probably quite similar to an SLO (or at least they do get compared to the Soldano's quite often).  I never felt it did 'pissed off' very well.

Splawn are a good shout.  Do Richtone still have the Nitro for sale?  That seemed a monster amp.

Agree with this. MK50 is one of my favourite amps here but it won’t give you what you’re after 

PolarityMan

VH4

tekbow

Weird that, I'd seen a demo of the MK50 II and it'd had that aggressive thing, but hard to tell from vids hence why I asked. Guess that's off the list.

Are Diezels particularly hi gain plexi? I mean, I know they're HIGH GAIN, but i was always under the impression they were quite refined too.

On the Fortin, Dan apparently does Fortin mods (the killer kali ++ being one) with permission.

tekbow

thats the vid that pricked my ears up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPZhxcAR-iM

Stevepage

^EVH 5150III w/EL34s will get you a similar result.

I actually got something like that with my old Peavey JSX too.

tekbow

MMM.. i have to say i've never been keen on the EVH brand amps.. I have played a bunch. They don't have the kind of note separation and clarity that I'd claim i prefer on account of only playing Soldano amps for years. More compressed than I'd like too.

I'd go with an old US Peavey 5150 before a modern one i think. 

I've been told there's a "pre/proto 5150" that peavey used as the basis for the 5150 that are supposed to be pretty hairy.

Also i know i said no Friedman, but i listened to some of the JJ100 clips and its seems to be rawer and angrier than your average BE.

Modulus_Amps

Both the JJ and Butterslax have slightly less low mids than the BE100 thanks to a tweak in the feedback circuit.

But the tone stacks do have lots of low mids in the bass too. I think the JJ would get the sound you are after

A Marshall AFD100 would probably be super aggressive as it has a brighter pre-amp with more gain than a stock 2204/2203

Twinfan

Marshall Silver Jubilee might be worth a try?  Not quite as 'modern' sounding though, but it can be set bright and raw.

tekbow

@Modulus_Amps , yeah, plus the cantrell might be easier to find than an old clean 2203/04 at a reasonable price to get modded.

Modulus_Amps

I don't think the 2204/2203 will have the amount of gain you are after anyway (without a boost)

tekbow

@Modulus_Amps , see the vid a couple of posts above, i was looking into getting a 2203 modded by Gower, Killer Kali++ mod.

Modulus_Amps

@tekbow said:

@Modulus_Amps , see the vid a couple of posts above, i was looking into getting a 2203 modded by Gower, Killer Kali++ mod.

I don't know what the Kali++ mod is exactly but a 2204/2203 with a couple zener doides and maybe some tightening in the pre-amp will get there for sure

Gadget

How much does it cost to get that Kali++ mod to an existing amp?

tekbow

@Modulus_Amps , i think these are based aorund the "Jose" mods, so yep, although i may have read somewhere that Gower uses an additional tube rather than diode these days.

@Gadget, £550 for the basic package, but ramps up quick once you start adding optional mods like FX loops and clean channels. I think there's a list of amps he'll work on though. the Kali appears to be for single channel plexi derivatives and their reissues, plus the 1987 models may not have enough space for the optional extras.

This is just going on his price list sheet though.

Gadget

tekbow said:

@Modulus_Amps , i think these are based aorund the "Jose" mods, so yep, although i may have read somewhere that gowhere uses an additionally tube rather than diode these days.

@Gadget, £550 for the basic package, but ramps up quick once you start adding optional mods like FX loops and clean channels. I think there's a list of amps he'll work on though. the Kali appears to be for single channel plexi derivatives and their reissues, plus the 1987 models may not have enough space for the optional extras.

This is just going on his price list sheet though.

Still reasonable I suppose. A good donor amp for ~£1k, plus say £550 to £1k for the mods = ~£2k for an amp comparable to Friedman and the like?