Dan Gower modded Marshalls

rockmonster

Anyone have any experiences of modded JCM 800's and the like? Dan seems to have a good reputation anyone got/had a modded JCM/JMP of his? I'm very tempted but would value any opinions.

Darren

Hi Rod

I have had 2 JMP's modded from Dan.. I went for the more classic 80's rock tone and therefore went with a Cali-Mod. He also installed a tube buffered loop which was flawless. Literally no difference in volume or tone from the loop engaged or out..

I think Dan offers various ideas/options depending on what you want..

I also heard Dan's (Rockmonster Mod) and also his take on a Jose modded marshall - both of which Ian @kipple owned.

His work is top notch..

Darren

maidenfan

Dan gets quite a bit of high regard on Rig talk.

rockmonster

Thanks Darr interesting.

karltone

Dan even does a mod especially for you 'rockmonster mod'  ;-)

rockmonster

karltone said:

Dan even does a mod especially for you 'rockmonster mod'  ;-)

Lol! He does Karl!

webrthomson

I had Dan mod my Marshall Vintage Modern - I think its a variant on the Cali mod and it transformed it into a total gain monster!

Dan was very easy to work with, extremely helpful and an all round nice guy - asked a few questions about what I wanted and then got to it!

Could not recommend him highly enough! Once I get some more cash together I'm going to get him to do another amp for me as I've got a old super bass that I'm wanting converted to his Killer-Kali++ mod, with an added clean channel!

Ross

rockmonster

Sounds interesting!

kipple

Hi Rod.

I bought the very first cali mod that Dan ever did which was a Marshall JCM800 50 watter that was a very good amp . I sold it to a guy on rigtalk bout 5 years ago who lives in new zealand and he will not part with it. 

I had two other Cali mods from Dan . One was a JCM800 100 watter Cali that was Dans personal amp which was superb. I sold it and wish I still had that one and I had him mod a JMP superbass into a cali.

I also Had a Dan Gower rockmonster mod which is a very cool mod quite High gain and it seemed to my ears to sound very close Doug Aldrich recorded tone. 

I bought from Dan a Marshall JCM800 100 watter that he had Modded into a Jose HG LG  and if I remember correctly it was copied from one of Joe Holmes who played for Ozzy osbourn actual Jose Arredondo modded marshalls  . if I remember correctly Mike fortin Had the Joe holmes amp come into his possesion and copied the circuit from the amp and passed the schematic onto Dan Gower. that was an amazing amp. it is supposedly the same circuit that that John sykes uses in his Jose amp and the one I had when played into EVM12L speakers was pure john sykes tone.

Dan Gower is one of the coolest nicest guys Ive ever dealt with and I can talk for hours with him about gear.. he is also a monster guitar player . I have lost count of how many times he has helped me out with gear ... 

Ive also owned a few Mark Cameron Modded marshalls which in my opinion are WAY WAY better than the Cameron production amps.

Best Cameron Modded Marshall I owned was a white 50 watt JCM800 with the Jose mod and 5 way rotary selector on the back definitely one of the best modded marshall sounds I have ever heard and Darrcooper played it on numerous occasions Im sure he would remember that one . if you see that one floating around just buy it .

I had a Plexi reissue Mark Cameron Aldrich which was a brilliant amp but very picky about what guitars sounded good throught it.

I also Had a Marshall plexi reissue Mark cameron 100 watt HG LG Jose amp bought from bruce Kulick of Kiss. it was very high gain but didnt really float my boat.

I also owned A brad king era Mark cameron Atomica which was utter shite and blew up every time I turned it on.

I forget how many CCV I have owned but Ive had a few ... The only really really good CCV I heard was one of the first ever Made and Darrcooper owned it and hearing that one sent definitely me on a quest but I honestly never found another that sounded like it..

I owned a Marshall plexi reissue Bob Bradshaw CAE SE Lead Mod that was Modded by Martin golub while he worked for bradshaw and its the same mod that Doug aldrich uses. very cool amp very High gain but a one trick pony.

A good way to get into modded Marshall territory is to just get a 100 watt Master volume JMP or JCM and slam the front end with a furman PQ-3 and clean boost the front end of the furman. I have been doing this for years and at the moment I play it into EVM12L speakers Very Zakk Wylde when played into the EVM12L with the right pickups but if I want more traditional Modded Marshall sounds I can just change the speakers and with lower gain pickups and it covers a lot of modded Marshall territory.

If I was in a position to do so though ... I would get Dan Gower to Mod a Marshall 100 watter JMP or JCM800 and Get the Jose Arredondo Mod done the one that is copied from the Joe Holmes amp But I would just have the HG version and a loop in it..

Moltisanti

Rod sent you a PM

mendel

I guess my first Dan Gower amp is that JCM 800 Jose HG LG 100 watter. Ian @kipple, is that you?:) Anyways, it's an awesome amp and does some amazing things cleaning up with the guitar's volume whilst retaining overall volume much better than anything else.

Recently I asked Dan to mod my JVM410H, with circuit mods to his design specific for this amp incl adding a choke. The thing now breathes and spits fire in a very lively way. I am very very very pleased with it.

I also had the pleasure recently of seeing Sylosis play Wembley last Nov. Josh Middleton played a Gower modded 70s JMP, and it was a thunderously good tone, distinctly better than the bog standard tones that followed from LoG & Megadeth, but let's not tell 'em and shhh, let's keep all that's divulged here on DG Amplification a well preserved secret.

Anyways, @Rockmonster, what are you waiting for? Get in touch with Dan, he's Ace, and you'll never look back!

John_P

What sort of price do these mods generally cost?    I suspect it's not cheap but I'm curious after reading about them.

FelineGuitars

I did some guitar work for Dan a few years back when he was just starting on the amp mods. Nice to see how far he's come....

webrthomson

John_P said:

What sort of price do these mods generally cost?    I suspect it's not cheap but I'm curious after reading about them.

When I was speaking to Dan about mine (2013) the base price of the Mods were anywhere from £350 - £475, but there are a whole host of other things that you can add on top (clean channel, foot-switchable stuff, effect loops, external bias, line outs, filter caps, extra controls etc.) which would drive the price up.

Best to ask Dan directly and he can give you a quote for what you want - if you've not got facebook PM me and I'll send you his email address

TimmyO

What are the clean channel mods like? I did a search on Youtube and couldn't find much (to be expected I suppose - presume most modding is about gainier sounds) 

BigMonka

Dan's a member on here isn't he? @DanGowerAmps

kipple

mendel said:

I guess my first Dan Gower amp is that JCM 800 Jose HG LG 100 watter. Ian @kipple, is that you?:) Anyways, it's an awesome amp and does some amazing things cleaning up with the guitar's volume whilst retaining overall volume much better than anything else.

Recently I asked Dan to mod my JVM410H, with circuit mods to his design specific for this amp incl adding a choke. The thing now breathes and spits fire in a very lively way. I am very very very pleased with it.

I also had the pleasure recently of seeing Sylosis play Wembley last Nov. Josh Middleton played a Gower modded 70s JMP, and it was a thunderously good tone, distinctly better than the bog standard tones that followed from LoG & Megadeth, but let's not tell 'em and shhh, let's keep all that's divulged here on DG Amplification a well preserved secret.

Anyways, @Rockmonster, what are you waiting for? Get in touch with Dan, he's Ace, and you'll never look back!

Hi Mendel . Yes its me . I got to be honest I miss the Jose I sold you .

I would love to get just a HG version done I think it will happen one day.  

mendel

kipple said:

Hi Mendel . Yes its me . I got to be honest I miss the Jose I sold you .

I would love to get just a HG version done I think it will happen one day.  

Hi Ian. The Jose has certainly very much become my favourite also. Hopefully that one day will come soon. Cheers.

TimmyO

Do these mods tend to give you more options or shift the whole response of the amp in a direction ? 

fretmeister

TimmyO said:

Do these mods tend to give you more options or shift the whole response of the amp in a direction ? 

I believe they cause the amp to not be to your taste anymore to the point where you might as well sell it to me, cheap.

FarleyUK

Dan modded my old JVM410 - really opened it up and made it sound amazing.

Plus he's incredibly knowledgeable, and a very decent bloke! He's helped me no end with my own mods I've been doing on my 410HJS.