The Epi is. i broke into some dude's house who had a bunch of gear...j/k. No, it's the house and amp of the other co-founder of the club, Harvey Berman. ---------- Todd L. Greene, V.P.
The big difference I hear is the Kali is tighter on the compression on the middle to higher notes, Randy's mods will make that even closer, Get thyself a soldering iron Bro'!! Half the fun of modding the Epi's are when you are done and fire em up and they actually freakin' work!!! Muahahaha!!! The First time I modded one I forgot to close up the stupid fuse and I was getting power light but no sound. Drove me crazy for an hour as I retraced my steps!! ----------
The Original Downtown Philadelphia Fatman... Accept No substitutes!
Heumannized. I like that! Thanks for doing this! I haven't had a chance to hear the Epi yet. This gives me something I know well to compare it to.
I sold that 'Zoo to Harvey back in June of '07. Glad to see its doing well. Please tell Harvey hello for me.
In general Kalamazoo's have good bottom end, but more importantly lots of crunch - in a warm way. They make any mic sound good. I recently posted a sound file of me playin' one and also a YouTube of Koei Tanaka performing with one. They are cool amps to be sure.
I don't know why some amp company just doesn't reintroduce the Kalamazoo Model 2(make them under a license or buy the copyrights, whatever). It's not a complicated amp to make. There are web sites that list all the materials you need and provide a schematic. There is clearly a high demand for this type of amp. I made a 5F1 champ. It cannot be any more complicated than that.
Also, Todd, have you thought about switching the speaker on the epi. I made a quick comparison video at your request, although maybe I did not provide enough material for you to decide.
Last Edited by on Feb 14, 2010 5:59 AM
Kali's are great sounding. My only reservation is something that Greg points out on his site, they are 40-50 years old, scarce and you don't know what problems you are inheriting. My same problem with vintage Fender amps. I know point to point wiring is preferable but if I can mod a new inexpensive amp to get the same results I gotta go that way. With a 40 y/o amp you just don't know how it'll hold up especially loading/unloading and gigging to pay a premium for them I'd rather go boutique, also not inexpensive. ----------
The Original Downtown Philadelphia Fatman... Accept No substitutes!
Sounds good, Todd. Your playing is loud and gnarly, and I mean that in a very good way.
I think I prefer the tone of the Epi, although I don't care for most EL84 harp amps. The K-zoo has the advantage of the 10-inch speaker, as you noted. Its CTS alnico speaker with seamed ribbed cone is an early Jensen P10R knockoff. Old speakers sound great.
The K-zoo amps are fun but very cheaply made. The cab and baffle are particle board, and after a while they just disintegrate. I'll bet a K-zoo Model 2 that was in a pine cab with birch baffle would sound a lot better, but that would be a lot of trouble for that amp.
Gary Smith, the Bay Area harp player who is famous for tone, told me the Epiphone Valve Jr Half Stack is the best sounding out-of-the-box small harp amp he'd ever played. He even gigs with it occasionally.
The only place where your Epi amp lets you down is with the ratty little 8-inch speaker. With the Epi Valve Jr cab with the 12-inch Eminence Lady Luck speaker it will be much better. I use that cab with my vintage Masco amp and it sounds great.
@ BluzDude re: My same problem with vintage Fender amps. I know point to point wiring is preferable but if I can mod a new inexpensive amp to get the same results I gotta go that way
I'll tell you - these amps are much MORE rugged than any modern amp. Point to point wiring ensures that pushing on one thing doesn't push on another. The input jacks, switches, knobs on a modern amp are all directly connected to the printed circuit board - knock it over or drop it and you can easily crack the board.
You can't get the same results just by "modding a new inexpensive amp" unless and until you've spent way more than it is worth. Similar yes, same no.
I don't worry about these amps failing - they stand up to tremendous abuse. The particle board cabinets do tend to ding up easily as Rick points out, but they maintain mechanical integrity unless they've gotten really wet a few times. They've already been around for 50 years. I wonder how today's amps will be 50 years from now.
As for making a brand new one - it can be done, but it would be a minimum of about $500 for cabinet, chassis, parts, labor - and the market isn't big enough to justify any manufacturer doing it.
I love my Kalamazoo. Its been thru hell since I have had it. I leave it in my car and run the streets of New Orleans. Maybe I will install a line out and let Todd play it through my Epi Cabinet when he gets his Epi mod done.
I see your points Greg and I agree the unknown is how long the Epi will last but I've got total of $145.00 and about 2-1/2 hours of my own time into it and I took it to the Frederick Harp club were we put it up against Fender Champ and a Kali and everyone there agreed there was no noticeable lack of tone. at that price if it last me 10 years it's easily worth the savings, It's already made it 3 ----------
The Original Downtown Philadelphia Fatman... Accept No substitutes!
Thanks, Rick-I'm feeling kinda gnarly right now too. I should bathe!
@ Blueswannabe-ya know, I was wondering the same thing. I'll eyeball it. It's about the same size as the 'Zoo, which has a 10. ---------- Todd L Greene. V.P.
Scott, just so we are comparing apples to apples. Is your epi modded or stock, and if modded, what mods? Lastly, what type of speaker is in your epi.(and regardless of speaker, it's still an 8 vs. a 10.)
I've played thru some of Randy Landry's project amps that he built from scratch, and I'm confident this little amp's gonna be drastically different in a good way when he's done with it...He's working a turnaround at his day job right now, but I'll hook up with him asap. ---------- Todd L Greene. V.P.
My Epi is "almost" stock. I think I put a different tube in there but it's still a 12AX7. The speaker is still an 8 but different from the one that it came with. When I first got it, it would make this horrible sound when I played a D on any harp. It was diagnosed as cone cry and I was told (by the Eminence tech) that it is inherent to paper cones and it was a design problem and they just built them to Epiphone's specs. He really sounded like he and they (Eminence) weren't too happy their name was on that one. Anyway I went to a local amp shop and the owner just grabbed a generic 8 inch speaker he had laying around and it actually sounded better. I'm still keeping the Valve Junior because it is still a great sounding harp amp if anything ever happened to my Zoo (God forbid.) It is also louder than the Zoo and might be more useful at a jam or small venue. Also, it sounds better for guitar than the Zoo so that's a bonus as well. Maybe I'll make an A/B video for you guys as well to further demonstate the difference.
Scott, I never heard about a speaker issue nor have I noticed it on mine, but I'll have to pay attention to that. I Look forward to your comparison video. Mike
Scott, Which version of the epi do you have? the first 2 versions of the combo had Jensens in it While all of the 12" cabs were eminence. This is the first I've heard any harp player not like the Eminence speakers in this line. Maybe you got "the bad one" I've Modded 3 so far all sounded great ----------
The Original Downtown Philadelphia Fatman... Accept No substitutes!
Thusfar I really dig the 8" Eminence in my combo, and the 12" in the cab. That might save me at least 30 bucks when my combo is modded! ---------- Todd L Greene. V.P.
Mine came with an 8 inch Eminence speaker and it sounded good except for that one note, It was really some sort of weird resonant frequency phenomenon. Glad it doesn't happen to everyone.
Not my question but I have had an RE10 for a couple years and it was an ok mic until I recently got an impedence transformer and WOW. Now that mic is a hot one. I will use it when I make my video as well.
Concerning the RE10, I went to see RJ Mischo this Friday night and he used the RE10 a lot more than usual. I ask him about it and he said he liked it a lot after getting the transformer as well. (Mine and his are the Audix one)
I love the RE10. It's my favorite mic. Unfortunately, mine's messed up(an Ebay mistake)-the one in the vid is my friend's, and he has to inventory it every time I come over because he knows I love it! The little bulb on the held end makes it easier to hold onto than a 57 or 545(without that nifty device Greg H came up with). I love how the RE10 tones vary between loose or open cup and a tight cup. ---------- Todd L Greene. V.P.
Ok here's my comparison. The zoo has an unfair advantage of the tone knob. I always thought the Valve Jr would be better if you could roll off some of those highs. I also only played in to one channel. When you split the signal into both channels it sounds even a little better. Both amps sound better live than recorded onto my computer. They both sound full with more bass but certainly you can get a feel for the differences.
I put a treble cut into my modded VJr's instead of rolling them off with a better filtering it lets the bottom end push a little bit more (lay speak) in truth I don't know why the treble cut works better then the roll off but it was the way it was suggested in a number of the places I did research before modding and damn if it didn't work pretty well. ----------
The Original Downtown Philadelphia Fatman... Accept No substitutes!
I just reduce the treble with my digitech pedal and use the expression pedal as on-off volume control. I also put in a little delay. I have a couple settings with varying amounts of delay and one with distortion. treble is cut back on all of them. sounds fine.
Scott, the difference to me seemed very slight, barely perceptible. I thought the zoo had just slightly more bass than the epi and slightly thicker tone. Again, I mean very slightly...and that's to my ears and on this side of the computer. Could be different where you are.
