MOOER 008 - Cali-MK 3

The MOOER 008 Cali-MK 3 is a compact preamp pedal from MOOER, part of the company's Micro PreAMP series. MOOER describes it as based on a Californian modern day classic and calls it a session player's dream. It carries dual channels, integrated speaker cabinet simulation, and two operating modes, and it is designed to feed a power amp or an amplifier's effects return rather than a conventional guitar amp input.¹

What it does to your sound

Each of the two channels has its own independent 3 band EQ, Gain and Volume controls, so the clean and drive sides of the pedal can be set up separately. MOOER describes the range this way: the clean channel goes from pure clarity to light crunch, and the drive channel starts where the clean channel leaves off and goes all the way to ultra high-gain.¹

RockBoard's PedalPedia entry adds that the pedal has an incredibly variable EQ stack on each channel, and says the Cali-MK3 can achieve tones for just about every style of music.² The pedal also includes integrated speaker cabinet simulation, which is what lets it run into a power amp or effects return without a separate cab sim.¹

MOOER describes the Cali-MK 3's two channels as covering a wide range: "The clean channel can go from pure clarity to light crunch. The drive channel starts where the clean channel left off and goes all the way to ultra high-gain"¹. Each channel has its own independent 3 band EQ, Gain and Volume controls¹.

Specifications

Analog or digital?

Here the two published descriptions disagree. MOOER's own product page titles the unit a Digital Preamp.¹ RockBoard's PedalPedia entry for the Micro PreAMP 008 Cali-MK 3 lists the circuit type as analog.² Both are maker-published listings, and neither explains the difference, so both values stand as given.

Power and connections

The Cali-MK 3 runs from a DC 9V, 300mA, center pin negative power supply. MOOER lists the current draw at 300mA, and RockBoard's listing gives the same figure.¹²

The connections are simple: a 1/4" mono audio jack input with 1 meg Ohm impedance, and a 1/4" mono audio jack output with 100 Ohms impedance.¹

Using it in a rig

MOOER's guidance on where the pedal goes is explicit: connect it to a power amp or your amplifier's effects return, with the company adding that it highly recommends using a tube amplifier in that setup.¹ In practice that means the Cali-MK 3 replaces the preamp section of your amp, with the cabinet simulation built into the pedal handling the speaker voicing.

The footswitch can be set to one of two different modes:

1. On/Off, which treats the pedal as a single effect to switch in and out.
2. Channel A/B, which moves between the two channels.¹

Size and where it sits in the series

The Micro PreAMP housing measures 93.5mm deep by 42mm wide by 52mm high and weighs 160g, so it takes up little more room than a standard compact pedal.¹ MOOER's Micro PreAMP line covers a wide range of amp voicings. Other entries include:

• 001 Gas Station
• 006 US Classic Deluxe
• 007 Regal Tone
• 010 Two Stones
• 012 Fried Mien
• 016 Phoenix

For players who want more than a single preamp in this format, MOOER's larger units such as the Preamp Model X2 and Preamp Model X X2 add presets and IR loading, and the full range sits under Preamp Pedals.

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