Am I being ridiculous for considering a fourth Friedman amp?

HowieJams

HowieJams

Active member
It is all about different tones for me.
I have 3 Friedmans and they all sound completely different...

My 1st was a Little Sister Combo - very open sounding with great clean and gain tones, lots of gain on tap. Probably the best tone of all 3 of my amps or any amp I have owned previously. Funny thing is, it is the amp I use the least as I love high gain.

Then I bought a Pink Taco V2 head and cab - saturated high gain tones, but it cleans up well also. I use this amp the most.

My most recent was a JJ Jr. combo, not an amp I was looking for, I wanted a JEL-20, but I scored a great deal on it and was pleasantly surprised. - Great high gain tones and a dedicated clean channel that is just clean cleans, I prefer gritty cleans. This amp does not clean up as well on the high gain channel as the other two amps.

I am still thinking about a JEL-20, it has two dirty channels, I can set the plexi channel for those gritty cleans I love and the JCM channel for those saturated gain tones I love.

I use a TS808 to boost my amps, so even if the JEL-20 doesn't quite have the gain of my Pink Taco or JJ Jr., a boost will get me where I want it. It gets my Little Sister there and the JEL is similar gain to the Little Sister, but the JEL has a SAT switch.

Right now my plan is to keep my Little Sister and Pink Taco at home and bring the JJ Jr. to my vacation home as it is a very small combo compared to my Little Sister.
If I get the JEL-20 head, it will just sit on top of my Pink Taco and I can take turns running them though my 1x12 cabinet.

My original plan was to buy another 1x12 cab and leave that at my vacation home and bring a head back and forth, but then the JJ fell in to my lap.

The JEL-20 seems to be an itch I need to scratch, should I go for it?

In retrospect, I probably could have done without the JJ Jr. as much as I like it and then this would not have been an issue.
 
Last edited:
I want to try a JEL100 badly. Have chased his tones for many years. I found that a cranked JCM or Jubilee gets me really close with a boost like an SD1, but forget your eardrums. That said, if the small watt alternative actually gets close, it's gonna be badass IMO.
 
Erock said:
I want to try a JEL100 badly. Have chased his tones for many years. I found that a cranked JCM or Jubilee gets me really close with a boost like an SD1, but forget your eardrums. That said, if the small watt alternative actually gets close, it's gonna be badass IMO.
Click to expand...
I constantly find myself listening to Jake E Lee's tone in Badlands and if it sounds like that I will be happy, especially if I can get it at low volumes
 
Corey James said:
Consider an IRX or J?
Click to expand...
I tried the IR-J and returned it the next day.
I ran it through the effects return of my Little Sister combo and it just didn't do it for me.
It sounded good, but not great.
I am hoping the complete amp sounds better.
 
Do it. No regrets. Otherwise you might end up second guessing the decision later.
 
1744560068926.jpeg



Always more to explore, sounds like you know what you like and want, so I’d say go for it too.
 
HowieJams said:
You guys make me feel like a lightweight
Click to expand...

Don't feel bad, I've been very slowly building up my collection of gear for decades at this point and it represents majority of what I spend money on.

Wouldn't change it of course, my gear fuckin rules. But still, it took a long time to get there.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: PDC
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top