High gain shootout Marshall JMP 2204 vs Friedman BE100DLX vs Fryette Pittbull CL

I think the SD1 in front of the JMP is really skewing things when compared to going straight into the other two amps, which both sound twangier and looser since the signal hitting the front end isn't being heavily band-passed beforehand. Nice tones all around though
 
Nolly said:
I think the SD1 in front of the JMP is really skewing things when compared to going straight into the other two amps, which both sound twangier and looser since the signal hitting the front end isn't being heavily band-passed beforehand. Nice tones all around though
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Yeah the JMP/SD1 is way more focused and the other two just sound bigger/wider. I've been messing with a JMP/SD1 combo a lot recently and its just on the verge of being a little honky in the mids. Altho my SD1 isn't an old MIJ one.
 
JMP ftw.

You have to boost the JMP in any attempt to match the gain level of the other two. The VHT and Friedman are bought as ‘straight in, no boost needed’ amps while everyone knows you have to boost most Marshalls. Of course maybe some boost VHT/Friedman too…
But in this case, the boosted stock Marshall wins. Which is why after owning over 50 great modded Marshalls over the years, plus many more high gain amps I’m super happy with a few stock Marshalls and boost pedals.
 
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I dunno mate, if the goal was to simply get the JMP up to a comparable saturation, they could easily have used a transparent clean boost or even just sent a hotter signal down the reamp chain for that amp. Somehow I don’t think everyone would like that tone the most though

To be clear, I think the boosted JMP sounds better than the other two in this comparison, but I don’t think that means anyone can say the JMP is a better amp than the other two. Basically the video serves purely as a demonstration of 3 cool tones from 3 cool rigs

Imagine if you were doing a burger comparison. Burger #1 is the OG but has a smaller patty than the others so you decide to add some grilled bacon to that one. Bizarrely no one notices the bacon or gives it much importance yet everyone tastes the three burgers and goes “mmmm yeahhhh burger #1 FTW! Almost like it has this kinda extra smoky salty extra kick to it or something. Burgers #2 and #3 just can’t hang with it at all!”…
I think people would agree you’d not presented a fair comparison.
 
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JMP/SD-1 all day , every day. If the goal is to achieve tone that makes me want to play then that boosted Marshall delivers. The Friedman is a killer amp too and very versatile. But in this comparison I like the JMP/SD-1
 
Hmm, cool tones - i like the JMP best - but kind of strange, I don't know if this can really be called a shoot-out.

Because they aren't even supposed to really sound alike. A vintage marshall, a modern chugga high gainer, and a ultra slick "recorded tone" modern marshall?

Would it be a "shootout" if it was a HPTT, a HiWatt DR103, and a Matamp? I mean the amps are so wildly different I guess I don't see the point in "shooting them out," theyre just good but wildly disparate tones.
 
Here's another comparison...the above videos was a St. Rock load boax IR setup. The following videos are from a board member LittleB in these clips is a mic'd Greenback speaker using an SM57 and Royer R121. While the IR's don't sound horrible the actual mic'd speaker does seem to have more dynamics to the tone.

 
harddriver said:
Here's another comparison...the above videos was a St. Rock load boax IR setup. The following videos are from a board member LittleB in these clips is a mic'd Greenback speaker using an SM57 and Royer R121. While the IR's don't sound horrible the actually mic'd speaker does seem to have more dynamics to the tone.

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Marshall all day long......
 
Would of been a better comparison using the Friedman on the BE channel with the Sat off, gain around 6 and boost with the SOD.
 
harddriver said:
Here's another comparison...the above videos was a St. Rock load boax IR setup. The following videos are from a board member LittleB in these clips is a mic'd Greenback speaker using an SM57 and Royer R121. While the IR's don't sound horrible the actual mic'd speaker does seem to have more dynamics to the tone.

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Word to the wise, a well captured IR will usually be MORE dynamic than a speaker, because it has essentially infinite headroom where the real speaker compresses as the cone tries to replicate all the frequencies/amplitudes being demanded of it. I think you're hearing the proximity effect bump of the Royer (which would be captured in an IR too) and attributing that quality to the fact it's a real mic'd cab.
It also sounds like the mics are in a different, brighter, position for the Marshall clip than the Morris.
 
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The words dynamics and compression are frequently misused and misunderstood in my experience. Here's a fact I've not seen mentioned - IR's cannot, and do not, induce compression or affect dynamics. An IR in this context is just an EQ curve, and nothing more. If you had a high quality analogue parametric EQ with a few dozen bands you could fairly closely replicate a digital IR.

A poorly designed or underspec'd load (or something else in your chain) is the culprit if you're noticing a change in dynamics, resonance or feel - whatever the hell this means to you.
 
ZEN Amps said:
The words dynamics and compression are frequently misused and misunderstood in my experience. Here's a fact I've not seen mentioned - IR's cannot, and do not, induce compression or affect dynamics. An IR in this context is just an EQ curve, and nothing more. If you had a high quality analogue parametric EQ with a few dozen bands you could fairly closely replicate a digital IR.

A poorly designed or underspec'd load (or something else in your chain) is the culprit if you're noticing a change in dynamics, resonance or feel - whatever the hell this means to you.
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An IR file by definition captures the decay time at all frequencies, so it does indeed affect dynamics. It doesn't replicate compression or saturation though, as you say, which is what I said in my above post. Some of the IRs on the market are captured very badly (some are essentially non-dynamic match EQs), but a WELL captured IR can convey resonances extremely accurately, since that's essentially what they are designed to do.
 
Nolly said:
Word to the wise, a well captured IR will usually be MORE dynamic than a speaker, because it has essentially infinite headroom where the real speaker compresses as the cone tries to replicate all the frequencies/amplitudes being demanded of it. I think you're hearing the proximity effect bump of the Royer (which would be captured in an IR too) and attributing that quality to the fact it's a real mic'd cab.
It also sounds like the mics are in a different, brighter, position for the Marshall clip than the Morris.
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I feel your thoughts and breakdowns.
By feel, I mean agree.
I bet you’d be a fantastic therapist, I’m serious!
I mean no offense, that’s rad man!
 
Nolly said:
An IR file by definition captures the decay time at all frequencies, so it does indeed affect dynamics. It doesn't replicate compression or saturation though, as you say, which is what I said in my above post. Some of the IRs on the market are captured very badly (some are essentially non-dynamic match EQs), but a WELL captured IR can convey resonances extremely accurately, since that's essentially what they are designed to do.
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I'm talking the typical short IR's used to capture a guitar cab - decay time doesn't remotely enter into. So I'll stand by my statement, dynamics are not a factor at all.
 
Dino 939 said:
I feel your thoughts and breakdowns.
By feel, I mean agree.
I bet you’d be a fantastic therapist, I’m serious!
I mean no offense, that’s rad man!
Click to expand...
Hah, thanks!

ZEN Amps said:
I'm talking the typical short IR's used to capture a guitar cab - decay time doesn't remotely enter into. So I'll stand by my statement, dynamics are not a factor at all.
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How long do you think the decay time of a guitar cab is? How long would an IR need to be to capture authentic dynamics of a cab, in your opinion?
 
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