Am I being ridiculous for considering a fourth Friedman amp?

To say “it’s all about different tones for me” and be going for a 4th Friedman immediately tells me that you really aren’t about different tones. I don’t believe the JEL is going to be different enough from what you have to make it worthwhile.

But, as Taco Bell says, Live Mas.
 
TheGreatGreen said:
Don't feel bad, I've been very slowly building up my collection of gear for decades at this point and it represents vast 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.
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I just cut down from 15 guitars to 6.
I sold 3 amps and bought 3 amps, so I am still ahead.
 
SoooRad said:
To say “it’s all about different tones for me” and be going for a 4th Friedman immediately tells me that you really aren’t about different tones. I don’t believe the JEL is going to be different enough from what you have to make it worthwhile.

But, as Taco Bell says, Live Mas.
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I was wondering about that, but the JEL-20 does that saturated tone I love.
All three of my Friedmans sound significantly different from each other.
 
If you have to ask other people you probably already know the answer.

These small heads retail for around 3k AUD, why not just get a 100 Deluxe for 6k AUD which will do plexi, taco and JJ and keep the little sister.
 
yngHL said:
If you have to ask other people you probably already know the answer.

These small heads retail for around 3k AUD, why not just get a 100 Deluxe for 6k AUD which will do plexi, taco and JJ and keep the little sister.
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I did not know a BE100 would do all those tones, I will have to check in to that.
 
HowieJams said:
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, no gritty cleans which I prefer. 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.
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Have you considered a wizzer?

http://wizardamplification.com/mc25.htm
 
I have come to the (belated) realization that life goes by so fast that if you are not doing / pursuing whatever it is that makes you happy, its a wasted opportunity. If you have got the discretionary $$ and enjoy the variety of gear, by God buy it, have it and enjoy it. Especially when you know that each amp (in this case) really does bring a sufficiently different flavor to the buffet that they are all worth having.
 
PDC said:
I have come to the (belated) realization that life goes by so fast that if you are not doing / pursuing whatever it is that makes you happy, its a wasted opportunity. If you have got the discretionary $$ and enjoy the variety of gear, by God buy it, have it and enjoy it. Especially when you know that each amp (in this case) really does bring a sufficiently different flavor to the buffet that they are all worth having.
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That is such a great point. I do have the funds available.
This year I sold 3 amps and 15 guitars, now I have 6 guitars and if I buy this amp I would have 4 amps.
I just need to look in to other options (larger Friedmans, AxeFX) that people have mentioned.
I still think I will end up with the JEL-20
 
I had the JJ Jr. and Pink Taco V2. I heard the JEL is a whole different animal and even better than the others. I'd do it.
 
I'm the opposite. After trying for months to get a usable sound out of a JEL 20, I got rid of it and swore-off ever giving that brand another cent of my money.
 
romanianreaper said:
I had the JJ Jr. and Pink Taco V2. I heard the JEL is a whole different animal and even better than the others. I'd do it.
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What did you think of the Pink Taco V2 and JJ Jr?
The Little Sister is an amazing amp.
The Pink Taco V2 and JJ Jr. both have their things I like about each of them.
I initially said I liked the Pink Taco V2 the best, but if I had to keep one it would be the Little Sister, it has the best tone by far, just needs a boost to get it to the gain levels I like and it is a LARGE beast of a 1x12 combo amp.
 
CarlF said:
I'm the opposite. After trying for months to get a usable sound out of a JEL 20, I got rid of it and swore-off ever giving that brand another cent of my money.
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It is a bright amp from what I hear, but I think I need to give it a try.
The Little Sister has amazing tones, but needs a boost to get to JEL gain levels with the SAT switch engaged.
Dave Friedman told me that the LS and JEL have the same amount of gain, bit the SAT switch on the JEL puts it over the top.
 
HowieJams said:
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.
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You should definitely check out the Splawn QuickRod 100. I have tons of amps as you can see on my profile and I've had at least as many boutique amps before. I love Friedman amps, but once I got my Splawn it gets 95% of my time. Best Hot-rodded Marshall out there and extremely versatile.
 
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HowieJams said:
It is a bright amp from what I hear, but I think I need to give it a try.
The Little Sister has amazing tones, but needs a boost to get to JEL gain levels with the SAT switch engaged.
Dave Friedman told me that the LS and JEL have the same amount of gain, bit the SAT switch on the JEL puts it over the top.
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The JEL 50 is more to my liking. EL34’s, no SAT switch and 3-way bright switches for each channel
 
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