HowieJams
Active member
My Friedman JJ Jr. combo arrived yesterday morning.
As soon as I got home from work I gave it a quick try out, but I had some ear fatigue going on and decided to come back to it later to do a fair review.
I knew I wanted to try it out by itself first, but what I really wanted to know was how it compared to the Friedman Pink Taco V2 as they both have a lot of gain.
Being this is a first review and I haven't had much time to get familiar with the JJ Jr., watch for a later review when I have more time with it.
I will say, coming from my Little Sister combo, the Pink Taco V2 was very easy to get familiar with, both single channel amps, so it was very easy to dial in.
The Friedman JJ Jr. is a two channel amp, a dedicated one knob clean channel and a dirty channel with two settings, I believe a BE setting and a JBE setting which is higher gain.
I feel the JBE setting is really like a Sat switch as the volume drops when it is engaged just like what happens with the Pink Taco when I engage the Sat switch.
Let's get the JJ Jr. Clean channel out of the way first...
It is just a volume knob. Without the Bright Switch it is too dark, the Bright Switch fixes that. It is a lush clean.
Now getting to the middle gain structure on both amp, the BE dirty channel on the JJ Jr. and the 2nd gain structure on the Pink Taco....
I like how the Pink Taco Cleans up better than how the JJ Jr. cleans up by rolling off the guitar volume.
I found it easier to get gritty bluesy tones out of the Pink Taco then I did with the JJ Jr.
The Pink Taco retained amp volume better when rolling down the guitar volume, the JJ Jr. lost more volume.
Also, the JJ Jr. just seems more like a dedicated rock amp, the Pink Taco seems easier to do other styles.
The JJ Jr. seems to be a Brighter amp than the Pink Taco, but I did not play with the tone controls.
Now the High Gain settings on both amps, this is the closest and best comparison....
This is where it gets interesting..
The Friedman JJ Jr. on the JBE setting is much like the Pink Taco high gain structure with the Sat switch engaged.
I do feel the JJ Jr. has at least as much gain as the Pink Taco, maybe more.
Both amps sound great on these high gain settings.
The Pink Taco has the advantage of being able to turn the Sat switch on and off on all channels.
On the highest gain structure I like the Pink Taco with and without the Sat switch.
The JJ Jr. just has the one option.
What is interesting..
If I used the JJ Jr. out somewhere, I would just leave it on the JBE channel (highest gain), I feel I can roll off guitar volume and get the gritty cleans I like and Bluesy tones easiest on this channel.
I think being a Brighter amp, the JJ Jr. might cut through the mix better than the Pink Taco, I will definitely run it over a backing track later today.
Even though I like the Pink Taco better than my Little Sister, I find the brighter Little Sister cuts through a mix better then the Taco, but then again I have the most experience with the Little Sister.
Here are the demo and comparison videos..
As soon as I got home from work I gave it a quick try out, but I had some ear fatigue going on and decided to come back to it later to do a fair review.
I knew I wanted to try it out by itself first, but what I really wanted to know was how it compared to the Friedman Pink Taco V2 as they both have a lot of gain.
Being this is a first review and I haven't had much time to get familiar with the JJ Jr., watch for a later review when I have more time with it.
I will say, coming from my Little Sister combo, the Pink Taco V2 was very easy to get familiar with, both single channel amps, so it was very easy to dial in.
The Friedman JJ Jr. is a two channel amp, a dedicated one knob clean channel and a dirty channel with two settings, I believe a BE setting and a JBE setting which is higher gain.
I feel the JBE setting is really like a Sat switch as the volume drops when it is engaged just like what happens with the Pink Taco when I engage the Sat switch.
Let's get the JJ Jr. Clean channel out of the way first...
It is just a volume knob. Without the Bright Switch it is too dark, the Bright Switch fixes that. It is a lush clean.
Now getting to the middle gain structure on both amp, the BE dirty channel on the JJ Jr. and the 2nd gain structure on the Pink Taco....
I like how the Pink Taco Cleans up better than how the JJ Jr. cleans up by rolling off the guitar volume.
I found it easier to get gritty bluesy tones out of the Pink Taco then I did with the JJ Jr.
The Pink Taco retained amp volume better when rolling down the guitar volume, the JJ Jr. lost more volume.
Also, the JJ Jr. just seems more like a dedicated rock amp, the Pink Taco seems easier to do other styles.
The JJ Jr. seems to be a Brighter amp than the Pink Taco, but I did not play with the tone controls.
Now the High Gain settings on both amps, this is the closest and best comparison....
This is where it gets interesting..
The Friedman JJ Jr. on the JBE setting is much like the Pink Taco high gain structure with the Sat switch engaged.
I do feel the JJ Jr. has at least as much gain as the Pink Taco, maybe more.
Both amps sound great on these high gain settings.
The Pink Taco has the advantage of being able to turn the Sat switch on and off on all channels.
On the highest gain structure I like the Pink Taco with and without the Sat switch.
The JJ Jr. just has the one option.
What is interesting..
If I used the JJ Jr. out somewhere, I would just leave it on the JBE channel (highest gain), I feel I can roll off guitar volume and get the gritty cleans I like and Bluesy tones easiest on this channel.
I think being a Brighter amp, the JJ Jr. might cut through the mix better than the Pink Taco, I will definitely run it over a backing track later today.
Even though I like the Pink Taco better than my Little Sister, I find the brighter Little Sister cuts through a mix better then the Taco, but then again I have the most experience with the Little Sister.
Here are the demo and comparison videos..
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