Friedman Vintage Plexi

LP Freak said:
Those Granger loops sound like crap regardless the amp
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It had a Metro Loop installed ..... I uninstalled it ... and installed a Headfirst Loop ...... same results .... it's the way the signal enters the power section of the plexi circuit ....
 
Kapo_Polenton said:
Haven't heard a bad clip yet but 2700USD?
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That's pretty reasonable given the current climate.

It seems some guys tend to focus heavily on the cost of materials and not much else. I know this sounds obvious, but there is an extraordinarily long list of invoices, bills and wages for a company to cover outside of this.

Really Friedman's pricing is fair once you understand the cost of business, and look at the competition.
- Suhr SL67, $2950
- Metro Metro Plex 50, $3300
- Germino Lead 55, $2800

Not sure if this new 50 watter is a traditional plexi build or hybrid/PCB, but it doesn't matter all that much. Dave said in a podcast that the additional cost of hand wiring isn't significant. He mentioned the time taken and the hourly rate, it was less than $150 from memory.
 
Greazygeo said:
My 72 had the Mustards as well. I don’t think any Marshall I had ever had any of those. Either Mustards, legos or the big blue ones my 67 has.
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Here’s a pic of my 72 Trem…those yellow rectangles. 3 more in the power section also. Some mustards but more Phillips chicklets.
 

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SpiderWars said:
I’ve built a few clones and they never measured up. Then I built my ‘69 clone and that amp has it. I’ve actually bought and sold a few 70’s Marshalls (and brought them up to spec) just to compare side-by-side and they are extremely close. And if I had to choose…I’d pick my clone. I still have the ‘70 Super PA that I disconnected 2 channels and Ed-spec’d the other 2. It’s killer but I think my clone is a few percent better.

FWIW, it has MM iron (not their typical suggestions tho) and my ‘68 clone has Merrens. The ‘69 does the Super Lead thing way better. It also has NOS Mustards.

I guess my point is that a clone CAN sound every bit as good but most clones (at least mine) don’t.
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Maybe it's the Mustards then? Every clone that I've played or heard, had those spendy 'ZoSo' caps and other builder favs, and they just sound flat to me. Even this 72 50, with those orange drops sounded more like a Fender. Once the Phillips caps went in, there it was..just like my 100.
 
ZEN Amps said:
That's pretty reasonable given the current climate.

It seems some guys tend to focus heavily on the cost of materials and not much else. I know this sounds obvious, but there is an extraordinarily long list of invoices, bills and wages for a company to cover outside of this.

Really Friedman's pricing is fair once you understand the cost of business, and look at the competition.
- Suhr SL67, $2950
- Metro Metro Plex 50, $3300
- Germino Lead 55, $2800

Not sure if this new 50 watter is a traditional plexi build or hybrid/PCB, but it doesn't matter all that much. Dave said in a podcast that the additional cost of hand wiring isn't significant. He mentioned the time taken and the hourly rate, it was less than $150 from memory.
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Yeah, I guess that makes sense. We get spanked here in Canada with exchange rate and then tax but looking at the price of all amps, it's reasonable. Marshall reissue JCM 800's are almost 4k canadian. It's insane. 4k! At this point it's used market , building, or nodding for me.
 
When I saw the video overview and heard it, I was thinking $3499 or something like that. $2799 is a lot of dollars but reasonable in 2024…
 
Kapo_Polenton said:
Yeah, I guess that makes sense. We get spanked here in Canada with exchange rate and then tax but looking at the price of all amps, it's reasonable. Marshall reissue JCM 800's are almost 4k canadian. It's insane. 4k! At this point it's used market , building, or nodding for me.
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Yeah same down under for most brands - an SLO-100 is 7k AUD for example.

Marshalls are pretty affordable though, but who wants a new one?
 
Racerxrated said:
Maybe it's the Mustards then? Every clone that I've played or heard, had those spendy 'ZoSo' caps and other builder favs, and they just sound flat to me. Even this 72 50, with those orange drops sounded more like a Fender. Once the Phillips caps went in, there it was..just like my 100.
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Just my hunch/experience but something had to be wrong with those ODs. The difference shouldn’t be that huge. Now that I think about it…I think Dave has shown the inside of that ‘68 50w and I think it has a couple of ODs.

Yep, check the output couplers.
 
Racerxrated said:
Here’s a pic of my 72 Trem…those yellow rectangles. 3 more in the power section also. Some mustards but more Phillips chicklets.
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Those are not what I think of as chicklets. The white ones in this pic are what I have always thought of as them.
 

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SpiderWars said:
Just my hunch/experience but something had to be wrong with those ODs. The difference shouldn’t be that huge. Now that I think about it…I think Dave has shown the inside of that ‘68 50w and I think it has a couple of ODs.

Yep, check the output couplers.
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Well, his preamp section isn’t, I see Mustards. In mine, 8 of the 0.022 were ODs. Big difference than just 2.
And, no offense but your clone that sounds spot on? You used vintage Mustards.
See what I mean? Change those Mustards out for ZoSos or other modern caps and I’d bet it won’t sound near as good.
Or, maybe it will? Just for fun, try it and see….🤟
 
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Greazygeo said:
Those are not what I think of as chicklets. The white ones in this pic are what I have always thought of as them.
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Gotcha; I can see that.
When I bought it, and I only saw a few mustards I thought it was re wired non stock. I posted pics on the Marshall forum and they confirmed that the yellow Phillips ‘chicklets’ are indeed stock; used mostly in 72. So that’s the term I went with lol.
Lego caps are the red ones used in later 70s/80s 2203/4s. Hopefully I have that term right 😂
 
Tone Junkie said:
I thought it sounded good. Priced right compared to similar amps. Few cool features. No loop sucks but if they don’t work in a plexi it is what it is.
How much would you pay for a original plexi it’s modeled after.
Kinda no brainer.
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For 3K after taxes, definitely a decent price. You can find a 71-73 turret board for 3-4K, 50w Marshall.
But a 68 will set you back 6K or more.
 
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