The Tone Thread

[Greg_L]

I know I still owe this thread some Friedman clips. Been having one massive distraction after another over here. I gotta redo a lot of drums this week too. But this thing has landed back at the house as well....




The Jubilee is back. Gotta do some tracks with it. So I'll get some Friedman vs Jubilee tracks up soon.

[JD01]

I know I still owe this thread some Friedman clips. Been having one massive distraction after another over here. I gotta redo a lot of drums this week too. But this thing has landed back at the house as well....




The Jubilee is back. Gotta do some tracks with it. So I'll get some Friedman vs Jubilee tracks up soon.

I'm sure that pair will make for some excellent hard-panned rhythms!

[Greg_L]

I'm sure that pair will make for some excellent hard-panned rhythms!

That is the idea. They sound great together live. Dare I say it's kind of like Mike Ness and Slash in the same band.

But since the Friedman is here, my guy had to go back to his poor old lowly JCM 800 at practice last week, and to my ears I liked his sound with the 800 much better. Shocker, right?

[JD01]

But since the Friedman is here, my guy had to go back to his poor old lowly JCM 800 at practice last week, and to my ears I liked his sound with the 800 much better. Shocker, right?

Is the only tone you genuinely like a low gain JCM at >120db?

[Greg_L]

Is the only tone you genuinely like a low gain JCM at >120db?

No. I like Orange type tones. I like Fender tones. I like Supros and Vox and all sorts of shit.

[Greg_L]

low gain JCM at >120db?

That is a killer sound though.

[JD01]

low gain JCM at >120db?

That is a killer sound though.

haha, yeah. That does seem to be "your" tone.
Would be cool to hear a song of yours that I already know with different amps on it at some point.
Something like WalMart At Midnight with a Vox and Boogie.

[Minerman]

I know I still owe this thread some Friedman clips. Been having one massive distraction after another over here. I gotta redo a lot of drums this week too. But this thing has landed back at the house as well....




The Jubilee is back. Gotta do some tracks with it. So I'll get some Friedman vs Jubilee tracks up soon.

Nice dude...I'm getting to like my Mini Jubilee more & more...It's just a good sounding little amp, but speaker choice is critical...The Jubilee was truly made to be used with V30's, it's ok with my other speakers, but with the V30, it just seems to come alive, to me anyway...

I'm sure you guys already know, but I've got some serious GAS for a Mini 800 right now...I've gotta contain myself for a little while longer, but if nothing major happens in the next couple weeks I'll probably order one...



In other news, seems like life keeps throwing curves my way health-wise, & I'm gonna have to keep dodging...It's nothing at all in seriousness compared to what I've been fighting, but this is some seriously painful shit...
The doc has confirmed that I have: shingles

So, not only am I trying to resist scratching & ripping the flesh off my body, I'm fighting some serious GAS...

[JD01]

I'm getting to like my Mini Jubilee more & more...It's just a good sounding little amp

I love the mini-jube. Think they sound great.

[Greg_L]

haha, yeah. That does seem to be "your" tone.
Would be cool to hear a song of yours that I already know with different amps on it at some point.
Something like WalMart At Midnight with a Vox and Boogie.

I would still probably sound mostly the same. I'm a big believer, and proof, that the cliche is correct and tone is in the hands. My hands may be clumsy and oafish, but I sound like me no matter what I play through. I play my buddies' Friedman and Jubilee on the same settings as they do and it doesn't sound like them at all.

[Greg_L]

In other news, seems like life keeps throwing curves my way health-wise, & I'm gonna have to keep dodging...It's nothing at all in seriousness compared to what I've been fighting, but this is some seriously painful shit...
The doc has confirmed that I have: shingles

So, not only am I trying to resist scratching & ripping the flesh off my body, I'm fighting some serious GAS...

Holy shit man, you're like the 4th person I know in the past couple of years to get shingles.

[Minerman]

Holy shit man, you're like the 4th person I know in the past couple of years to get shingles.

Yeah man, there have been a few around here too...Mine's not that bad compared to my brother-in-law, he had that shit around his eyes & could've went blind, but thankfully he got it under control...

It is some painful shit though, I only have it on my left ankle & inner left knee...It's slowly going away, but it just plain sucks...

I think a shiny, new Mini 800 may make this shit go away quicker...

[Greg_L]

I think a shiny, new Mini 800 may make this shit go away quicker...

Haha! Yeah. I still haven't gone see one in person yet, but I will very soon and I'll let you know if you want a review.

[Minerman]

I think a shiny, new Mini 800 may make this shit go away quicker...

Haha! Yeah. I still haven't gone see one in person yet, but I will very soon and I'll let you know if you want a review.

Thanks dude, I'll probably just pull the trigger on one...If I don't like it, or it's a lot like the Mini Jubilee, I can always send it back...I still wanna hear what you think of 'em though...

[Greg_L]

Thanks dude, I'll probably just pull the trigger on one...If I don't like it, or it's a lot like the Mini Jubilee, I can always send it back...I still wanna hear what you think of 'em though...

I know between the bigger versions, the 800s are smoother and have better sensitivity. The Jubes have more gain and compression. It doesn't matter if it's originals or reissues, I hear them all the same way. I assume the little ones will be the same.

[Greg_L]

Okay didn't mean for this to happen, but it ended up being a sloppy ass shootout!

JCM 800 vs Jubilee vs Friedman BE-100.
I did all tracks with the same amp EQ settings. Gains set to kind of the same ballpark.
Presence - 5
Bass - 7
Mid - 6
Treb - 5

All tracks:
Gibson Les Paul Traditional - Mutt PAF bridge and neck
Marshall1960B 4x12 Vintage 30s
Audix i5 on axis, on grill, dustcap/cone seam
Shure SM 57 off axis, on grill, just outside the i5
50/50 blend
No EQ or FX

First up...the Jubilee - lead channel

Jubilee.mp3

Next....the Friedman BE-100 - this one gets switched to the "HBE" mode for the second half.

BE100.mp3

Next...the JCM 800 2203 - this one gets an EP Boost set at 11:00 for the second part.

JCM 800.mp3

For what it's worth, the 800 and Friedman were WAY WAY WAY louder than the Jubilee at less master volume settings. The Jubilee master vol was at 7, the JCM 800 and BE100 were both at 5....and they came in significantly louder. I had to adjust the preamps on the interface to even them out. The 800 and BE100 were about the same volume at the same setting.

[Minerman]

Okay didn't mean for this to happen, but it ended up being a sloppy ass shootout!

JCM 800 vs Jubilee vs Friedman BE-100.
I did all tracks with the same amp EQ settings. Gains set to kind of the same ballpark.
Presence - 5
Bass - 7
Mid - 6
Treb - 5

All tracks:
Gibson Les Paul Traditional - Mutt PAF bridge and neck
Marshall1960B 4x12 Vintage 30s
Audix i5 on axis, on grill, dustcap/cone seam
Shure SM 57 off axis, on grill, just outside the i5
50/50 blend
No EQ or FX

For what it's worth, the 800 and Friedman were WAY WAY WAY louder than the Jubilee at less master volume settings. The Jubilee master vol was at 7, the JCM 800 and BE100 were both at 5....and they came in significantly louder. I had to adjust the preamps on the interface to even them out. The 800 and BE100 were about the same volume at the same setting.

I'm pretty surprised with these clips man, I thought the Friedman would smoke those lowly, cheap-ass Marshall amps, since it's $3k new & the others are "only" $2k new , but I liked it the least...I'm sure you could've dialed each amp to sound a little better on their own though, so this kinda falls under the same thing as the Mini 800 vs. Mini Jubilee on YouTube I found...

Here's how I rank 'em:

• 1: Jubilee

• 2: JCM 800

• 3: Friedman

I'm gonna go out on a limb here & say since there was a difference in what was hitting the mic, that could've affected the amps you turned down a little, maybe...
I was also gonna mention the V30 sounds different between "pushed" & "really pushed", but I'd say you were well past that point as soon as you plugged in...

Again, I'm gonna bet you could dial 'em all in a little different without trying to make it a "fair" comparison, but this is how I score this round...

[Greg_L]

I'm pretty surprised with these clips man, I thought the Friedman would smoke those lowly, cheap-ass Marshall amps, since it's $3k new & the others are "only" $2k new , but I liked it the least...I'm sure you could've dialed each amp to sound a little better on their own though, so this kinda falls under the same thing as the Mini 800 vs. Mini Jubilee on YouTube I found...

Here's how I rank 'em:

• 1: Jubilee

• 2: JCM 800

• 3: Friedman

I'm gonna go out on a limb here & say since there was a difference in what was hitting the mic, that could've affected the amps you turned down a little, maybe...
I was also gonna mention the V30 sounds different between "pushed" & "really pushed", but I'd say you were well past that point as soon as you plugged in...

Again, I'm gonna bet you could dial 'em all in a little different without trying to make it a "fair" comparison, but this is how I score this round...

To me the Friedman sounded better in the room than what I got on tape. I'll definitely try to dial them in better than just keeping them the same.

I'd brighten the Friedman and bring down the harshness on the Jubilee. I could also reduce the gain on the Friedman in HBE mode. I know that helps a lot. The 800 is pretty much perfect as-is.

[Minerman]

To me the Friedman sounded better in the room than what I got on tape. I'll definitely try to dial them in better than just keeping them the same.

I'd brighten the Friedman and bring down the harshness on the Jubilee. I could also reduce the gain on the Friedman in HBE mode. I know that helps a lot. The 800 is pretty much perfect as-is.

Yeah dude, I think the way you set each amp for "fairness" actually didn't help any of 'em...You know I was just fucking around talking about those amps, I've never had the pleasure of using any of 'em to record, I'm gonna bet all 3 just flat out kick ass, period...

Just so you know, I'd been looking hard at the Friedman mini amps for a while, & was almost ready to order a Runt 20 then Marshall threw their new mini amps on the market...I'm pretty sure I just had a bad experience with the EVH LBX & probably shouldn't base my view of similar amps because of that one...Most likely I would like any other EL84 amp a lot more than the EVH LBX, but I really like the Mini Jubilee & the fact the new mini's have EL34's does sway my choice, even if the power tubes probably don't make that much of a difference...

[Greg_L]

Yeah dude, I think the way you set each amp for "fairness" actually didn't help any of 'em...You know I was just fucking around talking about those amps, I've never had the pleasure of using any of 'em to record, I'm gonna bet all 3 just flat out kick ass, period...

Just so you know, I'd been looking hard at the Friedman mini amps for a while, & was almost ready to order a Runt 20 then Marshall threw their new mini amps on the market...I'm pretty sure I just had a bad experience with the EVH LBX & probably shouldn't base my view of similar amps because of that one...Most likely I would like any other EL84 amp a lot more than the EVH LBX, but I really like the Mini Jubilee & the fact the new mini's have EL34's does sway my choice, even if the power tubes probably don't make that much of a difference...

I don't how much of a difference EL34s in little amps make. I haven't definitively figured it out yet. I'd like to though. Those little Friedmans do kick ass, but they are way overpriced..

I'm gonna go this week and hunt down the mini Marshalls. I have a GC like 5 minutes from me. I bet they have one, or both.