Friedman amps and other "brown" clones.

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BloodRose

Professional Scapegoat
First, Has anyone tried the Friedman Steve Stevens? If so, what was your thoughts??

Next, whats the diff tween the Brown eye and the Hairy brown eye? besides a more disgusting name.. haha

What are some other "Brown" clone amps? Im just wondering whats out there. I stumbled accross a site the other day that had a few brands of amp that where all supposed to be brown clones. What ones are good??

thanks
 
Re: Friedman amps and other "brown" clones.

I'll ask Bruce what he recomends to get a 'brown sound' tomorrow in class ;)
 
Re: Friedman amps and other "brown" clones.

I've heard a bunch of them, whether they claim to do the VH thing or not.....From Mojave, to Bogner, Germino, Metropoulos, Voodoo, Splawn, and even the earliest ones like Risson.

In the past several years I've gone to the LA Amp Show, the Friedman room is usually the room that's blasting a heavy duty Marshall tone that's better than you ever thought a Marshall could sound like. I always get really interested, until I hear the $2500 + price tag
 
Re: Friedman amps and other "brown" clones.

ok, let me narrow it down a bit.. Currently made. less than fort knox.. (3000 or less maybe??)

Gearjonser, You say the Freidmans are really tasty sounding? That's the one that keeps coming around to me.. Also Voodoos. Now, since you have one of what I perceive (never having played one) to be one of my grail amps, how does the Bogner compare to what youve heard at the freidman camp??
 
Re: Friedman amps and other "brown" clones.

To me, and I have an original loaded white chassis Bogner I've used for 14 years, I think of it almost like a tube amp modeler. I wouldn't trade my amp for a Friedman, only because the XTC is a universe of tone, whereas the single channel ones are great sounding, but way more limited.

Of course, the Bogner Ecstasy can't NAIL everything you'd hear from a variety of great amps, it comes really close to nailing it. But then, you can set two other channels up to cover what the single channel amp can't. That's where the XTC beats them. It's basically a three channel amp with boosts that has the same quality of tone you get out of expensive single channel amps. I only wish I had more Bogners like the Duende Seco Mojado, Goldfinger, and Metropolis.

Mine is usually set up to cover SRV, to Paul Kossoff, to Jerry Cantrell. But I'm not covering anyone. That's just the range the amp has, and the range of sounds I like.
When I want cleans that are more beautiful, I rely on my Matchless Chieftain or Gibson Goldtone GA-30RVS.

I'm not a guy who goes through amps like underwear anymore. I've used the Bogner XTC and Matchless Chieftain as main amps for over a decade. If I thought there were something I'd like better, I'd change it up, but I haven't.
 
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Re: Friedman amps and other "brown" clones.

3k will go far in an amp hunt like this assuming you have a good cab thats up to the task.

Just know going in that one of the biggest parts of this kind of sound is the volume...if you can't crank it then don't bother.

What kind of sound are you looking for specifically?
 
Re: Friedman amps and other "brown" clones.

I tried Friedman's Marsha (what's its current name now, I forget, Brown Eye???) and the more gainey one, I guess it's called naked. I tried them in Chicago, in a place called Make'n Music... Very nice place, friendly people...

To be honest, I had very high hopes. Yet, was a bit disappointed. Don't get me wrong, they were not bad or anything. Maybe I had too high hopes, whatever that should mean. On the other hand, the 12000 series Metro amp that I have tried... Vow man you know... It simply was great.

B
 
Re: Friedman amps and other "brown" clones.

All I can tell you is Dave Friedman killed any amp gas I had. Dave has modded two Marshalls for me, and restored two more.

Here is a basic list of Dave's mods.

BE- Basic crunch overdrive. Anything from classic rock to vh territory. It has about double the gain of say a stock 800/ jmp. Can get all sorts of plexi tones but has the ability of more gain.

C45- Similar to the BE but with a slightly smoother tone and just a tad more gain. Really just a different voicing.

HBE- adds a extra gain stage to the BE. Sort of like the BE was being pushed with a pedal. Gobs of gain with still retaining the British voice.

SAT- Is a diode clipping circuit. Adds gain sort of 80's metal kind of thing. Mainly to be used with the BE channel.

JBE- to be used with the SAT and the BE shifts the low end to a lower frequency and make the tone heavier .

FAT- adds more lows to the preamp. Good for strats and tele's.

Effects loop- well self explanatory .

SIMPLE CLEAN- single knob clean with no eq and a bright switch. Sort of like a normal channel of a Vox. Presence still works with the clean.

FULLCLEAN- Clean with a full eq in the blackface vein.
 
Re: Friedman amps and other "brown" clones.

I think my favorite amp guys are Reinhold Bogner, Dave Friedman, Mark Sampson, and /13's Fred Tacone.
 
Re: Friedman amps and other "brown" clones.

the guy who invented fire said:
3k will go far in an amp hunt like this assuming you have a good cab thats up to the task.

Just know going in that one of the biggest parts of this kind of sound is the volume...if you can't crank it then don't bother.

What kind of sound are you looking for specifically?
Click to expand...

Id need a master volume or Id have to use an attenutor for the most part.

Cabs I have avail are: Carvin 4x12 with the BR series speakers. Not bad.
Avatar 2x12 with celestion 75s.
Splawn 4x12

Tonewise, I love the EVH old brown tone, but the tone I want the most is hard to explain. In some of the 80s metal songs, there is this "woody" almost buzzy type tone that I love. I got close to it once running my jcm800 with a Kramer focus 6000 loaded with a C8. I Hate that I sold that guitar.. But, that tone and and the EVh Brown.. with some lynch thrown in..
Ill put it this way, I love the gooey tone of the PV 5150, but want an amp that has that tone, but does more than just that tone...
 
Re: Friedman amps and other "brown" clones.

If you want the tone of a 5150 I don't think that any of these brown sound/plexi Marshall style amps are going to make you happy...
 
BloodRose said:
Id need a master volume or Id have to use an attenutor for the most part.

Cabs I have avail are: Carvin 4x12 with the BR series speakers. Not bad.
Avatar 2x12 with celestion 75s.
Splawn 4x12

Tonewise, I love the EVH old brown tone, but the tone I want the most is hard to explain. In some of the 80s metal songs, there is this "woody" almost buzzy type tone that I love. I got close to it once running my jcm800 with a Kramer focus 6000 loaded with a C8. I Hate that I sold that guitar.. But, that tone and and the EVh Brown.. with some lynch thrown in..
Ill put it this way, I love the gooey tone of the PV 5150, but want an amp that has that tone, but does more than just that tone...
Click to expand...

Contact curt at granger amps. Tell him what you want.

-----
Not sent from a PC......or a red delicious.....but from a robot with a human appearance.
 
Re: Friedman amps and other "brown" clones.

the guy who invented fire said:
If you want the tone of a 5150 I don't think that any of these brown sound/plexi Marshall style amps are going to make you happy...
Click to expand...

I was just throwing that out. Splawn QR is VERY close, but not quite gooey enough. Im a mess. Id like 5150 dirt on chan 3, friedman dirty brown eye on 2 and fender clean on 1 or some thing like that..
 
Re: Friedman amps and other "brown" clones.

GregJr said:
Ceriatone Plexi Brown 100 or the Ceriatone Chupacabra 100.
http://www.ceriatone.com/
Click to expand...



Hmm, they have an AFD copy too.. I like that tone... looks like there are 3 amps from there I want.. hahaha Oh, I gotta win the lotto...

Gearjonser, I would prolly be happy with an XTC, (well, Im sure Ill NEVER be completely satisfied... haha) But, I just have never gotten to try one...

Im hoping the pedals will get me in the park..

Looks like some REALLy cool stuff from Granger too. Never heard of them.
 
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Re: Friedman amps and other "brown" clones.

Alil off orig topic, the new Egnater Armageddon and Vengeance sound pretty brutal..
 
Re: Friedman amps and other "brown" clones.

Gearjoneser said:
In the past several years I've gone to the LA Amp Show, the Friedman room is usually the room that's blasting a heavy duty Marshall tone that's better than you ever thought a Marshall could sound like. I always get really interested, until I hear the $2500 + price tag
Click to expand...
Almost makes the AxeFx seem affordable. :naughty: Its models include the following:
  • BE
  • HBE
  • Cameron CCV
  • Splawn Quick Rod
  • Splawn Nitro
  • 5150 (Not classic "brown", I know)
  • 5150 III (see above)
  • A "Brit Brown" model based on a modded '59 plexi
  • FAS Brown: Fractal's take on "brown"
 
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Re: Friedman amps and other "brown" clones.

Yeah, since Im difficult to satisfy, it would be IDEAL if I could get all those sounds in one place. Modeling amps are getting it pretty close these days...
 
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