NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

[Red_Label]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

Hows the new friedman pedal add up the your amp? played the pedal it was nice I guess there coming out with DS pedal soon

Sounds very good when I plug into the low gain input and run the gain about "3" on the amp. But... when I plug back into the high gain input and roll the amp gain up to about "8" (and don't use the pedal)... it sounds even more eargazmic. So in short... I love the pedal, especially for clean amps or amps that have a crappy gain channel. But I love the Shirley's pre/power-amp combo even better.

 

[Jeff5]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

I'm going to guess that quite a bit of the tone that you get out of any given amp, including Friedmans, has alot to do with component selection. For instance the transformers. I got curious about what kind of iron he uses and found this thread over on Rig Talk: http://www.rig-talk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=158295

It's an interesting read if you're an amp nerd like I am, and it's worth a chuckle if you want to see Dave's response to being accused of using Chinese transformers. Lol. I also wouldn't be surprised if you found some premium capacitors & resistors in there either.

And congrats! I've been jonesing to try out one of the Jerry Cantrell heads, myself.

LOL that is a funny response. Dave seems like a nice guy and answers a lot of questions on his form in Rig Talk. His transformers could be made on the moon for all I care. The man knows how to make an amp.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

The Dirty Shirley 40W is definitely one of my favorite amps I've played. Too bad it's $2300+. I could sell a couple things to get one, but I can cover those tones between my XTC, 2204, 2550, Batcat Cougar, and Tiny Terror. Still, that amp nags at my jonesing side.

To Jerry...don't mod vintage Marshalls. Either feed it your best OD pedal or sell it for something with more gain.
The DS is so killer, I'm thinking of selling my JCM800 combo and a vintage BMX bike to fund it. :boggled:

 

[ken361]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

Bogner is coming out with there new plexi in a combo now, wish I had cashhhhh

 

[Red_Label]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

I'm starting to seriously think about a pair of G12 EVH speakers for the Friedman cab. From the reviews I'm reading they sound like a better Greenback. And made in England as well (as opposed to the newer Chinese Greenbacks).

 

[Red_Label]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

I decided to go ahead and try a pair of the G12-EVH speakers based on all of the great reviews I read. Since I'll only be running amps rated at 40 watts or less with this cab, I feel that is the best choice for what I'm seeking. I've also got a couple of attenuators, so I could run something bigger if need be. Looking forward to recording these speakers with my new Sennheiser 906 mic!

 

[JeffB]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

Ive a pair of the EVH for several years now and also run a chinese g12m25s.. One is not necessarily better than the other, just different.

Essentially, the EVH/Heritage is designed to replicate the old pulsonic cones of the late 60s/early 70s, and the chinese g12m is a exact duplicate of the mueller (blackback) g12ms of the mid to late 70s.

I run one of each in my 2x12. They both have strengths and weaknesses. In general the evh/heritage is sweeter and warmer,a little more complex/thick in the mids but it also loads up faster and muds and farts out when pushed hard. The g12m 25 is a bit crunchier, with a little more lows and low mids and a little sharper on the high mids. Its a little less detailed/complex. I think it's a little better hard rock speaker, whereas the EVH/Heritage is a bit better for Bluesy 60s classic rock.

With my dsl40, the pair of EVH can get overworked fairly easily. I'm considering another g12m25 to replace the EVH I am still using. I prefer the EVH with the lower watt amps I have/had..TM18, OR15. They get pushed but not pounded and they help warm and thicken up those el84 amps.

I've always felt with a 4x12 of g12m20/25s the 50w heads sound so much better because the speakers just aren't beat up like they are with a 100w Marshall...where I prefer g12-65s or H30s.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

the chinese g12m is a exact duplicate of the mueller (blackback) g12ms of the mid to late 70s.
.

Exact? Come now.a 70's blackback would stomp all over a reissue.

 

[JeffB]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

Exact? Come now.a 70's blackback would stomp all over a reissue.

It is the mueller cone. The materials have changed in composition. Its just like pickups, magnets, and wire, now vs. 50 years ago.

 

[Gone_Shootin]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

It is the mueller cone. The materials have changed in composition. Its just like pickups, magnets, and wire, now vs. 50 years ago.

Break in could also play a role. I have Brit V30s from the early 00s. Some haven't been used much or ridden hard, others have. The ones that have sound much, much better to my ears.

 

[JeffB]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

Break in could also play a role. I have Brit V30s from the early 00s. Some haven't been used much or ridden hard, others have. The ones that have sound much, much better to my ears.

Absolutely. Who knows how a current g12m will sound in 30 or 40 years of play-time?!

I was just trying to give reference to where the new versions sit with originals.

 

[mwalluk]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

if i ever have questions about any amp, im going to you. for as long as ive been on this forum, you had some kick ass amps. bogner xtc and shiva, fryette pitbull, not sure if you ever owned a splawn, but probably did, friedmann, maybe cornfords? multiple marshalls? not aure if you rocked mesas, but man i wish i could jam with you. congrats.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

if i ever have questions about any amp, im going to you. for as long as ive been on this forum, you had some kick ass amps. bogner xtc and shiva, fryette pitbull, not sure if you ever owned a splawn, but probably did, friedmann, maybe cornfords? multiple marshalls? not aure if you rocked mesas, but man i wish i could jam with you. congrats.

Thanks man. I've been fortunate over the past decade for sure! If you look in the pic that I posted in this thread, you'll see my Splawn Quickrod half stack. It's the best sub-$1K ($850 to be exact, for the whole thing!) that I've ever spent on tone.

I spent many years banging around in clubs/bars with pedestrian gear (at best). But my marriage to my second wife has allowed me to afford better gear... not to mention the fact that my 21 year career as a network admin has afforded me the chance to get into boutique gear as well. My [current] wife bought me my first really great amp... a Hughes & Kettner Triamp Mk I. And there have been a lot of great amps, guitars, and FX units since then. I'm not so wealthy as to be able to keep all of the great gear that I've owned... but I can certainly afford to have a couple of "holy grail" amps and guitars at any given time. Once I start to get bored with something, I sell/trade it off to afford the next thing that I've been curious about.

At this point, about the only two great rock amps that I haven't owned or tried are a Soldano SLO, and the 20th Anniversary XTC. I did have that XTC Classic... but based on the different modes of the Bogner XTC Red and Blue pedals that I had... I have a feeling that the 20th XTC is quite different than the XTC Classic (or even the 101B of my buddy's that I had at the house for a while). I'm much more curious about the Bogner than the Soldano though, as the SLO would be a much louder beast than I would find useful I'm thinking. In regards to guitars... my GAS or curiosity has been at an all-time low ever since my buddy got me into Tom Anderson guitars. They are the be-all, end-all for us. Pretty much flawless IMO. I had three of them, but recently sold one because I needed to pay for a carbon fiber fat-bike that I'd picked-up... and figured that it's a waste to have such nice guitars sitting around if I can't spend time with them nearly every day. I'm wired that way. If something isn't getting used much and it's worth a lot, it gets sent down the road to fund something that will. I don't get too attached to most of my toys. Once I decide that I'm done with them, they're gone. Very few of them have much sentimental value. I sometimes envy the guy who's got a guitar/amp that he's had for decades and plays it every day. But at the same time... it's only an object, and that kind of attachment can be painful if something happens to the gear.

 

[dystrust]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

At this point, about the only two great rock amps that I haven't owned or tried are a Soldano SLO, and the 20th Anniversary XTC. I did have that XTC Classic... but based on the different modes of the Bogner XTC Red and Blue pedals that I had... I have a feeling that the 20th XTC is quite different than the XTC Classic (or even the 101B of my buddy's that I had at the house for a while). I'm much more curious about the Bogner than the Soldano though, as the SLO would be a much louder beast than I would find useful I'm thinking.

I haven't actually owned either, but I've played an SLO, XTC 101B, Classic, & 20th Anniversary enough to be familiar with all of them. I didn't particularly like the XTC Classic, so this opinion may influence where I'm going...

IME the XTC Classic & 20th Anniversary weren't quite identical, but were VERY close. They both had the raw and woody vibe that I didn't like quite as much as the more refined 101B. All three were great amps, but I just preferred the 101B. If we add the SLO into the mix, there's really no competition as I vastly prefer the SLO to any of the Bogners I've played. SLOs have a reputation for being a loud beast and don't disappoint, but ironically enough the SLO sounds better at low volume than an XTC. There's something going on (particularly on the red channel) where an XTC really needs to be opened up to not sound like an over-compressed mess. The SLO can have the same issues, but it tends not to happen unless you're running A LOT more preamp gain than you realy need.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

I haven't actually owned either, but I've played an SLO, XTC 101B, Classic, & 20th Anniversary enough to be familiar with all of them. I didn't particularly like the XTC Classic, so this opinion may influence where I'm going...

IME the XTC Classic & 20th Anniversary weren't quite identical, but were VERY close. They both had the raw and woody vibe that I didn't like quite as much as the more refined 101B. All three were great amps, but I just preferred the 101B. If we add the SLO into the mix, there's really no competition as I vastly prefer the SLO to any of the Bogners I've played. SLOs have a reputation for being a loud beast and don't disappoint, but ironically enough the SLO sounds better at low volume than an XTC. There's something going on (particularly on the red channel) where an XTC really needs to be opened up to not sound like an over-compressed mess. The SLO can have the same issues, but it tends not to happen unless you're running A LOT more preamp gain than you realy need.

Good to know on the SLO. Will have to find a way to plug into one.

I actually liked the Classic much more than the 101B. It was too dark/compressed for me. Almost "constipated". And the cleans on the Classic more more Shiva-like than the flar cleans of the 101B. Even my buddy who owned the 101B had to admit that the green channel was pretty ho-hum. But no one really buys an XTC for the cleans I guess.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

Got my new G12-EVH speakers put in the Friedman 2x12 today. Wow... NICE!!! Very woody, crunchy, and rich sounding, whether it was running the Shirley... or the Friedman BE-OD into the clean channel on my Super Champ. The Shirley was obviously richer sounding, but the other rig sounded damn Friedman-esque into the EVH Celestions.

There wasn't much bass there.... compared to that same cab with V30s, or my H30/V30 loaded 4x12. But despite the fact that those speakers are older and fully broken in, the brand new EVHs sounded smooth, warm, and as broken-in as an old shoe. I want to lay down some tracks with my new Sennheiser e906 mic on the EVH speakers in the 2x12 and the H30s and V30s in the 4x12. With the mic right on the grill cloth, I would think that I'd be getting mostly speaker and could make a fair comparison between the three different speakers. I will try to get that done in the next several days.

 

[dystrust]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

I actually liked the Classic much more than the 101B. It was too dark/compressed for me. Almost "constipated". And the cleans on the Classic more more Shiva-like than the flar cleans of the 101B. Even my buddy who owned the 101B had to admit that the green channel was pretty ho-hum. But no one really buys an XTC for the cleans I guess.

Absolutely agreed regarding the clean channel, but as you mentioned that's typically not the first thing that comes to mind with the XTC. I think the reason I didn't like the XTC Classic is because the red & blue channels have a very plexi-ish sort of vibe while I prefer a good JCM800. My favorite Marshall is my Jubilee 2555, and the XTC sounds great but doesn't measure up. Honestly that comparison is probably why I've never had serious Bogner GAS. A Soldano is different enough that the comparison seems a bit less relevant.

In fact there's a guy on the local craigslist asking $250 for a Jet City 22H and I find myself sorely tempted...

 

[Red_Label]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

Absolutely agreed regarding the clean channel, but as you mentioned that's typically not the first thing that comes to mind with the XTC. I think the reason I didn't like the XTC Classic is because the red & blue channels have a very plexi-ish sort of vibe while I prefer a good JCM800. My favorite Marshall is my Jubilee 2555, and the XTC sounds great but doesn't measure up. Honestly that comparison is probably why I've never had serious Bogner GAS. A Soldano is different enough that the comparison seems a bit less relevant.

In fact there's a guy on the local craigslist asking $250 for a Jet City 22H and I find myself sorely tempted...

I've been curious about those Jet City amps myself. Have been close to picking one up cheap a few times. My local shop has a used Soldano Astroverb that I like. It's on consignment and the owner wants too much, or I would probably have picked it up by now.

 

[dystrust]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

I've been curious about those Jet City amps myself. Have been close to picking one up cheap a few times. My local shop has a used Soldano Astroverb that I like. It's on consignment and the owner wants too much, or I would probably have picked it up by now.

The Astroverb is a cool amp; it reminds me of the SLO crunch channel, so don't expect a ton of gain from it. It's also pretty loud for 16W and needs to be decently opened up to give up the goods. I've always been more attracted to the Soldano lead channel, so the Astroverb never really gave me GAS.

Money is a little tight right now, otherwise I'd own that JCA already. Keep your eyes peeled for a NAD thread in the next week or so since I'm not sure how much longer I can resist.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: NAD! Friedman Dirty Shirley...

The Dirty Shirley 40W is definitely one of my favorite amps I've played. Too bad it's $2300+. I could sell a couple things to get one, but I can cover those tones between my XTC, 2204, 2550, Batcat Cougar, and Tiny Terror. Still, that amp nags at my jonesing side.

To Jerry...don't mod vintage Marshalls. Either feed it your best OD pedal or sell it for something with more gain.
The DS is so killer, I'm thinking of selling my JCM800 combo and a vintage BMX bike to fund it. :boggled:

Don't sell the iconic JCM800. Thats a seminal amp.Took me myself a long time to realize that, but thankfully I did because I was also considering moving it to fund other gear, especailly since I figured ( wrongly) the '73 Superlead 100 watt I had was enough /better Marshall. Now it's a lifetime keeper. What you wanna do is set that amp on top of a Jubilee or Bogner cabinet and then you'll know for certain that to even think of selling it is not a good choice.
I learned you can get close to a JCM800 with a Supelead , and Vice Versa, but in no way is it the same, and Father Marshall perfected both those amps for you and me!