New Friedman 20watt JEL coming very soon .

[Tanax]

Sounds cool but seriously don't know what they're smoking at Friedman XD
Almost 1k for a 1x12 cab and over 2k for a 20W amp. Nah thanks. I can buy 2 20W Marshalls a 850 each and have 300 to spare..
Don't really know who would buy this when it's so overpriced. Can't see them selling too well unfortunately :/

 

[jeffb]

I will preface my comments by saying that I am a massive Jake fan. I saw him twice with Ozzy and he's my favorite American guitar player of the 1980s. The badlands Albums are 2 of my all time favorite albums.

That said This mpp does not do anything for me. It has a buzzy, harsh, high-end that is really grating and also has way too much compression like some other amps from Dave.


If you listen to Michaels other demos of the little sister and Pink taco version two, you will not hear that Harsh buzz edge to the sound.

 

[krabby5]

Sounds cool but seriously don't know what they're smoking at Friedman XD
Almost 1k for a 1x12 cab and over 2k for a 20W amp. Nah thanks. I can buy 2 20W Marshalls a 850 each and have 300 to spare..
Don't really know who would buy this when it's so overpriced. Can't see them selling too well unfortunately :/

In the US we think the opposite. Marshalls are way overpriced over here. 20 watt studios are $1750. Friedman’s are $1500

 

[tallcoolone]

el84 amps always disappoint me

 

[solarburn]

I will preface my comments by saying that I am a massive Jake fan. I saw him twice with Ozzy and he's my favorite American guitar player of the 1980s. The badlands Albums are 2 of my all time favorite albums.

That said This mpp does not do anything for me. It has a buzzy, harsh, high-end that is really grating and also has way too much compression like some other amps from Dave.


If you listen to Michaels other demos of the little sister and Pink taco version two, you will not hear that Harsh buzz edge to the sound.

I'm a fan too. I can't say much other than meh so far over all the demos. I won't write an amp off unless I play it. Vid demos are a disconnected sample. My hands aren't on it.

My fav JEL tones/playing are from his Badlands days. Fucking love that shit!!! And I own the CD's and play them a lot in my car. Wearing them out.

 

[Ufoscorpion]

Barring the Sweetwater demo..and kudos to Don Carr for stepping out of his wheelhouse...the demos for this amp so far are pretty lackluster. Warm buzz, or bright fizz and not terribly "professional" recordings. I guess n'stuffs is passable, but they are always using a freaking OX.

I'm sure the amp sounds great in person, but Dave should take a cue from what Marshall is doing with Studio JTM demos and push to those people to do the initial onslaught of demos...proper demos.

Sweet water demo is terrible, sounds awful. Check out Pete Thorn or Ben Ellers demos they are a totally different kettle of fish

 

[Ufoscorpion]

el84 amps always disappoint me

Check out the new Orange OR30 if you get opportunity

 

[Ufoscorpion]

If anyone in the states are willing to send me a JEL 20 I will send them a brand new 1987x in return . Straight up , I will have to wait over a month to get my hands on a JEL here in England , plus both parties would seriously gain financially
( particularly states side considering a 1987x is
$ 3000 ) in the deal .

 

[jeffb]

Sweet water demo is terrible, sounds awful. Check out Pete Thorn or Ben Ellers demos they are a totally different kettle of fish

The tone was dark on the SW demo, but at least it didn't have that nasty grind/buzz.

Pete's was , as usual, highly produced and did sound better than most. But this amp, based on demos, is the least impressive of the Friedman 20 watts. Complete opposite of the LS and PT2 demos.

In person I may feel differently of course. But nothing so far would get me motivated to go go try the JEL20 if I was in the market. The Friedman pedal demos sound better.

 

[Tanax]

In the US we think the opposite. Marshalls are way overpriced over here. 20 watt studios are $1750. Friedman’s are $1500

I know. But I'm in Europe. $1500 for a 20W amp is still pretty overpriced though. The 850€ (~$850) price point of 20W Marshall's in Europe is a more reasonable price.
Friedman really needs to change something. Go over to PCB. Move production to Taiwan or something if he can't get it down with US production. If Marshalls were $850 in the US also, most people would buy them instead of Friedmans, like it is in Europe. The best selling Friedman is the JJ Jr in Europe, but even that is at the 69th place in terms of sales. Meanwhile Marshall occupy 4 out of 5 in the top 5 best selling. Pink Taco V2, which has been out for a while now doesn't even have any reviews. That speaks for itself.

 

[Moony]

Check out Pete Thorn or Ben Ellers demos

For the lazy ones

 

[Ufoscorpion]

The tone was dark on the SW demo, but at least it didn't have that nasty grind/buzz.

Pete's was , as usual, highly produced and did sound better than most. But this amp, based on demos, is the least impressive of the Friedman 20 watts. Complete opposite of the LS and PT2 demos.

In person I may feel differently of course. But nothing so far would get me motivated to go go try the JEL20 if I was in the market. The Friedman pedal demos sound better.

I take it you’re not an 80’s metal guy , lol . Which is fair enough , but to some of us it’s absolutely everything we love and some . To each their own , and there’s certainly a flavour of Friedman to suit everyone’s taste.

 

[jeffb]

I take it you’re not an 80’s metal guy , lol . Which is fair enough , but to some of us it’s absolutely everything we love and some . To each their own , and there’s certainly a flavour of Friedman to suit everyone’s taste.

Mostly no on the guitar tones, though I was certainly buying albums and listening to all those bands during the time period, even subjected to some concerts too

As I said though, big fan of Jake to this day and his tone: in particular his live tone on the BATM tour and the Voodoo Highway album. I just don't think this amp sounds up to par with the other Friedman 20 Watters (from the demos so far). This sounds like a typical el84 wannabe big bottle amp- struggling and harsh. The PTV2 and LS don't give me that impression.

 

[Ufoscorpion]

Mostly no on the guitar tones, though I was certainly buying albums and listening to all those bands during the time period, even subjected to some concerts too

As I said though, big fan of Jake to this day and his tone: in particular his live tone on the BATM tour and the Voodoo Highway album. I just don't think this amp sounds up to par with the other Friedman 20 Watters (from the demos so far). This sounds like a typical el84 wannabe big bottle amp- struggling and harsh. The PTV2 and LS don't give me that impression.

Would like to try one to see how it compares to my Runt 50 which sounds pretty awesome . The ideal thing for me as I’ve gone the Synergy route now anyway would be a JEL module ( which won’t happen anytime soon ) . I’ve got the original BE module ( again awesome ) and will still probably get the BE Deluxe module which should get pretty close to the JEL amp tone anyway.

 

[jeffb]

I'm a fan too. I can't say much other than meh so far over all the demos. I won't write an amp off unless I play it. Vid demos are a disconnected sample. My hands aren't on it.

My fav JEL tones/playing are from his Badlands days. Fucking love that shit!!! And I own the CD's and play them a lot in my car. Wearing them out.

The first Badlands album was a breath of fresh air at the time. It had a couple of GnR ripoff moments and some overproduced 80s recording/tones but overall good effort.

Voodoo Highway was a revelation to me. Songs, playing, production. It was like traveling back to 1975 with heavier guitar tones. You really got to hear Jake's influences in his playing...Tommy Bolin, Hendrix, Rick Derringer, etc. That CD played all the time for a few years.

Most of the subject material is still cock rock, but it sounded so much better than all the other cock rock.

 

[MantraSky]

.

 

[pentatonicwanker]

I only watched Michale Nielsen (sp?) video so far. Sounds good, but I'm not as blown away by it as the JJ Jr or PT v2

 

[Moony]

Just in case you've got a JCM800 and want to tinker around a bit with some mods...

It's really not that difficult to do.




Thanks to Jason for making such great videos!

 

[solarburn]

So far the video's of the JEL-20w "sounds a little Thin?" I understand it's recorded In-the-room with possibly the matching 1x12 or with IR Cab Sims.
The video's with Pete or Michael sound "Decent?" I’m going to try a friend's new JEL-20w tomorrow, we'll see how it is in person.

If I was in the UK, I would seek out Dan Gower, he does amazing mods for Marshall's....

Let us know what ya think. I've listened to a few more vids and keep hearing the same. Hearing your in person take will cinch it for me.

 

[TonalEuphoria]

It does sound like Jake's tone. Which is nice for those who want that tone. 20 watts makes for a very versatile amp these days. All you really need these days if you simply make the effort to work those oddball situations where there isn't a good PA.