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* EDIT: Up-to-date information is available in Yek's Guide to the Fractal Audio Amplifier Models *
Dirty Shirley: based on Friedman Dirty Shirley
Dave Friedman modded amps for famous guitar players. He now designs and builds his own hand-wired amps, and does so very successfully. Friedman amps are medium-to-high gain amps with really fat tones. He has built signature amps for Steve Stevens and Jerry Cantrell. The Dirty Shirley is the first Friedman amp model in our thread series.
Friedman:
So: based on the Marshall JTM 45, 40 watts, single channel, high and low sensitivity inputs, 5881 (6L6) power tubes. Its sound is more classic and vintage than Friedman’s flagship, the BE. There’s a Mini Dirty Shirley amp too.
Compared to the Brit JM45 model, the Friedman is less bright, much fatter, has more gain and a Master Volume.
It's a no frills amp. The amp’s controls are very simple: Gain, Master Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble and Presence. (There have been revisions so the controls and number of inputs vary in the clips you see.)
Manual:
The amp has a Master Volume control. This means that the amp’s distortion is created in particular by the preamp tubes, not the power amp. The Master Volume, which works in the power amp section, is still very important to the tone and feel. You have to decide for yourself what setting in the model works for you best (Friedman amps still sound good at low Master Volume settings). The default setting is a good point to start of course.
What also works well with this model: engage Boost or Saturation.
Cliff (about Friedman amps):
This amp works with a lot of speakers, including G12M, G12-65, G12H and V30. You can also combine different speakers. If you want the sound of @Mark Day’s cabinet which he uses with his Friedman BE amp, use stock cabs 60 and 61 (4x12 V30s + greenbacks).
Dirty Shirley: based on Friedman Dirty Shirley
Dave Friedman modded amps for famous guitar players. He now designs and builds his own hand-wired amps, and does so very successfully. Friedman amps are medium-to-high gain amps with really fat tones. He has built signature amps for Steve Stevens and Jerry Cantrell. The Dirty Shirley is the first Friedman amp model in our thread series.
Friedman:
“Dave Friedman’s Dirty Shirley 40 Watt Head was designed for guitarists that want a Vintage Classic Rock tone inspired by British tube amps from the 60’s and 70’s.
It is based on a modified JTM 45 but still delivers the signature high gain tone for which Friedman is best known. The Dirty Shirley is a 40-watt, 5881 powered, single channel amp that will give you that vintage crunch and also cleans up nicely by merely backing off the guitar’s volume knob. Extremely versatile, it is capable of producing many styles of music from blues to rock and country by just adjusting the gain and master controls.”
So: based on the Marshall JTM 45, 40 watts, single channel, high and low sensitivity inputs, 5881 (6L6) power tubes. Its sound is more classic and vintage than Friedman’s flagship, the BE. There’s a Mini Dirty Shirley amp too.
Compared to the Brit JM45 model, the Friedman is less bright, much fatter, has more gain and a Master Volume.
It's a no frills amp. The amp’s controls are very simple: Gain, Master Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble and Presence. (There have been revisions so the controls and number of inputs vary in the clips you see.)
Manual:
"We recommend starting the amp with the Bass on 6, the mids at around 7 or 8 and the treble and presence at 5. Set the gain around 6 and then bring the master to taste."
The amp has a Master Volume control. This means that the amp’s distortion is created in particular by the preamp tubes, not the power amp. The Master Volume, which works in the power amp section, is still very important to the tone and feel. You have to decide for yourself what setting in the model works for you best (Friedman amps still sound good at low Master Volume settings). The default setting is a good point to start of course.
What also works well with this model: engage Boost or Saturation.
Cliff (about Friedman amps):
"If you want more clarity in the low mids (...) reduce Negative Feedback. Friedman's designs are a bit odd in that he takes the feedback off the speaker jack rather than off a transformer tap. (...) The amp will sound tighter and clearer in the low mids."
"The design is weird as the negative feedback is taken off the speaker jack. So if you use a 16-ohm speaker you get more feedback (and much more bass) than if you use an 8-ohm speaker. (...) It's too much bass for me so I turn down the Depth and reduce Negative Feedback a bit."
"The design is weird as the negative feedback is taken off the speaker jack. So if you use a 16-ohm speaker you get more feedback (and much more bass) than if you use an 8-ohm speaker. (...) It's too much bass for me so I turn down the Depth and reduce Negative Feedback a bit."
This amp works with a lot of speakers, including G12M, G12-65, G12H and V30. You can also combine different speakers. If you want the sound of @Mark Day’s cabinet which he uses with his Friedman BE amp, use stock cabs 60 and 61 (4x12 V30s + greenbacks).
Cab Pack 10 offers more IRs of Mark Day's 4x12 cabinet.
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