FM3 Comparison between Friedman Dirty Shirley and Fractal FM3 Dirty Shirley model

Sorry for reviving an old thread but I can't get the Dirty Shirley to sound like this on my FM3 with the latest firmware.... It sounds much darker. I've seen other people saying it's the Cygnus firmware that made that change to a bassier tone for Friedman amps but the guitarist making the video indicated he's using Cygnus. I'm not too familiar with the advanced settings on the FM3 yet...
 
I love the Dirty Shirley. On thing I do is to increase the low cut in the input tab on the amp block to 200-300Hz from memory. Possibly even higher.
 
Just had the time to try the extreme low cut and set at around 210hz it starts to help but I still lack clarity on the neck position and if I cut more than that there is too little bottom end so I guess this amp isn't for me in the FM3. The Trainwreck has no low cut from the factory presets and sounds great to me. It's the exact opposite of the Dirty Shirley, I have total clarity when playing chords whereas the Dirty Shirley sound is undefined to me and I can't hear myself if that makes sense.
 
Willbnd said:
Just had the time to try the extreme low cut and set at around 210hz it starts to help but I still lack clarity on the neck position and if I cut more than that there is too little bottom end so I guess this amp isn't for me in the FM3. The Trainwreck has no low cut from the factory presets and sounds great to me. It's the exact opposite of the Dirty Shirley, I have total clarity when playing chords whereas the Dirty Shirley sound is undefined to me and I can't hear myself if that makes sense.
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The cuts I saw on the Trainwrecks are on the input Eq of the amp block. That’s where you want to cut lows to tighten up your bottom in an overdriven amp. And also in the cab block. There was a thread on the Wreckers last week so I revisited those a few days ago.

As for the Shirley, it was my favorite amp early on. After the Cygnus releases I never managed to get it back to the way I remembered it to be. Still good but there are other models that work better for me.
 
I just checked and I run the Input EQ Low Cut at about 180Hz

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The rest of the settings as followed. Into a Greenback cab. Drive to taste but even at 4 with the master at 8 it's pretty driven. The double compressor from the Hells Glockenspiel preset (the Angus/SoloDallas trick). Sounds like Rock n Roll to me :cool:

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Johan Allard said:
I just checked and I run the Input EQ Low Cut at about 180Hz

View attachment 109362

The rest of the settings as followed. Into a Greenback cab. Drive to taste but even at 4 with the master at 8 it's pretty driven. The double compressor from the Hells Glockenspiel preset (the Angus/SoloDallas trick). Sounds like Rock n Roll to me :cool:

View attachment 109361
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Can't wait to try that tomorrow, thanks for sharing! I had never heard about Input EQ before, is that a common thing you use? I've had the FM3 for a while but I've barely scratched the surface of this thing.
 
Willbnd said:
Can't wait to try that tomorrow, thanks for sharing! I had never heard about Input EQ before, is that a common thing you use? I've had the FM3 for a while but I've barely scratched the surface of this thing.
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It's commonly set on default on various amps. I don't normally tweak it but it's definitely worthwhile to remember if an amp seem overly dark. The most aggressive setting I've seen is the Carol Ann Tucana Lead that had something like Low Cut over 700Hz. Seems crazy high but sounds great on that amp.
 
Willbnd said:
Can't wait to try that tomorrow, thanks for sharing! I had never heard about Input EQ before, is that a common thing you use? I've had the FM3 for a while but I've barely scratched the surface of this thing.
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I use it quite a bit. It’s pre clipping vs post amp like the low cut in the cab block. If you like to get a good amount of breakup out of an amp and the bottom gets all tubby sounding, cutting lows at the input can help tighten it up.
 
Just got done messing around with the Input EQ as suggested and it works great, thank you @skolacki @Johan Allard. Just the low cut on the cab block wasn't enough for my taste but with the Input EQ it does the trick. 🙏

I wasn't around before Cygnus so I'm curious how did the update alter this amp in your opinion @skolacki ?
 
Willbnd said:
I wasn't around before Cygnus so I'm curious how did the update alter this amp in your opinion @skolacki ?
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Sorry man but it’s been too long to recall. Cygnus came out soon after I bought my FM3. At the time I didn’t really understand how to dial in the amps yet. The Shirley worked for me and then it didn’t. At this time I’m not using any of the amps I did at the beginning so it’s not only the Shirley. I played around with the Shirley a few weeks ago and got it sounding good and likely better than I had it before Cygnus. You might find yourself moving on to other amps too just because we can. Cygnus upped the realism and took the model closer to real tubes. And FAS has upgraded Cygnus quite a bit from the 1st releases. I’m just enjoying the ride and my rig is sounding good. Glad you made good progress on the Shirley!
 
skolacki said:
Sorry man but it’s been too long to recall. Cygnus came out soon after I bought my FM3. At the time I didn’t really understand how to dial in the amps yet. The Shirley worked for me and then it didn’t. At this time I’m not using any of the amps I did at the beginning so it’s not only the Shirley. I played around with the Shirley a few weeks ago and got it sounding good and likely better than I had it before Cygnus. You might find yourself moving on to other amps too just because we can. Cygnus upped the realism and took the model closer to real tubes. And FAS has upgraded Cygnus quite a bit from the 1st releases. I’m just enjoying the ride and my rig is sounding good. Glad you made good progress on the Shirley!
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I feel you I can barely remember what I did yesterday 🤣 I’m playing around with a bunch of amps at the moment too. The realism is definitely there. The only thing I need is a powercab+ for that amp in the room vibe.
 
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