Friedman ASM-12

Keith White

Keith White

Experienced
Just purchased a Friedman ASM-12 This cabinet is utterly amazing. It was the missing link to the perfect tone. I will be purchasing my second next week for stereo sound. The celestion speaker that comes stock in this cab provides real and uncolored guitar tone. The Marshall models finally sound like a Marshall
 
keithguitarfan said:
Just purchased a Friedman ASM-12 This cabinet is utterly amazing. It was the missing link to the perfect tone. I will be purchasing my second next week for stereo sound. The celestion speaker that comes stock in this cab provides real and uncolored guitar tone. The Marshall models finally sound like a Marshall
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I was one of the first owners of an ASM-12 and am one of the biggest fans. :) You put it exactly right, about the missing link. That is how I felt when I got mine. It actually gave me goosebumps when I hit a chord because something was added that I didn't have before. It is just amazing. I love the look and the tone and as I've mentioned before, my only minor complaint is the weight but I'm lucky as I just play at home. It is not the worst thing on earth because it is compact and doable but just heavy.

Whenever I'm using the ASM-12, I make adjustments in the Cab block of my preset. I always adjust the "de-phase" to around 4.50 or so. Not a necessary thing but helps with the high gain stuff. I adjust two other settings but can't remember what they are called. One I put at around "60" and the other all the way up at "200". To be honest, all of these adjustments become less important as the firmware improves. I did see that these extra settings are not supported in the AX8 which sucks. I hope in the future it is supported because I use that with EVERY preset I do when playing thru the ASM-12 or any other FRFR speaker.
 
I've been interested in the ASM-12 for quite some time now. There's no place to try one out in Norway, so if I end up pulling the trigger it will be without testing one first. I therefore try to read as much about them as possible to make sure it's a good choice. Good to hear that you're happy with it.

The weight comes up as a complaint in all ASM-threads. I can understand that, especially if your goal is to have a light and compact rig. But weight wise the ASM is still lighter than my Dr.Z 212 cab, so it shouldn't be a huge problem for me. I can live with the weight if the tone is good enough.
 
I bought mine blindly. I just went off the word of a guitarist from Pensacola of whom I trust. Honestly I can't imagine it being possible to get a better guitar tone than with the asm12. I think You will be happy if you order it other than weight ( which does not. Bother me). for me all else gets a 10/ 10 rating. Even the synth sounds are amazing
 
I forgot to add that I used the following before getting the ASM-12:

- Matrix power amp into two 4 x 12 Cabs
- Matrix power amp into Xitone 1x12 wedge
- Matrix power amp into Matrix NL12? It was the really light one

All of the above were fantastic. With the Marshall cabs I wasn't using cab sims so was limited but sounded great. Matrix and Xitone are both outstanding companies and have great gear. For my own ear, favorite tones, the Friedman was the better option. Right out of the box I was like "there it is!!".

With that said, my primary favorite tones are British hard rock tones like Marshall, Friedman, Splawn, etc. The other FRFR solutions seemed to have something in the mids that affected the hard rock presets. I have to mention that this was before Fractal's "Quantum" and also before Cliff put the "Dephase" adjustment into the unit. Now, it could be a different story. Cragginshred here on the forum has the Friedman, Xitone, and another one (CLR?) and he said they have a lot of similarities.

I think the ASM-12 shines with the hard rock and metal tones. It can do everything from clean up to rock as well but I'm sure some of those other cabs probably have more sparkle, etc. I didn't want too much sparkle because I wanted it to sound more like a guitar cab.
 
I bought the ASM-12 without test driving first, mostly due to Friedman's reputation. I gig fairly regularly with it and I couldn't be happier. To me, it sounds great and the weight is not an issue considering my previous rig was a Mesa Boogie ElectraDyne combo that weighed in at a feather light 70lbs, lol.
 
romanianreaper said:
I forgot to add that I used the following before getting the ASM-12:

- Matrix power amp into two 4 x 12 Cabs
- Matrix power amp into Xitone 1x12 wedge
- Matrix power amp into Matrix NL12? It was the really light one

All of the above were fantastic. With the Marshall cabs I wasn't using cab sims so was limited but sounded great. Matrix and Xitone are both outstanding companies and have great gear. For my own ear, favorite tones, the Friedman was the better option. Right out of the box I was like "there it is!!".

With that said, my primary favorite tones are British hard rock tones like Marshall, Friedman, Splawn, etc. The other FRFR solutions seemed to have something in the mids that affected the hard rock presets. I have to mention that this was before Fractal's "Quantum" and also before Cliff put the "Dephase" adjustment into the unit. Now, it could be a different story. Cragginshred here on the forum has the Friedman, Xitone, and another one (CLR?) and he said they have a lot of similarities.

I think the ASM-12 shines with the hard rock and metal tones. It can do everything from clean up to rock as well but I'm sure some of those other cabs probably have more sparkle, etc. I didn't want too much sparkle because I wanted it to sound more like a guitar cab.
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Would you say the ASM has that "amp in the room thump" compared to other FRFR solutions? Whenever I used headphones or monitors I always feel like the sound has this overall smooth middy fuzzy thing going on that lacks thump, but turning up bass only makes things woofy, not chuggy. I also have a GT1000FX and use Gflex cabs which sounds good, but can still feel funky in the low end, and, like you said, seems limited without using the cab sims.
 
Purchased my asm12 in January. Absolutely love it! After six months with it I have no complaints, only praise. It's built Rock solid, but most importantly sounds fantastic with any amp model I run through it!
 
Absolutely love mine too! I really am not phased by the weight, when it sounds this good and natural.
I even wonder if the weight and solid wood construction adds to tone.
There is also a standard cab ( non wedge) that has come out recently - the ASC 12 which I'm considering as a backline.
 
Webby said:
Absolutely love mine too! I really am not phased by the weight, when it sounds this good and natural.
I even wonder if the weight and solid wood construction adds to tone.
There is also a standard cab ( non wedge) that has come out recently - the ASC 12 which I'm considering as a backline.
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Yeah, I'm not so concerned about the weight. Like I said above, the ASM is lighter than my Dr.Z 212 (although, just slightly). The reason I haven't pulled the trigger yet is because I have a couple of bad experiences from buying gear un-tested. The ASM seems to get a lot of praise though.

I am considering the ASC-12 too, because it looks damn cool! But my experiences with FRFR so far has shown that it might be beneficial to be able to tilt whatever monitor I'm using backwards, in some situations. So if the two sounds the same, I'm leaning towards the ASM.
 
The weight is only a concern if you are doing alot of traveling. Its awkward and hard to pack with due to its shape. Its lighter than some 2x12 or 1x12 amps, but you can put those in rolling road cases. I loved mine and did over 100+ shows with it around the country last year. It has so much power, such a great direct sound and i love that its angled which eases anyone standing in front of me.

But my tuki covered bag started to fall apart and the cab started to show alot of wear from me slamming it up an down on stage to pack it in and the time it spent in the back of our bus. Plus its a bear to have to carry any further than your parking lot to a bar/venue. On festival shows where we have to park a ways away and carry most...its not great. I ended up switching to a FR12 and a gator 1x12 road case.

Best.Decision.Ever.
 
Shask said:
Would you say the ASM has that "amp in the room thump" compared to other FRFR solutions? Whenever I used headphones or monitors I always feel like the sound has this overall smooth middy fuzzy thing going on that lacks thump, but turning up bass only makes things woofy, not chuggy. I also have a GT1000FX and use Gflex cabs which sounds good, but can still feel funky in the low end, and, like you said, seems limited without using the cab sims.
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Hey man, how's it going? Every few years you pop up in a post. :) I was trying to remember how long I've known you on forums. Wasn't it around 2001 or so? Anyway, sorry I'm just getting to this. It definitely has the amp in the room thump in my opinion. When I'm looking at it on the floor while I'm playing, I'm thinking "guitar cabinet", not FRFR cab. My mind can't process that it isn't a guitar cab because it just sounds like one. It has amazing chug to it.

I used to have a GT1000FX and ran it into two Marshall 4x12 cabs so have a great reference point. I like the ASM-12 much better than my previous setup. I eventually would like to get another one. :)
 
romanianreaper said:
Do you mean, how easily does the Friedman blend in with the FOH speakers in a stage environment? I don't gig anymore so I can't really comment but someone else might be able to chime in.
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No, i mean is the sound of the Friedman a good indicator of what the sound through the FOH will be.
 
teejoo said:
No, i mean is the sound of the Friedman a good indicator of what the sound through the FOH will be.
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Hmmm, not sure. The only reason I say that is that the Friedman sounds like being in front of a guitar cab (in my opinion). To be honest, to me it seems more like a "feel" thing than a tone thing. When I'm recording and listening thru my computer speakers, I'm hearing my guitar parts coming back at me but it is more what I'd imagine FOH sounding like with the Axe-Fx. The Friedman is a touch darker so really it isn't a direct reflection of what you would hear with FOH I'd imagine.

I know that is one thing that some Atomic owners have mentioned. The Atomic FRFR cabs seem to put out exactly what you put in. The Friedman sounds different but isn't something I can put my finger on. All I know is when I first got my cab, I hit a chord and it had more "chug" and more of a sound you would get back from a 4x12 than I had previously experienced. I would say that for me, I don't want a FOH sound because that is not what I'd hear in front of an amp. Hope this helps. Hard to describe. :)
 
romanianreaper said:
Hey man, how's it going? Every few years you pop up in a post. :) I was trying to remember how long I've known you on forums. Wasn't it around 2001 or so? Anyway, sorry I'm just getting to this. It definitely has the amp in the room thump in my opinion. When I'm looking at it on the floor while I'm playing, I'm thinking "guitar cabinet", not FRFR cab. My mind can't process that it isn't a guitar cab because it just sounds like one. It has amazing chug to it.

I used to have a GT1000FX and ran it into two Marshall 4x12 cabs so have a great reference point. I like the ASM-12 much better than my previous setup. I eventually would like to get another one. :)
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Thanks! I was on HC in 1996, so, yeah, it has been awhile! I am around all the time, I just dont say very much anymore. I think it has all been said, lol.

I have some M-Audio 8" monitors, headphones, etc.. and have tried a computer surround-sound system. I can get them to all sound "OK", but still always have that FRFR sound that kind of annoys me. No cab thump, and the mids are super fuzzy and smooth. As I said, I use a Matrix and cab sometimes also. Sometimes I use the poweramp section of a Triple Rectifer also. I can get any of them to sound decent, but I think one issue is I switch around a lot, and of course when it is dialed in for one, it doesn't sound great in the other. I think I would get much more use out of the Axe-FX II if I could use the cab sims, but also have that "amp in the room" type of feel, thump, and sound. I can't deal with that flat, fizzy, smooth FRFR type sound. I have played in front of actual amps for too many years, lol.
 
Shask said:
Thanks! I was on HC in 1996, so, yeah, it has been awhile! I am around all the time, I just dont say very much anymore. I think it has all been said, lol.

I have some M-Audio 8" monitors, headphones, etc.. and have tried a computer surround-sound system. I can get them to all sound "OK", but still always have that FRFR sound that kind of annoys me. No cab thump, and the mids are super fuzzy and smooth. As I said, I use a Matrix and cab sometimes also. Sometimes I use the poweramp section of a Triple Rectifer also. I can get any of them to sound decent, but I think one issue is I switch around a lot, and of course when it is dialed in for one, it doesn't sound great in the other. I think I would get much more use out of the Axe-FX II if I could use the cab sims, but also have that "amp in the room" type of feel, thump, and sound. I can't deal with that flat, fizzy, smooth FRFR type sound. I have played in front of actual amps for too many years, lol.
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Yeah, in my humble opinion the Friedman is a good compromise. I think it is good for anyone who struggles at all with FRFR. I might be wrong but I think years ago we both had Peavey Triple-XXX combos and that is when we started chatting on HC. :) Could be thinking of another forum member though.
 
Hi guys, I am planning to buy a second Friedman ASM-12 or maybe ASC-12 to stack the one on another.. The reason for that is I do not want to push single monitor that much, it is now cranked all the way before clipping occurs while using very heavy palm muting. I have read somewhere on forum that you have to put those two monitors in reasonable distance between each other to not get a feedback. As we don´t have enough space in rehearsal room, I have to really stack them.. Do you think I will get a feedback in this scenario ?.. sorry for my english and thanks in advance.. rock on /,,/ EDIT : I mean feedback of 2 monitors being to close to each other.
 
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