My Friedman ASM-12 Review

romanianreaper

Power User
I finally got my Friedman ASM-12 (after a night of torture because I wasn't home yesterday when they tried to deliver) :) Just made me look forward to it more. Right up front, just want to say that I'm extremely satisfied and I think my FRFR G.A.S. is solved.

BACKGROUND:
I have had the Axefx for several years and currently just play thru my cheap computer monitors. I've tried several other solutions and never felt completely satisfied with them for whatever reason. I do want to mention that I have not played everything out there and everyone has different tastes. I also want to mention that I'm primarily a hard rock/metal guy so that is my primary tone. I do like clean and mid gain tones though and need those as well. Here is what I've tried in the past:
- Mosvalve MV-962 and Marshall 1960 4x12 cabs
- Matrix GT-1000FX into two Marshall 1960 4x12 cabs
- Matrix GT-1000FX into one Xitone 1x12 passive wedge
- Matrix GT-1000FX into Matrix NL12 1x12 passive cab

I liked all of the solutions above but felt like I was missing something. I wanted something that translated the tones I heard with computer monitors right over into a FRFR solution.

PACKAGING:
If you get one of these, don't worry about it being dropped. The packaging is so solid that I don't see how it would even slightly do anything. :) The outer box is solid and there are these two solid cardboard inserts on the ends. I was pretty impressed. Nice to have a box that is so solid that if you had to send something back, you wouldn't worry.

CONSTRUCTION:
This cab kicks ass. When I pulled it out of the box, I felt like a guitarist and not a D.J. Without the pole mount and controls on the back, you would probably not even know this wasn't a regular guitar cab. It reminds me of a mini Mesa Recto 2x12 cab. The tolex feels similar and just reminded me of it for some reason. It really feels solid. It is heavy, but has the handle and also is more compact than a 2x12 cab so not bad. Wouldn't be horrible taking to gigs, etc. Like someone mentioned before, the only thing that I didn't understand was the handle being beneath the cab when it is setup like a wedge. I don't know if Dave did that for a specific reason but just unusual. Not a huge deal but could get scuffed up over time.

EASE OF USE:
The cab is extremely easy to use. You have a switch to turn off some of the bass and a ground switch. That is it and that is all you need. To be honest, I liked the bass switch both on and off. Both sounded outstanding to me. I could tell the difference when using it but it was subtle. Plug and play.

SOUNDS:
From the first note, I knew I was going to be happy with this cab and had found my FRFR solution. I don't feel I NEED another one, but I'm probably going to eventually get one so I can take full advantage of stereo. It sounded fine with just one so I know two will be unreal.

If you are a hard rock and metal player, this is a great cab for you. The low end is right where it needs to be without being flubby and it just has a nice, tight sound when you hit palm mutes. Just outstanding. You forget you are playing thru essentially what is like a P.A. speaker. I really felt like I was playing thru a guitar cab. Clean stuff sounded great as well but the metal riffs, which seems to be harder to nail with FRFR is where it shines IMO.

Not surprisingly, the Friedman amp presets sound great without touching a thing. My modern Van Halen tone sounded great too. The only preset I need to tweak is probably my old Van Halen tone as it is just over the top with treble and presence. :) That is one thing I love about this cab. It is not trebly, ear piercing, harsh, or like a laser beam to your ears. That is where it is a lot like a guitar cab. I had it pointed right up at me in a wedge configuration and never felt like I was getting a piercing sound.

I set the Friedman upright to see how it sounded and was just as awesome as when I had it setup like a wedge. I don't have a pole to mount it on (insert joke here) but I'm sure it sounds just as great up in the air. It is hard to say what that "it" is regarding the Friedman and why it works but it is just hard to explain. It just does a great job of capturing that palm mute "chug" that sometimes you don't feel with some other solutions. I will say that cab IRs are really important and some are obviously going to translate better than others.

CONCLUSION:
I know a lot of folks are going to wonder how this compares to a CLR or some of the other cabs, etc. I've never heard a CLR so can't compare. As far as some of the others go, they all are great and everyone heard different things. It really depends on your needs. I do think that cleaner tones are easier to achieve across the different solutions. The heavier stuff is where I think some people have struggled to capture the heavy palm mutes, tight low end, etc. The Friedman does it!!!

I hope this helps you guys out if anyone is wondering. Dave, you get an outstanding job with this cab. Thanks!
 
Thanks for the review...I've been looking at getting one spice they became available in the UK. I currently have a Matrix Q12a and have been curious if the Friedman would sound that much different.
 
52 friggin' pounds!!! May as well drag my tube amp around.
I'm sure it sounds great tho.

But unplugged it is only 51 pounds because the cord is probably a pound. :)

Seriously though, I was a bit nervous about that. I've had two hernia surgeries in the past and not a fan of carrying heavy stuff around all the time. That said, I was able to easily carry it up the stairs to where my recording stuff is. It is a bit heavy but since it is smaller than a typical guitar cab, not bad at all.

I'd love to hear from some folks that have heard or own the ASM-12 and also own a CLR, Matrix, Xitone, etc. I don't really have a ton of experience with other solutions but I know some folks have owned a lot of them.
 
Here is a pic with my guitar leaning on it, to give you an idea of the size.

Friedmanasm12.jpg

I want to try to eventually maybe do some sound clips but really I don't think phone audio can capture how great this thing sounds. That guy XMann (sp?) has put some videos up using a mic on the cab and I think they do a pretty good job of capturing the tone.

I just got done playing around with a Slash tone I created and sounds killer. I'll tell you two things I learned today that helped me with the Friedman ASM-12 and FRFR in general. Number one, reverb and delay have to be used sparingly when compared to studio monitors, headphones, etc. Definitely sounds more like a guitar cab without a lot of reverb. Second, the preamp simulation controls in the Cab block are so useful and really help. I added a touch of treble and dipped the mids a bit and sounds awesome!
 
seeing that you have owned the xitone and I have seen reviews of the CLR and Xitone being similar. What do you feel is the main difference from Friedman to Xitone. I recall they are using the same driver? or is this a Celestion?
thanks...
 
seeing that you have owned the xitone and I have seen reviews of the CLR and Xitone being similar. What do you feel is the main difference from Friedman to Xitone. I recall they are using the same driver? or is this a Celestion?
thanks...

Mick from Xitone is a great guy and I really wanted to make the Xitone work for me. I thought about getting a second one because I thought maybe I was just missing that stereo sound. I had one of the older Xitones (wedge) and I believe Mick has tweaked them a bit and has more options now. I think for my personal needs, the type of music I like and way I used the wedge in my home, I probably should be using a cab. For hard rock and metal, I think that bigger enclosure has more low end and tones that are more useful for that type of music. That is not to say the Xitone can't handle metal stuff, but I think I would have tweaked my presets and dipped some mids to do it.

With the Friedman, it just sounds and feels like a guitar cab. The Xitone felt and sounded like a monitor. For clean to mid gain stuff, I think either sounds great. For the heavier stuff, the Friedman just sounds phenomenal. I'm not an expert on cabs, speakers, etc. but with the Friedman pointed up right at me, it doesn't ever sound harsh or too much. I spent years sitting in front of a guitar cab, jamming at home. The Friedman reminds me of that. No spikey tones, etc.

I looked up the two amps and looks like the Xitones come with the Eminence Beta 12CX coaxial drivers and use plywood with a Line-X coating. There are also some switches for the tweeter and other options Mick can adjust. I think he will custom make things to fit a guitarist's needs. I probably should have got a 2x12 cab when I bought a Xitone. Would have had more of that low end.

Here are some of the Friedman stats. Like I said, I don't know a lot about "internals" regarding speakers and cab construction. I'm sure there is a reason some folks like coaxial drivers and others don't:

Configuration: 12” 2-Way Active Stage Monitor for use with modelers/profilers
Low Frequency Transducer: Celestion - 12” speaker with 2.5” edge wound voice coil
High Frequency Transducer: Celestion PETP film compression driver with 1.75” voice coil
Frequency Range: 50Hz - 20kHz
Frequency Response: 58Hz -18kHz
High Frequency Dispersion: 75° conical
Maximum peak SPL: 129dB
Power Output: LF: 270Wrms Class G / HF: 80Wrms Class AB+B
Maximum total burst power*: 500W
Input Impedance: 20k Ohm Balanced / 10k Ohm Unbalanced
Electronic Crossover: 4th order
Low Cut Filer (switchable): 3rd order Butterworth @ 100Hz
Controls: Level knob , Low-cut filter switch, Ground lift switch
Power switch, AC fuse, 115/230V switch Indicators Power Power, Protect, Limit, Signal
Cooling: Convection
Amplifier Protection: Short circuit, Clip-limiter, Overheat mute
SOA output stage, Driver DC protection
Subsonic filter, Turn-on mute and soft ramp
Turn-on inrush current limiting

Hope this helps! I know it can be confusing trying to figure out what fits your needs, especially with reviews all over the place. I took a chance on a new product and got lucky. It just happens to be perfect for me. Someone else might not like the Friedman. I'll be curious to see the other reviews as more people pick up this cab.
 
do you use any of the filters,etc on the back of the Friedman? Sounds very interesting....

The only thing on the back filter-wise, is the button that cuts the low end. There are no other filters. It sounds great with the low end button on or off to be completely honest with you. I actually like it on but I could see where someone might want to cut it in boomy environments, etc.

Yek, curious about your findings since you own the CLR and 2x12. If it sounds similar to the CLR, then win-win for everyone as there is another option out there for folks. If it sounds very different, then it will be interesting to see what people like about each cab.
 
I lucked into a pair of Friedmans that got delivered Thursday, and I can confirm romanianreaper's impressions.

I haven't tried CLRs or Xitones myself, but I've been running a pair of QSC HPR122i's (which are PA speakers, really) in FRFR for as long as I've owned the AxeII. I've been happy with that setup for the most part, but was hoping I would get some more, er authority (for lack of a better term) than the QSC's were giving me.

The QSCs and Friedmans are very close to the same size and shape, with a 12" driver and tweeter configuration. The ASM-12 is just a hair bigger in all directions, and I can easily stand the Friedman vertically and stack the QSC on top of that.

Sonically, the Friedmans definitely translate the guitar sound better than the QSC's. The QSC's by comparison have a boxy/honky midrange focus, where the Friedmans have a more scooped midrange, more pronounced low end, and kind of a looseness in the lower mids that's well-suited to dirty guitar sounds. Yet they definitely punch harder on the hard rock and metal riffs. Conversely, the QSC's sound better playing back full-range music with vocals, which makes sense.

So for monitoring my guitar playing through the AxeII, I'm very happy with the Friedmans. I was looking for something that sounded more "guitar" and got it!

The only downside I can see is that they won't stay pretty if I schlep them around. The tolex is about the smoothest I've seen, and evidently somebody at the factory hit them pretty hard with ArmorAll because they came out of the box with that super-shiny, slightly oily feel to them. I think that tolex and the nameplate that's tacked on the side will suffer conspicuously from being moved.
 
I lucked into a pair of Friedmans that got delivered Thursday, and I can confirm romanianreaper's impressions.

I haven't tried CLRs or Xitones myself, but I've been running a pair of QSC HPR122i's (which are PA speakers, really) in FRFR for as long as I've owned the AxeII. I've been happy with that setup for the most part, but was hoping I would get some more, er authority (for lack of a better term) than the QSC's were giving me.

The QSCs and Friedmans are very close to the same size and shape, with a 12" driver and tweeter configuration. The ASM-12 is just a hair bigger in all directions, and I can easily stand the Friedman vertically and stack the QSC on top of that.

Sonically, the Friedmans definitely translate the guitar sound better than the QSC's. The QSC's by comparison have a boxy/honky midrange focus, where the Friedmans have a more scooped midrange, more pronounced low end, and kind of a looseness in the lower mids that's well-suited to dirty guitar sounds. Yet they definitely punch harder on the hard rock and metal riffs. Conversely, the QSC's sound better playing back full-range music with vocals, which makes sense.

So for monitoring my guitar playing through the AxeII, I'm very happy with the Friedmans. I was looking for something that sounded more "guitar" and got it!

The only downside I can see is that they won't stay pretty if I schlep them around. The tolex is about the smoothest I've seen, and evidently somebody at the factory hit them pretty hard with ArmorAll because they came out of the box with that super-shiny, slightly oily feel to them. I think that tolex and the nameplate that's tacked on the side will suffer conspicuously from being moved.

Cool! I'm eventually going to have to get a second one. :)

Yeah, you filled in the gaps with your comments. Good description about a more scooped midrange, pronounced low end, etc. It is not a scooped midrange like most people would imagine. Just enough to stay out of the boxy/honky midrange you mentioned.
 
I was fooling with mine this afternoon and was surprised where my wanderings took me.

I started going through the Fender presets in the low-numbered factory slots just for the hell of it. Utterly lost myself in the "Double Verb" preset, playing the "Tristram theme" from Diablo on the neck pickup of a Thorn GT with just a touch of amp block tremolo dialed in. Such a sweet sound!

Tomorrow I'll have to bash out some brootz to make up for that little transgression... 8)
 
So, just to be clear, you have the cabs engaged in your models?

Is it possible to put wheels on one side...so you don't have to lift it all the time?

Do they make a protective cover for it?

thanks for a great review!
 
So, just to be clear, you have the cabs engaged in your models?

Is it possible to put wheels on one side...so you don't have to lift it all the time?

Do they make a protective cover for it?

thanks for a great review!

Oh yeah, cabs engaged and utilizing FRFR.

I'm sure there is a way you could put wheels on this thing. I've never even installed wheels on a 4x12 before but seems like it would be the same type of thing. When I was gigging I used a small hand truck (Magna Cart) and worked great. I'm not sure if they sell protective cover for it.
 
Back
Top Bottom