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Post by nicholas on Apr 7, 2018 18:42:21 GMT -7
I have a Friedman runt 50 on a Marshall 412 cab. I want to replace the Friedman because I've grown bored with it. I use this setup for late 70s rock, and stuff like that. I've had it for a while and it has become generic sounding to me. Lacks character.
How much volume does the EMS need to give up the goods? If the EMS has a loop I'd have bought it by now. I just like to run a little plate reverb in the loop. Never had any luck in front when using the amp for overdrive. Maybe I could get past that.
I should add that I don't use overdrive pedals. So I'd be hoping to just use the amp. Anyone got any down and dirty clips? Frank?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2018 19:04:27 GMT -7
Effects loops are overrated. Buy it.
I have to say, I've never liked Friedman's, and I've lamented that because Dave is a good dude. I ran through a number of quality amps when looking for a med-high gain toy, IE, Komets, Carol Anns, Splawns, 3rd Powers, etc. The EMS beats 'em all. I like to think that while my chops are not Dave Baker spectacular, I have a great ear for tone. Doc has me beat all the time and I couldn't imagine a better M style amp.
I'll get you guys some proper clips soon, but right now the EMS is on 'toy' duty as I said. The DB4 and Z Plus are getting the gig time.
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Post by brightlight on Apr 7, 2018 20:16:13 GMT -7
I think the only thing that could possibly separate me from my EMS is the Friedman Brown Eye. That thing is awesome but the head costs more than the EMS head/cab together!
I will say that for the amount and type of gain I've been looking for (think Joel Hoekstra, Phil x, Santa Cruz, steel panther) I need to crank the gain to near max, the master at least 11 o clock, and one of them mid-hump + bass cut pedals for solos. This is all on the "jcm800" mode. That equals a whole lot of volume that won't be tolerated at many sizes of gigs.
I'm currently seeking a fryette power station 2 to cope with this. The fryette will also solve anyone's fx loop issues, which I don't personally need since I don't really use time based effects etc.
I did discover a really fun way to play the EMS recently:
Jcm800 mode Gain maxed All tone controls maxed Presence set to taste Master volume set to tolerability Les Paul
Maxing the eq controls is key here, it sounds huge!
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Post by KeithA on Apr 8, 2018 5:05:09 GMT -7
I think the only thing that could possibly separate me from my EMS is the Friedman Brown Eye. That thing is awesome but the head costs more than the EMS head/cab together! I'm looking at getting a rocker like this (EMS/Friedman/etc.) some time this year as well. Ive looked at the Friedmans. They are pricey but there's a lot packed in there. As a basement dweller my biggest issue is the size of the BE head.....a family of 4 can live in there !
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2018 9:19:42 GMT -7
I think the only thing that could possibly separate me from my EMS is the Friedman Brown Eye. That thing is awesome but the head costs more than the EMS head/cab together! I'm looking at getting a rocker like this (EMS/Friedman/etc.) some time this year as well. Ive looked at the Friedmans. They are pricey but there's a lot packed in there. As a basement dweller my biggest issue is the size of the BE head.....a family of 4 can live in there ! The only Friedman worth the price tag is the JJ100. You should try a Carol Ann Triptik. Great amp, but it is a bit overkill with three channels. They can be had used for under $2k...
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Post by KeithA on Apr 9, 2018 9:41:17 GMT -7
I'm looking at getting a rocker like this (EMS/Friedman/etc.) some time this year as well. Ive looked at the Friedmans. They are pricey but there's a lot packed in there. As a basement dweller my biggest issue is the size of the BE head.....a family of 4 can live in there ! The only Friedman worth the price tag is the JJ100. You should try a Carol Ann Triptik. Great amp, but it is a bit overkill with three channels. They can be had used for under $2k... I'll get something later in the year. Right now though we have the Z-Plus on its way and the Anni Mazerati in late June. I'll get something. The Carol Ann I've looked at before. Whatever it is is will have a small head cab...and it will be new
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2018 10:21:31 GMT -7
The only Friedman worth the price tag is the JJ100. You should try a Carol Ann Triptik. Great amp, but it is a bit overkill with three channels. They can be had used for under $2k... I'll get something later in the year. Right now though we have the Z-Plus on its way and the Anni Mazerati in late June. I'll get something. The Carol Ann I've looked at before. Whatever it is is will have a small head cab...and it will be new Can't wait to hear your impressions of the Z Plus with the Cream. I was giddy playing mine the other night.
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Post by nicholas on Apr 9, 2018 15:25:47 GMT -7
Good discussion. Brightlights comments remind me how most of these amps are. I've had my share of JCM800's. They sound excellent when all wound up. But I always struggled with volume unless I used pedals. I've had so many of these type amps it's embarrassing. The Runt is actually pretty good, especially for the money. It just seems better at 80's stuff.
I think my problem is that the sound I like is a cranked up medium gain amp. Not a higher gain amp with the gain low. But a medium gain amp cranked up loud enough to get that power amp grind is just too loud for me these days.
Maybe I should just deal with the Runt. The master actually works real good. Maybe Doc will create something like he did when he used the power section of the JAZ for the Remedy. (Or vice versa , can't remember). How about an EMS front end into a Zplus power amp with the loop and (gasp) the reverb?
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Post by nicholas on Apr 9, 2018 15:32:22 GMT -7
I'm looking at getting a rocker like this (EMS/Friedman/etc.) some time this year as well. Ive looked at the Friedmans. They are pricey but there's a lot packed in there. As a basement dweller my biggest issue is the size of the BE head.....a family of 4 can live in there ! The only Friedman worth the price tag is the JJ100. You should try a Carol Ann Triptik. Great amp, but it is a bit overkill with three channels. They can be had used for under $2k... I had a CA OD2. It was ok. My buddy had a Triptik and I thought it was either too much gain or not enough. Seemed more for the high gainers. I think they have a revision 2 though. Might be better. Some of the Friedmans seem too over the top. Like a caricature of the M sound. I think the DS looks interesting though. I had a TopHat emplexador, it was great, but just too loud to get it going. That was a 50 I think. I think I need to stay in the under 20w range so I can just crank it right up.
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Post by KeithA on Apr 9, 2018 15:49:53 GMT -7
The only Friedman worth the price tag is the JJ100. You should try a Carol Ann Triptik. Great amp, but it is a bit overkill with three channels. They can be had used for under $2k... I had a CA OD2. It was ok. My buddy had a Triptik and I thought it was either too much gain or not enough. Seemed more for the high gainers. I think they have a revision 2 though. Might be better. Some of the Friedmans seem too over the top. Like a caricature of the M sound. I think the DS looks interesting though. I had a TopHat emplexador, it was great, but just too loud to get it going. That was a 50 I think. I think I need to stay in the under 20w range so I can just crank it right up. Nic I'm with you. I don't want a "chugga chugga" amp either. The crunch of the EMS sounds great (see Frank's noodle clips). I'll send you a PM. Keith
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2018 18:30:48 GMT -7
The only Friedman worth the price tag is the JJ100. You should try a Carol Ann Triptik. Great amp, but it is a bit overkill with three channels. They can be had used for under $2k... I had a CA OD2. It was ok. My buddy had a Triptik and I thought it was either too much gain or not enough. Seemed more for the high gainers. I think they have a revision 2 though. Might be better. Some of the Friedmans seem too over the top. Like a caricature of the M sound. I think the DS looks interesting though. I had a TopHat emplexador, it was great, but just too loud to get it going. That was a 50 I think. I think I need to stay in the under 20w range so I can just crank it right up. That was my gripe with the Triptik, too. It's beautiful clean and breathing fire, but there's no middle ground. The 2 is better, but similar. Alan's Revo MkII is a great single channel Jubilee/Trainwreck style, but it gives speakers fits. A Komet amp is still on my short list, as well. Right now, the EMS is fitting me like a glove! I learn more about ti every day.
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Post by pcns on Apr 10, 2018 4:41:32 GMT -7
The thing I like about the EMS is the versatility of the amp. It is NOT a one trick pony and was designed with multiple amp tones in mind. I will add that the mission was accomplished. The ability to switch between tube and solid state recitifaction is really awesome and is a key in my opinion to getting so much gain range from the amp. You can also crank up the gain and use the tube rec and soften up the thump. As with all of D's amps you cannot forget the touch sensitivity and the ability to adjust your guitar volume too. Todd
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Post by fishbeiner on Apr 10, 2018 7:38:35 GMT -7
I just sold my Friedman DS in favor of the EMS.
There were a lot of similarities, but when played side by side, the EMS had more of what I wanted. IMO, the EMS was much brighter and open sounding than the DS. Having the loop was great on the DS, but I never used it. And using the tone controls, I could get the EMS to sound like the DS, but not necessarily the other way around. And this comparison was done through the matching Z cab for both amps.
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Post by nicholas on Jul 29, 2018 10:22:27 GMT -7
I had a CA OD2. It was ok. My buddy had a Triptik and I thought it was either too much gain or not enough. Seemed more for the high gainers. I think they have a revision 2 though. Might be better. Some of the Friedmans seem too over the top. Like a caricature of the M sound. I think the DS looks interesting though. I had a TopHat emplexador, it was great, but just too loud to get it going. That was a 50 I think. I think I need to stay in the under 20w range so I can just crank it right up. That was my gripe with the Triptik, too. It's beautiful clean and breathing fire, but there's no middle ground. The 2 is better, but similar. Alan's Revo MkII is a great single channel Jubilee/Trainwreck style, but it gives speakers fits. A Komet amp is still on my short list, as well. Right now, the EMS is fitting me like a glove! I learn more about ti every day. Apologies for the off Z topic, but I saw a Triptik2 on Reverb in mint condition with NOS tubes and the optional foot controller, as well as the original switch and a cover. It's the new model with the auto bias monitor. 2100 to the door. Couldn't pass on that deal! I think the version 2 will be better than the original with the dual pre gains. My biggest issue with the original my buddy had was that I liked the pre gain pretty high on the clean, but that took the OD's too hot. Or it was vice versa. The dual pre gains should fix that, I think? Channel 2 and 3 seems to be identical, with the exception of separate gain/volume controls. That should work decent for my needs. This will be new competition for my Runt50. We'll see how it goes. I actually like the Runt quite a bit since I replaced the tubes and biased it correctly. I might be bi polar because I have a Surgical Steel and CA Triptik2 coming in the same week. Man, this is a disease i tell ya lol.
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Post by KeithA on Jul 29, 2018 11:59:34 GMT -7
That was my gripe with the Triptik, too. It's beautiful clean and breathing fire, but there's no middle ground. The 2 is better, but similar. Alan's Revo MkII is a great single channel Jubilee/Trainwreck style, but it gives speakers fits. A Komet amp is still on my short list, as well. Right now, the EMS is fitting me like a glove! I learn more about ti every day. Apologies for the off Z topic, but I saw a Triptik2 on Reverb in mint condition with NOS tubes and the optional foot controller, as well as the original switch and a cover. It's the new model with the auto bias monitor. 2100 to the door. Couldn't pass on that deal! I think the version 2 will be better than the original with the dual pre gains. My biggest issue with the original my buddy had was that I liked the pre gain pretty high on the clean, but that took the OD's too hot. Or it was vice versa. The dual pre gains should fix that, I think? Channel 2 and 3 seems to be identical, with the exception of separate gain/volume controls. That should work decent for my needs. This will be new competition for my Runt50. We'll see how it goes. I actually like the Runt quite a bit since I replaced the tubes and biased it correctly. I might be bi polar because I have a Surgical Steel and CA Triptik2 coming in the same week. Man, this is a disease i tell ya lol. Man, that red Triptik looks pretty sweet on the Humbucker site 😅
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Post by nicholas on Jul 29, 2018 12:32:12 GMT -7
Apologies for the off Z topic, but I saw a Triptik2 on Reverb in mint condition with NOS tubes and the optional foot controller, as well as the original switch and a cover. It's the new model with the auto bias monitor. 2100 to the door. Couldn't pass on that deal! I think the version 2 will be better than the original with the dual pre gains. My biggest issue with the original my buddy had was that I liked the pre gain pretty high on the clean, but that took the OD's too hot. Or it was vice versa. The dual pre gains should fix that, I think? Channel 2 and 3 seems to be identical, with the exception of separate gain/volume controls. That should work decent for my needs. This will be new competition for my Runt50. We'll see how it goes. I actually like the Runt quite a bit since I replaced the tubes and biased it correctly. I might be bi polar because I have a Surgical Steel and CA Triptik2 coming in the same week. Man, this is a disease i tell ya lol. Man, that red Triptik looks pretty sweet on the Humbucker site 😅 Careful. This afformentioned disease is catchy. I may or may not have caught it from you to begin with The red one does look nice. The gold-ish cloth and logo look nice on both the red and basic black. White would be cool too.
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