The worst tube amplifier I ever bought | Friedman JJ Jnr Amp | How could they sell it like this?
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- Опубліковано 21 тра 2021
- This is just about the worst brand new guitar tube amp I ever bought! Don't assume that the brand name or resellers ensure quality as this amp shows they don't. This video is from personal buying experience.
NOTE I DECIDED TO STOP THE POSTS ON THIS VIDEO BECAUSE I DO NOT HAVE THE TIME TO SIT HERE REPLYING TO EVERY ONE - AND SOME ARE NASTY, AGGRESSIVE, THREATENING AND MORE. DO THANK THEM FOR THE POSTS BEING STOPPED. However, they have been started again recently - for now.
So, I decided to take a look at the Friedman Jerry Cantrell JJ Jnr amplifier that was selling for about £1450.00 (about $1900). I wanted to see what the 'fuss' was all about and to show my viewers on my UA-cam channel how 'great' this amp was... clearly I believed all the talk and hype from the maker, the dealer and even others online at that time - as indeed you might!
So I bought a JJ Junior from a purportedly reputable authorized reseller in the UK (Peach Guitars) and the amp duly arrived. I plugged it in and while the tones were reasonable, the switch to get that Jerry Cantrell tone seemed like it did little or nothing to the tone. It was one of the primary reasons for buying the amp... right? In any case I decided to review the amp.
This video is the result. It is a completely true video showing what I received from the reseller and how the guitar amplifier was supplied from Freedman eventually to me. As I worked through the video I thought that this was a reasonable amp (but the switch was ineffective) until I took a closer look at what they had supplied - particularly inside the jj jr unit.
Internally it was very clear that the amp (although brand new) had clearly been worked on and botched or messed with somehow. I have never seen ANY new amp supplied like this. Ever!
I had also previously asked Peach guitars about the switch that was pretty useless as it hardly changed the tone of the Friedman jj amp - and I described the results I was getting to them - their response was that 'it is working correctly'. That was disconcerting right from the off even before I decided to review this amp internally.
Ultimately this amp was returned to the reseller and I was shocked how it could firstly either leave Friedman in this condition, or worse, that somehow the reseller had been involved inside the amp for repairs on a brand new amp? I don't know which, but for me it was clearly a situation that I disliked intensely.
This video shows the amp before I plugged it in on camera, but had played it and checked with Peach Guitars about the hardly working switch. I even gave the amp a 'score' but of course that was negated to zero later. Of course, when I saw the botch inside I stopped the review and returned the product forthwith. Bearing in mind the amp was 'signed' by Mr. Friedman I think that says a lot. Maybe he's blind.
This amplifier, the maker and/or the reseller are the epitome of why I open equipment for review and always show inside and outside of the product - for exactly these sort of reasons.
Learn from my experience and be careful what you buy, without paying attention to brand names and/or reseller reputation too much because there is absolutely no doubt in this case that this amplifier had little or no quality checks OR that the amp was intentionally sent out looking like a pigs ear.
This amplifier was bought by me and paid for personally. The video shows what I was confronted with and all I can advise is that if you ever get a similar situation then send the thing back for a full refund. I have wondered exactly where that amp is today? I have bought from Peach Guitars on a number of occasions and I have only had a single issue on one amp that was clearance and they did fix that one (it was a failure of component and promptly fixed) - it's why I went back to Peach Guitars to buy this amp. But would I want some sort of 'fix' for this amp? and brand new? no thanks - it's not what I bought.
I considered showing this video for some time, but in the end it all boiled down to showing potential customers about quality and service and hopefully this video will help guys to look a little closer when they buy any type of equipment whether for guitar playing or anything else and to assume nothing.
The video is slightly jumpy early on in the recording, but still watchable and that stops after just a short way in to the review.
Don't bother to try and convince me that somehow either the reseller or maker were 'not to blame' as one or the other or both were clearly selling a botched brand new amp. Best of luck with that. Be aggressive or rude and I'll simply delete your comments.
(c) A B Mckenzie 1998-2021 All Rights Reserved.
All Trademarks Acknowledged.
Watch the whole of this video or you will have questions that are already answered in the text and video. The review which was about 70% finished was halted because of questions about safety and plugging in this amplifier. Some ask 'what do you want for the money?' Answer: A brand new amp that did not have an internal bodge on the main PCB. The Marshall SC20 Stealth cost me HALF the price of this amp (£699.00) and was 100% better throughout. My review of the Marshall shows that - half the price and ten times the amp - AND made in the UK.
@V X I agree I should have never received it - and that was really the point of the video. Bearing in mind that the maker claims to sign the chassis personally on every amp (and this one was signed as you can see in the video) I wonder how this amp got past him. Maybe he signs a blank chassis? Who knows and I honestly don't care... that is for others to figure out. On the Marshall front, you are wrong Marshall IS a pretty large company as you will see if you watch my two part visit from some years ago when I went around their UK headquarters. Unfortunately I have never bought ANY amp as supplied as bad as this Friedman JJ Jnr was and the Marshall Stealth JCM800 (SC20 or the JMP version (SV20) are both reviewed on my channel very similarly to how I was reviewing this amp and are without doubt better for half the price. Lastly, just so you know I'm not biased towards or against any amp brand really, I just reviewed (coming up soon) a EVH 5150 III 50 Watt Stealth amp and that amp costs £1050.00 in the UK (The Friedman JJ cost me £1400 or thereabouts - which in the UK is NOT a cheap amp) and the EVH amp was exceptional value for money. I wanted to like the Friedman (that's why I bought one), but it singled itself out as being the worst amp I ever have bought. I don't doubt that the more expensive Friedman amps are better... but for £1400 this amp should have been gold plated... and it turned out sadly to be more like lead.
@ Menno Fennema Hey don't 'angry old man' me - remember this I supported that company and PAID for a decent amp and they sent this botched one. BTW I never did mention any bad things about Jerry Cantrell and I like his stuff... were you watching my video or was that somewhere else? Maybe you forgot. Thanks.
You (and I) are as old as the brain inside our heads. Certainly my body is old no doubt, but if I was actually an 'old man' I can tell you I know many that are dead at my age. Activity, and creativity will help anyone to live as long as possible I firmly believe and that is just one of the reasons that I make reviews. ;-) I have had very many 'young men' tell me they wished I was their grandfather ;-) Happy easter and don't eat all those chocolate eggs all at once - as your grandfather might have said... regards and I appreciated the comment.
Thank you Menno... and many people have said that comment over a very long time ;-)
Its appreciated - thanks for watching.
it is a good thing to see how these products are made, I think this is a good example to question all of the products like you do and see for ourselves if they are as good as the price tag commands. whether it is an affordable amp or expensive and if there is a justification to buy any given piece of gear. Thanks for all of the videos I always learn something when watching them.
Well thanks for watching them - its appreciated.
That was great. It's refreshing for someone to actually look at the internal components of a supposed "high quality" tube amp. Great video. 👍
I'm not sure Tony is actually qualified to make this sort of video. You'll notice that Tony prefers to use a Mesa - which is a bit of a rat's nest inside - and maybe Tony thinks that's what £1600 gets you. The idea that money = hand wiring is just plain wrong (and who even knows who's doing the hand wiring in 'hand-wired' amps?). Do you really think your local bank's computers are hand wired because that makes the data flow better - the last hand-wired computers must have been back in the 70's - before my first visit to the ICL factory in the mid 80's. This anti-PCB appraisal is just wrong thinking.
Being controversial or argumentative will get you an audience - but it's not a good review principle.
Qualified my eye. ANYONE can see the botch at 13:06 - you don't have to be expert to see a botch like that. Often, on these platforms some decide to want to criticize the messenger somehow, when their backs are against the wall trying to defend this: 13:09 - that's OK, I'm used to it, but not to even mention that botch says a lot about the writer. Sadly, most of these types of posts never address the actual problem of some maker selling their products for basically twice the price of a Marshall equivalent, and with botches as this amp had sold to a PAYING CUSTOMER - me! No one cared then, and I guess no one cares now. Thanks.
@@ChristopherDowning Rats nest or not, My mesas have never failed. Not once. I was going to trade in a Mark V 25 to get a Friedman Runt at one point. The runts in the store (3 of them!) all had cab rattle issues. The PT head that was there was great--but they wanted $1800 for a single-channel amp with basically no real features in today's market.
I love the sound of friedman stuff, but I know a few local friends who've had a couple and have complained about reliability issues. I can't say Mesa is without issue. Another friend has a Fillmore 50 (same amp as me) and wound up with it in for service 2 times because their certified repair tech botched a repair. Wound up getting a Mesa call tag. Mesa handled shipping both ways, corrected the bad repair AND sent him a new set of tubes as swell. What's a bit more messed up, is that in my circle of players (and there's about an equivalent number of Mesa users to friedman loyalists) That's the only time I've known one to go down.
For reference, I have had 3 mesa boogie amps (as many as all 3 at once) going for about 9 years now. 0 Repairs. New power tubes a couple of times. No need for caps or anything. It's wild how well-made they actually have been. Plenty of techs say they won't work on them apparently--but I think that's internet BS--I've never met one who refuses. You might wonder why I ask? Well I own a few other amps, and it comes up when THEY go in for service (*cough* fender *cough*)
I appreciate your content. Your videos helped me not only appreciate the amp I bought, Marshall Jubilee reissue, but I was impressed by the build quality and your critique on the amp build. Please continue making these reviews. Thanks
Thanks for opening this amp up, and taking us with you. Very educational!!!
Tony,
I’ve followed you and your channels for a long time. A couple of years ago I suggested you reviewed the Friedman PT-20 head amp. It’s supposed to be hand wired, it is my all-time favorite amp. I simply love it!
I bought mine in January 2016, and in April 2020 it was giving me issues, volume dropped, and I am not a technical expert by any means. Anyway, I contacted Dave Friedman and talked to the man directly. I sent it to his address in California, he fixed it and shipped back to me free of charge! Whatever it was! I’m a customer for life now!!
It would be nice for you to check some of his hand wired amps, it sucks you had such a bad experience with this particular amp.
Anyway, thanks for sharing and keep the bids coming!
Well firstly, clearly you were treated correctly as a customer and that's credit to the maker in my book. I had not looked at Friedman amps but like you and others had suggested many times I should take a look. So I did. As you watch this review you will see that it started out and as I expected (and as most might have expected) it to be a 'good' amp. But it deteriorated as I moved forward with the review. The switch was pretty useless (Cantrell) and the dealers attitude was 'there's nothing wrong - that's how it is' type of thing cast doubts off camera even before the amp was shown. Later the internals (other than the bodge by who knows) seemed fine but then I saw the bad stuff. Honestly I would have never lived with that amp no matter what they would do to it. The combination of the two things confirmed that it should go back and so it did. Ultimately, I did feel that had anyone else bought this they might have just not known about the insides and passed the switch off as 'that's how it should be'. So back it went. My experience is substantially different than yours and good to hear you were handled. But here in the UK 3-6000 miles away, Dave won't be popping round to fix the amp. It's a different world. What was also scary (here) was that after 14 days then likely they might have even not taken the amp back! Thanks for the post which is great because your experience shows a different story...
I have this amp. Tones sound great! I use a few pedals and takes them very well.
I subscribed in part because you are the only music UA-camr that opens things up, and points out the strengths and weaknesses. Such analysis quickly reveals the shortcomings of modern production practices, including other anomalies that put quality into question. Meanwhile, most of the music UA-cam ecosystem constitutes a business-friendly, corporate-friendly infomercial service, where they all get the same product on the same day, subjectively qualify their objectivity, and then ubiquitously place their rubber stamp of approval upon the product. In regards to doing business, I prefer to “buy local with accountability,” which practice however, has been made largely impossible by neoliberal orthodoxy, monopolization, and the war on small business with skilled tradespeople. Cheers~
I value your standards! For me, when I create reviews of equipment I near enough always buy the gear personally. It is a heavy financial load that most could never ascend to and I understand that. Mainly gear is in one way or another 'reasonable' and not too often do I find something that stands out like a sore thumb - as in this case. I bought the amp for a genuine review through the authorised dealers etc. and paid the price. Unfortunately this video is the result. But had it not been me, my guess is that it could have been anyone that bought this and would be completely unaware of what they actually bought, and dealer comments supported the 'weak' or ineffective switch. Needless to say, I don't think ANYONE could defend the inside bodge. So it went back. The problem for me is this - (and its just an opinion), that when I create an absolutely true video reflecting my findings of something, sometimes the videos seem to not be promoted as they might be, that is, maybe some sort of throttle back by the host (let's not name them). I had a video about a Harley Benton that I bought some years back and it was incredibly bad, supposedly tested and checked twice (I still have that document) but in reality the bridge had mounting holes 1/4 inch bigger than the bridge (yes really). At one stage the host came along and delicately advised I should 're-write' the text in another way. I did what they asked and to this day the views on that video were forever destroyed. I have been on this host for 10 years or more, written literally hundreds of reviews, been thanked, criticised (often for showing what others don't), and even threatened. But you are right in so many ways that today reviews are sales vehicles for business. It's been that way a long time, and since about 1998 I decided to create genuine reviews. My website goes back to those early days where there are many reviews that are simply not on this platform. And many read them even now. But my focus on this host at the cost of other platforms that I control completely is in a way, a failure. Where host platforms exist today, and the whole fabric of society has and is changing not necessarily for the better, they wield extensive control of what is and is not on that platform. Enough said about that... no doubt though if some could remove some of my content then they would. It's also true to say though that I have been commended by many companies for fair and genuine reviews and that in my opinion says it all. Thanks for your post it was most interesting.
Yeah but he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Lol
@steve10358 I'm not sure who you're talking about really - hopefully not me. The problem is that some types always attack the messenger don't they... clearly they have no other opinion and the 'idiot' customer is to blame for buying the gear. It's typical of the internet and some on there of course - a big mouth instead of the issue being resolved by having in this case a good QA and procedures to manage authorised dealers that don't actually do a QA on the gear before it's sold.
Tony, these type of videos are invaluable. I bought the Waza 150 specifically because of your review. I got the Vai module capsule from Sound Affects because of your video. Please dont stop the honest and awesome review videos.
Derek
Thanks Derek.
I’ve have 2 Friedman JJ Jr’s and tour extensively with no issues. Dave is impeccable with his customer service. Bummer you had issues with yours but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea mate. Great channel.
I understand that of course. But it is essential that for every review of equipment that I don't ignore the state of equipment I bought to review and anything else would do a disservice to my channel. Thanks for watching and the post... appreciated.
@@tonymckenziecomcurious if you contacted Dave himself for comment on the amp you were sold? I suspect he’d make it “right” immediately for you! And it would be valuable feedback for him to take back to B.A.D.👍🏼
I did not contact friedman - they are in another country. But I DID contact an authorised dealer (my only other option) and under UK law the company responsible for taking it back. Buying a brand new device frankly I should not have to be messing around and it went back. Thanks.
..Honestly you Both make good points here.
Thanks...
Thank god I'm not the only one in the guitar community capable of opening an amp to review it. Keep doing it and keep exposing the truth about what people are paying their hard-earned money for. Shine the light and let the chips fall where they may. Not everything you point out would be a huge concern for me, but that's not the point. The point is, people need to be able to make up their own minds about what's important to them.
Hey Guitologist... watched a lot of your videos... man those Mesa amps :) Actually I like them :) Well, I bought this amp to review and did not expect the stuff on the PCB to be like that on a new amp.. 13:08 and there were other multiple things re solder etc. it seemed not the way it should be... so it went back. Honestly, I wrestled with posting the video for nearly a year and a friend said I should because it helps both maker, dealer to be better and the customer to get what he should have really. In any case... keep up the great work on your channel - I like the amp stuff the best :). Thanks.
And I appreciate everything you do for us. I watch your content closely, it give excellent insight, facts and opinion for those that are conscious.
@@tonymckenziecom Brad Linzy replying to you now Tony !!
Truth!
Needing to see under the hood before making a purchase decision is problematic, the guitar community is so misled / misinformed and doesn’t really understand what they’re looking at generally. I have no issue with anything Tony was disgusted by, or don’t have enough information to make a decision. The cement resistors for example.. Do they need to be off the board? Depends, maybe they’re oversized and temperature rise is insignificant. What about mechanical stability? There’s a trade-off between PCB temp rise, mechanical stability, and cost of manufacture. Typically, when you buy a mass produced mini amp, you’re going to see PCBs and mass production methods, and that’s the only reason the amp is as cheap as it was! Amp designers need to balance feature set, form factor, component selection, manufacturing cost, reliability etc to hit a price point so that the product is affordable and meets the application. I didn’t have any issue with the off-board mods either. My guess is they had a run of PCBs, made an improvement to the design, and rather than buy a bunch more PCBs and pass that cost to the consumer, found a way to make due with what they had. It didn’t look like there would be any reliability issues from the way it was implemented. And what in the heck is wrong with using adhesive for additional mechanical support?!
Great review - Reviews like this will eventually result in better quality. I too would never accept this lack of quality. Its incredible, considering the price tag of 1499£, that quality on parts not visible is not considered important.
I find it interesting that there is only few videos like this. Most seem to find all products great and awesome! Interesting content, glad you put it online :)
Well Simon draw your own conclusions as to why that is. Guitologist basically said something along those lines relating to 'balls' but I'm not sure whose he referred to :)
In any case thanks.
@@tonymckenziecom Guitologistis a complete empty head
I don't agree with that. @guitologist I have watched many times and there is no doubt that he is 'not in someones back pocket' like some others I could mention. Thanks.
Its an interesting perspective not typically shared elsewhere... Nobody looks at the internals. On a sound and tone basis however, this JJ amp has become one of my favorite amps of all time. Hopefully i dont run into issues. I think it sounds incredible.
Hmmm with 30k viewers I guess they DO look at the internals though. My guess is that had this been your amp as supplied from new then maybe you might have had a different view - it sounded bad too! You got the good one... good for you though. Thanks.
@@tonymckenziecomhang on a second. You said in another comment that you liked the amp and initially scored it an “8/10, which is good for you.” You’re certainly saying that it did sound good with a highly positive score like that. You’re all over the place, bud. I don’t have this amp and wasn’t planning on buying one, so I’m pretty impartial. That being said, this whole thing sounds more like a teenager’s breakup letter than an unbiased review.
No I'm not. Remember I had to call the dealer and I queried the JJ switch? Oh you forgot about that? When I was commenting early on that was after a very short play on the amp... and then I questioned the switch, its use, and of course then I opened this amp and bang 13:09 which I have to say IMMEDIATELY I changed my opinion. I have covered this exact point you raised and its nothing new. You maybe would not be impartial had you bought this amp they supplied me for about 1/3 more cost than the one you bought? right? Oh make no mistake here, once I saw the botch inside after paying the very high UK price for what was basically rubbish, I was biased at that point as you or anyone else with half a brain would be. That amp should never have been supplied, you know it, I know it, the dealer knows it, and so does Friedman. If you tell me 'it's all OK' for that junk to be sold as a new amp at the high UK price then clearly, you are NOT what you say and you ARE biased. Thanks.
Great that Tony has taken the time to look under the bonnet and definitley foiund some issues but lets be clear:
1) Dave Friedman designs the amp - assembly is undertaken by an OEM - Boutique Amp Distribution
2) Is this a QC issue: Yes, without question (or possibly a post-shipping, pre-sale check failure by the dealer)
3) Whilst Dave Friedman initials every amp, is it realistic to expect he opens every amp: I would suggest no - a final functional test is probably all he has time to do. Undoubtedly B.A.D (interesting acronym!!) are paid to do full QC during production.
4) Do OEM's rework products that fail QC: Yes, unless the fault is catastrophic
5) Is component choice made irrespective of end or market price of an amp in a particular price point category? Not if it is to be commercially succesful
6) With at least four or five chunks of margin (Designer, Artist royalty/licensoing, OEM, Distributor, Dealer) plus taxes and shipping costs to be added before the product reaches the customer, is the price fair? I don't think any reasonable person would begrudge Dave Friedman a profit but the OEM doesn't seem to be doing their job too well in this instance.
7) Is there shoddy workmanship on this amp? Yes, and that would be down to the OEM.
8) Would the faults demonstrated be acceptable at any price: Not in my opinion - although I suspect it happens more often than one might hope for across all brands - especially where OEM or offshore production is involved.
9) Could Dave Friedman do more to improve the faults show? Yes, he can either wave the big stock at the OEM or place his own QC team in the OEM's plant to make sure the product meets his and his customers expectations
10) Would this stop me buying any Friedman amp? No, because stuff happens and that is why you have a warranty and consumer protection laws.
And finally:
11) Have you ever seen dodgy stuff on Holy Grail vintage amps - Yes!
Thanks for your review Tony, and thanks to Dave for producing a fantastic range of products.
Let's maintain a real world perspectiver though - it is not cheap to run a production plant and the industry is full of small and large manufacturers who outsource production, nor is it likley that any manufacturer could survive for long making only a no compromise, high end product - that is the way of the world these days and we as consumers have to take our share of responsibilioty for that trend if we insist on ever more competitive pricing and brand accessibility.
Hi Andy, that post is a good rounded view of the position I found myself with this amp. The only thing I would say is that I have opened every amp I have ever owned since 1971 and NEVER from any brand has an amp presented itself to me in the condition that this one was. Ultimately if you stick YOUR NAME on a product and you're the maker then unfortunately the buck stops right there. I understand the points you raised but ultimately if the 'assembler, the dealer, the 'other whoever or whatever they are' can't do exactly what they are paid to do then it still lies with the 'maker' (the brand controller) to resolve those problems no matter what brand irrespective of this one. I can agree with most of your points too... what if or maybe's as rightly I agree those can happen.
It was a real pity that this one was sold to me in some ways, because I would never tell it any other way than what I saw inside the amp irrespective of the brand. But then again, some unsuspecting person might even own that amp right now and I know it did not sound right re the switch I mentioned... but would the buyer even know that? and that's really the scary bit about this amp. BTW I never heard a 'peep' out of anyone involved to put my mind at rest (or indeed anyone else's) regarding the how's, wherefores or even whereabouts of where that amp is today and what happened to it. It IS an expensive amp in the UK nearly £1500.00 for an amp that similar 20w heads runs approximately £700 here. Well at least I tried to show how what was going to be a good review turned in to a sad one because of the supplied amp. Great post Andy and thanks for watching.
Kevin at Rockitt Retro inspects, plays, beats the crap out of every amp he builds. George Metropoulis is inside of all his builds plus a battery of tests, and Greg at Germino thoroughly tests/plays/tweaks all his amps.
Great info for those brands... and thanks for the post...
@@tonymckenziecom Yeah, I was talking with Kevin a week ago and he told me he even takes his customer builds on stage where he plays every weekend, to further put the amp through it's paces. He markets his amps through the lense of a guitarist who relies and plays on his own product .
Well that's cool... I don't see many people doing that - but I think that's an advantage of maybe being a smaller amp maker... and that's a good thing.
Great in-depth video as always Tony I love the way you go over the board and some of the solder joints thanks for keeping your videos honest that’s why I dig your channel.
Indeed I try hard to do that but some are not too happy... but I believe that what I do does show many truths about gear. Thanks for watching.
Hey i had one of these when they came out, mine also developed a faulty jbe switch. You should notice a big volume drop & alot more saturation / compression when jbe on. I sent it back to the shop it was repaired & worked as expected after that. Sounds like you had a similar issue you should definitely here a big drop & more gain. They do cut corners on there pcb amps but there hand-wired big amps are all top class & very well made! Thanks for the video 🤟
Thanks for the info on this model. The authorised dealer said it worked when I called and explained to them. But I was not convinced. The internals were what finally did it - no amp should go out brand new looking like this one did. Maybe the other amps from this company are OK? Seems a reasonable point, but for me, unfortunately I would always be thinking 'should I gamble' the money again? Not for me but at least I tried. Thanks.
Honesty is sometimes a hard pill to swallow. Great Job Tony.
Thanks Tommy...
For me, the biggest fault of this amp is the ceramic resistors so close to the electrolytic caps. Heat is the #1 thing that kills these caps. They would have done better moving the caps into the wide open area of the board reserved for the "freedman" logo, and spreading out the ceramic resistors to keep them cool. I've seen resistors like this in other amps, but they intentionally install the leads half way so the body sits 1/2" above the PCB.
If the rest of the amp looked good, i'd give them the benefit of the doubt and say they might have used significantly over rated parts (2W resistor to dissipate 0.25W), but i don't think that's the case.
Hey Alex, good to hear you. I noted the ceramics in the video about the ceramics being on the main board. I have seen that so many times inside amps and few that actually lift the ceramic resistor off the board (Marshall certainly do). You will always spot more than me because simply, I only find easy stuff :) but this is important info and great for anyone who might want to know more. Sad that this amp was sold as brand new to me like this for a review :( but better sold to me rather than someone who would not know until the amp failed. At least I sent it back. Thanks Alex...
Glad you posted this. I am looking for a new amp and considering the JJ Jr, Bogner Ecstacy 3534, or 5150 iii. This is very eye-opening.
Honestly, it opened my eyes too. Here in England there are few places where I could 'try before buy' so to speak. It's a luck of the draw in the gunslinger coral so to speak. Like many people I believe the 'reviews' and sales videos (I should know better) and so I bought it specifically for review and assumed incorrectly that this amp would be good. In this case, it was the worst brand new amp I have ever bought. As you watch the video - it all starts good. Not quite good because before the filming I plugged it in and the Cantrell switch was pretty useless. Later when I opened the amp for the review I quickly realised that this amp was going back. I had recorded some footage out of order so my ultimate opinion was that this had been palin and simply bodged by either the authorised dealer or the maker or both - I don't know which. Importantly - as you mentioned a 5150 - I had the 5150 III Stealth on order since the start of the year and they never delivered - and its still not out there as of June 2021! That IMO would have been far better (it could not have been worse) to review but alas it never arrived... Maybe I'll look again. Thanks for watching and I do think that this video does tech us a few things about when we buy gear. ALWAYS open it and look inside!
@@tonymckenziecom I appreciate your attention to detail. There's not much try-before-buying where I live, so these reviews are very helpful. Looks like I'm down to the 5150 iii or Marshall JVM205H. Cheers!
Just got a Tone King amp and am very happy with it Don't know what the inside looks like but sounds/works great but there is only volume and tone pots plus an excellent attenuator I feel less is more when it comes to new amps
Thanks. This is proper honest product reviewing, and thanks for that. That amplifier had no proper Quality Control.
I bought an EVH 5150 50w, brand new, for 900 euros...exceptional three channels amp...Many thanks for the honest review.
I trued to buy one for review... STILL not available from back in January! Seems the 'chip' thing is catching on to everything. Thanks for the opinion on that amp too...
Yes, I was going to recommend the EVH 50w amps. You get more bang for your buck. It's an FMIC product, made in Mexico. It's PCB also, but it has a lot more power, better tubes, more features, and sounds better than the JJ jr.
Thank you for the review. Overall, I am impressed with the (mechanical and electrical) build quality. Yes, the mounting of certain panel switches are a bit weak. The PCB is really exceptional although the capacitor choices may be questionable. tube choices are economic but at least one can replace them without having to modify the bias circuitry. Placing ceramic resistors flat on the board is a no-go in any case; that can cause overheating of the board over time. I guess what matters is if this unit passes the test of time on the road and can reliably be used is a big question. The use of multiple boards and a main board makes this a feasible, competitive product in today's world.
Thanks Mark. For me the board bodge was not really what I expected :( and so it went back. Thanks.
These are great videos man, keep them up!
Cheers. Brilliant review. The only thing I don’t like is, how few subscribers you have. So I add myself. You’re doing an excellent service. Keep it up. Cheers
Well I have some subscribers. My videos over time get viewed and some more than 1m views etc. In any case thanks for the sub.
Those rocker switches with the silicone are probably due to the switches having some play when used. The cutout on the faceplate for the switch housing is probably a hair too big so when you press the switch, it moves slightly giving it a "cheap" feel. The silicone keeps it from moving at all giving it a more "solid" quality feel. Just a thought.
That's a thick hair
Hardly quality is it? Just make them fit properly in the first place? Thanks.
I particularly liked the soldering iron scorching on some of the components.. Top notch lol
me too.. thats what you pay through the nose for! haha
Great in depth review Tony, as always. Have you or will you be doing a review on the BE 100 Deluxe, as I'm considering it...Thanks
Sadly I have been put off the brand somewhat (and the reseller) but who knows over time maybe I'll look again. But don't hold your breath. Thanks for the post and for watching...
Check out the CERIATONE AH100 Deluxe....Better built, better sounding, about 1/2 the price. Personally, I dont think the BE is a great sounding amp...I prefer a Ceriatone Yeti myself, but Ceriatone does make a AH100 deluxe which is similar to the BE100 deluxe.
Thanks Tony,for this informative video,on the inside of this "Boutique Amp".I own many tube amps (Rivera's, THC Sunset,Ampeg's,Marshall 6101,Burriss Royal Bluesman),some are hand and hardwired, most PCB board amps.Tubessocket soldered on the board,is already a bad sign,into the future(warping the board by tube heath),Chinese cap's and preamp tubes tells you"low budget/high profit attitude".I think why the powerswitch was stabalized with epoxy,is that the controlplate is too thin,for steady fitting.
But what amazes me ,is the 4 fuses inside ,never saw that in another tubeamp and why they are there or for which function?
Paying £1499 is wasting your money,so many better made and better sounding tubeamps for less money and when you buy it used,even better build/sounding amps,also great investments.
Nice,the dealer accepted it back,but this man doesn't "look under the hood",what he is selling and promoting.
I have seen multiple fuses in some Marshall amps (check my reviews). I have not checked why they are there in any amps really except that like most fuses they 'protect' the amp, the user or both. This amp was returned within the period of the law in the UK and they literally have no choice but to refund it at the time. Agreed £1499 (or thereabouts) was a total waste and I was glad to get the money back so I could buy other gear to review. Honestly, I was IMO mistaken that this amp was going to be great - my excitement originally before the review was that I was going to see a 'well made' and 'great sounding' amp. That was not the case on either count in the case of this amp... and it just shows (for many different products and brands) that it really IS important to see exactly what you're getting when you buy gear. Someone somewhere knew about this amp and its condition but there was never anyone that 'owned up' to it all. Thanks Jochem for the post...
I almost bought this amp but went with a Bogner Atma instead. Glad I picked the Atma. I just hope that people that see this have also seen your other videos and how thoroughly you go through the insides of an amp and don’t hold back telling it like it is. These are highly regarded amps, so this was surprising. This may not be an indicator of others being like this, but certainly QC should be better for that amount of money. Another great video!
Yes, because of the general comments about the brand I decided to buy one and review it. I liked the tones of Cantrell, so when this was there I bought it. Like most people I listened to the 'reviewers' showing the brand... alas that for me was a mistake. This amp clearly was not as it should be and whether the maker or authorised dealer did it who knows. But it really IS the worst new amp I have ever bought. I was surprised and honestly shocked especially after being convinced by other 'reviews' out there. Silly me - I of all people should know better. What this video shows really, is that assuming that you're going to get a quality product from any company is probably a fallacy and big mistake. The dealer support was not very good either, and I expected better from historically dealing with them, but in this case their comments just supported an nearly non-working switch. The internals sealed this amps destiny unfortunately. The thing is, it is a lesson that I learned even with experience of a very long time, and it just shows how things can be different than what they seem in real life.. Thanks for watching.
I don’t know if you are aware but that Bogner is also made in the same place the JJ Junior …. I have a JJ Junior and mine is flawless
Scarily... I'm the unlucky one! Many guys say theirs is great - and I believe that of course. This video is about the one I received... nothing more and nothing less. I was shocked about this amp and really expected probably what you have! But it was not to be and I really don't know why. Just a side note and thanks Gary
@@garyz0611 Actually, they are not. The pedals are. Bogner makes his own amps. Simply going to the Boutique website might have helped...or, you could call Reinhold and talk to him, like I did...before I bought my Atma...which I love.
Love this guys teardown... at the end of the day he liked the tone and got a bum unit. I have a Friedman JJ 1x12 combo that works perfectly and sounds amazingly huge for the tiny cube it is.. letting go of my Shiva 60 watt 1x12 because the Friedman is way easier to lug around and a quick tube swap will make me like it even more when the time comes.
Thanks for watching...
bum unit? I mean things thing is filled with chinese components and very doubtable practices... That's how it's made. Not great.
@@jayseb huh?
Thank you Tony for an honest opinion of a product that a lot of us consider to be from one of the better manufacturers. This does show the problem of PRODUCTION in mass quantities. Quality should always come first and you are right about some of the components used in this amp , Alpha pots in an amp is kinda cutting corners in my opinion. I am sure Dave isn’t the only one doing this but it does make me look at Friedman amps a little differently.
On the Alpha pots... you know what, I questioned that with Suhr amps in my review. John Suhr and Pete Thorn suggested that the CTS pots were bad and had 'massive' problems. That's their view and bearing in mind that likely this amp came from the very same production company the answer might or might or might not be the same. Me? I always liked quality components and Alps are certainly not the best out there... but the price of the amp was. I also agree that Alps are out there in force these days. Available everywhere. Oh well :) On this amp you saw what I did. I did not record the audio because I played the amp before video time, but after at play time I decided not to plug it in even. Thanks.
Alpha pots are perfectly fine, they are as good as CTS has been in their heyday. If it has the correct value, taper and durability that is all that matters in a potentiometer
Absolutely Fantastic.Great video, As I am in the market for a new amp,I wish everyone was so honest.This is information we all should want to know when purchasing an amp. Thank you so much kind sir,I have subscribed.Good day.
Hey Tony. it is a great sounding amp. I think your JBE switch circuit was possibly faulty. my amp has a huge difference when switching. it gets very saturated with way more gain and a volume drop. The be side is way louder and more open with less gain . rock on man
I agree. I was sure it was faulty but the dealers attitude was to just brush it off when I enquired about it. I was pretty sure there was an issue, but I carried on with the review until I saw the inside. It was a pity really as I did want to review the Friedman but as can be seen sadly I had to terminate it and return the amp. Oh well... at least you sound like yours is good :)
Incorrect. OK brains, what about the internal horrendous bodge? 'Didn't like the build' does not work... YOU can't assume anything... but your whole comment is assuming.
@@timtaylor164 Agreed 100%
I own this amp, it’s a great sounding amp. I am curious now, I got this when it 1st came out. I wonder if components changed during the COVID thing? The JBE switch for me is quite a drastic change
Great review Tony. You realy got a point about that silicon fixing for the switches. I also always prefer to see tube shields and tube retainers. Besides that the head internals I always cover with adhesive alu-foil because of RFI precautions
Tony...love your guitar builds. You have inspired me to do builds myself.
Great to hear... and thanks for watching...
I think that silicon around the switches prevents the plastic switch housing from rocking in the metal punchout panel hole. That might prevent it from chaffing and wearing out the plastic switch frame over time/usage. It also my serve as a "backup" to hold the switch in place if the plastic tangs (that hold the switch in place) breaks. Often you'll find one retaining tang broken off and the switch loosely held in place, or falling out and hanging by the wires. It looks ugly from the inside but it's not a bad idea from a safety standpoint. What is a bad idea (and quite sad actually) is using cheap plastic switches in a metal panel. This amp looks like the circuit board is manufactured in Asia and then the final assembly done in US. I suspect the cabinet and tolex application is built in Asia as well. After being shown the guts and the price, which is $1599 - 1699 USD now (in October 2022). I would consider buying an Asian manufactured amp for less money with the same or better build quality. I am glad you sent it back. So many reviewers seem to complain about products but keep them anyway/ Life is too short for that nonsense...
Thanks for watching Kevin and your opinion. Some reviewers get their reviewed gear for free, and as such probably would not send it back. While I do sometimes receive gear from makers I ALWAYS state that and it changes my opinion of what I find not one bit. I bought this amp from an authorized dealer and paid for it without Favour in any way. And possibly that could be the difference between me and sending this amp back because of an internal problem that clearly was 'not right' and others that just keep their donated products. In any case thanks for the post and for watching.
As far as I know there are just three valve or tube manufacturers in the world today. JJ (former Tesla) in the Czech republic, Sovtek in Saratov, in Russia and ShuGuang in Changsha, China. If you find other new tubes today they are only rebranded. I have read somewhere, that Mesa Boogie for example buys from all three of these manufacturers and selects tubes. So there are not many choices. Besides these, there is a very small tube company ELROG in Germany, but they do not produce tubes normally used in guitar tube amps. Their tubes are mainly used in hifi amps.
Thanks Andreas for this info. It's all good stuff. The thing about tubes in general that I find is this. If you buy 'selected' tubes (like those from tubeampdoctor.com) then the failure rate is basically zero - I have never had one fail yet (of any actual brand). However, if you just buy any regular tubes from most brands that are not selected then you tend to find mismatches (even when sold as matched), failures and noisy stuff. The singular real tube failure to date which could have been very serious was JJ in a Diezel Hagen. It glowed like a 100 watt bulb! Luckily I was right in front of the amp and flicked it off immediately - thankfully saving the amp which still has worked fine years later. So JJ for me (especially if not selected) I won't visit. Again Mesa ARE selected tubes and while some have had failures I never did. Great info and thanks for posting it.
@@tonymckenziecom JJ EL84’s are actually good sounding and rugged EL84’s. Just because JJ sucks with El34’s and 6L6’s doesn’t mean they all suck. I know most good builders have voiced how good and reliable the JJ El84 is, and from experience they sound much better then those Sovtek 84’s you put in, a downgrade I think.
I appreciate your honest reviews Tony but just a question, what makes you think the amp might kill someone from using it? Was it not properly earthed?
Who knows... I boxed this amp and returned it.
Thanks for the advice!
*Edit for SAFETY WARNING: poking around inside the chassis of a tube amp can KILL you. The large capacitors can retain lethal voltages long after the amp has been switched off. If you don’t know how to drain the caps safely, get the help of a tech.*
Hey Tony. Long time fan of your channel. While I agree wholeheartedly with your frustration with an expensive amp having an issue with the QC, as an amp builder and tech there are some points I need to raise regarding your assessment of the pcb of this amp.
I have only had one Friedman cross my bench - oddly enough a Runt 20. As you noticed - same pcb. Although the JJ differs a little in the power amplifier section, and adds a switchable zener saturation circuit. However, I'd like to draw attention to the things that impressed me about the pcb that are certainly not the norm in modern tube amps:
1. Proper output transformers. The 20w Friedman has an OT that rivals most 50 watters.
2. Overspec components. The 20w ceramic cathode bias resistor you expressed concern over is 4x the rating required. (5w). This means less heat and lower noise. Similar for the 5w power rail - in a 20w style sub 400vdc amp these only need to be 2w. The resistors in the preamp are all 1w when you can get away with 1/2 watt. Greater resistor body size means less noise and hum.
3. Fuses at all critical areas of failure. Most amps only have a mains a HT fuse. The Runt has 6. Four on board in addition to the usual two. This means that should a tube go, it won't take your OT or PT with it.
4. Regulated DC heater supply - less hum with high gain.
5.Through plated pcb - more reliable, allows for easy servicing should that ever be required.
6. Transformer based speaker sim - this is something pretty special actually. Miles ahead of the old Redbox type circuit.
7. High voltage FET based FX loop. Similar concept to the one used in the Metro amps. Most manufacturers use a TL072 based loop that only has about 30v of headroom. This squashes and compresses. The Friedman is running around 300v - A drastic improvement in dynamics and headroom.
RE tubes - there are only really three tube factories left - the chinese, JJ's and all the brands falling under the EHX banner. Each has their pros and cons. JJ's are reliable, but a bit bright. The chinese tubes can sound great, provided they fall within a certain spec. You may be surprised how many tubes are in truth chinese.
Not trying to attack you in any way here - but I also need to explain some of what you're looking with that pcb. I was quite taken with the Runt that came in for a user who had lost the washer for his input jack and was too concerned to open his amp up.For what it's worth, I'm also a player and a fussy consumer. Keep on doing what you do, and I look forward to your next video.
Kind regards, Thomas
That's OK Thomas... I was shocked to receive an amp in this condition really. Many said 'great amps' and I bought that. Sadly for me this one was not as I expected and likely not as the seller and maybe maker would have liked... it was returned and refunded against another amp. Thanks for the info.
Good review. I didn’t think there was anything unfair in there. Fwiw I can tell you my experience has been different with this amp. Also being in the US it’s much more reasonably priced.
That's fine and I wish my experience had been better. Sincerely I tried to get to the bottom of the nearly non-functioning switch but was basically fobbed off by the dealer. But once inside I saw what had been worked on and I knew right there and then that for me it was going back. These amps in the UK are 'almost' price fixed to within £50 of what today is nudging $2k or near enough and you know, getting an amp like this would typically never shown by anyone... unfortunately this was for a review and ultimately I stopped the review. I wanted the amp to be good but alas it was actually the worst brand new amp condition I have ever bought. Good to hear though that your experience is better than what I had... but it does show (and not just this amp) that we SHOULD ensure that whatever it is you buy brand new is up to a standard and not supplied in any other way. Thanks...
@@tonymckenziecom You did the right thing by returning it and notify BAD in California Oversight should be better at the factory
Get a Tone King instead Absolutely love mine The Gremlin head is 11 hundred and is plenty loud enough to gig with
Is there a reasonably priced Friedman amp?
I appreciate this post. I’m not knowledgeable with equipment as you are and wouldn’t even know what to look for. Without you posting these things and hopefully getting the company to look at QC more seriously to prevent us unaware folk from getting shit quality. Thank you
Well this one made it out to me, and I thought it should be shown because it could have been anyone buying that amp. Personally I don't like that sort of thing going on and hopefully as you say, someone somewhere could look at the quality aspect to help stop this sort of thing leaving any facility. Thanks...
Hey Tony, appreciate the no bullshit straight up reviews. Cheers from Australia.
Sad I had to make this one... Thanks.
I came very clsoe to buying this amp myself, but paused when I saw your vid for the Marshall. Glad I did, as, for the money being charged, I don't think those things should have been in the Friedman either, As for the Marshall I did end up purchasing that amp on the strength of the positive review you'd given yours, and have had no problems with it since. As for tone, I've found that runing a Boss SD-1 in front of mine comes very close to the "JBE" sound.
The Marshall JCM800 Sudio cost me something like 1,100 USD new, and the SD-1 I got used for like $30 some years ago. All in all, I think that's a better deal than that Friedman with those Chinese tubes and what I beleive you people across the pond refer to as dodgy internals. Anyways, thanks for that review of the Marshall then, and thanks for posting this review now. Your candor is appreciated in a world that's more or less become a paid advertisement in and of itself.
Hi Harry. I reviewed the Marshall SC20 and the SV20 and both amps I have to say were nigh on perfect as supplied - and I bought them (as I did this Friedman) from an authorised dealer which I do think is important. I paid about £700 or so which is about similar to your cost after conversion. The SC20 (I have the Stealth version) is one of my favorite amps and has never missed a beat. I use that a lot. In the case of this Friedman I was surprised and actually disappointed by how the amp was sold to me and the dealers nonchalant approach re the switch that hardly worked. It then moved on to inside and at that point I returned the amp.
I have never had any issues like in this amp in any other amp ever from a brand new amp. Often when I buy an amp no-one really knows I'll be reviewing it - and that's the best way because if there are issues then I will generally find them.
Thanks for your comments on your amp because I love to see recommendations by OWNERS of the gear as that's usually a genuine recommendation... not always of course, there are 'fan boys' out there, but it's also pretty easy to tell them from their comments... genuine recommendations mean so much really. Thanks.
Hey thanks for the post. Actually I bought some Mullard tubes (selected and matched though) and those were IMO pretty well matched ands supplied. Ha I don't particularly buy 'old tubes' (in fact never bought any) but I have good experience with particular selected tubes. For those, it's a bit less regarding the origin, but more so the amount of work that went in to the tubes I tend to buy where the junk (and there really is some if you buy the 'cheapest') is removed from what is being sold and the tube is properly left to burn in for some time, which also removes the straggler junky (read failure) tubes. That is my experience for some time. I have used most brands including JJ (but rarely intentionally - and with those always selected as I described) but I had experience of JJ historically when one nearly zapped a £3000 Diezel Hagen amp - that tube glowed like a 100 watt light bulb. Not for me. As far as the Chinese stuff? What do you know about Chinese tubes and the way the Chinese sell equipment? I have had experience since 1981 with the far east including Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and China. Check yourself about Chinese goods on Amazon for example. There are good Chinese products and really bad Chinese products... and as a general rule I found that the 'cheaper' the equipment, the bigger problems just hiding there waiting for you to discern. Thanks for the link and I'm sure guys will go and take a look. Factually the ONLY tubes that ever failed for me were JJ hence the comment in the video. As for the Chinese tubes? Not if I can help it... but that's a personal opinion and others might think differently.
Thanks. I am aware of all of that. Best answer (even if you get JJ tubes is only to buy matched and PREMIUM SELECTED tubes. Of those types I never had a problem... Thanks.
Tony, I suspect that this amp was originally sold to another person, and something happened to it. The repairs inside do not appear to me to be factory done, but done by a “technician” (actually most likely some kid who had no clue). Now, my scenario goes like this... they sold this amp to some guy, and something fails. Friedman apparently has no warranty in the UK, and it’s expensive to ship it back to Friedman in LA. So they find some kid to “fix” it which they then sell as a new amp to you. You did the right thing by sending it back... but the next guy may not realize that there was, and still is, a problem with the amp.
Hi Bill good to see you. You could be right, but it could be anyone... the authorised dealer, the assembly company that makes these, or something else. All I know is that it was literally the worst amp I have ever bought brand new - and I did not just say that. I agree with you that it was a problem and I was honestly shocked in receiving this amp with that brand on it. For warranty, in the UK it is the SELLER that has to provide warranty (I saw no warranty details for the UK anywhere) if there is a problem - hence me speaking with them about the hardly functional switch. They told me it was working as it should be. Ultimately there was nothing else I could do except to return it. My view is that if the problem lay at the authorised dealers then the maker should be looking at that. If it lay at the assembly company then they should be addressing that. It seems to me that this amp was not as Friedman would want a customer to receive it. The point is, that it does not matter what product we buy, we should as buyers never assume anything about quality no matter what brand or reputation it has or has not and always look to ensure we are getting what we bought and paid for. That is one of the major reasons for posting the video. In any case the video did show issues with the amp and there was no way I was going to keep it. Of course it spoiled the review :( which I was looking forward to initially but it ended up being stopped. Who knows what safety issues could have ensued. Thanks...
I just googled the guts of a JJ Jr from 2019, and it looks like the switches are held in place with silicon in that one as well. I guess that's just the way they do it?
Agree, the unexplained discount would lead me to believe that this amp was not actually "factory fresh"
Anything is possible re this amp. I am not specific as to who EXACTLY is responsible, but the amp was sold as 'brand new' by an authorised dealer - I can't do more than that for my part. I paid for a brand new one. Oh well...
I agree with you sir. Dave tests and plays each chassis personally before it leaves the warehouse in LA. The scorched components wouldn’t have passed inspection. Feels like someone else was inside this amp after it left the factory and before Tony acquired it. I believe the UK distributor should have done the right thing and replaced Tony’s amp with a brand new amp, then send this amp back to Friedman. Not impressed with this UK distributor.
I had a similar experience with a mini DS. I have my tech here in Israel that is also a vintage collector and I asked him to A/B the mini DS with his 68 JTM45, and we made it because I wrote to the company asking if the their amp could cover the JTM45 territory. The answer was yes, so we made the test and the mini DS was not in the same area, mainly in the clean sound (I judge an amp on the clean sound). We also opened it (as you did) and although there is no PCB but also not PTP (they call it an hybrid) I was very upset from the chinese tubes. So I returned the amp to the seller and I will get a JTM45 replica from my tech....
Thanks for your insight in to your experience with the amps... it all contributes and also thanks for watching...
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Your video helped me make my decision. Iv' been saving for a few months and pulled the trigger on a Boogie Mark5/25. I'm pretty sure that I made the right decision, it is being shipped as I write this. Mr. Tony, If you read this what are your thoughts?
.I was about to change to a Friedman from my trusty Marshall DSL 40.That won’t be happening now.That is piss poor workmanship for any price point never mind an amp head at near £1500.00.Once again Tony,your honesty has stopped me spending a lot of money on a supposed amp upgrade.I would like to think it was a one off, or was it,that now is the £1500.00 question.
Well it could be a 'one off' but I in all sincerity cannot say either way. What I saw was work internally that had been clearly carried out by someone who was either unqualified (maybe they did not know any better) or someone qualified who did not care. I was so surprised about the amp and in many ways very disappointed. It was an expensive amp that I bought purely for review and I honestly expected a good amp. But my review does show what can happen (there is no doubt that it did) and had I just bought the amp and not looked inside, I would have considered the ineffective switch as 'that's how they were' as the dealer said, and relegated the amp for sale. But I would NEVER sell that amp so it had to go back. Thanks for watching.
The DSL 40 is assembled and made in Indonesia. Best of luck.
Thank you for keeping these people honest!
Well I intended to make a good review. Sadly with the amp I received that could not be. Mainly for me the internal bodge or mods - call it what you want, are the reason I ended the review and returned the 'brand new' amp. Oh well.
Great review of a Reliant Robin. Did it have three wheels and could you corner with it as fast as with a BSA Bantam?
I would ask Friedman or Peach guitars... between them they did a great job of a £1500 amp worth about £600 if that. Thanks.
Sorry to hear you were disappointed Tony. I gig with this amp every week, and it always delivers the goods. Sound guys love it and so does the band. You bring up some good points. I didn’t hear any sound clips. Did I miss those? I wanted to hear what you heard.
Well I can only go by my own experience on THIS amp. I don't know about the others, but I'm sure they work :) No sound... I did not dare plug it in a second time after seeing the inside of the PCB that had a bodge from somewhere.
I agree, I’ve been touring with Friedman amps for years, absolutely no issues. If someone looks hard enough, they can always nit-pick. Sadly Tony got a bum unit. Looks like someone else had been inside it already. Mashed the problem lies with the UK distributor, not the manufacturer?
I love the sound of Fireman. This the best possible feedback a company could receive.
Wat could I say ...
I absolutely agree with you Tony. I had a similar issue with a messed up finish on a PRS SE(and it was the "premium" finish aswell). They basically told me it was fine and refused to do anything as a finish is considered subjective. I sold it shortly after as it just made me angry every time I looked at it. If you pay for a product, and especially one that has a good reputation, you should absolutely demand it be made well. Who knows what may have happened as a result if that board shorted out. I'm an HVAC mechanic, and have seen furnaces and A/Cs burnt to bit as a result of faulty electronics or installs.
Ryan - this is an important post to me. My next review is of a PRS SE A50E (I think it was) and that guitar was bought from Thomann. It was so bad (as the video shows exactly the problems) I had to send it back for a refund. However, I do have a PRS Europe UK contact and I spoke with him. He was very concerned and vowed to get a guitar for me that I should have had in the first place... BTW I paid for both guitars and my review will be completely genuine. Wait for that review because I cover exactly this issue and how it was for me, and importantly I sum up exactly the whose' wherefores and why's of those very frustrating things from my personal experience of buying that guitar. Of course it might be a bit different between our cases, but the video will have a story to tell that is absolutely true. On this amp there is no way that I would have kept that amp in the condition supplied. Scarily - I have been criticised for posting the Friedman video, and that alone says an awful lot to me about some of the participants. Thanks for the support Ryan.
@@tonymckenziecom wow, the kind of negative comments about your Amp review are exactly what I got when I made comments about my SE. But it doesn't matter, tell your experiences and show the issues and the smart people will make decisions accordingly. Glad you did find an amp you're happy with. That Custom shop marshall is awesome. I've Got a custom shop 50th anniversary mini stack(JCM1 tube head, 2 10" cabs) and its built to an amazingly high standard. I love it. I look forward to further videos, thanks for the reply!
Ha I have about 25 amps :) scarily the ones I like I keep :) Watch for the video of the SE been on that today and finishing off tomorrow... its long but well worth watching because there are real lessons to be learned from that video. Thanks...
@@RByrne not sure where you bought your prs but i have no doubt if you had purchased it from sweetwater they would have made it right unless it was several months since you had bought it.
Thanks for the review Tony.
These are the things I look for before a purchase.
Maybe if you get time you could look at the “Wangs” brand of amplifiers. They seem to be getting a lot of luv at the moment and are all hand wired... (the 2204 and 1987 are HW) and are $821 for their heads and that includes FREE shipping...
Best! ✌🏼
🤘🏼Stashman🤘🏼
Thanks for the info on the 'Wangs' amps. I have seen them around but not yet used one. I'll bear it in mind and who knows :). Thanks....
Well compared to Mesa junk this looks like a Porche compared to a VW. I have a Friedman SB50 and it is one of the best sounding hot rod plexi type amps I've ever owned. Like you, I've owned a good 40 amps over 40 years of gigging and Friedman is far and away better than some "boutique amps" out there. The solder joints and things are not nice looking like they used to be because of the ROHS bullshit where they can't use leaded solder anymore and ship it outside the US. I sent Dave and email about having a third channel mod done to my amp which is a 2015 and he got back to me within an hour and gave me price, details.............I have to modern Marshall's that are made in Vietnam and they are no work of art inside. Nobody is doing point to point works of art anymore unless you want to pay $5k+. My PCB in my amp is very pro looking. Not a bad solder joint in it. I rebuild and mod amps all the time and I've worked on "boutique amps" that are just junk. Just worked on a 2019 Friedman HBE 50 for a friend, just new tubes and a bias and it was every bit as nice as mine inside, so I didn't see any degradation in quality control. Dave has been in the amp design world for a long time and has built rigs for many many top name players. You might have just got a dog, it happens with every product out there. If you would have played it and pointed out your dislikes I could be a little more on your side if it sounded bad, but you expect your word to be good enough. Mesa, PRS and Bogner are every bit as bad as things you pointed out on this amp. Play it for us and I'll listen, but I just can't take anyone's opinion as gospel on whether it is good or bad.
Hey don't get me wrong. I only comment on this amp I bought. I'm sure there are many Friedman amps that sound (and are) great. Its good to hear that you also get good service from the makers. Personally I do think that the level of amp you have is higher than this one I received. I was honestly shocked with this one about the PCB, and on this one the work was not good from what I see. But of course thats only THIS amp. I think on this amp here there has to be more of a story to it (although I don't know the story!). I bought a brand new amp from an authorised dealer and you see what I received. Ultimately it had to go back, but that's OK. No maker makes every amp perfect and thats a fact, and I have seen amps over the years with different things, but this one for a brand new amp was the worst. I was very perplexed really because Friedman does have a good name. For this amp I was concerned about plugging it in (again) as I normally do because of the inside stuff. Originally the switch had about a 10% operation if that, and I questioned the dealer... they said it was OK. But honestly I did not believe that. Later I saw the 'other work' and decided to return it. Earlier the amp had an 8 out of 10 score (which was fair) but then I saw the board and stopped the review. It is a pity that this amp was as shown, but there you go. Thanks.
Lol bad comparison as porches are crap and so are vw!!!
''Nobody is doing point to point works of art anymore unless you want to pay $5k+'' Ceriatone does exactly that and their most expensive amps are 1700 USD. You should check them out.
70's vintage Peavey amps: there will only be two things still alive at the end of the Earth - cockroaches and Peavey amps....
And Keith Richards
Also a lot of other old amps from the 30s-70s
@@abubakr6939 Yeah, I've got a Matamp series 2000 that I haven't changed the Valves since 1978! Still going strong! Lol!
@@abubakr6939 yeah but the peaveys from the 70s and 80s are the only ones normal players can afford… cuz of how they sound lol
I know you don’t want comments, but I have to say, I’m extremely impressed with your knowledge and balls to speak up about the issues you ran into! But you’re killing me! Wanted to hear you play it! Well I’m glad you returned it and maybe make a quick video of the Sound this time!!! I rarely sit 30 minutes for a video, especially since I don’t know what I’m looking at inside the amp! All said, I enjoyed learning about it!
Honestly, it was frustrating to hear a bunch of people defending what was clearly not a product that should have been supplied by either the maker of the amp or the dealer. I DID play it when it arrived but as my review progressed and I later saw inside the amp I never went back to plugging it in. It had clearly been somehow bodged and the right thing to do was to return it without further recording... which is exactly what I did. It was a pity this was supplied. It could have been a different review if the amp supplied was good... check my recent EVH 5150III review and see the difference yourself... the EVH amp (and made in Mexico) was far superior in every way. I did set out to create a good review of the Friedman amp (the score - before finding the bad stuff was pretty reasonable but unfortunately that had to be discounted for this amp when I found the other stuff inside). Make no mistake I can play (even that has been thrown at me - idiots) but best with an amp that is safe to use as this one was not worth the risk. Thanks for taking the time to watch it and for a very reasonable post.
@@tonymckenziecom I appreciate you, Keeping it real! It’s nice to see change like this, concerning reviews, and someone like myself, that doesn’t know much about the quality and craftsmanship that goes into paying these ridiculous prices should be flawless! It’s easy to sit and watch 10 videos praising the same product over and over, but unfortunately it works on most consumer’s, especially in the guitar community! Thanks for responding! I’ll go check out your other videos! Glad everything worked out for you in the end!
I was honestly surprised with that amp. And you are right, there are these days very few videos that are anything except sales videos or paid promotions. I don't trust any and I think that trust is very important. Mainly the gear I review is generally OK. I have seen some atrocities since 2009 when I started looking at it all, and I started because I was sick of sales videos instead of real videos that show what is going on in any equipment. Sure some don't like that, but I say to them, don't like it? Then YOU go and buy it. There are no takers of course. There are a lot of mouthpieces on the internet I'll call them that. But the damage on that board was irrefutable no matter what their story might otherwise be... in any case thanks for a good post...
@@tonymckenziecom I’ve been out of the guitar game for about 20 years after having disc replacement surgery at 24, and I started playing again around a 2 years ago, and I fell into the trap of these cheap guitars and gear. The only thing I was actually surprised about has my 2 Harley Bentons. One is the SC-Custom, it’s like the LTD knock off, but it came with Grover tuners, GraphTech nut, Mahogany body and the routing and wiring is almost perfect! The t-style HB is just okay, but $300 shipped for both! After that I started believing all these videos, and learned the hard way! You pay for what you get! Anyways, thanks again, and I keep meaning to check out your Marshall video, so I’m going there now! Stay Safe!
Sounds like you had a bad issue there. I trust you have improved OK. Honestly, I have seen many quite reasonable guitars that don't cost a fortune. The 'best' playing guitar I own bar none is an Ibanez RG550LTD I bought used for $500 (and that included shipping to the UK from CA USA!) Here's a link to it: ua-cam.com/video/sa4YlbRG5PU/v-deo.html and like I said a great guitar you can see me play that a lot. I tried VERY hard to review a HB guitar. Unfortunately the one I bought from Thomann was seriously flawed... I understand there are many HB guitars that come fine, but when someone sends me a really bad one (which I paid for in full BTW) I will review it exactly as I was sold it. Here's a link to that guitar but be warned that I show what I received! ua-cam.com/video/2gDvEqH3VD8/v-deo.html I was honestly shocked by that guitar and how I received it. I really don't get that many products in the state that guitar (or this amp) was supplied like and most reviews are quite supportive of the products I review. But occasionally I do receive stuff that is not right... I could have sent it back but I just decided that it was not worth the effort for me. In any case, it is still worth looking at because the guitar as shown is exactly as anyone could have received it. If you check back far enough in the comments another guy had a very similar experience. I don't understand how it ever got to me but there you go. My original intention was to fit quality pickups, Gibson tuners, bridge etc. but in the end I failed to create the upgrade it should have been. Thanks.
Good info, Tony. Since I don't keep up with such things, where are the caps and resistors sourced from for the hand wired stuff?
I did see Dave Friedman say on a video he uses JJ tubes because they're available at the volume they need.
Well they might well be right re the tubes - that's all pretty subjective really. I don't know about other amps just the one I purchased here.
This is how the video should have gone, "I just received my second Friedman JJ Jr. and here is my review, oh boy did I have trouble with the first one....". The fact that you admit to asking for a lower price and received it with an obvious broken switch shows that your supplier probably sent you a returned or knowingly broken amp. To lay the blame on the manufacturer is completely unethical. You should tell the world who you purchased the amp from as well as tell Friedman Amplification so they can rectify this with their distributor. You had a valid point with the soldering in one place, but "I don't like the valves and capacitors" is solely an opinion and not a statement of quality. Clearly you should have sent the amp back the moment you found the defective switch and purchased a new one from a reputable supplier. That would have been the proper course of action. And seeing the fact that you didn't show footage of yourself playing the amp, but have text stating that it did indeed sound good shows a bias, or a prejudgment against the amp. I honestly expected more from you. I've watched allot of your videos, this one doesn't represent you at all. Seriously, you need to tell people who you ordered it from so they can avoid a shady dealer!
its in the text. I hope you understand that when I was sold a 'brand new' amplifier from an authorised dealer that I don't question the product as being anything else. i bought it in good faith and this arrived. I cannot tell where that amp was worked on and I have repeatedly said so. All I know is that the amp was NOT what I expected from the manufacturer and the review would have been fine had the bodge inside not been there. I liked the amp and scored it an 8/10 which for me is a good score... but later when I found the internal issue I scrapped the review disregarded everything before and sent it back. I remained disappointed about this amp. I buy amps from most companies all the time and never had any brand new amp be presented to me in this way. They did NOT know it was for a review and I never tell anyone that my purchases are - I think that is a fair and reasonable way to work, because what I receive is a reflection of what someone else would have bought - and that is a good basis for ANY review of any product. I don't know who did the bodge inside but honestly, I would not keep that amp at any price. It's simply not MY fault that they sent me a less than perfect amp. And therein lies the lesson. Thanks.
@@tonymckenziecom So the manufacturer gets the blame for what is most likely the sellers fault? That's some pretty messed up thinking right there. So if the postman breaks it on the way it's the manufacturers fault? That's literally the way you're addressing this.
Also, you didn't do your due diligence before claiming the Friedman JJ Jr. "the worst amplifier ever" (and yes, that's all people will see when they read the title of your video). You should have at least made an effort in looking at at least one other to see if the original one was a typical example. It could very well be that the issues were caused after it left the factory? Or it could be a typical example of them? You don't know and that is why your grandiose claim is off base. And I have no doubt that is you were in the US you'd be receiving a letter from their lawyers seeing that you have already caused their brand harm without concrete evidence. Several people in the comments have stated that they were considering purchasing this amp until your video. That would be a lawsuit here in the states and you'd have to prove your case. A little silicone and ugly solder doesn't make for the "worst amplifier ever"....
You cannot know who is to blame for the internal bodge can you. The dealer was an 'authorised dealer' and represents the maker (its why he's authorised!). Ha so I should go out and buy another to compare. That is plainly never going to happen.
@@762Tactical I agree on the fact that there will be people who think all Friedman amps (even the more expensive ones) are poorly built. In fact, I already experienced it : at a gig a fuse burned from my BE 100 because I had a problem with a tube. At the time I didn't know it was because of the tube, so I just used my spare amp. Backstage a guitar player from another band stated that he read that Friedman amps were not reliable and told me to read this review.
Yea but for 2k its built like crap.
I don’t own any Friedman amps but I’ve tried a Dirty Shirley which was killer. Hoping that Dave is able to respond to this review. I have tons of respect for him as he is a legend. As far as new production tubes there is not a lot to choose from. There is only Chinese, Russian or Slovakian... Chinese tubes are not necessarily bad or inferior
The tubes are what they are - people like them or not. But that was only part of the original review. The review ended immediately I saw the issues inside tha amp where the circuit was clearly bodged back and it looked bad. I never plugged it in again and it went back. Who was to blame for the amp? who knows... but it was not the paying customer that's for sure. Thanks...
I agree, Chinese tubes being cheap/bad/inferior is not necessarily true. It's an opinion, but they are definitely designed much better than vintage US tubes.
I can agree with that in some respects. Let me explain. What do I do for tubes? Well, it's simple. I go to tubeampdoctor.com and I buy tubes that are premium selected and fully tested and matched where necessary (even to the PI tube matching). Do I really care about the 'Chinese no brand' well it depends. When I see tubes without any real history in an amp, I always question them. When I buy premium selected, tested and matched by TAD tubes frankly I know that TAD often mark those tubes with their branding and often those came from China! So, what's the deal Tony? You say one thing and then do another? Well not really. You see, when I buy from TAD, I KNOW what they do with premium selected tested and matched tubes from personal experience; what about tubes inside this amp? Never heard of the brand, never know about the testing, never saw 'premium' anywhere or anything else. In the case of TAD, I KNOW that they extensively do what they say, and I know that the tubes that come to me have NEVER failed ever since I started using TAD many years back. Oh, the others? Well best of luck with those because they could be anything. From personal experience I have seen Chinese tubes fail, but never had a single TAD tube fail over very many years even though some are Chinese - reason is simple... TAD sorts the junk from the good stuff. But if you have a tube and you really don't know EXACTLY the truth of it in the sorting, selection, testing and matching then you have a recipe for failure. Just assuming they will be 'alright on the night' might be a bad option.
thankyou for the honest review sir!!!
Thanks.
Curious what tubes you prefer in an el84 12ax7 amp similar to this?
Thanks for sharing with us I really appreciate it!
This is a good question. In my experience of buying tubes (many brands) I have learned two things. If you want trouble free amplifiers get 1. Matched power amp tubes, and more importantly PREMIUM SELECTED tubes. Ensure you TRUST the seller and they are not just saying the tubes are like that. I have bought many from tubeampdoctor.com - they ARE expensive. However Over the years not a single tube bought in that way has ever failed. On the other hand, the 'stock' JJ in a Diezel Hagen (power tube) with about a few hours of use when I bought it glowed like a 100 watt bulb. Honestly I was so lucky to have saved the amp by turning off immediately. That's my experience and regardless really of brand - those steps really matter. Thanks.
Ill stick with my Bogners. Thats a quality you hear and feel.
Likewise.
I have had several Bogners and have had several Friedman’s. I’ll stick with my Friedman. The Bogner amps came broken twice. The Helios is not right in the eq section recently and has broken somehow. It also can be noisy re radio stations re as to where you live. It does take pedals well or I’d be in trouble. Some people love them. High input for me is a radio station. So low input and distortion pedals etc. fuzz or overdrive or rat pedals ate used. And it sounds great. Friedman I started with a PT too loud and not enough gain. Moved up to smallbox and it was fine but moved up to smallbox limited. Perfect. Extra gain and quiet. Great amp. Idk anything about this jj jr model.
lol
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 A Bogner over a Friedman.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Had a recent experience buying the Quad Cortex (brand new, of course). I turned it on and it had a dead pixel. I reached out to support and they advised that the "industry standard" from the supplier that makes the screens said that there's a "3-4 dead pixel tolerance" which means up to that point is not merited in a return to the supplier by the company.. So, they stated they were not able to provide a replacement. The unit also runs extremely hot.
I think I'm just going to save up for an Omega Granophyre amp, some pedals and a new cab and load box and call it a day.
Friedman is known for being great, but your findings of this particular amp is unfortunate.
Appreciate the videos as always!
Hmmm I will at some stage buy a Quad Cortex and review it. I have seen screen issues (not on that product) for a VERY long time going back to CRT screens :) and always they used to have screens with dimmed or failed pixels... it's nothing new believe me. But I would have thought that in this day and age that was a thing of the past. I have not seen any monitors for some years (and I see a lot) with dead pixels. My guess (and it is a guess) is that they might be restricted from the supplier of the screen. But in any case thanks for posting your experience with a product - and that ALWAYS matters as a real users opinion is better than some review that does not show the less than perfect results.
Sadly that is a Industry standard, even the highest end computer monitors can have 5 dead pixels without the manufacturer accepting you to returning it, but a dead pixel is most likely not a fault during manufacturing but shipping.
Thanks Tony, I have one of the Smallbox overdrives and love it. I was thinking of saving up to buy one of these, would have taken about a year. Maybe I won't now!
Someone somewhere knows about this amp. It did not just end up like that all by itself. For me it was the waste of time and effort and while I bought it to review, often I keep the gear I like. This one just had to go back - I would never have been happy. And it's a pity how this amp got to me through the maker AND the dealers hands. Of course they won't all be like this one I guess... but that's part of why actually posting this review that I stopped made sense later - it's not any particular maker really... every buyer should question what exactly they receive when they buy a new amp. Thanks.
@@tonymckenziecom that is exactly why I watch every video you release, I like to open any gear I buy, I want to see how well it was created, if it looks shody. I must say their pedals are excellent quality and not cheap for pedals, so sometimes you get what you pay for! I have noticed recently some other channels are now starting to show the guts of gear, so keep up the good work! Love your channel btw🤘
Well their other gear might well be fine... but no one ever mentions this stuff when you get a less than perfect one do they. It's why I started my channel because I was fed up with sales videos really. Always open up the gear because that's where they have the things they sometimes don't want you to see ;-). Ah copy cats :) well I have half expected that for years - but the real difference is, that theirs will ALWAYS be perfect, and mine will be the one you buy :). Thanks for watching.
Always go with point to point/hand wiring. I purchased my first real amplifier back in 1976, I got myself a brand new Fender Twin Reverb. All these years later I still have it and regularly use it. 40+ years of abuse and it still works just as it did when new. Back in 1976 I had to work three jobs to save up enough money for that amp, the extra cost I paid for the superior construction has obviously paid off. My advice, save up and buy quality and move away from today’s disposable consumerism.
Hi Tony, if Dave F gets wind of this, I'm sure he'll not be happy and will want to investigate/try and make amends. You should reach out to him. All the best.
Well it is what it is. The product was not right. For me as you might see in that review I was OK so far. The switch was the first problem and when I inspected the amp that actually (although I initially was being very kind about that) was the point that I decided that the review was basically over. I could no longer make a review that was what it should have been and I stopped. The dealers response was unhelpful (for the switch results) and that just cast further doubts when I saw the internal less than perfect secondary work. I returned the amp anyway but I did step back for a year before ultimately showing the video for reasons already explained. My guess is that between the maker and the dealer they should consider how that amp ended up in my possession as a brand new amp and address those problems because there clearly are some. Thanks...
To be honest, the pots and tubes are subjective and those are only my opinion - others have different views on that. But the concerning point is the internal condition of that amplifier as supplied to me as a 'brand new' amp from an 'authorised dealer'. Who knows how safe that amp was with a bodge inside? No one does - and certainly not the 'fanboys' and naysayers that don't care about safety. That is the thing... sold to a paying customer.
The EVH 5150iii is the way to go. The tone is awesome, & I'm sure you have heard the true 'horror stories' that Ed put the proto types through! They are supposed to be built to last. I love mine, & my Marshall JTM 30 & my Mesa Boogie Studio Caliber..
This guy got 2 broken 5150iii in a row ua-cam.com/video/HQH29TY5Zfg/v-deo.html . Yeah sure built to last ...
Yes, I followed your link and watched the video. The 5150 III Stealth I have here worked fine from brand new... and I did review that amp too. Clearly, he had two amp problems and he was right in making the video. Personal experiences are really the best reviews anyone could make good or bad. Thanks.
I bought the Friedman 3 channel amp. I couldn’t get a lead sound out of it to save me and took it back. For $3400.00 U.S. it better blow me away, not even close. For $850.00 u.s. I bought a EVH 50 watt and the lead channel is superb. You don’t even need a overdrive pedal. I’m now sporting a quad cortex that I’m actually liking a lot.
I live for these videos! Love them! Id love to see you take a look at some of my favorite amps! I love the Morgan AC20 as well as the EVH 5150 III 6L6! I’d be curious to know your thoughts on them!
I did order a 5150 III Stealth back in end of last year (I think) but here we are nearly in June 2021 and that amp is still not available. I did look at a Morgan some (many) years back and their build at that time was good... but I have not been back for some time. Maybe I'll find an 5150 Stealth at some stage and review it... seems like a plan :) Thanks for watching.
@@tonymckenziecom I hope you get that 5150 Stealth soon. They are great. TONS of gain. Too much really, on the red channel! All the metal players love these amps.
I will wait a while... they as I check today are still not here... Tanks.
@@tonymckenziecom Yeah, they can't seem to keep those things in-stock. They are the hot-ticket right now!
Aside from the burnt mustard cap from a soldering iron and some excess silicone bond, I came away pleasantly surprised at the build quality of this. We romanticize and rave over vintage handwired/PTP amplifiers of old and the best of these examples are indeed sight to behold and a testament to human engineering. But the truth is that quality control then was all over the place and there were far more duds being made before a modern manufacturing process allowed them to be more consistent. Without that, you very well may never have had access this American made amplifier. As true as it was then as it is now: any manufacturer is going to try to sweep minor defects under the rug due to greed and profit driven motives and yes we the consumer are obligated to call them out on it in hopes to improve the process and ultimately get what we pay for! Fortunately too, Friedman has a reputation for standing by his products and giving the consumer what they want which is pretty much all we can ask for of a high quality, high demand product
The board was burnt too. I did not expect this from what some call a 'premiere' amp maker to be honest. Your comments are reasonable too. Oh me? I have more USA quality amps than I can shake a stick at, and also other high quality amps from some of the worlds top makers so I'm reasonably well versed re quality in general. I'm sure other makers do sometimes do similar things with products and not just amps either. But it was a big disappointment receiving this brand as it arrived. I have also reviewed many of the other lower cost amplifiers from other makers including Hughes & Kettner, Marshall, PRS, and others which you would know by brand. Of all the amps none of them had anything remotely like this one did, and to be honest, while the design was not 'the best in the world' the PRS MT-15 at just £470.00 in the UK ate this featured amp for breakfast. The Studio series Marshalls also were substantially better than this amp. And that's a pity because with all the hype I read I expected something better. For my 'trouble' as a paying customer all I received from many was harassment and threats. Honestly that says it all and I for one will never even entertain this brand ever again. You made some good points and thanks.
@@tonymckenziecom it is such a wonderful thing when you offend fanboys of a certain product or brand. The only thing I've seen that will bring more vitriol your way is to make a comment about a coveted guitar player that may be viewed as not bowing to their almighty talent.
Sadly that is not why I make videos. It's not really 'me' that offends them, its the video content that might be hard to swallow for some. My videos tend to be reflective of what was SOLD TO ME. Thanks..
@@tonymckenziecom I wouldn't think it was your intention to upset the fanboys..... sometimes the truth just hurts. I enjoy your videos because they aren't filled with hyperbole and tend towards the technical aspects not just how cool, new or "can't live without it" the manufacturer wants you post or wishes you would.
Yes you get it I think :) I always show what I buy good or bad and thankfully mainly its good.
Tony it sounds like your JBE switch was definitely faulty because when you switch between the JBE and the BE channel there is a noticeable difference
Agreed. It was the very first thing I noticed and the first thing I did was to contact Peach Guitars in the UK - their dealer. They said it was basically normal as I described it and at that I hung up and carried on with the review. They were NOT aware that I was actually reviewing the amp. However, as the review proceeded (BTW not necessarily in the sequence shown on the video) and I looked inside my opinion spiraled. Watch that video and I was happy reviewing the amp... then later less so, but ultimately I was not prepared to do anything but send it back because at best that was all it deserved. So off it went :( I was disappointed about this amplifier and the way that it got past the maker and then the dealer. Had it not been me reviewing this amp likely someone would be sitting at home with it right now? Scarily maybe they are if the experience I had with it was to pass a second time. Thanks.
I have a JJ JR in my studio right now. It's been an awesome amp for the past year. As were the six other Friedman amps I've owned. I've had many Bogners, VHTs, Tone Kings, Bad Cats, Fenders, Marshalls, and many other large production to small builder one-offs over the past 36 years. I tend to get board after a while and sell/trade amps and guitars to try other things. For rock tones, I've never heard anything better, and most don't even come close. Even for cleans, the cleans on the BE Deluxe (59 watt version) or the Buxom Betty are almost as awesome as my Deluxe Reverb, Tone King Metro, etc. Everybody has their own opinion, but I think the title and premise of your video, and some of thre comments are beyond ridiculous... and it's obvious that some/many of them were comments of people who haven't owned this amp and may have sour grapes because they can't afford amps at this level. But hey... whatever floats your boat. My opinion is every bit as valid as any other here. But it's clear that I've personally amps that many here have notm, so at least I can directly compare them all, instead of relying on the opinions of others.
What makes YOU think I 'can't afford'? You know nothing about me? This at 13:09 is not an opinion - its a mess and it should never have been sold to anyone in that condition. Thanks.
Interesting video. I’d be interested if you did the same inspection of a Victory amp. I had one for a while and was very happy with it. Not that I’m an expert by any means but it felt as solid as a rock and built like a tank.
I don't have a Victory amp but have reviewed many amps in exactly the same way as I did this one.... thanks.
I’ve had it with new production amps. My best advice, learn how to build your own amps out of he components you choose. It’s an effort that pays off.
You're right Matt - and I have done that on a few occasions... strangely they all work too :)
Cmon man we all can’t build our own amps.
@@kcussrebutuemos4815 of course you can it’s not as hard as you think and it’s also incredibly fun and satisfying
The Friedman is marketed as "hand wired" amps implying its not some production amp but sadly marketing doesnt have to be honest anymore just attract the next sucker
Nothing beats a old 65 Fender Bassman or any 60s fender amp . I had a sheet metal shop in California and made chassis for high end audio company's and back then hand wired and heavy construction was the norm
But those don't cover all the tones sought by guitarists for more modern, high gain tones & styles.
I totally appreciate your review and mostly I agree with you! I use to work at Fender and other electronic companies in QC and assembly.. I'd like to share my observations on this examination. I'm not here to defend or support Friedman products, just share my opinions on some of your observations and conclusions. I have a bit to unpack, So, as you know most if not all electronic manufactures do their best to keep production cost under control. This usually means opting electronic components that will do the job and provide the desired result without excessive cost. Case in point, the Tube selections, if you talk to 5 musicians 2 or 3 will swear by replacing factory Tubes with Svetlana, Mullard, Groove Tubes, or what ever they fancy. The same goes for selected component swaps. One of your first observations were the block resistors on the PC board.. Yes! they WILL get hot, perhaps they could have been moved to the top side, or suspended off the board it's self to prevent fatigue.. and provide extra heat dispersal or ventilation.. Which , btw I didn't see any ventilation provided for the PC or "innards". The PC board touch up's could have been cleaner.. but up grades or repairs or component changes could have caused the post solider flow machine activity. The power and impedence switches secured with silicone is a wash to me considering they are only subject to being pushed towards the chassis and not pulled from it in anyway. These switches usually have compression clips that snap into place when installed, so I'm guessing the silicone is a long term preventative measure from clip failure. Alot of attention has been given to micro switch failure, the fact is that NO electronic or component is free from failure, and always sucks when it does! This happens in all levels and price point's and not reflect the over all quality of design or Shoddy Manufacture practices. This is why there is a Limited Manufactures Warranty, which covers the owner for a Limited time from the failure of certain components unless you drop it or run it with the wrong power or what ever is covered in the "boring" owners manual. I know, most of us just toss the manual and rely on our years ( or hours ) of experience to navigate our new precious toy! I recommend sucking it up and reading it first, but I'm kind of a nerd. However, I have played through this amp and quite like it... it is the best of both worlds, chimney cleans and roaring heavy overdrive, much more than I have experienced with other small format amps that have been coming out as for the last few years. It's so nice to go to a gig and not need a roadie to get a hand truck to move in your full size back breaker... Sure, you can pick anything apart, but manufacturers are not "out to get you" they want your business and your loyalty. Until the human element is reduced and Quality Control is given more control there is going to the occasional F'up's.. thanks for you time!
Hi Billy and thanks for this great post - its appreciated. I get the points you raised and I was surprised by this amplifier and how it was sold to me - getting past the maker, and then the dealer without an eyelid being batted. I have opened amps up for a long time and on YT since 2009 and I have never seen a single amp at any price that showed me anything like this amp was internally re the botch. Sure you are right there are simple things they could have done re the cement resistors (as indeed for example Marshall do and at half the price) but instead those resistors are there to cook. I never made this video to 'dig' at Friedman... I made the video to show what ANYONE could have received when buying one at retail prices from an authorized dealer. It was a sad situation and one I really did not anticipate. I understand that all makers want (and need) those sales of course, and coming from a technical sales background I know that gear can 'sneak' through. But sneaking through TWO experts one the maker and the other a dealer that clearly either had something to do with the problem, or simply never even looked at the amp becomes as you say a quality control problem. Unfortunately the quality control for the price of this amp in the UK should have been gold plated! I can buy a Marshall amp (certainly better than this sample from Friedman) for less than half the price with (compared to this one) a better world class tone. Had this amp been 'great' trust me I would have said so. Here's an amp that they should strive to achieve the quality and sound from: ua-cam.com/video/C4WLh0vYaIs/v-deo.html and thanks for this post - its a very reasonable comment.... have a great new year...
Thanks Tony for this review. This amp is not the organic tube tone I prefer. To much solid state transistor gain or something in the pre amp. To much dirt for my taste. The artist has to make a cut so they probably cut corners to make it. I have been looking at the Pink Taco. Supposed to be all hand wired. Have you looked at it? From the reviews I have seen, it's fantastic. Both sound and quality. I really want to get the Pink taco and give it a go. About the same price as the JJ. Just put an overdrive in front of it for lead and maybe a WAH and thats all. Love your reviews. Always honest and to the point.
From what I understand the Pink Taco (and I could be wrong) and another amp flipped when they released the second amp and that started to sell and the other did not (but I forget the other model). This amp is based on the 'runt' main board and what I would do if I was buying would be to try and see inside (google is a good tool) the prospective amp and see what's marked on the board. Then you can see further that any association with any other model might have and check up on that model too. I honestly don't know that much about the Friedman models so I'm a bit limited on those... this amp was to be the first one but I doubt I'll go back to the brand as I simply don't trust it any longer - or the dealer if the truth's known. Sorry I can't help more...
The pink taco is point to point wiring I have one and checked myself.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, EL84's don't need Biasing." You are wrong, all tubes need biasing. The question is does the amp have an adjustable bias? There are basically two ways a power tube are biased, fixed bias, and chatode biased. It may be that this amp has a chatode bias meaning as long as the replacement tubes are within specs no adjustments are needed. but just because you don't see a bias adjustment doesn't mean it doesn't need to be set. An Amp tech would be good place to take your amp if those things are not clear to you.
Then of course its Cathode biasing - seems common these days in the low wattage amps and even the little Marshall Studio SV20, the SC20 and even the little 2525X is cathode biased. So is my Bogner Brixton. My comment referred to there being no simple user bias adjustment - 'so it does not need biasing' as most ordinary viewers understand it as they are not particularly technical. But corrected from my comment in the video I have been... you got me :) Sadly it seems this amp was at some stage the result of some amp tech (maybe or not) faffing about (at the very least). Personally I prefer to do my own stuff on my tube amps as many videos I have created show... and I'm STILL alive ;-) But even a minion like me never cocked up any of my amps in the way this one was sold to me. I'm the first to agree that anyone that could be injured by being inside an amp and they have no experience should take it to a qualified repair centre. That makes perfect sense for sure. Thanks...
All that and we don't even get to hear it once? Sheesh.
This video was all about how an amp was sold that was supposed to be quality... Oh you missed that? Well to be honest that is exactly what is wrong with many out there... they can't be a***d to actually even acknowledge the real problem with this Friedman amp sold as new and swiftly sent back. Thanks.
Thanks for the honest video. For the money these are getting this should be quality piece of gear. It's interesting how many are making excuses for the amp. It is what it is.
I expected it to be great! The video shows what I received no more and no less. Disappointing and I ended the review and returned the amp. Other amps might well be different of course and my video relates to this amp only.
Very interesting review, I have one and I am pretty happy with it, the JBE switch works with mine but what I find pretty annoying is the scratchy noise the presence knob does, although they warn you on the manual about it.
Quite pricey but in my opinion I like the sound it gives me in both channels.
In regards of your issue with it I would have done the same.
Thanks Bohr. I never have commented on other amps from Friedman and I'm sure they make amps that are not like the one I received. Seems yours is great and that was what I expected really. For a review I WANTED the amp to be great! but sadly this one was not. Some criticise me for posting the review (well turned out half a review) but it was a fair reflection of what I received. Tubes and caps etc. are subjective and what one guy likes another does not and that's OK. But the inside for me was the reason it went back. Thanks.
Old school presence knobs can make scratchy noises because there is voltage on the pot.
It is really sad and it also kind of makes me feel disgusted whenever I see a product from a company with a good reputation and which is marketed as being high end is actually cheaply manufactured. I agree that all of these things matter and it just shows they were only interested in reducing production cost. I would not trust those Chinese caps either, they will likely blow up or leak at some point. That soldering looked terrible. It wouldn’t surprise me if the PCB was also made in China.
For an amp that costs this much it is just disingenuous. I hate the idea of someone unknowingly spending that much for that quality.
It is weird that the JBE switch did not do anything either. Could have been a flaw somewhere. I know that Friedman makes good amps and pedals but maybe they decided to skimp on this one.
I wanted the amp to be great! And to be honest the components were reasonable. I expected higher quality but that was OK really. The switch seemed to be like it was part working at something like 10 or 20% and I don't know why. But I did ask the authorised dealer and they told me it was working correctly. I did not really believe that. But later after the cursory overview of inside, I saw the sort of bodge that someone had carried out then I was extremely concerned about that. I honestly did not expect to see that. Who did it I don't know. The amp was sold to me as brand new by an authorised dealer so I had some thoughts that their credibility for support would be OK. Overall on this amp I questioned their role and then boxed the amp up for return - because in the UK the seller is responsible for warranty. I bought this amp because of Friedman's reputation also and they seemingly do have a good reputation. But not for me on this amp. I posted the video really to show that whatever the reputation or the size of a maker basically for any product, it's simply wrong to assume that what you receive is what it should be. In this case it was far from it. The problems could be anywhere, the maker, the dealer or whatever else, but all I know is that if someone else bought this very amp and they never opened it, then there could be questions of reliability and safety especially with that horrible work inside. However, it did seem to me at the time that whoever was responsible was authorised to do it.... it spoiled what would have been a pretty good review and turned it in to something that some don't like and criticise me for (the customer rather than the culprit!) but I did not create the problem - someone else did. It should never have left the dealer. Thanks for your comments... and well thought.
@@tonymckenziecom it is unfortunate that this amp had such issues with it and the quality did not look as good. I am actually a fan of Jerry Cantrell and I like his guitar tone and I know he would only use something of good quality. There is a full size version of this amp that is 100W (JJ-100) and I wonder if that has any similar issues? I am guessing the JJ-100 probably doesn’t have these issues and it is possible only the JJ jr is like this just to reduce cost.
I think Friedman is a good company and they have a lot of interesting and great sounding amps. The BE100 looks to be great and the Butterslax is interesting too (Bill Kelliher signature). I don’t have any Friedman amps and I have not actually played any, but I do have a pedal. I have the Buxom Boost and it is a great pedal, and they make other really good “amp in a box” type of overdrive and distortion pedals. I have opened up the buxom boost pedal and it looks to be well made. It actually uses a PCB with the same black soldermask as I see in the JJ jr in this video. This makes sense since they probably source all their PCBs from the same vendor. It would be interesting to know where those PCBs are made. Black soldermask PCBs tend to be associated with high end production, but the color doesn’t really mean anything. But it looks like the traces on the PCB are good and it is laid out well.
I think that they just decided to reduce cost by using cheaper components in this particular model. I am guessing that the more expensive JJ-100 may use better components. Where I see problems is definitely the power supply capacitors and the poor soldering work.
I just would not write off Friedman as a whole just for this particular model.
I definitely appreciate that you did this video because nobody else would even have the patience or forethought to show the inside and analyze the quality and construction like you did. This is a real service I believe. I don’t see it as a slight against Friedman at all. I just would not get the JJ jr if it were me, but I may consider other amps or pedals from them.
My 'guess' is that the more expensive amps are handled differently. For me, I expected better than what I received in a brand new amp from an authorised dealer. From what I see, it seems this is the 'only' bad amp they ever sold according to some on here (I don't believe that of course - all makers sell some less than perfect amps) but I was very surprised to see this as shown on the video. I thought I would review a 'brand' with what seemed like a reasonable product but later I found that was not really the case for this one. Factually I have never really commented about the quality of the other amps - this is the one I bought and it is my experience of the purchasing chain and the overall of what I was supplied. Had it been 'great' I would have said so but alas that was not to be. Thanks for watching and I appreciate your quality response especially when some on here are rude, arrogant and some disregard safety issues as though they were a tax bill. Thanks.
Hi Tony, sorry about your experience with the JJ amp, we are all searching for a special tone to satisfy our Sonic ambitions, some times we approach it and sometimes not. It is difficult to maintain the Sonic experience we want even with the amps the we have and dig because Conditions are for ever changing such as Temperature and and environmental changes such as current/ voltage, when we run different tubes. The manufacturers have got us all chasing 🐉 dragons. Think back to how the original rock artist were they embaced there mistakes that's what made them good,PS I hope that we never stray from the path of righteous tone. Have fun. Keep on rocking. Very best wishes. John.
Friedman JJ Jnr amp! Of course you are right about amps especially tube amps. I have more than 20 tube amps still. Occasionally I will buy a new amp - as this one was - and I keep the ones I like and sell a different one. But they all sound different enough to keep them. I think that re the tones of a tube - take the EL84's in here - I have no real determination of different tone between brands (hardly), but the reliability is what does it for me. I have learned that 'selected' tubes are far less liable to failure than the regular every day tubes that we all see (often far cheaper for non-selected tubes). Some guys hear everything including different brands of tube - they clearly have 'bat ears' :) but my ears are well worn through historical loud amps and I'm less susceptible to different tones by brand. But great point you made there and thanks for watching John ;-)
A comment regarding the valve choice. It is easy to get whatever one wants when building one amp, but when manufacturing a large run of them, it's all about balance and tradeoffs. Which ones, out of the ones you can actually obtain in a required quantity, sound the best for your money. This applies to every brand. I have no doubt that someone with the tone reputation as Dave Friedman has meticulously compared everything that was available and that this was the best choice. Undoubtedly if you invest into a handful of high quality NOS replacement valves the tone will improve. This should be understood for any but the custom shop hand made amps on the market.
Great points. In my own experience I find that the real 'secret' to great tubes is actually NOT where its made, but those are achieved by firstly the selection, the burning in and premium matching. I use TAD tubes (you might know of them) and they match perfectly and also I have never had a single TAD Premium matched and selected tube fail ever. TAD ARE available to people like Friedman of course and many other companies do use TAD premium selected and burned in tubes. Thanks for the info and its always useful...
People bash the shit out of Bugera for this same kind of quality but they'll go like "damn this thing is beautiful" on JJ.
Someone will knock every brand of course that's the way the internet is. However, this video shows a real problem on this amp as supplied new at 13:09. I don't knock many amps actually in reviews as most are supplied as they should be but this wan was horrible on the board. Thanks.
All tubes need biasing but EL84's are often cathode bias so won't need to have bias adjusted like fixed bias tubes that sometimes have bias controls.
It looks like the two ceramic 1K resistors and the cap at the side (between v4 & 5 and bottom think they're the el84's) may well be in parallel for 470 ohm, a common value for cathode bias, with the bypass cap being at the side.
Interesting video as usual and great to see inside :) All good so far :)
Thanks James for the info... and indeed they are EL84's. Thanks for watching.
Why would you not have any playing to show how it sounds? That to me is concerning. Either way thanks to you for such an in depth analysis
Well, the video is not always completed in sequence. In fact I played this amp first BEFORE the review and immediately noticed the Cantrell switch did near enough nothing. I questioned the dealer (also before shooting anything) and their nonchalant answer of 'nothing wrong with it - that's how they are' seemed a little out of place at the least. But when the amp was opened later the cameras were there and you see what I did. Nothing concerning about any of that, and should I plug in an amp that looks like this one in the review? Of course not. Ultimately I stopped once sense came back in to my head and that amp had to be returned. I was so surprised about the whole thing. My two SC* Marshalls cost typically £700 here and they ate this amp for breakfast and had zero issues. In fact in those reviews I think I even referenced this amp. I really wanted to create a good review of this amplifier - as you might guess through the review of what is here - but I honestly could not do it... it would be misleading to my viewers to do that. And bear in mind Wyatt that I actually paid for the amp under review - no free stuff going on here. I hope that helps a bit with the logic of why there is no recorded playing... I virtually always record playing last. Thanks for watching.
BS!
I don't BS on here... are you on the wrong channel? I think so.
Thanks for the video. For the past few days I have been seriously considering buying this amp. Think I'll put a hold in that for now, and look into some other options. Glad you put this up before I made the purchase. Appreciate all the info I can get.
Well this was bought brand new. Who knows the story except the authorised dealer and/or Friedman. I can't tell. But I was not happy with this amp for sure. Thanks for watching.
@@tonymckenziecom
Yep. Ultimately my call. Glad to hear anyone's thought.
I enjoy watching all of your reviews, great insight into how they are made, well done
Thanks for watching...
Tell 'em, Tony! This is why I am subbed to your channel. I had a bad experience with a PRS MT15 amp and should have done a video on it. Noise on top of Noise, even on standby! Anyway, it went back to the supplier. I'll stick with my old triple rectifier! Cheers!
I would only ever report what I find - otherwise there would be no point in the review. And of course as an owner that bought the amp at UK prices. Sounds bad re the MT15. I had one of those (you might have seen the re=view on my channel) and it was great... and reasonably made too. That amp put this one here to shame. But there again, this is the worst amp I have ever bought new. Ah the triple rectifier - at least you know what you're getting :) I love those amps too and recently bought a dual rec new. Now that's quality! Thanks for watching.
It’s a shame that your MT15 was faulty. I have one from the first run and it’s quiet as all can be. Very solid little amp. No unwanted noises from anywhere. However, it’s cases like this that FULLY support Tony’s case here. First run quality control being left up to the consumer is a bad practice. Although, it doesn’t stop these brands from making a boat load of cash letting us sort through the garbage for them.
No video showing the jbe not working? I’m confused
I did answer this in the texts... but basically the amp was played immediately on receipt BEFORE any video was recorded - video is not always shown in the same timings as recorded and are sometimes out of order. After finding the inside as it was, I did not feel very safe in plugging in an amp with that sort of insides just to show a switch that did not work correctly. That's the reason and thanks.
Dang, I've been loving this amp, I really like the way it sounds. After watching (most) of this video, pulled the chassis out and saw a few things that don't look quite right. Didn't pull the board out, but some of the little circular pads where some of the component's are (most noticabley some of the big caps) don't seem to have a bunch of solder on the bottom, guessing this is a wave soldered board? Don't really mind about the tubes, they sound good and I have a bunch of NOS I can switch if any go bad. My amp looks pretty much the same as yours, I got it about a year ago.If something happens with it, looks like it would be easier to fix than the Mesa Mk 5 25 I sold to get this. Have a 50 watt JMP ML II for backup and if that fails a 78 Peavey Backstage (a last last resort!). Thanks for an awesome video.
Well most amps have little bits of things going on in general, but the repair at 13:09 was what made me stop the review there and then. Back it went. A failure at some time in the future could happen with some amps or even most IMO, but its all dependent on when... and I decided that for the £1400 ($2k) this amp should not have been sold to me. So off it went back. Thanks for the info and for watching...
Hi Lewis... Bill here, I left a response earlier to this observation.. it's up top. I want to assure you that there is nothing "wrong" or "dangerous" with this amp. If you ask an amp tech. to identify (on nearly any amp) suspicious manufacturing or poor component placement, ultimately they will find something. Everyone of them will have preference as to how something should be done, or how they would do it. I hope you read or will read my response and please trust that the amp would have never left the floor if it had a legit problematic issue. After all they have a Brand to protect. I have the same amp, and it's similar in some respects, but noting I haven't seen before, but it also sounds Fantastic! That's the reason they sell like hotcakes! Enjoy!
Well Billy - yours might be 'fine'. And yours might sound great.... mine was neither, and if you are seriously interested in commenting about the horrible way that this amp was supplied to me in a terrible condition with components burned and botched back on the board then maybe you should address the botch rather than the other items that 'might' be construed as 'techy' stuff. Fact is that there is NO EXCUSE for selling me an amp that was clearly pretty grim ( 13:08 ) and I fail to find ANYONE that could successfully defend an amp sent out to an end user in that condition as this amp clearly was. Thank you for your post but please do understand that I BOUGHT that amp and thankfully RETURNED IT once I saw the internal botch as shown at 13:08 - while you might be entirely 'happy' with something like that, my own opinion differs somewhat - and because I bought the amp and not you, sadly its MY opinion of MY purchase that really mattered. Thanks.
@@tonymckenziecom Wellll Tony... It is a drag that you got a head that clearly missed QC or was done on friday after the tech took a 420 break, but As I mentioned in a previous reply, My only interest was to ease the concerns to those that may have been left with the final conclusion / impression that all products coming out of the Friedman factory were sloppy or substandard or rubbish... It's just not true! Some it just plain sloppy, and some components are cost vs. performance vs. overall price. I would easily estimate that 98% are better examples. and will have a long and health life! 🙂I truly meant no disrespect and I believe what your doing is relevant... And were about the same age, and have been playing guitar since we were kid's and we've seen a few things... So you know this example is not the rule. And I totally get your frustration, it's happened to me, a couple times and not pleasant! :-( Funny story, playing a show in San Diego in the early 80's, I have just bought a Sunn Model T (remember those!) brand new... they had stellar reputation, I even bought a new road case for it! Anyway, about 20 min. into it, I noticed the power dropping, the bass player was screaming at me "your amps on fire" !!!! I looked back and could see through the grill, flames shooting out of the middle of the power tubes! My quick thinking roadie grabbed the fire extinguisher and turned my amp and cab into a Snow man! Lol.... I might add, this was towards the demise of Sunn before Fender bought them out, but still! fortunatly Sunn retuned my cash as I only had it a few days.. the other time it was a Vox, (sorry) I had repaired and went on my merry way! So my point is Manufactures just don't have a 100% batting average, and imo never will.. Having said that, I did'nt want the overall take away being Friedman generally ships product with these issues that you have pointed out.... however, "with all due respect" some are imo just a little rough.. and that's ok! Like tubes.... some, if not the majority of end users are perfectly satisfied with Electo Harm. which are widely used and common fair in most amps and related products. They do the job and are fairly robust and have a fair life expectancy. But is that a point of substandard quality /performance or somthing left to the end user to decide to replace with his/her own preference or brand? Of which there many to choose from. And then how many are actually going to identify a substantial difference? I guess my point is that it is what it is and shit happens, and in the prophetic words of the late Michel Jackson: One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch!
Thanks for your service, and your site!!
Hey Billy... actually I for one have NEVER said that all Friedman stuff is 'sloppy or substandard rubbish'. That is not the case. I have seen rubbish from many suppliers over the years and it certainly does not mean that its all the same for every product. It's OK Billy I don't take your post the wrong way and I actually liked your post because you have added to the general conversation which is important to me. I was sad when I removed the amp out of the case - honestly I was - I spent the money and it was not really a cheap amp (at least here in the UK). Ha SUNN well I never saw those here in the UK so I only really have little to say about them except that Hendrix walked from them to Marshall :) Sounds like your SUNN (dare I say it) was cookin :) Oh I'm like you - in general I don't get too many 'bad' things... I had a Peavey 'Mace' back in the day - 160 watts of pure pain :) especially turned up... but even more so when the power tube mounting board was cooked and started to disintegrate over time. Ha they mounted the power tubes upside down on a board. I ALWAYS remember the Peavey Mace. I have had some other amps with weird things going on and sometimes builds that needed much to be what I might call an amp... some stuff really not good. In general though as I see them now, amps (for example) have seemingly tended to come down in quality (for some) because the designs and components are more geared to price rather than long term robust use. Notice the power is dropping because of less ability to play 100 watt amps without getting in trouble. Seems to me that many are migrating to smaller venues, studios or indeed bedrooms. A sign of the times for sure. Here in the UK right now I can't even buy many amps like Mesa Boogie and since way back last year I doubt there is a single Badlander for sale here. But there are other products suffering too and my guess is the components shortages (and chips) the current lockdowns in China (very concerning) and things like makers being 'bought out' probably as a result of the covid thing going on over those recent years. Overall a complete mess. One thing I can say about the amp I received is this - if it was good I would have said so absolutely. I was just a customer... but anyone could have bought that amp just as I did (and scarily they might own it right now) and there was no doubt that the tones from the 'JJ' bit were not what I expected - there was something wrong with it (I did not record them but I wish I had) - so much so that I questioned the dealer about the 'JJ' switch. In any case it is a good post you made and I for one appreciate it... BTW the best built amp I have ever seen is this one I reviewed a while ago and it was honestly exceptional! ua-cam.com/video/C4WLh0vYaIs/v-deo.html Check it out and see what you think... But of course it had an exceptional price tag too :). Thanks.
I felt relatively the same about this amp. Ended up with the SCH20, got it back in ‘19. Put Mullard EL34 in and am happy
Thanks for the post - and for watching...
The silicone reminds me of the SLO 30 I had.
I saw something similar on the Fractal Audio FX V2 and if I remember V3... but never seen anything like that on a Marshall amp for example, or Diezel, H&K etc. Thanks...
Glad I bought the prs mt15 for 700
The switches are most likely siliconed in because they are really meant to only go through a thin piece of sheet metal and lock in. With the added thickness of the face plate they probably stayed in most of the time but may have popped out occasionally so they siliconed them in. As for being an amp manufacture making you rich. Good luck. I built a number of amplifiers in the early 2000's as I wanted to start an amp company. After paying the ridiculous prices for quality transformers and hand wiring them there was very little profit left. In fact I realized if I wanted to build them old school I would have to charge so much no one would buy one. They sounded amazing but cost an extreme amount of money to build and that was in 2001. Imagine how much worse the situation has gotten now with even less suppliers available! Pedals are where the money is. Guitar tube amplifiers use components that are almost no longer available because tubes use super high voltage and almost everything in them is a boutique item that is becoming more hard to find and expensive daily. Many transformer companies in the USA either went out of business or don't sell transformers for tube equipment because NO ONE needs or buys them anymore but guitar players and a few audiophiles. It is very hard unless you are a huge company with massive borrowing power to even build tube amplifiers at a high level. The money required to acquire the needed components and set up a manufacturing facility is unreal and that initial cash outlay is before you even sell one! If you did make a bullet proof old hand wired amp and you were a small business you would never survive. People would not pay enough money for them to make you successful. It's far more nuanced than you make it out to be in your video as if it is 1964 and capital is plentiful and so is good quality parts for tube amps. You will see less and less of them in the future. It just doesn't make sense to even try it anymore for the most part. Unless you have tons of capital and don't mind making an almost non existent profit margin. P.S. I don't have a Friedman amp. I still build all my own. But just for myself. So I have no dog in this fight. I'm guessing they are trying to survive as best they can as prices for components go up. There really isn't as much profit as you think in building a high end tube amplifier. You would be very surprised how much it actually costs after all your bills, labor, boxing and shipping to turn a profit. It is actually very hard and will just get harder.
Hi RC... you know, you make so many valid points and I agree with most of that. I have been (was) in a different sector of manufacturing since 1985 and even at one stage owned 1/4 of a Singaporean manufacturing base which was sold a long time ago. Personally I am well aware of the costs involved (particularly in the far east) and labour etc. Ha and even today I am more than aware of the current chip problems with supplies as that impacts my business daily. Certainly I would not want to be involved in the music gear manufacturing of any kind particularly with China becoming more and more involved and with improving products all the time. But you know, I love to review gear, and I have seen some incredibly well made gear over the years and some of the finest guitar amps (as well as great low cost ones too). This particular amp by the time its here in the UK is around £1400 (or about $1900) and that is (just trust me on this) a high price to pay for a 20 watt amp with the sort of components it has inside. I did expect to see quality in this amp but alas this one was way below my expectations... not really because of parts, but because of the internal bodge that had gone on and that the Cantrell circuit/switch was barely useable. You don't buy a Cantrell amp where the switch is inoperable or maybe at 10% - that's a horrible situation. And for the life of me, no matter how I try, the problem lies with either the authorised dealer or the maker or both. It seemed to me that the QA did not exist. And that's a pity. What is worse for us in the UK is that we can buy a really well made amp from Marshall for just £700 ($1100) without issues and without bodges that this reviewed amp has. Trust me on this, had the amp been great then I would have said so. In any case thanks for that insight in to the amp makers world and that's a great post that you made. Thanks...
@@tonymckenziecom I liked your review. I like your no nonsense nature. Just sharing my opinion. I think they are cutting some corners and you made an honest video on it. Thanks for the response. I subbed. Cheers!
Someone somewhere knew about that amp as supplied to me. Some don't like it when I show what I bought - but I do that with every brand not just one. Unfortunately in this case the amp was horribly bodged inside and after completing most of a review I decided that I could not offer this as a review any more - but rather as a document to show my experience from an authorised dealer as a paying customer when buying an amp. Sadly in this case the amp was not as it should have been... so I sent it back. I always recommend that guys at least just to take a look inside any product just to ensure there is nothing amiss or even dangerous - who knows what can happen. I'm not sure they are 'cutting corners' myself - it looks like someone somewhere either 'repaired' or modifier this amp in a really bad way. It could be the authorised dealer or even Friedman but I'll never know. The important thing is that this amp went back partly because I could not be sure exactly how safe it really was. Not the way to receive a 'brand new' amp - which is what I bought. Thanks....
I had to open mine up yesterday as the tip of my guitar lead got stuck in the input jack and I didn't encounter any of the problems mentioned in this video, it's a great amp
Sadly, this one was not like yours. Questionable how this was sold like it was. Thanks.
It would be interesting to see how this amp compares to a Bugera. Have you ever reviewed a Bugera? I’d be interested in that.
I don't have a Bugera... :( but if I find one.... :) Thanks.