I often wonder why people put attenuators on Plexi Type Amps that come with Master Volumes, like the Suhr SL-68, and the Friedman BE-100 Deluxe. I already know that the Marshall SLP 1959 doesn't come with a Master Volume, therefore, it needs to be attenuated so it doesn't knock your walls down, and crack your windows. Going back to my question, why do Plexi Style Amps, that come with Master Volumes need to be attenuated, since the Master Volume attenuates them, so why would they wantingly and voluntarily choose to spend alot of money on an attenuator, when they have a Master Volume that can do the same thing. Many people, these days, buy the Oxbox which at, 1k isn't cheap. Can Somebody Please Answer My Question, So I can make sense out of it, since I've been wondering for years, the answer to it. I own a Friedman BE-50 deluxe, with a 0 loss effects loop. All you do is engage the effects loop, on the back of the amp, and use the Return Level button, and it works just as well as any attenuator would work..In fact, you can get a high level of gain tone, at a bedroom volume..I would never sell my Friedman BE-50 Deluxe Amp and my Friedman 4x12 cabinet, since I had to take a 4 year payment plan to be able to get that rig, being that it's cost was close to 5k.
Sonny Seabury Hey man! How are you? Marshall amps are “old school” amps, made to be pushed hard on tubes, with opened Master and a pretty loud sound. That’s when the beauty comes out. If you use them at low volumes you won’t get the “classic” Marshall tone. It only comes alive when you push those tubes. But..... Some other amps have better Master Volume and can sound pretty good at low volumes. Friedman is probably the best Master Volume I ever tried. If you check my channel, there are some Friedman videos and some of them were recorded in low volumes (1 or 1,5) at my apartment.
@@jupitermoongauge4055 that's basically a tele. Teles and Les Paul's are the same except teles stay better in tune with the tradeoff of whimpier tone for today's kids.
I’ve loved Marshall 50 watt amps since I was a kid. The Friedman small box plexi channel is amazing. I love to see the suhr sl 67 50w versus the small box plexi channel, versus a real 50w plexi. Great video, thanks!
I own a Marshall 1959HW and a Suhr SL-68. I have Master Volumes on both and they both need it. They are by far my favorite of all amps. The Suhr covers a slightly different landscape than the Marshall but I am hooked on both like crack-cocaine. If I had to choose only one it would be the Marshall but I don't have to and I can't so I will always have both...
Great demo as usual Jack. In my 40 years of messing with NMV, MV, and modern Marshalls I find the speakers and VOLUME (i.e. how jacked up the speakers are) are more key to the "plexi sound" (or any tone) than how particularly accurate the amp circuit is. The original SLP reissue from Marshall is actually the circuit from a JCM800 era 1959 (and the "plexi" 1987X and later XL is from 72-73 metalface ) The Handwired version is slightly tweaked to smooth it out but it's still more aggressive like the last runs of the non reissue 1959s. And of course there were so many circuit and speaker changes between Marshall and Celestion throughout the 60s, 70s, etc. For your test,- The Suhr is probably the most accurate (and sweetest sounding) circuit , the Friedman sounds like a echoplex type pre-amp is in front of it. But I like that aggression of the actual Marshall. Rock & Roll
Great comments. Attenuation changes things too. Yes, it allows the amp to open up, but you're not pushing the speakers the way they should be pushed to get THAT tone. To me the Marshall sounds most authentic. The Suhr and Friedman are great amps, but they are what they are...one person's interpretation (with their tweaks) of a Plexi.
damn, is it just me or this dude one of the raddest guitar players ever?! some seriously amazing wizardry happening. props! great review/comp of these amps!... my fave is the Friedman.. WANT!
The Marshall has THE tone, with the Suhr being a close second (particularly with the Strat). The Friedman is an amazing amp, but it didn't sound like a plexi to me. Great vid.
You have that spot on my friend, I own the Ultimate Marshall..not to be confused with the standard 410 I have the JS 410....and that gives me ALL of the plexi tones plus one of the best clean channels out there today bar none....I will put it up against any other amp..I have owned Plexi's and was really fond of my mid sixties BUT I couldn't get that sound again until NOW///so here is my take, all these botique amps have one Mantra..."And it sounds just like a Plexi"....think about that for a moment....accept no substitute Marshall has and is the industry standard for tone PERIOD!
Darth Slater Pretty much what Malcolm Young said, all these makers were going to him to use their amps and stating they sounded like a Marshall, his response well I own Marshalls.🤷♂️
They only made a limited run and go for more now than new but the Marshall YJM100 does everything I want a "Plexi" to do. It's biggest selling point was the built in attenuator so you can get that sizzle and sag without having the police show up. It has YNG's fav od built in but throw any number of the hundreds of ODs in front and you can go from 70s to 80s. Very warm full clean channel.
I love Y'all's You Tube Channel from England. My name is Sonny, and I live in New Orleans, La USA. Y'all have amazingly talented guitar players on your channel that inspire the hell out of me. Thanks for the hard work y'all do to get these amazing videos out.
And i also appreciate it! I’m currently on the fence between a 59HW and a 1987x. It appears the 87x would be much less problematic volume wise,but the 59HW sound wise is the king of this rocknroll era!
Marshall or Suhr for classic tones & the Friedman all the way for the hot rod tones & versatility. My favorite part though is Jack’s playing, this guy is one hell of a great guitarist!
The Marshall was the most colored .. The different sonic signatures of the Strat and Les Paul took a back seat to the unique and great sound that this amp is known for. The Suhr was similar but perhaps a bit more neutral. The Friedman was the most neutral and perhaps due to its versatility, could even match the unique sonic signatures of both the Marshall and the Suhr. This was not revealed. It would be interesting if the review could be extended( part2) by trying to adjust the Friedman to sound like the other two.
Man the Friedman sounds awesome! It doesn't seem to have the aggressive highs of the Plexi and a really nice gain structure... especially with the Strat. Sounds killer. haven't really thought about ...till now ;) Great Video, fun to watch! Nice playing and explanation!
Such a tough choice, they all sounded great! Great playing as ever Jack! The Friedman is definitely the most versatile but any of these amps would be a great choice!
Surprised to say Marshall first for me here . The hardest to "tame" for sure, but the harmonic complexity. It's just got something extra. All great though + would love to have heard this properly in the room!
Marshall all the way. It has the waywardness you need to fight to control delivering a blank canvass so you sound like yourself while having to work hard to improve your skills. This makes it a keeper, constantly interesting, like a great guitar. The others have been 'tamed' into a pre packaged sound, losing the very essence of what has made Marshall a verb.
Couldn't have agreed more, exactly how I feel about them. The more you use the Marshall the more you find these lovely little nuances about them. With the other two, they might wow you when you first plug into one but after a while they start to sound bland and predictable. You gotta earn playing the Marshall, it is a hard beast to master.
Have you ever played the Suhr?!? Are you guys for real.. the SL68 is a real deal Super Lead with 69 specs thats even closer to the ones back in the day.
The Suhr has the sonic edge to my ears - it's just more 'pleasing'. YMMV. Would love to try this test myself at some point. Great playing and touch as always, Jack.
All three amps sounded amazing with both the Strat and LP. Since the Friedman amp is more versatile in features and tone switching, that's the one I'd get. Excellent work on the guitars Jack. You never cease to amaze me with your creative phrasing on the fret board.
@@cardbored_ I know it's different there. But if it wasn't obvious by my use of euro, I'm not in the states - so my comment still stands that the Friedman is pretty hugely overpriced compared to Marshall here.
@@cardbored_ Maybe. But I think the vast majority of people agree that 5.4k is too much for an amp, no matter how good it is. 2.1k is a bit more affordable, still a good amount of money though, but way more attainable. A better choice would be the 20W Marshall Studio series. They're only 900€.
A little Love Her All I Can never hurts. All of these sound great, but I’m a Friedman fan. Suhr products are wonderful but Dave really has perfected what are the wonderful aspects of the best Marshall imo. Nice playing throughout btw!
You were ONE of my favorite players on UA-cam. Then you played Kiss on that Suhr. Now you are my favorite player on UA-cam! Nice job. They all sound great.
What a really great demo, your brilliant playing and choice of things to play showed each of these fantastic amps at their best. My choice would be the marshall, it seemed bigger with a little more cut, but everyone is different! they all sounded great. Most enjoyable demo I've seen in a good while, thank you!
Thanks so much I prefer the friedman. I love the marshall tone but friedman takes the edge off. It's just a little bit more refined but still keeps the marshall tone and with all the options you'd have to be able to dial in to your hearts desire. Thanks again I was on the fence but thanks to your video I've made my decision.
One the greatest vidéo I've seen for a long time... Super interesting ! And great playing, as always ! What about a next vidéo with a comparaison between a real AC 30 and other AC style amps (Matchless, Morgan)? Cheers from Belgium
In my opinion the Marshall 1959HW is the best sounding Amp from these 3 Amplifiers. The others are more expsiver than the Marshall but I think they is something to missing of sound. They are good sounding Amps too but there is something the miss.
I have the Marshall 1959hw and gotta say it's the best one to my ears in this comparison. It's not even close. It's the "cleanest" "most dynamic" example the responds to how hard you hit the strings the best. I've also been going back and forth on getting the fryette power station or the boss tube amp expander. I'm leaning towards the TAE because of the extra features you get for a little more $$$. I'm curious to hear other opinions on the two attenuators
All great amps. If you want that pure, unadulterated sound and feel, the Marshall is by far the winner even though it is the hardest of the three to master. While I was a huge fan of Friedman amps a few years ago and owned a Dirty Shirley and a BE-50, all they did were slowly but surely steered me into the path of replacing them with Marshalls. Friedmans are better sounding amps compared to Marshall right out of the box, but they lack the small details of the real deal (some of which can be annoying, but they add to the overall experience lol). Most importantly to me the Friedmans lack of some sparkle in the top end, especially when you A/B them with the JTM-45 or a 1959SLP, as if you put a blanket over the cab. They can have a more 'produced' sound which can sound better to you when you plug into one but the excitement fades after a while, whereas with the Marshalls I keep finding small things about them that I love as I play them more. Full of character. The video also mentioned the costs here, where Friedman costs 2.2 and the Suhr costs 1.8 times as much as the Marshall, although I'm from the school of thought that you should get what sounds and feels best to you with reasonable disregard to the price as it will last you a lifetime.
Great plexi tone with the Marshall and Suhr, but dont beleive the BE100 fit in this category since the design is a heavy mode of a 2203 base on Josee Arrondondo marshall mods. Circuitry is very different
This guy is the best salesman on You Tube. None of the crap like Danish Pete and The Captain. They fancy themselves comedians and for a Yank from NYC I don’t have the time for that.
How did you have the power section shaping controls on the Friedman set? There’s a lot of variation there...makes a world of difference depending on how they’re set.
Friedman BE100 Deluxe, then again I'm kinda biased owning one :-) These amps are all great and anyone would be lucky to have one. A nod in the Friedman's favorr is that it has an effects loop whereas the Suhr and Marshall do not. Players who use time-based effects will find this very welcome.
You wouldn't want an effects loop in a marshall since all your tone is from power tube breakup. The loop in a fryette PS2 or boss tae is the ideal option.
Boy, that Suhr sounds good. John Suhr accomplished what you stated he was after with his design - what the Marshall should have been. His amp is a full-tilt nod to Marshall, with the modern smooth to edgy sounds that totally satisfy. BUT ..... that BE100 is pretty special too ... that amp would be hours & hours of fun in the tone-searching dept.
I own both Marshall and Friedman. Its no contest for me Friedman amps are the best you can buy. The other issue is that you dont need the power attenuator with a Friedman the master volumes are so great. There are 1000 more sounds in that BE as well. I played one for the first time a few years ago and it was magic - like playing through a famous rock stars rig! You don't need the $3600 one - the JJ Jr is also amazing and much less! Great playing as usual!
I have a view attenuators at home and noticed that they all do their own thing (in good and bad ways). Also, and this is important for this video, I noticed that my amps also behave differently depending on which load box/attenuator is connected. Means to me, that we might have heard (slightly) different sounds with a different load box/attenuator. Another aspect I also would have like hear about the noise floor each of those amps generates. This is what kept me often away from Marshall for playing at home. Boutique amp builder often have this noise floor issue better under control, eg. Suhr.
Marshall for me, but I don't mind the suhr if anyone wanna giving it to me, the Friedman too compressed and modern for Plexi style sound not quite right for me....🍻🍻🍻🍻 And btw the ghost note on the Marshall is awesome
Enjoyable video, with great guitar playing. I noticed when you played on the Friedman BE-100 Deluxe that you used Channel 1, the plexi tone channel, capable of much more gain than you showed. However, The BE Channel, and HBE Channels are modded plexi like tones, that have gobs of gain. Too bad that you didn't demo those channels, because when you played on that Beautiful Les Paul, it would sound killer on those two channels, like a Les Paul, being played through a Marshall, the best hard rock channel around, only much better than that combination, IMO.
I'm very surprised!, I was expecting I would like the Suhr the best but the it was the Marshall followed by the Suhr followed by Friedman. All are great amps.
I actually thought the Suhr sounded best with the Les Paul as it had so much clarity and sparkle - the other two (esp. the Marshall) sounded muddy in comparison. With the Strat I thought the Friedman was the Goldilocks amp with the Suhr a close second.
It is hard to classify what the "plexi sound" is - one thing I always think of is this sort of crisp hashiness on the attack of notes that I find is unique to this sort of amp. Reminds me of greylead pencils for some reason. Here you get it more from the Marshall and the Suhr.
If the question is which one has that classic “plexi” tone? The Marshall hands down. The other two sound more hi-fi and modern. Now if the question was which one is more ideal for gigs? Or, the best choice for the bedroom player? I would have a different opinion.
Oh I don't think so ..8 maybe ...after that the harmonics get smeared. The volume is painful even on a 50 watt. An attenuator works great ...you may have to bump the highs by a notch but otherwise the sound is all there.
@@Paul_Lenard_Ewing It's no louder on 10 than it is on 8. Granted 8 is insufferably loud, but I'm talking recording and not being in the room at the same time as it ☺
@@OhNitsuj The friedman has one of the tightest low ends i've heard on a amp, the main reason I want one is because of how the defined and tight the lows always sound without losing definition or punch, not sounding too dark, so theres ways to get spank with keeping the thickness, it has a bunch of switches outside your standard amp controls. (as much as I want it, I think it is overpriced though, Im sure its worth every penny, but to me I think its crazy a brand on the smaller side in retrospect is asking this much for their amps and guitars)
@@danielmauric8491 It's easy to get bogged down by the price tags, but you don't have to spend $5k to get that signature Friedman tone. Check out the JJ Junior, the Mini Dirty Shirley, or the Pink Taco. Both cost substantially less, yet give you phenomenal tone (especially the JJ Junior which is in a way shrunk down BE 100). BTW, it's not just hype - I've tried the BE 100 Deluxe and it's been haunting me ever since :)
@@danielmauric8491 The very same thing could be said about Marshall or any piece of high-end equipment. Prince, Hendrix, Page, May, Lamborghini, Les Paul, Vox, Elvis, Stratocaster. The list goes on as to what one might view as overrated. Overpriced? What is value? It's what people are willing to pay. For example, I wouldn't give my bread crust for a Victory amp. They sound horrible. But it's all subjective isn't it? That's why we have variety.
Great playing, Jack... and an equally great explanation of "Plexi". As for the amps, overall the Suhr was a close second to the Marshall for both Strat and LP, but I preferred the Suhr's clean Strat tone. Friedman was nice, but a long way third; almost sounded compressed. I have a Wampler Plexi Deluxe pedal on my board which does a good job of getting that mid-60s plexi sound from my Orange Tremlord 30 and Blackstar 6L6 Studio... but just not quite as good as the 1959HW!
@@amritjanardhanan having owned and played about 5 or 6 from the the 60s your right as I've found they all sound different. One of the nicest sounding ones I own now is the origin 20 because you can blast the thing without it killing you.
The Friedman seemed to have the most versatility from a warm clean tone to captain crunch. The JMP was also great but a little more brittle and harsher. The Suhr I wouldn't kick out of bed for suhr, but to my ears wasn't as rich as the JMP or BE.
Dude! Your playing makes any amp sound great. To me the Friedman seemed to have that something extra, and it looked like it inspired you're creative playing as well. As always outstanding video! I would love to see you and Danish Pete jam out!!!!
I’m quite shocked how much I liked the Friedman. I didn’t think it would hang in the plexi arena at all. Suhr came in 3rd for me but first place is a toss up. Like the little Ram Jam riff at the end there, heheh.
They all sound good, but the Marshall had the best tone. The Suhr was close and may end up winning due to it’s useful master volume. The Friedman sounded like a great amp but not like the other two, so if they are more plexi then it’s less. But not a bad sound.
I think the Marshall is the only one that is old school turret board hand wired, i believe the other 2 are PCB; why does this matter... it doesn't if you never ever need service... if you do...good luck
The Suhr and that particular Friedman are both hand wired also, the Friedman uses an eyelet board instead of turret though. But they’re all pretty great 👍
Headroom clean open midrange perfect ckarity bottom end perfect top end crystal clear amazing Marshal obviously is the winner no confusion or question about , if you cant hear it its not the Amps fault .
Really good video, I'd be interested to see how much usable gain these amplifiers have before it becomes `too much`. Also i'd love to see your team choose their favourite rig out of the store. Thanks guys
MARSHALL LOL! 😂 I AM SURPRISED.... IT JUST NAILS THAT DRY SINGING VOICE BETTER THAN THE OTHERS.... THAT IS THE BOMB! 🧨💪 BUT I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO HEAR THE SUHR ON THE HIGH ( NORMAL ) VOLTAGE SETTING! IT WOULD DEFINITELY BE FAIRER!
If your budget is tight get a Marshall Origin 50 ...get a tech to change the the microfared 1 on the first cathode to 10 or even a bit higher. Doing this will give the same lows and your amp will sound very, very similar to 1959! You will still have more then enough volume. In fact you may want to add a volume attenuator. Yes the amp has a switch to cut the power but it doesn't keep the original sound.
Paul Ewing of STOMP BOX STEALS are you familiar with comparable mods for the 20watt origin? It’s got a good foundation but needs some tweaking to bring in low end presence and tame the highs.
Let's get straight to what matters (LOL):
Marshall Crunch + LP: 09:58
Suhr Crunch + LP: 17:14
Friedman Crunch + LP: 23:40
I often wonder why people put attenuators on Plexi Type Amps that come with Master Volumes, like the Suhr SL-68, and the Friedman BE-100 Deluxe. I already know that the Marshall SLP 1959 doesn't come with a Master Volume, therefore, it needs to be attenuated so it doesn't knock your walls down, and crack your windows. Going back to my question, why do Plexi Style Amps, that come with Master Volumes need to be attenuated, since the Master Volume attenuates them, so why would they wantingly and voluntarily choose to spend alot of money on an attenuator, when they have a Master Volume that can do the same thing. Many people, these days, buy the Oxbox which at, 1k isn't cheap. Can Somebody Please Answer My Question, So I can make sense out of it, since I've been wondering for years, the answer to it. I own a Friedman BE-50 deluxe, with a 0 loss effects loop. All you do is engage the effects loop, on the back of the amp, and use the Return Level button, and it works just as well as any attenuator would work..In fact, you can get a high level of gain tone, at a bedroom volume..I would never sell my Friedman BE-50 Deluxe Amp and my Friedman 4x12 cabinet, since I had to take a 4 year payment plan to be able to get that rig, being that it's cost was close to 5k.
Sonny Seabury
Hey man! How are you?
Marshall amps are “old school” amps, made to be pushed hard on tubes, with opened Master and a pretty loud sound. That’s when the beauty comes out. If you use them at low volumes you won’t get the “classic” Marshall tone. It only comes alive when you push those tubes.
But..... Some other amps have better Master Volume and can sound pretty good at low volumes. Friedman is probably the best Master Volume I ever tried. If you check my channel, there are some Friedman videos and some of them were recorded in low volumes (1 or 1,5) at my apartment.
Les Paul's suck. Heavy, don't stay in tune, crap upper fret access, boring generic rock tone
@@jupitermoongauge4055 probably why you never see anyone play them haha
@@jupitermoongauge4055 that's basically a tele. Teles and Les Paul's are the same except teles stay better in tune with the tradeoff of whimpier tone for today's kids.
Marshall Clean (Fender): 6:53
Marshall Crunch (Fender): 9:04
Marshall Clean (Gibson): 8:03
Marshall Crunch (Gibson): 9:58
Suhr Clean (Fender): 13:36
Suhr Crunch (Fender): 16:04
Suhr Clean (Gibson): 14:53
Suhr Crunch (Gibson): 17:14
Friedman Clean (Fender): 19:50
Friedman Crunch (Fender): 22:09
Friedman Clean (Gibson): 20:55
Friedman Crunch (Gibson): 23:40
Brilliant.
MARSHALL - Clean (Strat) 6:53
MARSHALL - Clean (Les Paul) 8:04
MARSHALL - Crunch (Strat) 9:04
MARSHALL - Crunch (Les Paul) 9:58
----------------
SUHR - Clean (Strat) 13:36
SUHR - Clean (Les Paul) 14:53
SUHR - Crunch (Strat) 16:04
SUHR - Crunch (Les Paul) 17:14
----------------
FRIEDMAN - Clean (Strat) 19:50
FRIEDMAN - Clean (Les Paul) 20:56
FRIEDMAN - Crunch (Strat) 22:10
FRIEDMAN - Crunch (Les Paul) 23:40
Great video and playing Jack!
Cheers Rocco, this helps to compare a lot!
Useful, thanks 👍
Great, thank you!
Marshall
6:54 Fender Clean
8:03 Gibson Clean
9:04 Fender Crunch
9:58 Gibson Crunch
Suhr
13:36 Fender Clean
14:53 Marshall Clean
16:04 Fender Crunch
17:14 Gibson Crunch
Friedman
19:50 Fender Clean
20:55 Gibson Clean
22:10 Fender Crunch
23:40 Gibson Crunch
Very fine playing as usual... Very comprehensive demo. Thank you~
This video rules. Thanks so much for posting! ⚡️
I’ve loved Marshall 50 watt amps since I was a kid. The Friedman small box plexi channel is amazing. I love to see the suhr sl 67 50w versus the small box plexi channel, versus a real 50w plexi. Great video, thanks!
I own a Marshall 1959HW and a Suhr SL-68. I have Master Volumes on both and they both need it. They are by far my favorite of all amps. The Suhr covers a slightly different landscape than the Marshall but I am hooked on both like crack-cocaine. If I had to choose only one it would be the Marshall but I don't have to and I can't so I will always have both...
Great demo as usual Jack. In my 40 years of messing with NMV, MV, and modern Marshalls I find the speakers and VOLUME (i.e. how jacked up the speakers are) are more key to the "plexi sound" (or any tone) than how particularly accurate the amp circuit is. The original SLP reissue from Marshall is actually the circuit from a JCM800 era 1959 (and the "plexi" 1987X and later XL is from 72-73 metalface ) The Handwired version is slightly tweaked to smooth it out but it's still more aggressive like the last runs of the non reissue 1959s. And of course there were so many circuit and speaker changes between Marshall and Celestion throughout the 60s, 70s, etc. For your test,- The Suhr is probably the most accurate (and sweetest sounding) circuit , the Friedman sounds like a echoplex type pre-amp is in front of it. But I like that aggression of the actual Marshall. Rock & Roll
Great comments. Attenuation changes things too. Yes, it allows the amp to open up, but you're not pushing the speakers the way they should be pushed to get THAT tone. To me the Marshall sounds most authentic. The Suhr and Friedman are great amps, but they are what they are...one person's interpretation (with their tweaks) of a Plexi.
Spot on!
damn, is it just me or this dude one of the raddest guitar players ever?! some seriously amazing wizardry happening. props! great review/comp of these amps!... my fave is the Friedman.. WANT!
I'll always tune in for Jack! Cracking player :)
The Marshall has THE tone, with the Suhr being a close second (particularly with the Strat). The Friedman is an amazing amp, but it didn't sound like a plexi to me. Great vid.
You have that spot on my friend, I own the Ultimate Marshall..not to be confused with the standard 410 I have the JS 410....and that gives me ALL of the plexi tones plus one of the best clean channels out there today bar none....I will put it up against any other amp..I have owned Plexi's and was really fond of my mid sixties BUT I couldn't get that sound again until NOW///so here is my take, all these botique amps have one Mantra..."And it sounds just like a Plexi"....think about that for a moment....accept no substitute Marshall has and is the industry standard for tone PERIOD!
Darth Slater Pretty much what Malcolm Young said, all these makers were going to him to use their amps and stating they sounded like a Marshall, his response well I own Marshalls.🤷♂️
Well down. The JMP sounds great, balanced and harmonically rich.
They only made a limited run and go for more now than new but the Marshall YJM100 does everything I want a "Plexi" to do. It's biggest selling point was the built in attenuator so you can get that sizzle and sag without having the police show up. It has YNG's fav od built in but throw any number of the hundreds of ODs in front and you can go from 70s to 80s. Very warm full clean channel.
I love Y'all's You Tube Channel from England. My name is Sonny, and I live in New Orleans, La USA. Y'all have amazingly talented guitar players on your channel that inspire the hell out of me. Thanks for the hard work y'all do to get these amazing videos out.
Thanks Sonny, it's great to hear such positive feedback, glad your enjoying the content and that it's reached New Orleans!
And i also appreciate it! I’m currently on the fence between a 59HW and a 1987x. It appears the 87x would be much less problematic volume wise,but the 59HW sound wise is the king of this rocknroll era!
Marshall or Suhr for classic tones & the Friedman all the way for the hot rod tones & versatility. My favorite part though is Jack’s playing, this guy is one hell of a great guitarist!
All sound incredible, but the Friedman brought tear to my eye and a new reason for living.
The Marshall was the most colored .. The different sonic signatures of the Strat and Les Paul took a back seat to the unique and great sound that this amp is known for. The Suhr was similar but perhaps a bit more neutral. The Friedman was the most neutral and perhaps due to its versatility, could even match the unique sonic signatures of both the Marshall and the Suhr. This was not revealed. It would be interesting if the review could be extended( part2) by trying to adjust the Friedman to sound like the other two.
Man the Friedman sounds awesome! It doesn't seem to have the aggressive highs of the Plexi and a really nice gain structure... especially with the Strat. Sounds killer. haven't really thought about ...till now ;) Great Video, fun to watch! Nice playing and explanation!
Such a tough choice, they all sounded great! Great playing as ever Jack! The Friedman is definitely the most versatile but any of these amps would be a great choice!
Those Friedman 2x12 cabinets are loaded with Celestion Vintage 30’s.
Surprised to say Marshall first for me here . The hardest to "tame" for sure, but the harmonic complexity. It's just got something extra. All great though + would love to have heard this properly in the room!
Marshall all the way. It has the waywardness you need to fight to control delivering a blank canvass so you sound like yourself while having to work hard to improve your skills. This makes it a keeper, constantly interesting, like a great guitar. The others have been 'tamed' into a pre packaged sound, losing the very essence of what has made Marshall a verb.
Couldn't have agreed more, exactly how I feel about them. The more you use the Marshall the more you find these lovely little nuances about them. With the other two, they might wow you when you first plug into one but after a while they start to sound bland and predictable.
You gotta earn playing the Marshall, it is a hard beast to master.
Gentrified... :-D
Yes
Have you ever played the Suhr?!? Are you guys for real.. the SL68 is a real deal Super Lead with 69 specs thats even closer to the ones back in the day.
Naa
great video, thanks! Really good explanation of what they're all about, good job Jack.
Your such a tasteful player with great feel and rhythm. Really enjoy your demos.
It's all subjective but in the end the answer is easy to my ears. Marshall.
The Suhr has the sonic edge to my ears - it's just more 'pleasing'. YMMV. Would love to try this test myself at some point. Great playing and touch as always, Jack.
As always very very good playing, it's a pleasure to hear you. To me Marshall 1959 it's pure magic, n.1 of the whole 3.
Never thought I’d hear Aretha Franklin, KISS and Rick Derringer in the same video. Great playing by the way.
and Deep Purple
All three amps sounded amazing with both the Strat and LP. Since the Friedman amp is more versatile in features and tone switching, that's the one I'd get. Excellent work on the guitars Jack. You never cease to amaze me with your creative phrasing on the fret board.
The Friedman is also 5400€ whereas the Marshall is 2100€, pretty crazy difference...
@@Tanax13LOL here in the states a 1959hw is $3849 and the BE 100 Deluxe is $3999, so for the $150 more I’m going Friedman easy.
@@cardbored_ I know it's different there. But if it wasn't obvious by my use of euro, I'm not in the states - so my comment still stands that the Friedman is pretty hugely overpriced compared to Marshall here.
@@Tanax13 "overpriced" is subjective though, I'd say the Marshall is overpriced.
@@cardbored_ Maybe. But I think the vast majority of people agree that 5.4k is too much for an amp, no matter how good it is. 2.1k is a bit more affordable, still a good amount of money though, but way more attainable. A better choice would be the 20W Marshall Studio series. They're only 900€.
Marshall wins for me , it has the sound of lots of the music that I’ve been listening too since 76
Great Playing!! My favorite amps! I am thinking the Suhr is the one for me
Great demo, Suhr sounds so good clean and dirty . But you can’t go wrong with all those three.
A little Love Her All I Can never hurts. All of these sound great, but I’m a Friedman fan. Suhr products are wonderful but Dave really has perfected what are the wonderful aspects of the best Marshall imo. Nice playing throughout btw!
Agreed, I own a Small Box and a Dirty Shirley. LOVE them!
Astonished by how much I love the Marshall - sorry if I missed it but what speakers are in the cab?
Superb playing ! And great tones
You were ONE of my favorite players on UA-cam. Then you played Kiss on that Suhr. Now you are my favorite player on UA-cam! Nice job. They all sound great.
Sorry for the double post but I can’t get over how good this guy is. He’s no nonsense.. Brilliant as you guys like to say.
What a really great demo, your brilliant playing and choice of things to play showed each of these fantastic amps at their best. My choice would be the marshall, it seemed bigger with a little more cut, but everyone is different! they all sounded great. Most enjoyable demo I've seen in a good while, thank you!
Thanks so much I prefer the friedman. I love the marshall tone but friedman takes the edge off. It's just a little bit more refined but still keeps the marshall tone and with all the options you'd have to be able to dial in to your hearts desire. Thanks again I was on the fence but thanks to your video I've made my decision.
The 59HW has the one and only tone I’ve always desired!! 😎😍🤘
Boss SD1 to Friedman to plexi...bammm, you got the VH brown sound, Clapton etc
One the greatest vidéo I've seen for a long time... Super interesting !
And great playing, as always !
What about a next vidéo with a comparaison between a real AC 30 and other AC style amps (Matchless, Morgan)?
Cheers from Belgium
In my opinion the Marshall 1959HW is the best sounding Amp from these 3 Amplifiers. The others are more expsiver than the Marshall but I think they is something to missing of sound. They are good sounding Amps too but there is something the miss.
Fantastic video, PG, very appreciated :) That BE 100 Deluxe, man...
This Guy really has the chops , just as much as a guy like Pete Thorn great Playing man! (i'm Jealous haha!)
I have the Marshall 1959hw and gotta say it's the best one to my ears in this comparison. It's not even close. It's the "cleanest" "most dynamic" example the responds to how hard you hit the strings the best. I've also been going back and forth on getting the fryette power station or the boss tube amp expander. I'm leaning towards the TAE because of the extra features you get for a little more $$$. I'm curious to hear other opinions on the two attenuators
I’ve got the TAE and use it on both my Mesa RA100 and California Tweed. Probably one of the best bits of gear I own.
All great amps. If you want that pure, unadulterated sound and feel, the Marshall is by far the winner even though it is the hardest of the three to master. While I was a huge fan of Friedman amps a few years ago and owned a Dirty Shirley and a BE-50, all they did were slowly but surely steered me into the path of replacing them with Marshalls. Friedmans are better sounding amps compared to Marshall right out of the box, but they lack the small details of the real deal (some of which can be annoying, but they add to the overall experience lol). Most importantly to me the Friedmans lack of some sparkle in the top end, especially when you A/B them with the JTM-45 or a 1959SLP, as if you put a blanket over the cab. They can have a more 'produced' sound which can sound better to you when you plug into one but the excitement fades after a while, whereas with the Marshalls I keep finding small things about them that I love as I play them more. Full of character.
The video also mentioned the costs here, where Friedman costs 2.2 and the Suhr costs 1.8 times as much as the Marshall, although I'm from the school of thought that you should get what sounds and feels best to you with reasonable disregard to the price as it will last you a lifetime.
Friedman's make all my guitars sound the same.
@@0megalul309Too much distortion does that every time....the magic is less, less, less....greenbacks will make up for it with sizzle 👍✌️
Great plexi tone with the Marshall and Suhr, but dont beleive the BE100 fit in this category since the design is a heavy mode of a 2203 base on Josee Arrondondo marshall mods. Circuitry is very different
This guy is the best salesman on You Tube. None of the crap like Danish Pete and The Captain. They fancy themselves comedians and for a Yank from NYC I don’t have the time for that.
Nice selection with Love Her all I can!
I kinda love the plex with green backs. Makes them a little less brittle sounding on top. I liked the suhr lots.
How did you have the power section shaping controls on the Friedman set? There’s a lot of variation there...makes a world of difference depending on how they’re set.
My HW 1959 Plexi Spec build is arriving tomorrow. I have a tele and 78' LP custom to plug into it.
Friedman BE100 Deluxe, then again I'm kinda biased owning one :-) These amps are all great and anyone would be lucky to have one. A nod in the Friedman's favorr is that it has an effects loop whereas the Suhr and Marshall do not. Players who use time-based effects will find this very welcome.
And don't forget two other channels and all the bells and whistles , fellow BE 100 DLX owner!
@@Stefan-Van-der-Pulst yeah, it has great flexibility without feeling over-engineered.
You wouldn't want an effects loop in a marshall since all your tone is from power tube breakup. The loop in a fryette PS2 or boss tae is the ideal option.
They all sounds good, but the Marshall is the vintage plexi to me!!!
Boy, that Suhr sounds good. John Suhr accomplished what you stated he was after with his design - what the Marshall should have been. His amp is a full-tilt nod to Marshall, with the modern smooth to edgy sounds that totally satisfy. BUT ..... that BE100 is pretty special too ... that amp would be hours & hours of fun in the tone-searching dept.
Marshall, which surprised me given the price. The Les Paul clean was surprisingly nice
You came for the plexi sound and Marshall surprised you? HAHA, not offence, I just found it's funny.
I own both Marshall and Friedman. Its no contest for me Friedman amps are the best you can buy. The other issue is that you dont need the power attenuator with a Friedman the master volumes are so great. There are 1000 more sounds in that BE as well. I played one for the first time a few years ago and it was magic - like playing through a famous rock stars rig! You don't need the $3600 one - the JJ Jr is also amazing and much less!
Great playing as usual!
I have a view attenuators at home and noticed that they all do their own thing (in good and bad ways). Also, and this is important for this video, I noticed that my amps also behave differently depending on which load box/attenuator is connected. Means to me, that we might have heard (slightly) different sounds with a different load box/attenuator.
Another aspect I also would have like hear about the noise floor each of those amps generates. This is what kept me often away from Marshall for playing at home. Boutique amp builder often have this noise floor issue better under control, eg. Suhr.
Marshall for me, but I don't mind the suhr if anyone wanna giving it to me, the Friedman too compressed and modern for Plexi style sound not quite right for me....🍻🍻🍻🍻
And btw the ghost note on the Marshall is awesome
All 3 of these amps really sound good but to me the one I liked the best was the Marshall.
Really enjoyable. Would love to see a 'clean' amp shootout with Morgan, Hiwatt & Fender. that would be amazing to hear!
YES!
this will be one of the most important videos in youtube for guitar players ever
Marshall - King !
They all sound fantastic. The SL68 is just begging for some Van Halen riffs!
Dammit, the gibson through the friedman... PERFECT
Enjoyable video, with great guitar playing. I noticed when you played on the Friedman BE-100 Deluxe that you used Channel 1, the plexi tone channel, capable of much more gain than you showed. However, The BE Channel, and HBE Channels are modded plexi like tones, that have gobs of gain. Too bad that you didn't demo those channels, because when you played on that Beautiful Les Paul, it would sound killer on those two channels, like a Les Paul, being played through a Marshall, the best hard rock channel around, only much better than that combination, IMO.
Well, the Marshall is a reissue. To me its the mather of taste. It's in the ears of the beholder.
Loved the KISS tune.
I'm very surprised!, I was expecting I would like the Suhr the best but the it was the Marshall followed by the Suhr followed by Friedman. All are great amps.
Marshall for me. Great playing.
Highway star. Nice one jack
I actually thought the Suhr sounded best with the Les Paul as it had so much clarity and sparkle - the other two (esp. the Marshall) sounded muddy in comparison. With the Strat I thought the Friedman was the Goldilocks amp with the Suhr a close second.
It is hard to classify what the "plexi sound" is - one thing I always think of is this sort of crisp hashiness on the attack of notes that I find is unique to this sort of amp. Reminds me of greylead pencils for some reason. Here you get it more from the Marshall and the Suhr.
If the question is which one has that classic “plexi” tone? The Marshall hands down. The other two sound more hi-fi and modern. Now if the question was which one is more ideal for gigs? Or, the best choice for the bedroom player? I would have a different opinion.
Well said! Any time ANYTHING (voicing switches, power cuts, etc.) is added to a Plexi circuit it is no longer a Plexi circuit.
I'm from the school of thought that a 1959 should be dimed.
Yes and use your V control for clean
Oh I don't think so ..8 maybe ...after that the harmonics get smeared. The volume is painful even on a 50 watt. An attenuator works great ...you may have to bump the highs by a notch but otherwise the sound is all there.
@@Paul_Lenard_Ewing It's no louder on 10 than it is on 8. Granted 8 is insufferably loud, but I'm talking recording and not being in the room at the same time as it ☺
I'm from the school of a 2 watt tube amp.Dimed and miked up.
@@davidyates8880 No, not louder on 10 from 8, but his point was how much more mushy and compressed the power section gets at full volume.
What speakers and cab are you using? That is also such an important element!
That looks like the 2x12 Friedman Cabinet with Celestion V 30’s. It’s a great sounding cabinet.
There's something about the Friedman....
Price and hype.
It has an accentuated mid high spike to bring out more spank but at the cost of an unmistakable thinness for the top 3 strings.
@@OhNitsuj The friedman has one of the tightest low ends i've heard on a amp, the main reason I want one is because of how the defined and tight the lows always sound without losing definition or punch, not sounding too dark, so theres ways to get spank with keeping the thickness, it has a bunch of switches outside your standard amp controls. (as much as I want it, I think it is overpriced though, Im sure its worth every penny, but to me I think its crazy a brand on the smaller side in retrospect is asking this much for their amps and guitars)
@@danielmauric8491 It's easy to get bogged down by the price tags, but you don't have to spend $5k to get that signature Friedman tone. Check out the JJ Junior, the Mini Dirty Shirley, or the Pink Taco. Both cost substantially less, yet give you phenomenal tone (especially the JJ Junior which is in a way shrunk down BE 100). BTW, it's not just hype - I've tried the BE 100 Deluxe and it's been haunting me ever since :)
@@danielmauric8491 The very same thing could be said about Marshall or any piece of high-end equipment. Prince, Hendrix, Page, May, Lamborghini, Les Paul, Vox, Elvis, Stratocaster. The list goes on as to what one might view as overrated. Overpriced? What is value? It's what people are willing to pay. For example, I wouldn't give my bread crust for a Victory amp. They sound horrible. But it's all subjective isn't it? That's why we have variety.
Great video and cleared up ‘ the willy nilly ‘
Great playing, Jack... and an equally great explanation of "Plexi". As for the amps, overall the Suhr was a close second to the Marshall for both Strat and LP, but I preferred the Suhr's clean Strat tone. Friedman was nice, but a long way third; almost sounded compressed. I have a Wampler Plexi Deluxe pedal on my board which does a good job of getting that mid-60s plexi sound from my Orange Tremlord 30 and Blackstar 6L6 Studio... but just not quite as good as the 1959HW!
Don't want to buy any of these amps, just here to listen to the lad play.
I do love these comparisons. That said if you want a plexi sound ...... buy a marshall plexi no?
No, they aren't uber accurate to the real circuit. The only way you can get that sound is with the volume that comes with it.
@@amritjanardhanan having owned and played about 5 or 6 from the the 60s your right as I've found they all sound different. One of the nicest sounding ones I own now is the origin 20 because you can blast the thing without it killing you.
The Friedman seemed to have the most versatility from a warm clean tone to captain crunch. The JMP was also great but a little more brittle and harsher. The Suhr I wouldn't kick out of bed for suhr, but to my ears wasn't as rich as the JMP or BE.
Dude! Your playing makes any amp sound great. To me the Friedman seemed to have that something extra, and it looked like it inspired you're creative playing as well. As always outstanding video!
I would love to see you and Danish Pete jam out!!!!
I’m quite shocked how much I liked the Friedman. I didn’t think it would hang in the plexi arena at all. Suhr came in 3rd for me but first place is a toss up. Like the little Ram Jam riff at the end there, heheh.
Why would it not hang? The entire amp is based on Dave’s literal 1958 Plexi Super Lead circuit.
I’ll take the Suhr. Owned several Marshall’s some are great some not so much. The great ones are awesome though.
They all sound good, but the Marshall had the best tone. The Suhr was close and may end up winning due to it’s useful master volume. The Friedman sounded like a great amp but not like the other two, so if they are more plexi then it’s less. But not a bad sound.
Nice KISS riff 🤘🏻
Holy Smokes that Marshall!
Awesome stuff!! Here in the States the Marshall is actually a few hundred dollars more than the Suhr 🤷♂️lol
I think the Marshall is the only one that is old school turret board hand wired, i believe the other 2 are PCB; why does this matter... it doesn't if you never ever need service... if you do...good luck
The Suhr and that particular Friedman are both hand wired also, the Friedman uses an eyelet board instead of turret though. But they’re all pretty great 👍
got sold on the tone within 3 seconds of the video
How miced the cab? Royer r10 and 57? Thx
Headroom clean open midrange perfect ckarity bottom end perfect top end crystal clear amazing Marshal obviously is the winner no confusion or question about , if you cant hear it its not the Amps fault .
Really good video, I'd be interested to see how much usable gain these amplifiers have before it becomes `too much`. Also i'd love to see your team choose their favourite rig out of the store. Thanks guys
Best guitarist in the world! Fantastic!
All great in their own way but the Marshall has " the" sound for me
Suhr is lacking IMO
Jtm45 is like 6l6 Britishzat:))
Confirmed: Jack is not mental. 😜
Love jacks deserve a band around him
MARSHALL LOL! 😂 I AM SURPRISED.... IT JUST NAILS THAT DRY SINGING VOICE BETTER THAN THE OTHERS.... THAT IS THE BOMB! 🧨💪 BUT I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO HEAR THE SUHR ON THE HIGH ( NORMAL ) VOLTAGE SETTING! IT WOULD DEFINITELY BE FAIRER!
If your budget is tight get a Marshall Origin 50 ...get a tech to change the the microfared 1 on the first cathode to 10 or even a bit higher. Doing this will give the same lows and your amp will sound very, very similar to 1959! You will still have more then enough volume. In fact you may want to add a volume attenuator. Yes the amp has a switch to cut the power but it doesn't keep the original sound.
Paul Ewing of STOMP BOX STEALS are you familiar with comparable mods for the 20watt origin? It’s got a good foundation but needs some tweaking to bring in low end presence and tame the highs.
Suhr and Marshall are neck in neck for me. The Friedman seems to be the. Pay versatile of the lot
Marshall for crunch but the clean ones the Surh sounded amazing!