Friedman 800 modded

I had a couple of his modded Marshalls years back...I liked them better than the BE 100s that I later tried. The Marshalls retained the ability to get raw/open vs the BE that was smooth in every setting.
In todays market that price is ok, IMO.
 
If I remember, several years ago when he was doing Kitchen Sink mods and the BE-100 was just launching or about to, mods would have run you $7-800 for everything. Maybe add that to whatever a used 800 would cost you now and also that Dave may not do them anymore.
I personally wouldn’t pay nearly 3k for that but YMMV.
 
John4021 said:
JCM800
Found one with SAT and C45 Switches.
Friedman loop
Added tube for HBE
Top input is HBE
Bottom one is BE

$2950 Worthy/Thoughts/anyone have one similar?
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My '79 JMP Friedman KS was one of the best tone machines Ive had.... as stated.. not as polished and tame as the production Friedmans, but fixed some of the short comings of stock Marshalls... be it nice added loop, better tone stack, etc... but still had that Marshall kerrang and bite. It was fun to play and sounded killer. That being said... $2600 I might bite(ive seen this amp in my searches).... $3000... I would probably grab a BE50 deluxe and have the versatility, newer build and customer support Dave is known for. but... $400 or $1000 difference... it's in the eye, ears and hands of the beholder. YMMV.. Cheers
 
suhrimmetal said:
My '79 JMP Friedman KS was one of the best tone machines Ive had.... as stated.. not as polished and tame as the production Friedmans, but fixed some of the short comings of stock Marshalls... be it nice added loop, better tone stack, etc... but still had that Marshall kerrang and bite. It was fun to play and sounded killer. That being said... $2600 I might bite(ive seen this amp in my searches).... $3000... I would probably grab a BE50 deluxe and have the versatility, newer build and customer support Dave is known for. but... $400 or $1000 difference... it's in the eye, ears and hands of the beholder. YMMV.. Cheers
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i wouldn’t grab a BE50 deluxe. They cycle the used market quite often and arguably don’t sound as good as his JCM800 mods. I’d personally keep the JCM800 as it also retains value more than a run of the mill production amp.
 
I think $2500ish if it’s the reissue I saw listed. 3k is about what I saw older modded ones he did go for semi recently. I haven’t played a reissue so I’m not sure if the criticisms regarding the transformers n such are true.
 
Make sure it’s actually modded by Dave. His mod circuits are pretty readily available and easy to clone.
 
glpg80 said:
i wouldn’t grab a BE50 deluxe. They cycle the used market quite often and arguably don’t sound as good as his JCM800 mods. I’d personally keep the JCM800 as it also retains value more than a run of the mill production amp.
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Yeah but that JCM 800 is one sound, better hope the mod works out with the actual amp.
Unless it’s a Cameron, it’s not worth more than $2300 tops.
Thst run of the mill amp, people besides RT & TGP will likely be able to research specs & resale value with the BE50 much quicker
That amp has a kick ass clean channel.
Killer multi channel amp.
These over inflated modded amp prices are coming to a screeching hault…
The cat’s outta’ the bag, plenty of affordable hungry killer mod dude’s in today’s copycat clone world.
 
The HBE/BE modded 1978 SuperLead 100 I had sounded to me like something in between his amps and the Marshall’s. For my taste it still sounded polite and smooth next to the Cameron modded Marshall’s I had at the time. Honestly I prefer just a good stock Marshall boosted and can be had for less than this. It was more raw sounding than his production amps since it had the 78 as its base, but the other modded Marshall’s I’ve had were more raw and aggressive (2 Monomyth’s, 4 Cameron’s, Hopkins, 2 Gower’s, Kruse, Kolbe). It seems Friedman just doesn’t like to have too much teeth or nastiness to the sound. Not my thing
 
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Anyone here who could chime in on why production Friedman amps tend to lack the kerrang and growl of Marshalls and have a smooth'd up high end?
 
Kyrpajyra said:
Anyone here who could chime in on why production Friedman amps tend to lack the kerrang and growl of Marshalls and have a smooth'd up high end?
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I think part of it is the NFB, part of it is snubber(s), and part of it is the iron. Also, if the amp doesn't have a Depth control it often has a "fixed depth" circuit that tends to increase lows and low mids, which makes the amp seem darker.

And with my SS100, the pots were a different taper so you had to really crank the Treble and Presence to get any bite, so it appeared to be darker than it really was.
 
Kyrpajyra said:
Anyone here who could chime in on why production Friedman amps tend to lack the kerrang and growl of Marshalls and have a smooth'd up high end?
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Because, his preference is the type of mod that sounds more like the finished recording than the raw open tone of a typical Marshall. Smooth, dark and polished vs say a Wizard which is open, raw and aggressive. Every amp in his line has that same thing going on...that is, until the Deluxe came out...since then they all have the ability to get more raw and Marshall-like.
 
Kyrpajyra said:
Anyone here who could chime in on why production Friedman amps tend to lack the kerrang and growl of Marshalls and have a smooth'd up high end?
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Maybe he’s just going by what his ear likes. Some guys have very low tolerances for too much highs or brightness (not me). Some find Marshall’s too brash or abrasive (again not me all), so maybe he was trying to make it “better” for him. Also, the early Marshall’s (like the 1967 ones and earlier that I’ve played) are darker sounding amps that don’t really do that kerrang thing or toothiness that guys stereotype Marshall’s to do. Maybe that’s what he was more inspired to go after rather than the later ones that got way brighter. Who knows
 
braintheory said:
Maybe he’s just going by what his ear likes. Some guys have very low tolerances for too much highs or brightness (not me). Some find Marshall’s too brash or abrasive (again not me all), so maybe he was trying to make it “better” for him. Also, the early Marshall’s (like the 1967 ones and earlier that I’ve played) are darker sounding amps that don’t really do that kerrang thing or toothiness that guys stereotype Marshall’s to do. Maybe that’s what he was more inspired to go after rather than the later ones that got way brighter. Who knows
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I think he is going by what his ears like. I dig some of the Friedmans, and some darker amps that have that smoother top end, cause they don't cause ear fatigue like a stock marshall does, and they don't have that unmusical irritating sizzle that seems seperate from the actual tone. I fuckin hate that piercing treble that some Marshall's have. Maybe that's why I'm a Mesa guy?? The midrange is where I want to hear the aggression.
 
Racerxrated said:
Because, his preference is the type of mod that sounds more like the finished recording than the raw open tone of a typical Marshall. Smooth, dark and polished vs say a Wizard which is open, raw and aggressive. Every amp in his line has that same thing going on...that is, until the Deluxe came out...since then they all have the ability to get more raw and Marshall-like.
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Each to their own i guess. I've listened too many records to have that kerrang when it comes to Marshalls.
 
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