jchrisf
Well-known member
What is this peacemaker you speak of?oh that is promising! if the syn rack experiment is a bust, you just piqued my interest in using it out front of my peacemaker
mentoneman
Well-known member
a magic 100 watt box full of plexi charm
dcburn
Well-known member
Iām interested in doing this, as in getting one of these and running into my PS2.
Iāve been watching this IR-J tooā¦
mentoneman
Well-known member
had some time to check it out today.
first running it like a preamp, from the IR-J send into into the return of my boogie mark III thus bypassing all the pedalās digital IR stuff.
definitely has a tight bright marshall bark in it which the boogieās own preamp does not inherently lend itself to. my eyes were seeing boogie but my ears and hands were and hearing/feeling marshall.
you can also sense the boxās tube dynamic in play versus a standard OD pedal.
but even with the boogieās simul power saggyness i was having a hard time tweaking a useable lead tone out of it. even with the IR-J gain and boost pegged on ch 2 it was landing in the crunch rhythm zone more than a soaring lead thing.
next i threw it in front of my peacemaker and it seemed more compatible there. more juicy and the ampās tone controls helped fine tune things. still not enough gain for super fluid single note stuff but nice sounding crunch and quiet operation. and on the other extreme i could dial in a nice clean on ch 1. but strangely i was unable to fully bypass the pedal/turn it off in the way i was running it.
so in a nutshell as a pedal in front of an amp it could be useful in a pedal switching system, with something boosty hitting the front and a delay in back. i only scratched the surface today but it is a far cry from my experience having played the JEL-100 half stack which was a sheer pleasure!
and it did make me more inclined to pursue an additional syn module ala be-dlx over this as a solution.
if iām more inspired tomorrow iāll try linking it with my syn 2. definitely looks cool
first running it like a preamp, from the IR-J send into into the return of my boogie mark III thus bypassing all the pedalās digital IR stuff.
definitely has a tight bright marshall bark in it which the boogieās own preamp does not inherently lend itself to. my eyes were seeing boogie but my ears and hands were and hearing/feeling marshall.
you can also sense the boxās tube dynamic in play versus a standard OD pedal.
but even with the boogieās simul power saggyness i was having a hard time tweaking a useable lead tone out of it. even with the IR-J gain and boost pegged on ch 2 it was landing in the crunch rhythm zone more than a soaring lead thing.
next i threw it in front of my peacemaker and it seemed more compatible there. more juicy and the ampās tone controls helped fine tune things. still not enough gain for super fluid single note stuff but nice sounding crunch and quiet operation. and on the other extreme i could dial in a nice clean on ch 1. but strangely i was unable to fully bypass the pedal/turn it off in the way i was running it.
so in a nutshell as a pedal in front of an amp it could be useful in a pedal switching system, with something boosty hitting the front and a delay in back. i only scratched the surface today but it is a far cry from my experience having played the JEL-100 half stack which was a sheer pleasure!
and it did make me more inclined to pursue an additional syn module ala be-dlx over this as a solution.
if iām more inspired tomorrow iāll try linking it with my syn 2. definitely looks cool
HowieJams
Active member
I am considering buying the IR-J to use in the effects return of my Friedman Little Sister Combo and Marshall DSL40CR.
I am also considering buying the Friedman JEL-20 amp, Dave said he can custom make me a 1x12 combo.
I figured I would try the IR-J first to see how I like the tones.
HowieJams
Active member
Was the IR-J not putting out enough gain for you? Is it the style of music you play?had some time to check it out today.
first running it like a preamp, from the IR-J send into into the return of my boogie mark III thus bypassing all the pedalās digital IR stuff.
definitely has a tight bright marshall bark in it which the boogieās own preamp does not inherently lend itself to. my eyes were seeing boogie but my ears and hands were and hearing/feeling marshall.
you can also sense the boxās tube dynamic in play versus a standard OD pedal.
but even with the boogieās simul power saggyness i was having a hard time tweaking a useable lead tone out of it. even with the IR-J gain and boost pegged on ch 2 it was landing in the crunch rhythm zone more than a soaring lead thing.
next i threw it in front of my peacemaker and it seemed more compatible there. more juicy and the ampās tone controls helped fine tune things. still not enough gain for super fluid single note stuff but nice sounding crunch and quiet operation. and on the other extreme i could dial in a nice clean on ch 1. but strangely i was unable to fully bypass the pedal/turn it off in the way i was running it.
so in a nutshell as a pedal in front of an amp it could be useful in a pedal switching system, with something boosty hitting the front and a delay in back. i only scratched the surface today but it is a far cry from my experience having played the JEL-100 half stack which was a sheer pleasure!
and it did make me more inclined to pursue an additional syn module ala be-dlx over this as a solution.
if iām more inspired tomorrow iāll try linking it with my syn 2. definitely looks cool
View attachment 393127
I have a Friedman Little Sister combo which does not have as much gain as the IR-J, but boosted with a TS808 it gets me plenty of gain for leads.
The JEL-20 (IR-J) will just get me a bit more.
It will not have the same type or amount of gain as a Mesa Boogie or EVH 5150.
mentoneman
Well-known member
iām definitely not a high gain metal expert. i like classic hard rock to 80s-90s sounds.
and maybe itās because iām only using half the pedal by not using the digital side with the IR stuff.
but as an OD/distortion pedal into a clean amp, the IR-J isnāt as hot as the BE-OD deluxe pedal or UA Lion. i could see it being better used feeding into an already dirty amp for fine tuning the dirt tone/levels and not leaning on it as hard as the only OD in the chain.
jchrisf
Well-known member
@mentoneman how is the SYN2 into the return or your tube amps? How do you normally run it?
HowieJams
Active member
I definitely won't use the IR stuff and I definitely won't use it in front of the amp, it will only be used in the return of the effects loop.
If it disappoints it will be returned, but I have only heard good things except for your review and I appreciate your honesty.
I guess I will have to find out for myself, I will keep you posted.
mentoneman
Well-known member
the syn 2 and eggie ie4 outputs feed one loop of my voodoo lab gcx switcher, so i can select which one is active at any given time.
that selected preamp signal gets routed back into the gcx to switch a compressor in/out, then to a splitter which sends the dry signal directly to the dry middle amp.
the additional splitter feeds send to my fxs which go stereo out to a mesa 2:90.
mentoneman
Well-known member
are you running the little sister preamp into the IR-J, or are you just plugging straight into the IR-J and bypassing the LS pre?
HowieJams
Active member
I will plug in to the IR-J and run it in to the effects return which will bypass the LS pre
mentoneman
Well-known member
hope it does the trick!
todayās experiments got sidetracked by my mesa 2:90 randomly cutting in and out on the B channel.
had to yank that fatso out of the rack and open her up to get to the 12ax7s v1 for the shared chA/B input stage and v3 for the ch B phase inverter. bingo-purring like a kitten.
then there was this other new bump in the road
ā¦preoccupying my attentionā¦
havenāt owned a wah in foreverāthing is quacky!
HowieJams
Active member
My last 2 youtube videos which I did this morning I used my AMT Japanese Girl Wah pedal for a bit. It was fun.hope it does the trick!
todayās experiments got sidetracked by my mesa 2:90 randomly cutting in and out on the B channel.
had to yank that fatso out of the rack and open her up to get to the 12ax7s v1 for the shared chA/B input stage and v3 for the ch B phase inverter. bingo-purring like a kitten.
then there was this other new bump in the road
View attachment 393195
View attachment 393196
ā¦preoccupying my attentionā¦
havenāt owned a wah in foreverāthing is quacky!
mentoneman
Well-known member
ok had a bit more time to nerd out on the IR-J.
ran it with a catalinbread bella epoch deluxe in the loop, using the blackback cab IR to headphones.
with the knobs set like the pic below, and the ch.2 gain boost on with the knob on the side dimed, i got it to sound pretty fiery.
and then switch to ch 1/no boost and you have a decent clean channel.
next i stashed the IR-J, pulled out my UA Lion and hooked it up to the delay, out to my mackie mixer.
with freshly tuned ears i preferred the Lion in that DI / IR config as it sounded closer to a real authentic plexi marshall to me.
i then tried out a smattering of drive boxes in front of the Lion.
my fave was the cmatmods brownie for pushing the Lion into solo territory without overly compressing or changing the sound too much.
the DOD was cool and surprisingly quiet but not as dynamic as the brownie.
not shown was the Friedman BE-OD Deluxe i also tried, but it did not work well at all due to too much gain even when dumping the internal trim pots.
ran it with a catalinbread bella epoch deluxe in the loop, using the blackback cab IR to headphones.
with the knobs set like the pic below, and the ch.2 gain boost on with the knob on the side dimed, i got it to sound pretty fiery.
and then switch to ch 1/no boost and you have a decent clean channel.
next i stashed the IR-J, pulled out my UA Lion and hooked it up to the delay, out to my mackie mixer.
with freshly tuned ears i preferred the Lion in that DI / IR config as it sounded closer to a real authentic plexi marshall to me.
i then tried out a smattering of drive boxes in front of the Lion.
my fave was the cmatmods brownie for pushing the Lion into solo territory without overly compressing or changing the sound too much.
the DOD was cool and surprisingly quiet but not as dynamic as the brownie.
not shown was the Friedman BE-OD Deluxe i also tried, but it did not work well at all due to too much gain even when dumping the internal trim pots.
HowieJams
Active member
Thanks for the update.
I just ordered the Friedman IR-J, it will be here tomorrow.
I was tempted to order the IR-X as it was $200 less, but I knew I would end up wanting the IR-J anyway, so I ordered what I really wanted.
You know the saying, the cheap comes out expensive.
That could still hold true if I decide I really want the JEL-20 amp.
I will post up a review and youtube videos as soon as I get some time with it.
PDC
Well-known member
Mentoneman's review here is spot on. I also wish it was possible to tap a button to bypass the pedal entirely (like the BE-OD Deluxe) so you could have the clean sound of whatever amp you are feeding with the pedal as an option. And I also found that feeding the 'Send' signal into the input of an amp instead of the FX return does lend more warmth / sag / 'character' to the overall tone. Placing time FX between the Send of the pedal and in the input of the amp essentially does the same thing as a dedicated FX loop. I haven't put any drives in front of the IR-J yet. Feeding it into the input of my amp gives me enough extra depth that I am still liking the lead tone with the boost feature on the side of the pedal dimed. But I can see that something relatively transparent like my Spark Mini might give another level of gain without dramatically changing the character of the IR-J.
HowieJams
Active member
If I put this in the effects return of my amp and it does not sound as good as the amp without it, back it will go.
I don't want another pedal in front of the amp, I want something that turns my Friedman Little Sister Combo in to a JEL-20 combo.
Tomorrow I will know if that is the case.
mentoneman
Well-known member
Dave mentioned how integrating an IR-# box with a syn allows you via midi to bypass the syn modules and select the IR-# preset you create snd store as āthe active moduleā,
while also being able to use the IR-# user loadable cabs/speakers/mics/power amp emulation stuff with the syn modules, instead of the synās internally limited analog cab ems.
reciprocally, i could run my ie4 āwithinā my syn loop ecosystem to take advantage of the synās cab em after the ie4 if needed for direct use.
but i find running my ie4 and syn independently through the gcx keeps each unit more pure and discreet sounding. and my ancient rocktron rack interface cab emulation circuit sounds better to me than the syn cab em.
the UA Lionās best IR cab did sound much more pleasant to me than the IR-Jās best cab did.
but it still doesnāt even come close the sweet dynamics of a real cab and speaker imo.
while also being able to use the IR-# user loadable cabs/speakers/mics/power amp emulation stuff with the syn modules, instead of the synās internally limited analog cab ems.
reciprocally, i could run my ie4 āwithinā my syn loop ecosystem to take advantage of the synās cab em after the ie4 if needed for direct use.
but i find running my ie4 and syn independently through the gcx keeps each unit more pure and discreet sounding. and my ancient rocktron rack interface cab emulation circuit sounds better to me than the syn cab em.
the UA Lionās best IR cab did sound much more pleasant to me than the IR-Jās best cab did.
but it still doesnāt even come close the sweet dynamics of a real cab and speaker imo.
HoboMan
Member
I've been gigging the IR-J since NYE of this year. LOVE IT.
I don't even bring an amp into the clubs anymore. I run it direct into FOH.
I gig with two bands and a third is just starting up. I've been wanting something compact & lightweight but it had to sound good. I was looking at using a torpedo captor with my EVH 5150 III but then I found out about the Friedman Preamp Pedals.
Love the IR-J so much that I'm thinking about grabbing the IR-X that's on sale for $399 to have as a backup or just a different flavor.
The first video is the IR-J going direct and coming thru my floor wedge. I don't use the wedge anymore I'm now in IEMs.
Second video is FOH at the same gig. All going direct into FOH.
I don't even bring an amp into the clubs anymore. I run it direct into FOH.
I gig with two bands and a third is just starting up. I've been wanting something compact & lightweight but it had to sound good. I was looking at using a torpedo captor with my EVH 5150 III but then I found out about the Friedman Preamp Pedals.
Love the IR-J so much that I'm thinking about grabbing the IR-X that's on sale for $399 to have as a backup or just a different flavor.
The first video is the IR-J going direct and coming thru my floor wedge. I don't use the wedge anymore I'm now in IEMs.
Second video is FOH at the same gig. All going direct into FOH.