HowieJams
Active member
The Friedman IR-J just arrived and I tried it in the effects return of three amps:
Friedman Little Sister Combo
Marshall DSL40CR
Quilter Micropro Mach 2 Combo 8
I tried it with the Marshall first for a few minutes and liked it, I thought it sounded good.
Then I tried it in the Friedman Little Sister Combo, it did not sound better than the Little Sister tone.
It is much brighter than the Little Sister and the cleans are not good.
I always say I hate to play clean, but what I realized is, if the clean channel is good and a bit gritty I do like it.
The Friedman Little Sister Cleans are great.
What really surprised me is I actually prefer the Little Sister gain to the IR-J gain on any of the settings.
The Friedman Little Sister boosted with a TS808 is amazing.
Last up was the Quilter Solid State, it was terrible.
The IR-J needs to run in to a tube amp for warmth.
I played with the IR-J for hours today.
I tried it over and over in the Marshall and my Friedman.
I tried using a TS808 as a boost instead of the IR-Js internal boost, it was not better than the IR-Js built in boost.
If you have any Friedman amp there is no reason to put the IR-J in the return to change the tone, it will not be better, it might be different, but not better.
I did like it better in the Marshall return, but after going back and forth quite a few times, again I preferred the Marshall amp tones to the IR-J tones.
The Marshall cleans are great and even the gain channels sounded better than the IR-J, especially boosted using my cheap Behringer TO800 instead of my TS808.
Lastly, it is a PITA to run in to the effects return, it is just one more step I don't need or want to do.
I just want to plug in to the amp, put a delay in the loop and a TS808 and wah pedal out front, nice and simple.
So, I am sorry to say, although there are some nice tones in the IR-J, they are not better than running my host amps with a boost.
I am still a huge Friedman fan and am still on the hunt for another Friedman amp, but I realize the JEL-20 sound is not what I am after.
I need something not as bright and with nice gritty cleans, not just a single knob clean.
Will the IR-J be right for some people, absolutely, just not the tone or way of hooking it up that is right for me.
I think the IR-J would be great for situations like live direct in to the monitor/PA, but I still feel if you have a very good tube amps that have great gain channels, the IR-J might not do quite as much as expected.
Both of my amps have killer gain channels, but if I had an amp with not so much gain and so-so cleans, the IR-J in the return might be a better option than pedals.
Sorry, I am not going to do any videos, I don't want to put any more use on it so that somebody else who buys it gets it in mint condition.
Friedman Little Sister Combo
Marshall DSL40CR
Quilter Micropro Mach 2 Combo 8
I tried it with the Marshall first for a few minutes and liked it, I thought it sounded good.
Then I tried it in the Friedman Little Sister Combo, it did not sound better than the Little Sister tone.
It is much brighter than the Little Sister and the cleans are not good.
I always say I hate to play clean, but what I realized is, if the clean channel is good and a bit gritty I do like it.
The Friedman Little Sister Cleans are great.
What really surprised me is I actually prefer the Little Sister gain to the IR-J gain on any of the settings.
The Friedman Little Sister boosted with a TS808 is amazing.
Last up was the Quilter Solid State, it was terrible.
The IR-J needs to run in to a tube amp for warmth.
I played with the IR-J for hours today.
I tried it over and over in the Marshall and my Friedman.
I tried using a TS808 as a boost instead of the IR-Js internal boost, it was not better than the IR-Js built in boost.
If you have any Friedman amp there is no reason to put the IR-J in the return to change the tone, it will not be better, it might be different, but not better.
I did like it better in the Marshall return, but after going back and forth quite a few times, again I preferred the Marshall amp tones to the IR-J tones.
The Marshall cleans are great and even the gain channels sounded better than the IR-J, especially boosted using my cheap Behringer TO800 instead of my TS808.
Lastly, it is a PITA to run in to the effects return, it is just one more step I don't need or want to do.
I just want to plug in to the amp, put a delay in the loop and a TS808 and wah pedal out front, nice and simple.
So, I am sorry to say, although there are some nice tones in the IR-J, they are not better than running my host amps with a boost.
I am still a huge Friedman fan and am still on the hunt for another Friedman amp, but I realize the JEL-20 sound is not what I am after.
I need something not as bright and with nice gritty cleans, not just a single knob clean.
Will the IR-J be right for some people, absolutely, just not the tone or way of hooking it up that is right for me.
I think the IR-J would be great for situations like live direct in to the monitor/PA, but I still feel if you have a very good tube amps that have great gain channels, the IR-J might not do quite as much as expected.
Both of my amps have killer gain channels, but if I had an amp with not so much gain and so-so cleans, the IR-J in the return might be a better option than pedals.
Sorry, I am not going to do any videos, I don't want to put any more use on it so that somebody else who buys it gets it in mint condition.
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