Friedman Mini Dirty Shirley test drive...

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Mmmmm... the best lunchbox I've ever played. Played it through a V30-loaded Engl 4x12 at my buddy's shop. Very responsive and rich (like you'd expect a Friedman to be). Flip the switch to the bottom and you've got an awesome, touch responsive blues tone. Roll the guitar volume back and it cleans-up for Fenderish, quacky country cleans with very nice presence. Flip it to the middle and you've got a great straight ahead rock tone. And flip it to the top position and you can get higher-gain tones. We ran it into two 4x12s and I tuned to drop-D and played through some Alter Bridge and it sounded awesome. Tight, and yet punchy and thumpy. The loop is transparent (as you'd expect from a Friedman).

I'd given up on lunchbox 20-watters up until now. I'd owned some great ones, including my favorite thus far... the H&K Grandmeister. I even had a Friedman Pink Taco for a day. It was a nice, rich-sounding little amp... but had no grunt or thump. I recieved the Taco the same day as my Ceriatone Chupacabra and the Chup spanked it hard for thump and punch (despite the fact that the Chup lacks real low-end compared to other 50-100 watters I've had). The Taco also didn't seem to have much variety of tones in there. The Mini Shirley seems to have more than enough thump and punch for a lunchbox, and a lot of different tones in that box. I would have probably just brought it home and kept it, but I've just begun paying for my new Friedman Small Box and Anderson Classic strat. Hopefully there are some Shirleys available when I've crawled-out from under my debt... as I'll very likely end-up with one (and I had totally sworn-off lunchboxes).

If you're curious at all about the Mini Shirley for a great home, recording, or even gigging amp... give it a test drive. Color me impressed. :rock:

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Hell yea. Now I have an even better reason for selling my Splawn Quick Rod. Hope Nashville gets them soon!
 
Adambomb":3bpsndmr said:
Hell yea. Now I have an even better reason for selling my Splawn Quick Rod. Hope Nashville gets them soon!
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I really love my QR halfstack. It was my favorite amp rig. But since the Small Box head and 2x12 showed up... It's not getting much love right now. I still think highly of the Splawn though.
 
Red_Label":vg9cx9yk said:
Adambomb":vg9cx9yk said:
Hell yea. Now I have an even better reason for selling my Splawn Quick Rod. Hope Nashville gets them soon!
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I really love my QR halfstack. It was my favorite amp rig. But since the Small Box head and 2x12 showed up... It's not getting much love right now. I still think highly of the Splawn though.
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Yea but they just don't sound near as good as low volumes like Friedmans, and I don't need two 100 watt amps.
 
I'd think the 100 watt Quickrod would have very little in common with a 20 watt lunchbox. It's a fire breathing, live big rig. Hard to compare the two.
They serve different purposes. Both fantastic, I'm sure. :thumbsup:
 
Are these released Or did you have some priviness?

I barely crack my Smallbox past 2 on either MV at indoor gigs. I was thinking of the PT for small club stuff. But this sounds soo very tasty. :rock:
 
tripstan":1b2lg0nj said:
Are these released Or did you have some priviness?

I barely crack my Smallbox past 2 on either MV at indoor gigs. I was thinking of the PT for small club stuff. But this sounds soo very tasty. :rock:
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No, they're official now. My buddy got his from a limited run of 20 made for the U.S. market, but he said that they will be in Friedman's regular lineup starting in January. If you go to the Sweetwater site, you'll see them offering pre-sale spots there. So it's official. And yeah... having played both the Taco and the Mini Shirley, I'd wait and check a Shirley out if I were you before making that decision. I really like the Mini. It's the only lunchbox I have any interest in at this moment.
 
Findthetone1":dfwrsvax said:
Hows the amount of gain compared to the PT?
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Can't remember. It's been towards a year since I had the Taco. But the Mini has plenty of gain. I didn't even max the gain when I was playing Alter Bridge tunes. Plus, my store buddy says that the Mini takes boost/OD pedals great. The Taco didn't to our experience.
 
Waiting on a DS mini to ship also a Splawn Competition 50 watt... Santa was real good this year;) glad to hear the DS is that good can't wait!!!
 
Gadzz":2sgi347k said:
Waiting on a DS mini to ship also a Splawn Competition 50 watt... Santa was real good this year;) glad to hear the DS is that good can't wait!!!
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Eggsalent! Give us your impressions (of both) when you get 'em. I spent yesterday afternoon in the man cave, A/B'ing the Small Box and Quick Rod s'more. I really like them both and have no desire to get rid of either at this point. The QR is a little more scooped to my ears and suits things like AIC and Tool very well. The SB lives more in the mids and suits more classic rock very well. Both are awesome amps that would be great playing ANY type of music.
 
Red_Label":1bl6ogs0 said:
Gadzz":1bl6ogs0 said:
Waiting on a DS mini to ship also a Splawn Competition 50 watt... Santa was real good this year;) glad to hear the DS is that good can't wait!!!
Click to expand...

Eggsalent! Give us your impressions (of both) when you get 'em. I spent yesterday afternoon in the man cave, A/B'ing the Small Box and Quick Rod s'more. I really like them both and have no desire to get rid of either at this point. The QR is a little more scooped to my ears and suits things like AIC and Tool very well. The SB lives more in the mids and suits more classic rock very well. Both are awesome amps that would be great playing ANY type of music.
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I have a Splawn Pro Stock and it just fackin' rawks. However, it's 100w, and I'm always using the loop volume as a master/attenutation. Tones still smoke, but I've been rethinking my rig lately. I play out maybe once a month and none of our gigs require 100w. We're usually mic'd, so 20-50 is good enough.

I played the SB at GC some months ago and I did not hear the aggressiveness of the Splawn, so I passed. However, I didn't get to crank it like I do the Splawn. ...I'm looking at possible doing a 20w head and something like the SB, but I don't know. I already have a great amp, but sometimes the Splawn can be almost too aggressive, but can be dialed down. It's just a beast and I love it.

One think I like about bigger iron is the Thump. I wish more of these 20w heads would have some sort of Resonance knob or something. 84's and smaller iron just can't bring it, but I was quite impressed with the 5153 50w. It has TONS of thump with that resonance switch, which is handy when using different cabs and speakers.

Will have to keep looking at he SB and Mini DS. Thanks for posting!
 
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