JJ Jr Review

[ClintN667]

Maybe you can add a Fryette Power Station into the picture for extra watts?

 

[skullfxr]

Maybe you can add a Fryette Power Station into the picture for extra watts?

Funny, I was thinking about saying that too. Lol.

 

[ClintN667]

Yeah still come out cheaper than 3500

 

[RACKSYSTEMS]

Thanks for the review.. I feel a few things are not correct but that’s your opinion.. I did with switchers go back and forth with the 100 watt.. first the preamp and then the power amp back to back.. blindfold with switchers.. There was no difference. also finally the clean is more what JERRY was looking for. He uses a pedal on his clean to get some dirt.. Just some comments .. also the clean when set about the same as the master is equal in volume but will get dirty.. also at about 3 on the dirty master you start distorting the power section... just comments .. again thanks for the review.

 

[MistaGuitah]

Thanks for the review.. I feel a few things are not correct but that’s your opinion.. I did with switchers go back and forth with the 100 watt.. first the preamp and then the power amp back to back.. blindfold with switchers.. There was no difference. also finally the clean is more what JERRY was looking for. He uses a pedal on his clean to get some dirt.. Just some comments .. also the clean when set about the same as the master is equal in volume but will get dirty.. also at about 3 on the dirty master you start distorting the power section... just comments .. again thanks for the review.

That's a good point and thanks for the correction. I was looking at it as a 2-channel amp and not necessarily a Cantrell signature model. Now that I look at it that way, I can see how it's made to Jerry's specs and not necessarily an amp aimed to satisfy the general public. However, keep in mind that I did say a couple of times that it was mostly nuance and did not say there were significant differences.

Also note that the only disappointment I cited was the volume difference/lack of volume on the clean channel. I was not talking necessarily about the clean headroom. In fact, I think I probably said somewhere that the ability to get a range of pristine to light overdrive makes the JJ Jr a little more versatile than trying to do that with the JJ-100.

I personally thought the JJ Jr side by side with my JJ-100 was almost spot on through a 1x12 DS mini cab. After going back and forth many times, I started noticing a few things that were different, but like I also said, not significant. It does have a little different feel and something in the low end that I perceived. I think the problem is that the immediate criticism of this thread kind of perpetuated a sense that this was somehow a negative review. It's not. I highly praise the JJ Jr and am glad I got it. I think I made that pretty clear and only intended to convey some of the subtleties that I perceived.

 

[chadprsman]

Well, I've got one on the way, with the no more tears wah.

 

[JTyson]

Ive listened to every clip out there on this amp, its amazing that Dave got that tone out of EL84's, I really didn't think that was even possible
Well done Dave

 

[311boogieman]

Ive listened to every clip out there on this amp, its amazing that Dave got that tone out of EL84's, I really didn't think that was even possible
Well done Dave

+1

 

[cardinal]

Well, I've got one on the way, with the no more tears wah.

If you don't mind, please post up your thoughts on that wah when you get it. I've been curious about it.

 

[MistaGuitah]

The wah is next on my list. I've been watching tons of wah vids lately and decided to give Friedman a try.

 

[romanianreaper]

I personally thought the JJ Jr side by side with my JJ-100 was almost spot on through a 1x12 DS mini cab.

That still blows my mind.

 

[PBGas]

The wah is next on my list. I've been watching tons of wah vids lately and decided to give Friedman a try.

The no more tears Wah is absolutely awesome! I have 2 of them! I have never been disappointed with any of my Friedman gear!

 

[cardinal]

The wah is next on my list. I've been watching tons of wah vids lately and decided to give Friedman a try.

The no more tears Wah is absolutely awesome! I have 2 of them! I have never been disappointed with any of my Friedman gear!

I hate to hijack this thread, especially because the JJ Jr. sounds killer, but:

What other wah's have you had? How much range is there for the No More Tears wah? I have two wah's right now, a CAE and a Vox handwired. Like the somewhat sweater tone of the Vox but the CAE has huge range which I really really like, so ideally I could find something with both that sweeter, more vintage tone but with more range/sweep/whatever.

 

[skullfxr]

The wah is next on my list. I've been watching tons of wah vids lately and decided to give Friedman a try.

The no more tears Wah is absolutely awesome! I have 2 of them! I have never been disappointed with any of my Friedman gear!

I hate to hijack this thread, especially because the JJ Jr. sounds killer, but:

What other wah's have you had? How much range is there for the No More Tears wah? I have two wah's right now, a CAE and a Vox handwired. Like the somewhat sweater tone of the Vox but the CAE has huge range which I really really like, so ideally I could find something with both that sweeter, more vintage tone but with more range/sweep/whatever.

Not to off topic but fulltone makes a great unit. Very long physical sweep. I have played a few RMC's for a while and if I needed a second way, I would go with them. I was disappointed by the CAE wah tbh. I actually returned it. Haven't tried the vox HW.

Having said that I will look into the Friedman wah.

 

[PBGas]

The wah is next on my list. I've been watching tons of wah vids lately and decided to give Friedman a try.

The no more tears Wah is absolutely awesome! I have 2 of them! I have never been disappointed with any of my Friedman gear!

I hate to hijack this thread, especially because the JJ Jr. sounds killer, but:

What other wah's have you had? How much range is there for the No More Tears wah? I have two wah's right now, a CAE and a Vox handwired. Like the somewhat sweater tone of the Vox but the CAE has huge range which I really really like, so ideally I could find something with both that sweeter, more vintage tone but with more range/sweep/whatever.

I've had the Petrucci Wah, and several versions of the Crybaby wahs over the years. I love the range and 3 settings on this one. For me, it is exactly what I have wanted to hear.

 

[napalmdeath]

Hey if you think you can write a better review that everyone on the forum is going to agree with and not criticize in any way, then go right ahead. If you don't like my review, then you don't have to take it for a grain of salt. It's that simple. I gave an honest review with a lot of detail. I think that anyone who wants to criticize my review needs to first shut the hell up, write their own - better - review, and then show us all how its done. This is precisely the reason why I don't post any audio because some people find a way to criticize any little thing, but they do it in such an unnecessarily vicious way sometimes.

I love Friedman amps. I just spent $1500 on this one so it's not like I'm badmouthing the amp or anything. There are going to be shortcomings with a little amp so there's nothing wrong with mentioning that. Dave Friedman is a guy who listens to his customers so it's good that people can offer feedback to help him continually improve his products.

Someone said they didn't buy it for the clean channel, well good for you. Many of us bought it precisely because it has a clean channel.

Someone else criticized my critique of the pricing. Well I never said they should sell for $1000, or that they aren't worth a reasonably high price tag. I just said they seem overpriced for $1500. I think $1399 is the right price. Disagree if you want but saying the PT20 or JJ Jr should sell for $1399 isn't an unreasonable expectation in a competitive market.

Someone else criticized me for comparing it with the 100w - well duh, of course I'm going to compare it with the bigger version of the exact same model! At least I can offer that comparison as an owner of both amps, and that is useful information to a lot of people.

So if you think this review sucks so bad then I'll delete it and spare you all the agony of getting your panties in a bid wad, then let you freaking experts write all the reviews on this forum.

I dig your review, Savage Riffer...Some guys just haven't learned that you're opinions are really the gospel, and nobody should question them. Congrats on the new amp.

 

[ClintN667]

I just ordered one. I was kinda thinking maybe I should grab something else with just a touch more power/headroom but then I started trying to remember how many times I actually use pristine clean on my Orthos and it wasnt much. If I need a little more oomph I'm planning on getting a Fryette Power Station or something similar and I can add a little more power with that. This is the last purchase over 1k I'm making this year so I hope I dig it. I kinda feel like it will suit me.

 

[fek]

I am impatiently waiting for someone to dump theirs after the honeymoon period.

 

[MistaGuitah]

I just ordered one. I was kinda thinking maybe I should grab something else with just a touch more power/headroom but then I started trying to remember how many times I actually use pristine clean on my Orthos and it wasnt much. If I need a little more oomph I'm planning on getting a Fryette Power Station or something similar and I can add a little more power with that. This is the last purchase over 1k I'm making this year so I hope I dig it. I kinda feel like it will suit me.

Well for what it's worth, I used it in a live setting for Maiden's Wasting Love which requires some clean and dirty riffs. I nearly maxed the clean volume but it was enough for the performance. I'll note the pickup in my guitar is a Dimarzio D-Sonic which is a medium high output ceramic pickup, so that should give you a little better idea. That pickup pushes a clean channel a bit, not as much as an Super Distortion or EMG, but a little more than the average PAF. It wasn't totally clean, but it worked very well for whatever reason. There's no problem at all with the gain channel. It's plenty loud enough.

 

[romanianreaper]

This is the last purchase over 1k I'm making this year so I hope I dig it.

Oh yeah, keep telling yourself that cowboy. You are a musician like the rest of us and suffer from G.A.S. I predict you'll buy another guitar before I even finish typing my reply...






All kidding aside, I keep saying "I just need this and I'm good" and then some other thing pops up on my radar. Like I've been so focused on getting a 2019 Les Paul Standard. Nothing else was in the way of that goal. Then Dave Friedman decides to blow everyone's tonal mind with a JJ Jr. and now I'm going to be selling plasma and working as a lot lizard at the local truck stop...