RaceU4her
Well-known member
The 3monkeys Jose preamp I have definitely can get rip your face off bright and abrasive, to me it’s more fitting for guns and roses or 70s Aerosmith kind of rock than modern chugging
The 3monkeys Jose preamp I have definitely can get rip your face off bright and abrasive, to me it’s more fitting for guns and roses or 70s Aerosmith kind of rock than modern chugging
BABMusic
Well-known member
Jose coming tomorrow.
angelspade
Well-known member
Can't wait to hear your feedback on this oneJose coming tomorrow.
SaberRed
Active member
Very lucky! Let us know what you think of it!Jose coming tomorrow.
The~Kid
Well-known member
Yeah tone is fine..... But like the old saying goes.... Tone comes from the fingers and amp and speaker are sort of like an extension of the fingers.
The~Kid
Well-known member
Congrats man *_*Jose coming tomorrow.
BABMusic
Well-known member
Yeah, we'll see. I'm not really planning on keeping both the BE50 and the Jose, so we shall see which one works better for my hands.
311boogieman
Well-known member
Well, it is a Jose inspired amp right. Not really expecting it to do much beyond Trash. Ola said to chugs so it chugs but not really any amp for me. 
PS: I like his demos and "Will it chug" because it is usually very straight forward and he starts dialing things in right away. Having a sense of humor helps too.
PS: I like his demos and "Will it chug" because it is usually very straight forward and he starts dialing things in right away. Having a sense of humor helps too.
BABMusic
Well-known member
I've only played it for an hour or so, but holy shit. I get it.
I'll tell you something funny though. When I first turned it on, I was wondering where the hell the gain was. I was thinking, "they said it had less gain than the BE50, but this is a lot less gain." But then I saw the volume I was on zero. Once I turned it up, there was tons of gain. I have to say, it does have slightly less gain than the the BE50 I own, but only a smidge less. It's like having the BE50 in HBE mode with Sat on and gain on 8 or 9. So in other words, there's plenty of gain in this amp.
There's plenty of low end. You won't miss the thump control at all. It may have a lot to do with that it's 100 watt. You don't need a 4x12 either to get it to sound huge.
The most important part: the tone. It's amazingly balanced. Sure, the Marshall toothiness of the bright cap is there, but you can dial it down. The amp is more punchier than my BE50 -- huge sound. But the highs are not obnoxiously harsh on the ears, unless you want it that way. I'm still learning how the Vintage Presence and Modern Presence knobs work, because the low end dramatically increases or decreases if you switch between them. You have to dial the amp a little differently for each presence.
The feel is much more organic and natural, at least for my fingers. It doesn't feel like I'm fighting the amp. Reminds me a lot of my JCM2000 with the SD1 in terms of feel, but not as harsh as that amp.
Can't really decide which gain setting I like best. The left and the right are both equally interesting. The left is slightly more aggressive. I don't really keep it on the middle, which is the standard 3 in 1 sound. Diodes sound much better to me.
I think the problem I've had with the BE50 might have more do with the fact that it's 50 watts. That squishiness in the amp just kind of goes against my natural playing style, which is mostly rhythm. For leads, I think the BE50 is a little easier and more forgiving than the Jose, but the Jose can easily do saturated leads. They will sound a little less thick (unless you engage the Fat switch).
The Jose sounds wonderful if you play something like Bark at the Moon. It just does that kind of tone so well.
The Jose does seem to work better with higher output pickups. I tried it with a medium output guitar -- still sounded very good but you might be feeling like you are missing a little gain. I had no trouble getting the Ola sound in the video above with this amp, when I using higher output pickups.
The Jose is also slightly tighter than my BE50. It's hard to explain.
Anyway, this amp just has a much better feel and response for my hands. People say it's very percussive -- sort of. It's a big sound, but it's not stiff. It's still very saturated, which I love. I think Dave Friedman found a great balance of big sound and saturation in this amp. When I went back to play my BE50, I really noticed the difference in compression that the BE has. It's like the sound gets squashed into a much smaller tone, but it's kind of hard to explain.
But now I'm a bit pissed off at myself. I should have not bought the BE50 and waited a few more months for the Jose. I do love the BE50 clean channel, and I will miss that if I sell the amp, but the Jose does the high gain tone better. I mainly live on the high gain channels these days.
One thing I do wonder though, is that I am curious if I would have liked the BE100 a lot more than the 50. I wonder if my problems are because of that? I've never tried the 100 so I don't know. But the Jose sounds so damn good that I don't really feel the urge to try the BE100.
Oh, and whoever said the BE50 and Jose are not far apart, I disagree. They are very different beasts.
Forgot to mention: Jose is more forgiving for me when playing rhythms ; BE50 is a little more forgiving playing leads.
One more weird thing to note. If I dial my BE50 like this, it sounds close to the Jose. The feel is still not exact, but it's a lot closer. There's something about the Jose that has a more mid scooped tone to it. Note: Sat is turned OFF, gain is maxed.
I'll tell you something funny though. When I first turned it on, I was wondering where the hell the gain was. I was thinking, "they said it had less gain than the BE50, but this is a lot less gain." But then I saw the volume I was on zero. Once I turned it up, there was tons of gain. I have to say, it does have slightly less gain than the the BE50 I own, but only a smidge less. It's like having the BE50 in HBE mode with Sat on and gain on 8 or 9. So in other words, there's plenty of gain in this amp.
There's plenty of low end. You won't miss the thump control at all. It may have a lot to do with that it's 100 watt. You don't need a 4x12 either to get it to sound huge.
The most important part: the tone. It's amazingly balanced. Sure, the Marshall toothiness of the bright cap is there, but you can dial it down. The amp is more punchier than my BE50 -- huge sound. But the highs are not obnoxiously harsh on the ears, unless you want it that way. I'm still learning how the Vintage Presence and Modern Presence knobs work, because the low end dramatically increases or decreases if you switch between them. You have to dial the amp a little differently for each presence.
The feel is much more organic and natural, at least for my fingers. It doesn't feel like I'm fighting the amp. Reminds me a lot of my JCM2000 with the SD1 in terms of feel, but not as harsh as that amp.
Can't really decide which gain setting I like best. The left and the right are both equally interesting. The left is slightly more aggressive. I don't really keep it on the middle, which is the standard 3 in 1 sound. Diodes sound much better to me.
I think the problem I've had with the BE50 might have more do with the fact that it's 50 watts. That squishiness in the amp just kind of goes against my natural playing style, which is mostly rhythm. For leads, I think the BE50 is a little easier and more forgiving than the Jose, but the Jose can easily do saturated leads. They will sound a little less thick (unless you engage the Fat switch).
The Jose sounds wonderful if you play something like Bark at the Moon. It just does that kind of tone so well.
The Jose does seem to work better with higher output pickups. I tried it with a medium output guitar -- still sounded very good but you might be feeling like you are missing a little gain. I had no trouble getting the Ola sound in the video above with this amp, when I using higher output pickups.
The Jose is also slightly tighter than my BE50. It's hard to explain.
Anyway, this amp just has a much better feel and response for my hands. People say it's very percussive -- sort of. It's a big sound, but it's not stiff. It's still very saturated, which I love. I think Dave Friedman found a great balance of big sound and saturation in this amp. When I went back to play my BE50, I really noticed the difference in compression that the BE has. It's like the sound gets squashed into a much smaller tone, but it's kind of hard to explain.
But now I'm a bit pissed off at myself. I should have not bought the BE50 and waited a few more months for the Jose. I do love the BE50 clean channel, and I will miss that if I sell the amp, but the Jose does the high gain tone better. I mainly live on the high gain channels these days.
One thing I do wonder though, is that I am curious if I would have liked the BE100 a lot more than the 50. I wonder if my problems are because of that? I've never tried the 100 so I don't know. But the Jose sounds so damn good that I don't really feel the urge to try the BE100.
Oh, and whoever said the BE50 and Jose are not far apart, I disagree. They are very different beasts.
Forgot to mention: Jose is more forgiving for me when playing rhythms ; BE50 is a little more forgiving playing leads.
One more weird thing to note. If I dial my BE50 like this, it sounds close to the Jose. The feel is still not exact, but it's a lot closer. There's something about the Jose that has a more mid scooped tone to it. Note: Sat is turned OFF, gain is maxed.
Last edited:
angelspade
Well-known member
Big congrats and thank you for the detailed review...plan on keeping the BE50 Deluxe through the so called "honeymoon period"? I think I'd be very interested in your thoughts after a week or so of comparisons. Is it fair to say that the Jose's tone is a bit more raw and unvarnished by comparison to the BE?
BABMusic
Well-known member
I'll probably keep it for at least a while. Yes, it's fair to say the Jose is more open. It's far more real Marshally than the BE50. But I think someone else said it best by saying that the mids in the Jose are what make it most special. There's just a nicely balanced thing going on with the midrange dial. It sounds like how I would have hoped the BE50 would sound. The BE50 mids sound a bit more directional and you lose some of the round bigness. If you scoop the mids on the BE50, you get a rounder sound that is closer to the Jose. I don't think Dave intended the BE50 to be dialed like that, but that's where I think it sounds best. The Jose sounds great anywhere you put the mids between 2-6. Keep in mind though, the max gain on the Jose is about the JVM gain on 2.5-3..
BABMusic
Well-known member
@angelspade I think this is probably the right Friedman for you. Just make sure you know the max gain is like 3 on your JVM. It's pretty awesome that the Jose offers 2 different high gain Plexi versions, 1 medium gain Plexi version (3 in 1) and one lower gain Plexi tone. The Prescence controls give you two version of teach of these as well.
angelspade
Well-known member
Thanks brother, I think your right. If I was to acquire a Friedman....it would likely have to be this one. I have heads for gain...This one would be based on tone, and more specifically mid range character. I'm still trying to figure out if I should acquire a Marshall 1987X 50 watt and have it modded, or wait for a used Jose. Do you intend to post clips? Or is that not your thing?
BABMusic
Well-known member
Maybe I will. I have posted a few in the last year, but never really tried to create a gear channel. The problem is, no microphone really captures how these amps sound, at least on youtube. You'll get a more accurate impression from an iphone recording it seems. Also, you could probably get the same tones as the Jose if you had an older Plexi with a Boss SD-1. The JCM800 would be slightly different if you go that route, but I'm sure would sound great. I personally would prefer the Jose just for the options, but it is a lot more $$.
I'd say, this guy captures the Jose the closest to how it really sounds, but he has it dialed a little more raspy or bright than I would.
BABMusic
Well-known member
I tried the amp last night with the Boss SD-1 (Japan version) and it sounded good. I used it mainly on the right diode mode and the standard Plexi mode. Boosts like the SD-1 will work fine with the Jose, but you might have to dial down some of the highs in the amp.
BABMusic
Well-known member
One thing to mention about the Jose is that I think this is one of the best amps that could benefit from the Mr. Scary Mod upgrade. The Jose has enough gain if you're using high output pickups, but if you're using PAF or similar, you'll likely feel it's just short of where you want. You won't need the Mr. Scary Mod with amps like the BE50 or BE100, but it would make a lot of sense with the Jose.
S̷͖͑m̵͎͂á̵̺s̸͚̈́h̴̬̑
Hack
Mike Oxhuge
Well-known member
Boy, that is one Bad.....................Cat.
S̷͖͑m̵͎͂á̵̺s̸͚̈́h̴̬̑
Hack
This was a smart technique. By setting the amp up poorly, the lack of clarity hides how shitty he really sounds.
The~Kid
Well-known member
Hey best I could do with a sub 100 dollar cell phone....... Not half good but not all too bad
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