NAD, NGD, and NCD... my cup runneth over...

[Red_Label]

Was a busy week last week. Managed to bring home a Friedman Small Box, Friedman 2x12 cab, and Anderson classic in trans red all in one week. Long story, but suffice it to say that I gigged it all last weekend and it was pretty glorious. I cancelled my upcoming lumbar fusion to seek a second opinion... so that bought me time to make payments to my buddy at the music store instead of the hospital, neurosurgeon, etc. As I told him... I'd rather make payments to him than the hospital anyways! Went home last night after a long day of sciatica from over-doing things at work... and I'll be damned if I didn't feel better after plugging-in and playing anyways! Playing has always been my drug, and I guess that continues to be the case. He also dropped-off a Bogner Harlow pedal to try running into the dimed clean channel on the Friedman... and WOW... pretty awesome.

This particular corner of the man cave is really starting to shape up!

 

[JimmyBlind]

Boom!

 

[thawn5150]

Nice how do you compare the Splawn to the Friedman any thoughts ?

 

[Beyond Black]

That moment when you postpone lumbar surgery to buy gear.........TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!!!!

 

[Red_Label]

That moment when you postpone lumbar surgery to buy gear.........TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!!!!

NO ONE bleeds for tone more than I do!!!

Actually... I postponed the surgery and THEN brought the gear home. The surgery deal has been something I've been dealing with for the past year, and specifically since August. My neuro seemed to think that I needed it to fix what ails me. But I kept getting "signs" all along the process. Every single event along the timeline was like an episode of The Twilight Zone. The straw that broke the camel's back two weeks ago was when I called the neuro's office bugging them again for the paperwork that I needed to fill-out. I'd been bugging them about it for three weeks and it never showed. The nurse said she'd sent it twice before. So finally I get a clue and call them up and ask "can you confirm my address?" She proceeds to give me the address of my ex-wife, whom I haven't been with for TEN years (and who doesn't have my last name anymore and has remarried). Plus, she only lived at this place for five months this year.

I have a friend who served on the board of directors at this particular hospital/healthcare provider and I'd been keeping him posted about the endless parade of bizarre events leading up to this surgery. So after this last thing, I emailed him and said "maybe someone up there is trying to tell me something". His response was "maybe they are!". I was just joking, but after that.... I started thinking and it became clear to me that I wasn't supposed to have this freakin fusion! I'd come up against brick wall after brick wall. I called my wife about maybe seeking a second opinion and she kind of broke-down and cried and said that she'd been worried about this surgery. She's a pretty cool cucumber normally and it surprised me when she got emotional. So we put on the skids right there and I called the office back to postpone/cancel the surgery. The gal who answered said "we've got your paperwork ready here if you want to come get it". I responded with "ummm.... yeah... about that". I ended-up going to see my primary care doc to have him refer me to a respected local ortho for a second opinion and he totally agreed with my thoughts on it and called me neuro a "douchebag". LOL! He thinks I may have piriformis and not something worthy of a fusion.

Anyways... sorry for the long-story. Just wanted it known that I've been suffering sciatica since my first back surgery almost five years ago (a microdiscectomy) and this process has been long and painful. I've had seven epidurals, physical therapy, and all kinds of other crap. So there's no way I'd choose gear over my health. But in this case... I feel like I dodged a major bullet here and why not celebrate by going into debt for more nice gear???

 

[Red_Label]

Nice how do you compare the Splawn to the Friedman any thoughts ?

Both are great amps. When I brought the Friedman home, I had to compare it, the Splawn, and a Ceriatone Chupacabra. Loved all three of them, but one had to go because I've got a strict one-in, one-out gear policy these days (at least with pricey gear). All were awesome in their own rights, and the Chupacabra took a back seat to nothing. But being only one-channel, it had to go (and its loop wasn't near as good as the Friedman or Splawn). But I will always remember it fondly.

Now... in regards to the Friedman Small Box versus the Splawn Quick Rod... I would say that the Splawn may be slightly more compressed sounding, and maybe a bit darker. MAYBE! Because of course each amp has a tone stack that can be dialed to suit the user. I did some extensive A/B'ing for a couple of days and found that I preferred the Friedman for classic rock, 80s rock, and just rock in general. But when I'd put on AIC, or Tool, or something a bit newer, darker and harder-edged... I slightly preferred the Splawn. But believe me when I saw that it's not night and day between the two. Differences are small. Both have monster tone and are a joy to play. And I wouldn't be too broken-up if I "had" to gig the Splawn for some reason instead of the Friedman. The Splawn's got more footswitchable options. But for me, neither is "better"... they're just a little bit different. I don't think you can go wrong with either one for rock! I've owned and/or possessed a bunch of great amps (three Bogners, Marshalls, Engl, VHT, three Ceriatones, etc) and these two amps are as good or better than any I've owned/played.

 

[Racerxrated]

Congrats on the gear! I have 2 relatives and a friend that have had fusions, and they all regret getting the surgery. In the end it just didn't help very much at all, and the fusion has restricted their ability to move somewhat. I work in health care and you have to be careful...there are some greedy docs that schedule procedures that aren't really necessary. Or they avoid giving patients other options. After all they are pocketing a good portion of the cost of the procedure.

 

[Avi8r2005]

John, you're buying all of the killer gear in town, glad it's going to a good home, although mine would give it just as much love. I gave your chup a whirl the other day and I really liked the sound of that one. Was quite similar to the Smallbox at least I thought so. But again, being only 1 channel I can see how you you opted to keep the Friedman oover it. Enjoy the new gear and my offer for the Mark V is still open if you want swap out for a few days anytime you want.

 

[yngzaklynch]

Congrats on the new gear. Love the Small Box

 

[Red_Label]

Congrats on the gear! I have 2 relatives and a friend that have had fusions, and they all regret getting the surgery. In the end it just didn't help very much at all, and the fusion has restricted their ability to move somewhat. I work in health care and you have to be careful...there are some greedy docs that schedule procedures that aren't really necessary. Or they avoid giving patients other options. After all they are pocketing a good portion of the cost of the procedure.

Yeah, I'm not sure about my neuro anymore. I trusted him, because I'd gotten to know him a few years ago when his wife booked me for a solo acoustic neuvo-flamenco gig for their son's wedding reception. A couple of months later they booked me again for their practice Christmas party. So last year when I decided that I couldn't continue to live with my sciatica indefinitely, and none of my epidurals did jack squat... I texted her and had her get me in contact with him. My long-time primary care doc at the time spoke very highly of him, and lots of other people I know had spoken highly of him. But after the wacky things that have transpired these past several months, and now starting to hear a lot more not-so-flattering things about him... i just dunno anymore. That's why I decided to see a very well respected local ortho for a second opinion. I may not even get in to see him until February at the rate it's going... but I can wait. I've waited over four years! So what's another month or three? And yes... as you mentioned... I've also had a lot of people tell me DON'T get a fusion if you don't absolutely have to. This ortho that I will eventually be seeing is known as being VERY conservative when it comes to surgery. I was told by a fusion "veteran" friend (who's had half his spine done) that if this ortho recommends surgery, then you definitely NEED surgery. My gut tells me he's going to say I don't need surgery. Which is GREAT! But some sort of path to wellness would be nice...

 

[Red_Label]

John, you're buying all of the killer gear in town, glad it's going to a good home, although mine would give it just as much love. I gave your chup a whirl the other day and I really liked the sound of that one. Was quite similar to the Smallbox at least I thought so. But again, being only 1 channel I can see how you you opted to keep the Friedman oover it. Enjoy the new gear and my offer for the Mark V is still open if you want swap out for a few days anytime you want.

Thanks Phil! I really did love the Chup and considered keeping it AND the Friedman. But not being independently wealthy... I elected to take the trade value. As you mentioned... the Chup really did sound a lot like the Friedman to a point. That's why I was wavering. If the Chup had a separate clean channel like the Friedman's... it would still be at my house and someone else would've bought the Smallbox. The Chup does have more gain than the Friedman, and because of all those switching tonal options, I believe it's got more overdrive/distortion tones in it than the Friedman. But the Friedman is... A FRIEDMAN!

Yeah, we'll definitely have to do a test drive trade sometime. You can spend more time with the Smallbox and I can finally experience a Mark V. I don't expect that I'll want to dump the Friedman and get a Mesa... but my curiosity would at least finally be satisfied!

 

[Red_Label]

Congrats on the new gear. Love the Small Box

Thanks man! My music store buddy (he lurks here more than I do) who hooked me up with the Small Box also has a Friedman BE100 latest iteration that I picked up here or over at TGP for him last summer. He speaks at least as highly of the Small Box as he does the BE (if not more so). We also had a Taco that we went in on together last spring. It had that nice Friedman smooth roar... but lacked thump. My Chupacabra showed-up the same day as the Taco... so liking some thump with my roar my interest in the Taco faded fast. I wished it was bigger sounding at the time. Well... enter the Small Box. Plus... an awesome clean channel! I do believe that I like the Friedman clean channel as much as my old Bogner Shiva and XTC Classic. It's hairier though. But I like that. Kinda like channel 1B on my old H&K Triamp MK I (one of my favorite clean tones of all time).

 

[gibson5413]

Awesome gear! Congrats!

 

[Valtyr]

Congrats!

Love the Anderson guitars, I got a hollow classic earlier this year.

How is the bogner harlow? I was considering one but afraid it might add a bunch of noise to my signal.

 

[TremoJem]

Great amps...so happy for you, and a bit jealous...LOL.

Long story short...I too suffer from similar problems with my back.

I too, decided against invasive procedures, including and injections.

I too, experienced something similar with regards to signs leading me in the right direction.

Have fun with your new toys Brother...oh, and I am now looking at the Anderson guitars, so thanks for that.

I might hit you up later for your thoughts on yours.

 

[vendetans]

That moment when you postpone lumbar surgery to buy gear.........TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!!!!

NO ONE bleeds for tone more than I do!!!

Actually... I postponed the surgery and THEN brought the gear home. The surgery deal has been something I've been dealing with for the past year, and specifically since August. My neuro seemed to think that I needed it to fix what ails me. But I kept getting "signs" all along the process. Every single event along the timeline was like an episode of The Twilight Zone. The straw that broke the camel's back two weeks ago was when I called the neuro's office bugging them again for the paperwork that I needed to fill-out. I'd been bugging them about it for three weeks and it never showed. The nurse said she'd sent it twice before. So finally I get a clue and call them up and ask "can you confirm my address?" She proceeds to give me the address of my ex-wife, whom I haven't been with for TEN years (and who doesn't have my last name anymore and has remarried). Plus, she only lived at this place for five months this year.

I have a friend who served on the board of directors at this particular hospital/healthcare provider and I'd been keeping him posted about the endless parade of bizarre events leading up to this surgery. So after this last thing, I emailed him and said "maybe someone up there is trying to tell me something". His response was "maybe they are!". I was just joking, but after that.... I started thinking and it became clear to me that I wasn't supposed to have this freakin fusion! I'd come up against brick wall after brick wall. I called my wife about maybe seeking a second opinion and she kind of broke-down and cried and said that she'd been worried about this surgery. She's a pretty cool cucumber normally and it surprised me when she got emotional. So we put on the skids right there and I called the office back to postpone/cancel the surgery. The gal who answered said "we've got your paperwork ready here if you want to come get it". I responded with "ummm.... yeah... about that". I ended-up going to see my primary care doc to have him refer me to a respected local ortho for a second opinion and he totally agreed with my thoughts on it and called me neuro a "douchebag". LOL! He thinks I may have piriformis and not something worthy of a fusion.

Anyways... sorry for the long-story. Just wanted it known that I've been suffering sciatica since my first back surgery almost five years ago (a microdiscectomy) and this process has been long and painful. I've had seven epidurals, physical therapy, and all kinds of other crap. So there's no way I'd choose gear over my health. But in this case... I feel like I dodged a major bullet here and why not celebrate by going into debt for more nice gear???

I’m 36 year old nurse an had a back injury 6 years ago which left me with the joys of sciatica. I had suffered terrible going the doctors medication after medication, physio and acupuncture and never seemed to get any improvement until I’m resting completely. In my type of job this is near impossible being on your feet for 14 hrs a day unless your off sick. It’s such a debilitating pain in the arse (pardon my French). When I had got to the point I couldn’t take it anymore I did some research on the net and found this guide: http://tinyurl.com/BestSciaticaRemedy

At first I thought it was just a hoax but OMG !!!!! This is the best money I have ever spent. It started to work after a few days and I have finally got my life back. I am a 36 year old adrenaline junkie again

 

[Red_Label]

I’m 36 year old nurse an had a back injury 6 years ago which left me with the joys of sciatica. I had suffered terrible going the doctors medication after medication, physio and acupuncture and never seemed to get any improvement until I’m resting completely. In my type of job this is near impossible being on your feet for 14 hrs a day unless your off sick. It’s such a debilitating pain in the arse (pardon my French). When I had got to the point I couldn’t take it anymore I did some research on the net and found this guide: http://tinyurl.com/BestSciaticaRemedy

At first I thought it was just a hoax but OMG !!!!! This is the best money I have ever spent. It started to work after a few days and I have finally got my life back. I am a 36 year old adrenaline junkie again

I appreciate you taking the time/effort to share your experience and the solution that you found. But I can't help but be skeptical, considering that this is your first post after just joining the site. I did watch the video, and then searched links for reviews on this program... but of course every link I clicked-on was in reality just more advertising for this program.

At any rate, I will continue to do research on the Sciatica SOS program and if I am convinced that it is a viable solution at some point, I'll purchase the book. I'm just more than a bit skeptical when programs use spammer tactics.

 

[Red_Label]

Great amps...so happy for you, and a bit jealous...LOL.

Long story short...I too suffer from similar problems with my back.

I too, decided against invasive procedures, including and injections.

I too, experienced something similar with regards to signs leading me in the right direction.

Have fun with your new toys Brother...oh, and I am now looking at the Anderson guitars, so thanks for that.

I might hit you up later for your thoughts on yours.

Thanks! And yes... please feel free to hit me up for my thoughts on Anderson guitars at any time. My music store buddy has been a huge fan of the brand for years, proclaiming them to be the best guitar made. I played some in the store from time to time, but didn't really allow myself to be open to their greatness for several years, because they don't come cheap and I didn't want to fall for something that would cost me that much. But last December he managed to get me to take the sunburst Drop Top Classic home (it had been my favorite in the store), and once I actually spent some time at home on it, there was no doubt that it would be staying. Of course, he just used that same tactic with the trans red Classic last Saturday. That one's been there a while and I liked it as well... and didnt' want to let myself fall in love with it either. But of course I did.

Anyways... they really are the best playing, sounding, and built guitars I've ever owned. I've had dozens and dozens of awesome guitars over the years. Some standouts are PRS Customs, EBMM Morse Y2D, ESP Eclipses, Gibson LPs, Fender USA Deluxe strats, etc. I can't even remember them all. But there's no doubt that none of them had anything on the Andersons. The fit & finish is as flawless as I've ever seen. And I really think there's something about the Anderson neck pocket that adds a ton of sustain to the guitar, because most strat style guitars I've had were very plucky and percussive, where-as the Andersons have strat tone... but with seemingly as much sustain as my LPs. In fact, for rock I'm normally much more of an LP, mahogany-bodied/glued-neck kind of guy. But at last Saturday's gig I played the red Anderson for the first half of the show, and then picked-up my beloved LP Standard with Fralin Pure PAFs for the last half. It was all I could do to not put it back on the stand and finish the night out with the Anderson. And what wasn't just because of the whole "new car" infatuation. I really preferred the tone of the Anderson. I only kept playing the LP because we were doing tunes like The Darkness "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" and Lenny Kravitz "Are Ya Gonna Go My Way" and my mind said "you've GOT to play an LP when you play those tunes". Anyways... my LPs aren't getting any love right now. May dump one of them down the road. Wouldn't mind trading my Standard toward an Anderson Bulldog at some point -- though the Bulldog is really more of an LP meets Strat kind of vibe than straight LP.

Sorry to ramble... I've just become a believer and disciple of Anderson guitars.

 

[Red_Label]

Congrats!

Love the Anderson guitars, I got a hollow classic earlier this year.

How is the bogner harlow? I was considering one but afraid it might add a bunch of noise to my signal.

The Harlow is interesting. I'm not sure how to describe it exactly. When I dime the gain on the Friedman's clean channel (to make a great Marshall plexi crunch)... and then add the Harlow... it makes the tone so thick, rich, 3D, and responsive. I have several other great ODs and compared the Harlow to them and the Harlow's got something they don't. It's kind of "alive" like a great tube amp. So running it into the Friedman is like a great amp squared! My previous favorite OD pedal to use light-up the front end of an amp delivering crunch was the Fulltone OCD. My favorite tones with my old Marshall 2203X and Bogner Shiva were achieved using an OCD. I've been thinking about picking another one up (sold the one I had earlier), but now that the Harlow is here... I don't see that happening. The OCD was awesome for that, but from my memory of it, it wouldn't have near the big, thick girth of the Harlow. It had the liveliness from what I remember, but just not as big sounding. More of a high-mid roar, versus the full-mid grunt of the Harlow.

Also, the Harlow tightens that tone up and makes chugged low notes really thump hard, but stay tight. It's saggy like early EVH tones... and yet tight if that makes any sense. it's not flubby at all for making such a big, 3D tone.

 

[TremoJem]

You kinda answered my questions.

I have an Ibanez Jem 7V WH, which is a super strat, I guess.

I have a PRS Singlecut, which is an LP copy, I guess.

Anyway, I want a traditional pick up layout for a strat and tele, which I am also interested in.

I want the traditional strat and tele tones, but I want them in a better package...if that is possible.

I don't like a 7.5 or 9.0 neck radius.

I am more of a 14 to 17 inch radius guy.

But I see the Andersons are 14 inch, I think.

Additionally, I like Jumbo frets.

So that has got me interested.

Anyway, thanks.