"Third" channel for Friedman JJ Jr - how to?

B

Branagh

New member
Hey everyone,

I've been playing with the JJ Jr for a year now (mostly progrock) and I'm happy with the sounds I'm getting so far. However, I'm struggling a bit with the optimal way to distinguish my rhythm sound from a heavier and/or lead sound in terms of the gain structure. Since I have only one channel available, I need to add gain with pedals and I'm a bit stuck on how exactly to do that.

I'm playing with the JBE mode engaged, which adds quite a bit of compression and changes the midrange response, I think. With a humbucker guitar (SD Custom 5), I get my ryhthm sound with the gain at around 9 o'clock. I have mostly tried two things so far:

A) Adding an overdrive pedal pregain. I currently only have a tubescreamer and a klon at home, and these color the sound too much for my liking.
B) Adding a boost in front (Friedman Buxom). This works a lot better, but I feel like I'm losing high end definition (e.g. pick attack) and clarity doing that. The pedal has a good EQ section, but, for the life of me, I can't replicate the effect of just turning the amp gain up, which always sounds better.

Does anyone have suggestions on how to go about this? I have to admit, I'm not very experienced and I don't fully trust my ears, so take what I've written with a grain of salt. Should I go for a more "transparent" OD in front? And then, should I maybe go for more gain rather than volume? Or should I try adding a pedal post gain, in the loop?

Thanks already and all the best
 
I had this done by Dave on the jj Jr combo I used to have and I have the same mod on my jj100. Mod adds a volume control for the "jbe" mode and makes it footswitchable. You might be able to find a local tech to do the work, Dave might share the needed changes, or ship it to Friedman to mod...
 
Thanks for the suggestion, sounds great!

But just to make sure: do you end up with two different gain settings? I wouldn't necessarily need different volumes since I can add extra volume in the loop.

And how does the channel switching work? Is there an extra switch or a third mode to the existing one? Right now I'm using an RJM Midi switcher
which also switches channels for me. I have no idea if that would still work.

Lastly, being based in Germany, I really don't want to send the amp overseas, but maybe I could find someone here to do it.
 
One thing you could try is putting a MXR Micro Amp in the loop. Dave has recommended this in the past I think as a way to get an additional "lead" channel.
 
Thanks for the tip - now, I didn't have that pedal on the radar, but isn't that just a clean boost? Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't that leave the gain level where it is and just increase volume?
 
Branagh said:
Thanks for the tip - now, I didn't have that pedal on the radar, but isn't that just a clean boost? Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't that leave the gain level where it is and just increase volume?
Click to expand...
In the loop, yes
 
Alright, thanks, but I already have an EQ pedal in the loop to increase volume, I just try to get closer to increasing gain levels like the amp itself does.
 
Branagh said:
Thanks for the suggestion, sounds great!

But just to make sure: do you end up with two different gain settings? I wouldn't necessarily need different volumes since I can add extra volume in the loop.

And how does the channel switching work? Is there an extra switch or a third mode to the existing one? Right now I'm using an RJM Midi switcher
which also switches channels for me. I have no idea if that would still work.

Lastly, being based in Germany, I really don't want to send the amp overseas, but maybe I could find someone here to do it.
Click to expand...
There is a mod to add both a gain and a volume to jbe mode that I have seen on a jj100. Jj Jr. Is pretty tight space wise so youd have to ask Dave if both a gain and volume pot would fit. I only had the volume added. Moving to jbe mode is like turning on the sat switch of a be so it has a natural gain increase but imo it's more of the top end sizzle gain where as the gain knob adds more of the natural gain structure of the amp.
 
Alright, that would of course be amazing but I'll have to check in indeed if thats realistic, esp. outside of the US. Thanks!
 
Per the suggestion from flask28. Running a clean boost in front of the amp would be like boosting the output of the pickups which will then hit the pre amp harder which will get you more saturation vs. just volume from having it in the loop.
 
dave will do that mod and add V and G to front, presence knob moved to rear chassis, footswitch change out needed. i asked, but never went through with it.

also let me clarify something for whoever reads this - dave can mod/do anything within reason to his amps for you. its all a matter of what you are willing to pay,
he doesnt have a "menu" bc of the custom nature of mods he does, however he is consistent in his price quotes based on another mod quote i had gotten from him and a few guys that posted their mod prices on TGP and facebook
 
I see, so that is quite an extensive mod actually, I'd have to check whether this can be done in Germany and what the price would be. I don't think I want to risk going through the hassle and endless custom troubles of shipping things back and forth between the US and Europe again.

As to running a clean boost in front: As stated, I'm running a Buxom Boost in front, and it works alright, but I cannot make it to match higher amp gain in terms of clarity (which might well be a user and not a gear problem).
 
Are you running your buxom boost with eq on? I run mine with the eq bypassed and have been pleased with the results I get... Good luck, I'd be willing to bet there is a Friedman dealer in Germany with a tech. Email Dave. He's also been great for me, so have the guys at bad...
 
Thanks for writing again, will do. As to the pedal, might I ask for your settings on the amp and the pedal as well as what pickup you're running and/or which music you're playing? I know that this will not be a recipe for me, but maybe it'll give me an idea. So far, I've tried using the EQ on the Buxom, but also always ended up switching it off again.
 
I thought I might give a small status report: Following what GOHOINC said about the JBE mode rather focusing on "top end sizzle gain", I switched to BE mode and that made working with pedals and EQing a bit easier for me.

I then tried the Friedman Golden Pearl instead of the Buxom Boost and while it really is a great sounding pedal, it cuts some low end, even in plain boost mode (to my ears at least). This did not end up working for a lead boost for me (I think the JJ Jr. is just too tight to begin with), but it I'm sure it sounds great with boomier amps.

Lastly, I picked up a suggestion from another thread to use the guitar volume, setting the channel for lead gain levels and then dialing it back to rhythm. So far, that really seems to work best, but I'll have to wait for rehearsal recordings to check if that's also true at band volumes. Since this method worryingly comes for free and therefore can't be a good boutique solution, I'm also trying a JHS Little Black Amp to do the poti work for me.

I wonder, does that even make sense from a technical perspective or am I imagining things? Shouldn't a moderate boost from a clean boost pedal be roughly the same as a dialed down signal into a little more preamp gain?
 
So if what you want is the be tone and jbe tone available from a footswitch, the mods are best option. If not modding, you either need to boost/saturate the be mode, or you could limit the jbe mode. You need an overdrive to add saturation to be mode, you'll just have to play with what od and where in your chain gives best results.

The lbab doesn't have a footswitch, it would be like adding another volume control in series with your guitar volume, which is redundant. If you had a similar volume box but with a footswitch, you could set it up as a limiter for jbe mode. A footswitchable lbab would be the same as rolling down guitar volume, just footswitchable.
 
Well, I have come to appreciate the BE mode in the past two weeks, so I'll put the JBE idea on the shelve for now, I think. Thanks again for your comment that pointed me in that direction.

The JHS box is in my looper/switcher, so it technically has a footswitch and, yes, I'm limiting a higher-gain BE setting with it to get my ryhthm sound. However, I realized it does not have a treble bleed mod, so I need to get a replacement anyway. No use in cutting the high end off for my ryhthm sound.
 
Branagh said:
Well, I have come to appreciate the BE mode in the past two weeks, so I'll put the JBE idea on the shelve for now, I think. Thanks again for your comment that pointed me in that direction.

The JHS box is in my looper/switcher, so it technically has a footswitch and, yes, I'm limiting a higher-gain BE setting with it to get my ryhthm sound. However, I realized it does not have a treble bleed mod, so I need to get a replacement anyway. No use in cutting the high end off for my ryhthm sound.
Click to expand...
one thing that was clear to me when i owned a Runt 20 (BE) and JJ Jr at the same time was that a bump up on the 200 and 400 bands (2nd and 3rd from the left) on my Boss GE7 and the Buxom Boost set aggressively in front of the amp as an extra gain stage really made them sound VERY much alike. it may not be exact, but i think you already possess the tools to get you there. its just a matter of hitting two switches instead of one
 
Thanks, I'm going to try out the low mids a bit more. Out of curiosity: Do you remember your settings on the Buxom boost, i.e. did you cut the low end and did you use the EQ?

One more thing I've tried in the past weeks is the Xotic EP Booster. Allegedly, it is a linear boost with a small high and low cut and something going on with phase shifts and whatnot. To my ears, it thickens up the tone substantially in the lows and low mids while indeed cutting some 6+khz, which I had to reintroduce in the loop. That works quite well, though and confirms that adding some 200-400Hz is not a bad idea.
 
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