What hated piece of gear did you grow to like?

  • Thread starter Thread starter ClintN667
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This is probably going to sound weird to a lot of people because everyone seems to like this amp, but when I first got my Friedman Twin Sister, I was super disappointed.

I was playing a Smallbox, so I was used to more mids, quicker attack, and a sharper, faster sound. By comparison, the Twin Sister sounded slower and very scooped, with a huge boomy low end and a bright toppy treble. I was so disappointed, I immediately bought a BE-100 Deluxe off Craigslist (which I love) and figured I'd sell the Twin Sister.

But over the few weeks I had it up for sale, I kept plugging into the Twin Sister here and there just to make sure I wasn't missing something. I spent time tweaking some settings. I lowered the "Deep" to 10:00-ish to tame the boomy low end and reduced the Bass on each channel to the same. I pushed the mids harder, up to about 2:00-ish, and kept the treble in check around 12:00-1:00. Then I played with the gain and structure switches. Ultimately set one channel up to be a little cleaner (medium gain saturation, gain around 12:00) with no bright switch and the other channel more aggressive (high gain saturation, gain around 2:00) with the bright switch engaged.

I started to really like it, especially with my lower output guitars. I discovered that the extended bass and treble really worked for my guitars with softer Alnico 2, 3, and 4 pickups. Those frequencies in the amp really made up for the frequencies lacking in those pickups. I also discovered it takes boosts super well -- even better than the Smallbox -- and I found I could get a whole range of sounds out of it. It also sounds great with single coils, especially if you add my Xotic "Super Sweet" booster in front of it with the gain knob on that pedal around 8:00-9:00. Next thing I know, I'm plugging into it more than my Smallbox.

Well, the Twin Sister finally sold. A guy paid me just $100 short of what I paid for it new. It was a great deal for me and I had a ton of cash in hand, but immediately regretted it. I had really grown to love that little amp.

The next day I'm walking through one of my local boutique music stores here in SoCal and boom there is a Twin Sister sitting out on display. I couldn't believe my eyes. (It was not my same amp.) I didn't even play it -- I immediately bought it. Now it's back on my amp rack and is one of my favorite amps!
 

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hellzington said:
This is probably going to sound weird to a lot of people because everyone seems to like this amp, but when I first got my Friedman Twin Sister, I was super disappointed.

I was playing a Smallbox, so I was used to more mids, quicker attack, and a sharper, faster sound. By comparison, the Twin Sister sounded slower and very scooped, with a huge boomy low end and a bright toppy treble. I was so disappointed, I immediately bought a BE-100 Deluxe off Craigslist (which I love) and figured I'd sell the Twin Sister.

But over the few weeks I had it up for sale, I kept plugging into the Twin Sister here and there just to make sure I wasn't missing something. I spent time tweaking some settings. I lowered the "Deep" to 10:00-ish to tame the boomy low end and reduced the Bass on each channel to the same. I pushed the mids harder, up to about 2:00-ish, and kept the treble in check around 12:00-1:00. Then I played with the gain and structure switches. Ultimately set one channel up to be a little cleaner (medium gain saturation, gain around 12:00) with no bright switch and the other channel more aggressive (high gain saturation, gain around 2:00) with the bright switch engaged.

I started to really like it, especially with my lower output guitars. I discovered that the extended bass and treble really worked for my guitars with softer Alnico 2, 3, and 4 pickups. Those frequencies in the amp really made up for the frequencies lacking in those pickups. I also discovered it takes boosts super well -- even better than the Smallbox -- and I found I could get a whole range of sounds out of it. It also sounds great with single coils, especially if you add my Xotic "Super Sweet" booster in front of it with the gain knob on that pedal around 8:00-9:00. Next thing I know, I'm plugging into it more than my Smallbox.

Well, the Twin Sister finally sold. A guy paid me just $100 short of what I paid for it new. It was a great deal for me and I had a ton of cash in hand, but immediately regretted it. I had really grown to love that little amp.

The next day I'm walking through one of my local boutique music stores here in SoCal and boom there is a Twin Sister sitting out on display. I couldn't believe my eyes. (It was not my same amp.) I didn't even play it -- I immediately bought it. Now it's back on my amp rack and is one of my favorite amps!
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You know some amps just have different mojo to them. Like I just started wanting another 5150 about a year and a half ago. I've had one in the past and a 6505, plus have played a bunch of them. The one I picked up just sounded great. I didn't even boost it. I kept thinking it was modded or something so I took the chassis out and it was stock.

Maybe chalk it up to tubes or parts tolerances. You know +/- 5% on 30 or 40 components can add up.
 
Teles are for kuntry.

Then I swapped guitars at a jam and heard this meaty, muscular bridge single coil tone and thought "This is what I've wanted a Strat bridge pickup to sound like all along!" Still took me almost 20 years to get one but I really love it, warts and all.
 
At this point I’m hoping it’s my mini Jubilee head. Cause right now I’m not sure if I love it or hate it.
 
Expensive amps.

I was against them for years, thinking "it can't be THAT much better."

Then I played a Larry?‍♂️ it was all over.
 
Findthetone1 said:
At this point I’m hoping it’s my mini Jubilee head. Cause right now I’m not sure if I love it or hate it.
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To me, there is a big difference between the real '87 Jubilees and the re-issue 2555x and the mini. IMO the reissues and the mini are far brighter, with more upper mids and less bass. To me, they sound more like a traditional Marshall. Whereas the old '87 Jubilees are darker and thicker, with more low mids; uncharacteristic for a Marshall. Some have called the Jubilee the "Marshall least like a Marshall," and to me that feels right. Have you played an original Jubilee? You might prefer it.
 
hellzington said:
To me, there is a big difference between the real '87 Jubilees and the re-issue 2555x and the mini. IMO the reissues and the mini are far brighter, with more upper mids and less bass. To me, they sound more like a traditional Marshall. Whereas the old '87 Jubilees are darker and thicker, with more low mids; uncharacteristic for a Marshall. Some have called the Jubilee the "Marshall least like a Marshall," and to me that feels right. Have you played an original Jubilee? You might prefer it.
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I've had at this point, 10 original 87-90 Jubilees. Multiples of every model-from the 2555 down to the 2554. I had 1 2555x. The x is spot on in many ways; the biggest difference was when I turned up...way up and the vintage versions had better tone. But low to medium volumes the x sounded spot on.
 
For me it is amp channels that share EQ settings. Still don't like those.
 
I’ll throw in another vote for the Telecaster.

I kind of dismissed them for the longest time because unlike most of the more popular guitars, when they’re just hanging on a wall they look pretty stupid, and I always though the Telecaster / Cowboy Boots / Hubcap-sized Belt Buckle / Cowboy Hat thing was ridiculous. It’s not until you really see the right person playing one, who doesn’t try to look like a Walmart Cowboy, that you realize how cool they can be.

Aside from the looks, they feel fantastic and nothing sounds like them. I learned I actually prefer a Telecaster’s neck pickup to a Strat’s neck pickup, if you can believe that. And it kind of goes without saying that there’s nothing like a Telecaster’s bridge pickup. I challenge anybody to play a good telecaster on the bridge pickup through a modern high gain amp (and a good noise gate, lol) and tell me you didn't have a great time.
 
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I'd say modelers. I tried them years ago and never could get it it sound like what I wanted. I've had a bunch of tube amps and now have an Orange I play mostly. I bought the Axe I/O and it came with AmpliTube 4. I have to say, it grew on me. Fun playing with the looping and some of the models sound pretty good.
 
I used to hate the way the Les Paul looked when I was in high school and then when Slash came out with one, I was hooked. It is weird because I was a huge KISS fan and Ace obviously had one.
 
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