Dirty shirley love thread

Chance terrill

New member
I have had my Dirty Shirley for about a year now and every time I play it I fall in love all over again. It sounds like I always wanted a Plexi to sound, with a little bit more gain and a little bit more body and less harsh highs, though I can make the Dirty Shirley sound nearly overly bright like a plexi and have less Bass, I find on the highest gain setting with all the EQ knobs between 4 and 6 except for the mids which is it 8 and the gain at just under eight, it Nails AC DC ZZ Top and Led Zeppelin tones with my Les Pauls Bridge pickup rolled down to around 8/8.5, then when I roll the volume all the way up on My Guitar it's like having a solo boost, when dimed like that it has enough gain to cop Alice in Chains tones with no problem, then if I switch to the neck pickup enroll the volume down to about three I get lovely Jimi Hendrix clean tones, think Wind Cries Mary, so basically I have a 1 channel amp that nails tones ranging from clean to Alice in Chains heavy gain by using only the guitar controls...... It has a vintage vibe to it in the way it sounds and feels but incorporates modern benefits such as a great fx loop and the best master volume I've ever used as well as having more or as much gain as a jcm 800...... Tonally it sits on between a jtm 45 and a jcm800 or plexi so it's versatile enough to lean towards the super full fender Bassman side of things or the mid forward plexi side of things...... Truly a work of art...... One simple channel that can cover just about any style of music ranging from reggae to metal with only a delay and boost pedal...... Amazing..... Just amazing..... The only amp ever to capture the sound in my head..... It is also the most inspirational piece of gear I have ever owned.... Just by looking at it I think of riffs and ideas for songs...... Absolutely stellar work Mr. Friedman!
 
I love her! Had a mini, and have the module sitting in my syn30 right now-I've said it's one of the modules that make the syn30 worth on it's own.
 
I have had the big one in a head format for about a year, and I'm beginning to realize the honeymoon period is never ending....... I love it more now then I did when I first got it...... Truly an amazing amp, I'd be willing to bet that there isn't another single channel amp on the planet as versatile as the dirty shirley
..... One channel that do beautiful cleans, spot on zz top Zeppelin and acdc crunch, and high gain Alice in chains riffs by using only guitar controls
 
Happy owner of the 40w DS since 2015 and I have to admit it's been the main amp GAS killer of the last decade.

it's the only amp I never thought about selling for a single minute!
 
Dude I can't believe more people haven't posted on this thread! No way I'm The only one who is still honeymooning with this amp over a year later! There's is just a plethora of amazing tones in it....... Tool, Alice in chains, stp...... To 70s classic rock like mountain mississippi queen and Zeppelin tones for days........ Late 70s acdc tones on point! This amp can nail Acdc, after all, a jtm50.... Yes 50.....is the main amp on most acdc albums.... And the shirley is pretty close to a jtm50...... I'd say tone wise it's alot closer to a jtm 50 then a jtm45..... More gain, more aggressive mids,.... Tighter etc
.... Anyways the 40 watt Shirley is an acdc machine.... It also totally nails reverend willy g tones.......plug a strat into it, switch to lo input and low gain setting, and ur nailing hendrix! Take gain Down even further and plug a Tele into it and ur playing some hank jr. And Waylon Jennings chicken pickin.......switch to back to highest gain setting and high input and hit front end with a boost and ur chugging out zakk wylde riffs with pinch harmonics galore !....... All the while it's just a single channel amp!...... Truly an amazing piece of art! Well done Dave! U have created the best amp ever made!
 
I've owned and played a large variety of amps the last 40 years.
My DS40 is definitely one of my top 5 favorites.
 
I have the Dirty Shirley Mini and really love it. I also have the Smallbox 50W and a custom Smallbox 20W.
And every day I play the Dirty Shirley Mini... Man, what a tone.

What I miss in the Dirty Shirley Mini is a presence knob to compensate some of the low end. But not a problem at all.
 
Is the DS designed after a Plexi or KTM 45? My DS pedal has boat loads of gain and I love it blended with amp crunch channels.

I would love if they built a 2-3 channel Dirty Shirley sort of like the Bogner Ecstacy 50 watt 3435.
That Bogner may be my next amp but I'm loving this Dirty S pedal and would love to have a multi channel amp like this with some added modes like the BE-100.
 
Is the DS designed after a Plexi or KTM 45? My DS pedal has boat loads of gain and I love it blended with amp crunch channels.

I would love if they built a 2-3 channel Dirty Shirley sort of like the Bogner Ecstacy 50 watt 3435.
That Bogner may be my next amp but I'm loving this Dirty S pedal and would love to have a multi channel amp like this with some added modes like the BE-100.

I think the twin sister is the amp you're searching for then!

btw DS is an hybrid between a JCM800 (preamp) + some hot rodding and a JTM45 (power section)
 
I think the twin sister is the amp you're searching for then!

btw DS is an hybrid between a JCM800 (preamp) + some hot rodding and a JTM45 (power section)
Thanks bro, never heard of this amp. Looks like two channel. I like at least two channels with built in mode switch or three channels. My Bogner 20th Shiva is like that and a built in boost so I have four switchable tones from the footswitch for gigs.

My next amp was going to be the Bogner Ecstacy 3435 50 watt head, but now you have me wondering. I wonder how heavy it can get. JTM45s aren't that high gain but if it's modified and close to a JCM 800, that could be nice.

It states that the Twin Sister is a modified JTM45 but no mention of a JCM800.

I am Interested.
 
Thanks bro, never heard of this amp. Looks like two channel. I like at least two channels with built in mode switch or three channels. My Bogner 20th Shiva is like that and a built in boost so I have four switchable tones from the footswitch for gigs.

My next amp was going to be the Bogner Ecstacy 3435 50 watt head, but now you have me wondering. I wonder how heavy it can get. JTM45s aren't that high gain but if it's modified and close to a JCM 800, that could be nice.

It states that the Twin Sister is a modified JTM45 but no mention of a JCM800.

I am Interested.
Here’s mine. It can get some decent levels of gain, especially with some hotter pickups

 
I think I want the new Friedman BE-50 Deluxe, unless I end up with the BOGNER XTC 3435 50 watt.
I already have a 20th Anniversary Bogner Shiva, I'm leaning toward the Friedman since from flaking to guys who have the 3435, it would be too much overlap if I got the XTC. I also know some guys who sold their 3435 after getting the Shiva 20th.
The BE-50 Deluxe is super tempting.
I wish Friedman did a built in boost that was accessible from the footswitch. I love that feature with many Bogner amps.
 
I think I want the new Friedman BE-50 Deluxe, unless I end up with the BOGNER XTC 3435 50 watt.
I already have a 20th Anniversary Bogner Shiva, I'm leaning toward the Friedman since from flaking to guys who have the 3435, it would be too much overlap if I got the XTC. I also know some guys who sold their 3435 after getting the Shiva 20th.
The BE-50 Deluxe is super tempting.
I wish Friedman did a built in boost that was accessible from the footswitch. I love that feature with many Bogner amps.
Ok, here’s my BE50 😅

 
I think I like the Dirty Shirley better than the other Friedman offerings. I haven’t had the opportunity to own one yet.
 
I think I like the Dirty Shirley better than the other Friedman offerings. I haven’t had the opportunity to own one yet.
I think the Dirty Shirley pedal sounds better than the BE OD, but I haven't played the Dirty Shirley amp. I think the DS sounds fuller and thicker with better mids.

Because the BE seems to lack the full mids of the Dirty Shirley, I'd be curious if the BE amps have any issues cutting thru in a band mix.
 
I think the Dirty Shirley pedal sounds better than the BE OD, but I haven't played the Dirty Shirley amp. I think the DS sounds fuller and thicker with better mids.

Because the BE seems to lack the full mids of the Dirty Shirley, I'd be curious if the BE amps have any issues cutting thru in a band mix.
Yes, this is exactly my thoughts on the DS. It’s the mids. 👍
 
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