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Hi. I just plugged in my IR-J for the first time. Set my knobs to emulate your settings on IR-J and IR-X. It's plugged in directly to the wall, no other plugs. Using headphones jack (amp in in Cabo San Lucas). Once I plug in my guitar cable I get massive noise. Does not go away plugged into the guitar. Tried a second brand new cable. Suggestions? I hate to drive 1600 miles to Cabo and have a possibly faulty unit. Friedman pedalboard and power supply on the way.
Love it! I have a 5150 Iconic combo, which has a hybrid preamp. I take a line-out from the effects send and split that with a JHS buffered splitter. I send the signal back into the return to run the combo all-dry, then take that line-level split over to an Eventide MicroPitch which splits it into Left and Right channels. One side goes into the front of a Blackstar Debut 50, and the other into the effects-return of a Peavey Bandit; I absolutely LOVE the sound it makes in this configuration, and the Eventide lets me run in variations of W/D/W and Mixed/Dry/Mixed that create a world of sounds. Since Bandits are so affordable and have gain-staging in the effects return to handle different levels, pairing with these Friedman pedals is a super affordable way to get massive tone that can also go to FoH or a DAW while sounding HUGE live.
I'm 62. I kicked the tube amp habit around 2010 after a back injury. I wouldn't give up my Helix/Variax for any tube amp now. Insane versatility, one trip to and from the car. Priceless. And I look around at my fellow gigging musicians and it's heavily shifted to modeling at this point.
If you have the X or D I recommend to connect to the latest software at least once and it will automatically update the firmware on the pedals. It should improve the IR/power amp simulation and latency. It also includes some ownhammer IR's to choose that imo are much better than the default one's.
He makes a good point here. Tube amps are not better amps than SS's as such, in fact quite the opposite by modern hi-fi and circuit design standards. Additionally they are more cumbersome and fragile, less reliable, far less energy efficient and require a lot more care and maintenance. Cranking one accidentally without a load on either the input or the output can fry the whole thing in an instant. From the moment you turn it on to when you finally turn it off there's a very different level of attention demanded by a tube amp. There's always an element of danger, urgency and anticipation not only bc the high voltages inside can kill you even thru your guitar if the ground connection is faulty and the DC and the input short out, very unlikely but possible. My Roland Micro Cube under my desk stays on all day and once in a while I hot plug pedals and guitars which is something you never, ever do on a tube amp. I can readily admit I can't reliably tell one apart from the other on a recording. However anyone who's tried to capture the sound of an amplfied guitar knows how different and often more muffled and weaker the recorded sound can be compared to what you hear and feel on the spot. Tube distortion can also sound just as fizzy and shrill as a SS. There are definitely differences when playing them that don't automatically translate to good tone vs bad tone. Instead of "fidelity" as being true to the source the combination of instrument, amp and speaker form a single instrument. Like he says; the response and feedback, not the squeal but the relationship and interaction of the pickup, the input, the tubes, the transformer output and finally the speaker impedance via inductive loading and capacitive filtering are what make tube amps so special to play. A SS has only the input impedance interaction. I'm starting to lean more and more towards the idea that a tube amp's character isn't as much about the actual tubes as the output transformer's non-linear mediation of the output tube power and the speaker power. The speaker loads the output tubes corresponding to the transformer's impedance ratio and ithe speaker impedance ultimately determines the power output of the amp. Every stage in the signal path between a steel string in magnetic field to a steel magnet in an electric field actively affects the next as well as the previous stage. Output tubes operating on the edge of break-up and the output transformer going in and out of saturation in a fully cranked amp is what made the sound legendary, not the often thin, hissy and tinny distortion of a hard-driven pre-amp 12AX7 at low output levels. I'm building my amp with 12AT7's bc I seldom need more than a bit of grit and crunch and I'd rather have 3W roaring than 50W idling. As much as I love tube amps a SS for daily use and DI-recording is just superior,; inexpensive and robust but lightweight and they can sound just as good.
put a varistor on the output of ur guitar amp if u dont want it blowing when the speaker fails or gets disconnected while the amp is cranked. in fact many old valve based tvs and stereos used to include this component in the circuitry. but not one of those 275 volt surge absorbing varisors used in power supplies, it needs a 30 volt varistor like an Epcos S20K30 for 100W amp or a 20 volt one for a 50W amp S20K15. the right part will prevent the amp getting blown without affecting the tone. anything above than 10-15 dollars each for these things is a scam. and ure right about the tone of the amp coming from the transformer. when the magnetic core saturates there is a soft type of distortion that happens. but u dont need a large and expensive transformer to get this effect, a much smaller audio transformer with identical core material will produce an identical effect. but it will need to be amplified by SS if u want a decent volume. i would be surprised if there isnt a guitar pedal that does exactly that.
I got an IR-D - I love it! I play in churches where you can’t use amps and have to run direct and it sounds amazing. The only thing I wish was that the MIDI programs let you program “all the knobs” when you select different programs. The midi channels only store channel select, boost off/on, the switches, and IR. It’s better than nothing but it means you might still have to fiddle with the knobs when changing programs. That said, having the 2 channels, I run one clean, one driven, then you can boost either, then I actually have a Tumnus that I can stack on/off, so it gives me like 6 progressive levels of gain.
Assuming it is the same as the Twin Sister, the IR-D topology is that of the Marshall 2203 Master Volume minus the 470p treble peaking cap before the final gain stage and minus the bright cap on the gain control which is shunted by 220k. The Bright/Tight switch either bypasses the 820 ohm cathode resistor on the final gain stage with 680nF (bright) or reduces the coupling cap after the first gain stage (tight). The structure switch switches the cathode resistance on the second gain stage between 10k, 5k, or 2.7k with a 680nF bypass cap. There is likely also a snubber on the cathode resistor of the cathode follower feeding the tone stack.
@@ogunhe It’s not a JTM by any means. The Dirty Shirley/Little Sister preamp has three cascaded gain stages and the tone stack has a 33k slope resistor with a 500pF treble capacitor. The preamp in the JTM has two gain stages with a shared cathode configuration on V1, less aggressive inter-stage voicing and the original Fender Bassman tone stack (56k slope/220pF treble). I don’t believe there are any differences in the preamp between the JTM45 and JTM50. The JTM characteristics of the Dirty Shirley/Twin Sister lie in use of a tube rectifier and the supply filtering isn’t very stiff which primarily affects the power amp. This begs the question, does the power amp simulation in the IR-D attempt to emulate tube rectifier sag?
@@Mister_Greg Dave Friedman said it himself on multiple Tone Talk episodes. The Dirty Shirley is based on his take of a suped up JTM45. His AC30 take is coming soon...
I have been thinking about making ToneX and/or Synergy purchases, but this totally sold me on this approach! I hope more builders follow suit. Top notch demo information and great playing examples. Bravo!
About 20 years ago, I learned about tube amps and owned Fender, Marshall, Vox, Traynor, Hi-Watt, etc.- I settled on two Silverface Fenders, a Deluxe Reverb and a highly-modified Bassman 100. - The Bassman 100 has a F.R.E.D. rectifier (fast-recovery epitaxial diode). It makes the amp such a pleasure to play!
A tube amp is like butter vs margarine. When you’re eating the margarine you say “I can’t believe it’s not butter” but the moment you eat the butter you know you’re eating real butter.
SS amps can yield good results with Tube preamps. In the 90's I had a Roland JC 77 and I ran a Soldano GTO tube preamp pedal into the front with Excellent results rivaling much bigger all tube counterparts. Ymmv. Great video.
Brian giving much praise to other manufacturers- Honest and class take. Now I HAVE to get some of your pedals- not that I haven't wanted several, previously. Great vid!
The best rig I've ever put together is a JTM45 petal with a Tumnus OD through a Peavey Classic 60 and a 2x12 loaded with Celestion Golds. When the Tumnus the JIMS45 connect, something purely magical takes place. Both petals sound fantastic on their own. But, when the two are put together, its pure bliss. With this rig, I can go from clean jazz to high gain without changing a single tone or gain setting. its the most versatile, punchy, warm and responsive rig I've ever owned and I've owned just about every amp that's worth owning, including a 1972 JTM45 that I bough with my high school grad money in 1981. The amp cost me $400. That was a lot of money back then. About $1000 by today's standards. The entire rig cost less than $800. But, the real hero of this glorious rig is, no doubt, the Tumnus. EDIT: The intonation of that Telecaster is immaculate! Second Edit: lol! At every show, I get at least one dude who comes up and asks how I get such great tones, especially gain tones, I point to the Tumnus.
Yup. The end result from modelers is/can be great and essentially indistinguishable from a tube amp. In many cases the end result is better than a tube amp because you eliminate user error and the inconsistencies of a tube amp. But there is certainly something that feels different about playing through an amp. I think most people associate a good feeling setup with a good sounding setup because they are playing better. When the amp responds the way you prefer, you are able to play better, so in turn you sound better.
@@steve_video I definitely feel a difference at band volume and some gain when muting and playing dynamically. It’s a connection between your hands and the sound.
I have just got my IR-D and a fender fr10. It sounds good, but so much bass in the fender fr10 that I'll dial out. but the send DI to desk is important too. I've got a bit of work to do to get it to where i really feel comfortable gigging it. But, so impressed with the unit and its amp like set up, feel, for an old valve amp guy like myself. i hate menus and too many options/voices found in modelers. Pretty excited to have such a versatile thing where i can go DI and receive it back through a fold back in a mix, into a amp on stage behind for more rock feel or take my mesa and quad to shake the room properly. you did a great job of getting great tones out of it.
if using it with an amp, make sure to go through the effects loop return, it won't sound as intended through the input of the amp, since you're running a preamp into another preamp.
I split my signal from me peadlboard with an eq pedal, and run ine tube amp, and one solid state modeling amp. Best of both worlds. The two tones blend into one, and it feels fantastic.
couldn't agree more man... There is just something about tubes, that feel... I love these Friedman platforms and would choose them all the way instead of a ToneX or Neural DSP or Kemper stuff... no option paralysis and the sound is just there...
Can’t beat the sound and physical FEEL of a cranked Marshall stack. 100watts vibrates a lot of air and makes you feel like a king! If it’s good enough for my guitar heroes, it’s good enough for me.
I absolutely love my irx. After 20 years of fighting the volume Beast and trying to find a pedal solution, the only commercial one I found that did it for me was that Friedman
These are a great option. I stayed away from Tube heads for years.....When I discovered the Two Notes Torpedo Captor 8, I was pleased I could get the sound quietly. I send dry direct out to my stereo fx section of my board. Stereo fx outs return to my stereo Two Notes Torpedo Cab M IR DI boxes. XLRs to PA. Non-speaker sim signal to stereo power amp and cabs. I can play as quiet or loud as I want. My levels don't effect the mix. I do have post volume boost at start of stereo fx.....Before I used racks. Analog speaker sim when needed.
Thankx for this amazing video !!! My experience tells, if your a great player, everything sounds good in an small room with low volume. On stage, it,s a different story, especially at high volume, that's ,were you can hear the difference between tubes vs solid state vs modeling. For me tubes have dynamics that is hard to copie. These guitarhero's who switched to these modeling amps, they al sound the same !!!
I won't get rid of my tube amp, but I also just got the Neural nanocortex so I could get access to amps I could never afford. I can enjoy a close copy without investing a fortune in tube amps. If I had the money I'd be flush in a bunch of tube amps ...lol.
I am 77 and past my best before date, LOL. I have forever been humping an antique 50 watt Plexi. Friends have been saying ''get a Modeler! '' Sooo these tube pre's seem to be the answer. Dave F. is hinting there will be a amp to team it with. I am guessing a 100 watt type D pedalboard amp. I run my amp at just before breakup and use pedals for any serious gain/dirt. I think you have the right idea with the black one, the IR-D. THANX for the comparison. All the other reviews feature the gain and I did not get to hear the low gain and cleans. You made it easier to choose.
Thanks so much! I agree- I know Friedman is know. For its high gain stuff but it does lower gain tones great as well, it’s a shame very few show that side of it!
Great video Brian! I just ventured into the capture modeling world. While it is somewhat better depending on who did the capture and what they had in their overall signal chain, it's still not like tubes thru a speaker. It probably will never be. Those Friedman pedals sound incredible.
Awesome Brian, I’m doing this too with my ir-d, but into a fryette ps100 and it’s killer (!!!) especially on the gigs. And the convenience of having just a single cable running from the pedalboard to the amp is the icing on the cake. These are brilliant. Well done Sir, thank u! 👏🏽👏🏾👏🏼
Dave does a great job but hearing that from you makes it rock solid. You know your stuff and great at what you do. Such comments from you about Friedman products simply proves how honest you are and comfortable with your great products for guitar players. Well done.
I have an HX Stomp for years and love it, but the IR-D convinced me to jump in. It's a fantastic, FANTASTIC companion to the Stomp. Sometimes I'll do a dual amp thing with one amp from the HX and the Friedman, some with just the Friedman, and then the HX always does some fx. Just an incredible combo.
I have an IR-X and really like it. Set up a board with verb, delay, pitch shifter, TS. But I need a tuner, and a noise gate (that IRX is noisy in my over-electronic'd guitar room!). So, I dug out my HX stomp and used it for the effects only (4CM) and now have a tube preamp complete pedalboard with only 2 pedals. Oh, and then I got an IR-J to satisfy my monthly GAS, and I can swap them between each other since the jacks are in the same spots. It's great!!!
I am getting the older AX8 for situations I have way less time for setup or last minute. Grab and go. Not for main use. It still sounds great to me and footswitch layout jives with me.
All of these can be wired up like an add-a-channel to your amps with a loop. If you gig your HRD, you can still use its clean channel too. I have an IRX with a Driftwood Purple Nightmare preamp in the loop of the IRX for low, high, and chugging gain. Can run it direct or into another power amp. It's great seeing you so happy with these too. You can also just put a line level friendly delay/reverb after your IRX/IRD to have that too!
I have the IR-D on my pedal board and run it straight into the mixer which goes directly to the mains and monitors. I only use the top channel set up fairly clean. Sounds great and I always get compliments from other players that come up to figure out what I'm running. Power trio. Using the Belle and a Tumnus for my drives.
I love all amps but I have recently acquired a Roland Blues Cube Hot…my Nobles ODR-mini into that amp is my perfect Boomer Rock go to…light weight, loud, and sounds great!
I have Fractal FM3 and it is awesome, I used it as my audio interface and play it hours every day, but I still strongly prefer tube amps like you say for live. The feel and having KNOBS. I have the Friedman preamps and my board is built around the IR-D and I can go direct to FOH or back in to the FX return of my Friedman Dirty Shirley. Dave makes the best amps on the planet and has the EAR for tone. I had the IR-X first and then the IR-D. I set my channel 1 with the gain about 10 and it's kind of ac/dc level gain and then the boost is activated for a hotter crunch rhythm sound is my default setting. I use channel 2 with the mids dimed, gain about 3 c'clock and hit with the boost set to on for my solo. All under MIDI control along with delay and verbs I get complimented on the sound at gigs all the time and people asking me how I get it.
Having both is great. the IR'S are simply preamps. They are pedal versions of the rack preamps of the 80's and 90's. They do have nice computer control of the parameters. Need a powered speaker or an amp of some kind. Cool part of the Fractal or Neural or Kemper is the many choices with cab, effects or many other options. What is cool is you can find your tone either way. Have an FM3 and it is wonderful. Have a few great tube amps and they are great as well. Many options for great tone. Tools, and venue.
This year I set up a new system for gigs with UAFX amp pedals, an HX Effects and two Fender Fr12s. And frankly I'm having a lot of fun, the feeling is really good. I wouldn't have thought that, being a lover of good tube amps. Ok, it's not exactly the 'real thing', but having 4 distinct categories of amp sounds at your disposal is so satisfying, especially when versatility is important.
Lots of overdrive sounds on the videos have improved so much. There used to be a nasty unnatural treble spike that was hard to get past. This recorded sound is an incredible improvement over the old. Much more listenable. Great comparison overall.
I'm pretty sure you were on channel 2 (IRX) when you switched the IR's on Ch 1 at 8:20. I love that unit though, I use it all the time. thanks for the video!
Brian I would love to see you try out the Carvin x1 pedal. Man I don't understand why it doesn't get more love. I love that it's a real tube amp in a box. Sounds great as a stand-alone, preamp, and dirt pedal. I respect your take on this gear and would love it if you did a video on it.🎉
My entire rig is built around an IRX. Been gigging it for almost a year. It sounds feels. It is a real amp. People compliment my tone and ask where my amp is all the time.
@@mudpuddledive Just got my IR-X three weeks ago. It is the cornerstone of my new pedal board that I am setting up for 70's/80's rock. Really looking forward to playing live with it. I'm highly considering getting an EV 12" powered coaxial FRFR monitor to use as my stage monitor and run balanced direct out to it.
Marshall released the JMP-1 in 1992, also with two 12 AX7s. The only difference is in those days there were no IRs. They also released the DRP-1 in the early 90s...so they were years ahead of the game.
My experience with hybrid amps that I have used is they always sound good that’s going back to marshal valve state, Orange micro dark to Bluguitar amp 1 mercury (which will tone match most tube amps). As for the digital amps Roland seems to be the most realistic the blues cube range is very good. Every thing else from boss katana, Blackstar silverline, AxeFX has always had something missing which is difficult to describe but you really notice it if you started on tube amps/ hybrid amps. As for solid state there’s good and bad but the Jfet ones are definitely the type to go for 🍊 Orange Super Crush 100 is very impressive. Other solid state amps Pevey bandit is a classic and orange crush pro series are also very good. As for these Friedman pedal board amps they will definitely give digital players a taste of what they’ve been missing.
Of all of the amps that I've ever owned, my fractal sounds and feels better than all but one of them. The 'one that got away' for me was a mid 80's Peavey Butcher, through a Jackson 4x12 that I borrowed from a guy I knew. I still keep buying pedals though, even though I have several that I've never even plugged in. The "problem" I have with something like a Fractal, is that it's a very different work process than plugging in pedals, moving them around, and turning those physical knobs. You just don't get to do that with something like a fractal. If you want to change a pedal setting, you can do it but it's a whole process, so generally I set it - and forget it. Also, when I do use my "real" amp, it's currently a Blackstar HT-100 on a Marshall 2x12, and I typically use a Wampler Plexi Deluxe. It's a close vibe to my old Butcher, but not quite.
Totally I agree the air a guitar speaker gives you its never replicated with Irs. Since Im a giging guitarist it took a while to find something thats gave me that feeling. For me the two notes cab m plus le clean combined with analog pedal does the job
I almost think it's more about analog vs digital. Ive used a tonex for a year live. I got bored and plugged a sansamp in and it was night and day. I can now feel the latency in the tonex. It doesn't necessarily bother me, but it's definitely there.
Glad I didn't go for the Tonex. I, may splurge for the Kemper Player. $699 for that is a steal! I just don't record at all so it doesn't seem,like a good idea. All I have is combos and no FRFR speakers so I'm not so sure I'd gain anything from it except more complexity
If I were to gig with a tube amp it would undoubtably be the Tone King Gremlin or maybe the Falcon Grande. More than loud enough but can be attenuated and they sound amaaaaazing
I made a very tidy pedalboard with a Synergy Syn 1 on the actual board. I run it into a Torpedo Cab M and basically get the same stuff that the new Friedman products do except more options. Friedman makes great stuff. Its hella fun.
Great video , I feel the same way, nothing sags like a rectifier tube big fat juicy open chords not really the sounds but yes feeling how the notes responds is totally a different , solid state rectifier ,for me ,better for Palm muted sounds and digital , sim’s and iRs are different feel as well 👍🏻👍🏻⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🖖🏻😎✌🏻🎸💪🏻👏🏻
Brian, are we listening to the Friedman pedals into the Power Amp in of the amps (Femder, Peavey Bandit, etc) and you’re mic’ing the speaker? Or are we just hearing the Direct signal through an IR? Thanks so much for sharing
*This is the best I've heard these pre-amps sound, of all the demo's I've heard.* I've got a request for the suggestion box, Brian (my apologies if I've asked for this before...). You know exactly how to dial in these amps, to the tones they were designed for. 99% of the time, they're some version of the Marshall circuit. But, NO ONE these days are dialing these amps in for those killer crips, punchy, articulate Marshall-era tones. They're almost *ALWAYS* using too much gain...whether it's the style of music, or style of playing (i.e. lead tones that traditionally use a ton of gain). Can you do a short video to show how these Marshall-esq circuits were designed to sound like (that includes the SLO circuit). These days I wouldn't even call it high-gain (that's what we called it circa '87)...it's more of a "Super Crunch". Give these kids a bit of a lesson on making sure the design of the circuit is respected while they're doing their gear demo's.
thanks for the direct comparison. Already sounds great and one of the few videos showing all three side by side. But I think you still miss out on even a little more tube feeling having the output volume so low. The digital poweramp sim really wakes up if you have it a bit higher ( around noon) . better to turn down the following stage. this is also what Dave Friedman recommends. for ir-d and ir-x you have to upgrade firmware to 2.0 to really benefit from this „ooomph“.
The IR-J sounds so ridiculously good! All of them sound awesome, but if I could only pick one it would be the IR-J. Btw: something I'd really would like to see in pedal format are the old Tascam GS-30 and BS-30 guitar and bass amp sims. They sound great, but they are built into these plastic tape recorder housings so they aren't really made for pedalboards. IIRC, the GS-30 is supposed to be based on the preamp and EQ from some old Tascam tape recorder. Really smooth and amp-like distortion.
I'm a helix lover, but I was missing that chime. Bought an IRD. just use that now. BUT, I can say, the Placator in the Helix, at high gain is indistinguishable. I enjoy playing more with a bit less gain with the IRD
Is it true that the clean channel on the IR-J is the same as on the IR-X? Also how similar/different would you say the gain channels on those are? It's hard to tell without a direct back-to-back comparison. I've got the IR-X and I'm trying to convince myself out of getting the IR-J, lol. Nice video btw!
Dear Brian "Ceasar Imperator of Tone" 😉, a lot of Wampler pedals have a 3 band EQ, which is great and versatile but more complex. I'd like very much to know what is your process to dial bass/mids/treble on an amp, on a pedal and on both. During a long time, I began with bass to get punch, then trebble for clarity, then mids. But I often got the same kind of tones, slightly mid scooped. Now I often begin with mids then bass/trebble and bass/treble again, and I test few mids solutions. It's longer but I sometimes find a wider range of sounds. What is your own method ? How do you adjust the pedal in front of the amp ?
That's a tough one to answer in a comment, so I'll summarize: Amp: I start with all controls at noon, and adjust from there to get a good clean tone. I like more mids, depending on the amp, so I'll usually dial the mids up a little bit, and the bass up if playing for fun but I'll back off the bass a bit if playing in a band. Pedals: It's all dependent on the pedal. If a particular pedal has a lot of highs with all knobs at noon then I'll turn it all the way down and ease it up until it gives me the sound I want, and same for the other eq's on the pedal.
I had the ir-x it is well thought out bit of gear and very flexible - i ended up selling it because i moved to the synergy preanps with a fryette powerstation into a fractal for IR's and post effects. Currently building sime analog pedals for the front end which I'm using your EGO 76 pedal which I'm vwry much enjoying.
It sounds great as well most digital modeler demo..but for me ,im still waiting for an amp or analog preamp or modeler with a gated/quirky fuzz as a gain / dist channel rather than the usual tight chuggy dist mostly guitarist like.Great video and explanation by the way.
Cool vid, thanks for posting! I’ve been wanting to try out the X and D and now I’ll add the J to the list. I’m leaning towards the D but am open to what sounds best. Quick question, Do you disable the IRs when running into the amps?
Great video Brian - since these units are running higher power into the tubes, do they get noticeably hot? As an aside, I am running either Amplitube 5 or my HX Stomp into my Fender Princeton Chorus (SS amp) effects return, just like you did with your Bandit. It works!!
Can you give me some pointers on how you got this wired together. I have the IR-X Already and was thinking of getting the PowerStage just wasn’t sure how to hook up with delay, chorus , reverb and 2 combo amps to get that stereo thing going. Thanks
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Hi. I just plugged in my IR-J for the first time. Set my knobs to emulate your settings on IR-J and IR-X. It's plugged in directly to the wall, no other plugs. Using headphones jack (amp in in Cabo San Lucas). Once I plug in my guitar cable I get massive noise. Does not go away plugged into the guitar. Tried a second brand new cable. Suggestions? I hate to drive 1600 miles to Cabo and have a possibly faulty unit. Friedman pedalboard and power supply on the way.
I love that you showcase other pedals on your channel. Your pedals are still the best though
The 76 comp is so good
Love it! I have a 5150 Iconic combo, which has a hybrid preamp. I take a line-out from the effects send and split that with a JHS buffered splitter. I send the signal back into the return to run the combo all-dry, then take that line-level split over to an Eventide MicroPitch which splits it into Left and Right channels. One side goes into the front of a Blackstar Debut 50, and the other into the effects-return of a Peavey Bandit; I absolutely LOVE the sound it makes in this configuration, and the Eventide lets me run in variations of W/D/W and Mixed/Dry/Mixed that create a world of sounds. Since Bandits are so affordable and have gain-staging in the effects return to handle different levels, pairing with these Friedman pedals is a super affordable way to get massive tone that can also go to FoH or a DAW while sounding HUGE live.
Tube amps are great they warm up your garage too.
Cats love 'em!
First snow blizzard of the year incoming today. Time to heat up the tube amps!
Brian I'm gonna stop believing a word you say, cause you make everything sound good!
I'm 62. I kicked the tube amp habit around 2010 after a back injury. I wouldn't give up my Helix/Variax for any tube amp now. Insane versatility, one trip to and from the car. Priceless. And I look around at my fellow gigging musicians and it's heavily shifted to modeling at this point.
52 same. and with the 3.8 those three amps were the ones i was waiting for
If you have the X or D I recommend to connect to the latest software at least once and it will automatically update the firmware on the pedals.
It should improve the IR/power amp simulation and latency. It also includes some ownhammer IR's to choose that imo are much better than the default one's.
10000% !!!
Definitely this. And the last Dave Friedman podcast he and Marc both agreed that the new update makes it sound even more amplifier-like.
He makes a good point here. Tube amps are not better amps than SS's as such, in fact quite the opposite by modern hi-fi and circuit design standards. Additionally they are more cumbersome and fragile, less reliable, far less energy efficient and require a lot more care and maintenance.
Cranking one accidentally without a load on either the input or the output can fry the whole thing in an instant. From the moment you turn it on to when you finally turn it off there's a very different level of attention demanded by a tube amp. There's always an element of danger, urgency and anticipation not only bc the high voltages inside can kill you even thru your guitar if the ground connection is faulty and the DC and the input short out, very unlikely but possible. My Roland Micro Cube under my desk stays on all day and once in a while I hot plug pedals and guitars which is something you never, ever do on a tube amp.
I can readily admit I can't reliably tell one apart from the other on a recording. However anyone who's tried to capture the sound of an amplfied guitar knows how different and often more muffled and weaker the recorded sound can be compared to what you hear and feel on the spot. Tube distortion can also sound just as fizzy and shrill as a SS.
There are definitely differences when playing them that don't automatically translate to good tone vs bad tone. Instead of "fidelity" as being true to the source the combination of instrument, amp and speaker form a single instrument. Like he says; the response and feedback, not the squeal but the relationship and interaction of the pickup, the input, the tubes, the transformer output and finally the speaker impedance via inductive loading and capacitive filtering are what make tube amps so special to play. A SS has only the input impedance interaction.
I'm starting to lean more and more towards the idea that a tube amp's character isn't as much about the actual tubes as the output transformer's non-linear mediation of the output tube power and the speaker power. The speaker loads the output tubes corresponding to the transformer's impedance ratio and ithe speaker impedance ultimately determines the power output of the amp. Every stage in the signal path between a steel string in magnetic field to a steel magnet in an electric field actively affects the next as well as the previous stage. Output tubes operating on the edge of break-up and the output transformer going in and out of saturation in a fully cranked amp is what made the sound legendary, not the often thin, hissy and tinny distortion of a hard-driven pre-amp 12AX7 at low output levels.
I'm building my amp with 12AT7's bc I seldom need more than a bit of grit and crunch and I'd rather have 3W roaring than 50W idling. As much as I love tube amps a SS for daily use and DI-recording is just superior,; inexpensive and robust but lightweight and they can sound just as good.
put a varistor on the output of ur guitar amp if u dont want it blowing when the speaker fails or gets disconnected while the amp is cranked.
in fact many old valve based tvs and stereos used to include this component in the circuitry.
but not one of those 275 volt surge absorbing varisors used in power supplies, it needs a 30 volt varistor like an Epcos S20K30 for 100W amp or a 20 volt one for a 50W amp S20K15. the right part will prevent the amp getting blown without affecting the tone. anything above than 10-15 dollars each for these things is a scam.
and ure right about the tone of the amp coming from the transformer. when the magnetic core saturates there is a soft type of distortion that happens.
but u dont need a large and expensive transformer to get this effect, a much smaller audio transformer with identical core material will produce an identical effect.
but it will need to be amplified by SS if u want a decent volume. i would be surprised if there isnt a guitar pedal that does exactly that.
i have 40 year old tube amps that have never failed, not even a tube all original.
@@robvoyles you have to turn them on 🤡
I got an IR-D - I love it! I play in churches where you can’t use amps and have to run direct and it sounds amazing. The only thing I wish was that the MIDI programs let you program “all the knobs” when you select different programs. The midi channels only store channel select, boost off/on, the switches, and IR. It’s better than nothing but it means you might still have to fiddle with the knobs when changing programs. That said, having the 2 channels, I run one clean, one driven, then you can boost either, then I actually have a Tumnus that I can stack on/off, so it gives me like 6 progressive levels of gain.
Assuming it is the same as the Twin Sister, the IR-D topology is that of the Marshall 2203 Master Volume minus the 470p treble peaking cap before the final gain stage and minus the bright cap on the gain control which is shunted by 220k. The Bright/Tight switch either bypasses the 820 ohm cathode resistor on the final gain stage with 680nF (bright) or reduces the coupling cap after the first gain stage (tight). The structure switch switches the cathode resistance on the second gain stage between 10k, 5k, or 2.7k with a 680nF bypass cap. There is likely also a snubber on the cathode resistor of the cathode follower feeding the tone stack.
😮🤯🫠 👍
Topology of the IR-D
Dirty Shirley...JTM45 with design drift that Mister_Greg explained (effectively making it "JTM50-adjacent" on steroids).☝🏾
I understand some of those words. Pedal sound good, me like.
@@ogunhe It’s not a JTM by any means. The Dirty Shirley/Little Sister preamp has three cascaded gain stages and the tone stack has a 33k slope resistor with a 500pF treble capacitor. The preamp in the JTM has two gain stages with a shared cathode configuration on V1, less aggressive inter-stage voicing and the original Fender Bassman tone stack (56k slope/220pF treble). I don’t believe there are any differences in the preamp between the JTM45 and JTM50.
The JTM characteristics of the Dirty Shirley/Twin Sister lie in use of a tube rectifier and the supply filtering isn’t very stiff which primarily affects the power amp. This begs the question, does the power amp simulation in the IR-D attempt to emulate tube rectifier sag?
@@Mister_Greg Dave Friedman said it himself on multiple Tone Talk episodes. The Dirty Shirley is based on his take of a suped up JTM45.
His AC30 take is coming soon...
I have been thinking about making ToneX and/or Synergy purchases, but this totally sold me on this approach! I hope more builders follow suit. Top notch demo information and great playing examples. Bravo!
Another great video!
But I noticed that when you change IR's on the IR-X at around 8:30 you're on channel 2 while toggling the IR switch on channel 1.
I just ran my IR-D into a fender hotrod deluxe via power in skipping fender pre-amp, and it's amazing!
About 20 years ago, I learned about tube amps and owned Fender, Marshall, Vox, Traynor, Hi-Watt, etc.- I settled on two Silverface Fenders, a Deluxe Reverb and a highly-modified Bassman 100. - The Bassman 100 has a F.R.E.D. rectifier (fast-recovery epitaxial diode). It makes the amp such a pleasure to play!
A tube amp is like butter vs margarine. When you’re eating the margarine you say “I can’t believe it’s not butter” but the moment you eat the butter you know you’re eating real butter.
🤣 so true!🤘
very correct!
Comparison is definitely the thief of joy.
Not.
Yes but tubes don't sound good unless you crank them. Can only do that on stage.
I run the IR-X with the HX FX and am very happy with the results. I’ve also used the HX FX to send midi commands to the IR-X.
Thanks Brian for this video! Just ordered the IR-J and planned on running it into the power section of my Mesa Fillmore 25.
SS amps can yield good results with Tube preamps. In the 90's I had a Roland JC 77 and I ran a Soldano GTO tube preamp pedal into the front with Excellent results rivaling much bigger all tube counterparts. Ymmv. Great video.
Brian giving much praise to other manufacturers- Honest and class take.
Now I HAVE to get some of your pedals- not that I haven't wanted several, previously.
Great vid!
The best rig I've ever put together is a JTM45 petal with a Tumnus OD through a Peavey Classic 60 and a 2x12 loaded with Celestion Golds. When the Tumnus the JIMS45 connect, something purely magical takes place. Both petals sound fantastic on their own. But, when the two are put together, its pure bliss.
With this rig, I can go from clean jazz to high gain without changing a single tone or gain setting. its the most versatile, punchy, warm and responsive rig I've ever owned and I've owned just about every amp that's worth owning, including a 1972 JTM45 that I bough with my high school grad money in 1981. The amp cost me $400. That was a lot of money back then. About $1000 by today's standards.
The entire rig cost less than $800. But, the real hero of this glorious rig is, no doubt, the Tumnus.
EDIT: The intonation of that Telecaster is immaculate!
Second Edit: lol! At every show, I get at least one dude who comes up and asks how I get such great tones, especially gain tones, I point to the Tumnus.
Yup. The end result from modelers is/can be great and essentially indistinguishable from a tube amp. In many cases the end result is better than a tube amp because you eliminate user error and the inconsistencies of a tube amp. But there is certainly something that feels different about playing through an amp. I think most people associate a good feeling setup with a good sounding setup because they are playing better. When the amp responds the way you prefer, you are able to play better, so in turn you sound better.
"But there is certainly something that feels different about playing through an amp" Yesss the snake oil-feeling.
@@steve_video I definitely feel a difference at band volume and some gain when muting and playing dynamically. It’s a connection between your hands and the sound.
@@alo-d5t OK
@@steve_video & or those inaudible analog frequencies that you can feel but don’t hear?
@@derangedhermit2879 :)
I have just got my IR-D and a fender fr10. It sounds good, but so much bass in the fender fr10 that I'll dial out. but the send DI to desk is important too. I've got a bit of work to do to get it to where i really feel comfortable gigging it. But, so impressed with the unit and its amp like set up, feel, for an old valve amp guy like myself. i hate menus and too many options/voices found in modelers. Pretty excited to have such a versatile thing where i can go DI and receive it back through a fold back in a mix, into a amp on stage behind for more rock feel or take my mesa and quad to shake the room properly. you did a great job of getting great tones out of it.
if using it with an amp, make sure to go through the effects loop return, it won't sound as intended through the input of the amp, since you're running a preamp into another preamp.
@@wampler_pedals yes, that is my plan, without the ir section on as well. as you're playing through a real power amp and cab.
Try getting it off the floor (if you haven’t tried yet).
@@GS-uy4xo yeah, i figured that was an issue, hard floor and not tilted back.
I split my signal from me peadlboard with an eq pedal, and run ine tube amp, and one solid state modeling amp. Best of both worlds. The two tones blend into one, and it feels fantastic.
IR-X = BE-100
IR-D = Twin Sister/Little Sister (Dirty Shirley)
IR-J = JEL-20/50/100
Friedman said that IR-X is basically Smallbox preamp section 🙂
@@fritzhieke7209 which is going to get me slash tones?
@@chrisdover8507the JEL
@@chrisdover8507channel 2 of the IR-J (JEL) is modded JCM800
couldn't agree more man... There is just something about tubes, that feel... I love these Friedman platforms and would choose them all the way instead of a ToneX or Neural DSP or Kemper stuff... no option paralysis and the sound is just there...
Great Demo of pedals PLUS… LOVE your playing !! Thank you !!
Can’t beat the sound and physical FEEL of a cranked Marshall stack.
100watts vibrates a lot of air and makes you feel like a king!
If it’s good enough for my guitar heroes, it’s good enough for me.
It also makes you deaf..
I absolutely love my irx. After 20 years of fighting the volume Beast and trying to find a pedal solution, the only commercial one I found that did it for me was that Friedman
What else are you running with it? I'm pulling the trigger on the IR-J.
These are a great option. I stayed away from Tube heads for years.....When I discovered the Two Notes Torpedo Captor 8, I was pleased I could get the sound quietly. I send dry direct out to my stereo fx section of my board. Stereo fx outs return to my stereo Two Notes Torpedo Cab M IR DI boxes. XLRs to PA. Non-speaker sim signal to stereo power amp and cabs. I can play as quiet or loud as I want. My levels don't effect the mix. I do have post volume boost at start of stereo fx.....Before I used racks. Analog speaker sim when needed.
Brain, always enjoy your videos, your enthusiasm and knowledge is inspiring!
That’s very kind of you!
Thankx for this amazing video !!! My experience tells, if your a great player, everything sounds good in an small room with low volume. On stage, it,s a different story, especially at high volume, that's ,were you can hear the difference between tubes vs solid state vs modeling. For me tubes have dynamics that is hard to copie. These guitarhero's who switched to these modeling amps, they al sound the same !!!
Super cool that you give props to other gear makers on your channel.
I won't get rid of my tube amp, but I also just got the Neural nanocortex so I could get access to amps I could never afford. I can enjoy a close copy without investing a fortune in tube amps. If I had the money I'd be flush in a bunch of tube amps ...lol.
Cool review Bryan!
I'm currently an happy user of Ir-d + your Moxie.
Really like this couple!
I am 77 and past my best before date, LOL. I have forever been humping an antique 50 watt Plexi. Friends have been saying ''get a Modeler! '' Sooo these tube pre's seem to be the answer. Dave F. is hinting there will be a amp to team it with. I am guessing a 100 watt type D pedalboard amp. I run my amp at just before breakup and use pedals for any serious gain/dirt. I think you have the right idea with the black one, the IR-D. THANX for the comparison. All the other reviews feature the gain and I did not get to hear the low gain and cleans. You made it easier to choose.
Thanks so much! I agree- I know Friedman is know. For its high gain stuff but it does lower gain tones great as well, it’s a shame very few show that side of it!
great review- from an awesome builder/designer- cool! we have a great community
Great video Brian! I just ventured into the capture modeling world. While it is somewhat better depending on who did the capture and what they had in their overall signal chain, it's still not like tubes thru a speaker. It probably will never be. Those Friedman pedals sound incredible.
Awesome Brian, I’m doing this too with my ir-d, but into a fryette ps100 and it’s killer (!!!) especially on the gigs. And the convenience of having just a single cable running from the pedalboard to the amp is the icing on the cake. These are brilliant. Well done Sir, thank u! 👏🏽👏🏾👏🏼
Dave does a great job but hearing that from you makes it rock solid. You know your stuff and great at what you do. Such comments from you about Friedman products simply proves how honest you are and comfortable with your great products for guitar players. Well done.
I have an HX Stomp for years and love it, but the IR-D convinced me to jump in. It's a fantastic, FANTASTIC companion to the Stomp. Sometimes I'll do a dual amp thing with one amp from the HX and the Friedman, some with just the Friedman, and then the HX always does some fx. Just an incredible combo.
I have an IR-X and really like it. Set up a board with verb, delay, pitch shifter, TS. But I need a tuner, and a noise gate (that IRX is noisy in my over-electronic'd guitar room!). So, I dug out my HX stomp and used it for the effects only (4CM) and now have a tube preamp complete pedalboard with only 2 pedals. Oh, and then I got an IR-J to satisfy my monthly GAS, and I can swap them between each other since the jacks are in the same spots. It's great!!!
Cool video, thanks for sharing. This is the play through-comparison I was looking for.
I have the IR-D and I use it with a Fryette Power Station. Its a great thing.
Your guitar playing has really improved since the last time I watched one of your vids. Good stuff!
Thanks so much!
Just got the IR-J last week. Sounds fantastic! I’ve only just scratched the surface of its potential. Awesome amp!
I own an Axe Fx and it’s great, but I LOVE my tube amps!
I am getting the older AX8 for situations I have way less time for setup or last minute. Grab and go. Not for main use. It still sounds great to me and footswitch layout jives with me.
I could use Jake Lee IR J with that AX8..
All of these can be wired up like an add-a-channel to your amps with a loop. If you gig your HRD, you can still use its clean channel too. I have an IRX with a Driftwood Purple Nightmare preamp in the loop of the IRX for low, high, and chugging gain. Can run it direct or into another power amp. It's great seeing you so happy with these too. You can also just put a line level friendly delay/reverb after your IRX/IRD to have that too!
I have the IR-D on my pedal board and run it straight into the mixer which goes directly to the mains and monitors. I only use the top channel set up fairly clean. Sounds great and I always get compliments from other players that come up to figure out what I'm running. Power trio. Using the Belle and a Tumnus for my drives.
I love all amps but I have recently acquired a Roland Blues Cube Hot…my Nobles ODR-mini into that amp is my perfect Boomer Rock go to…light weight, loud, and sounds great!
I have Fractal FM3 and it is awesome, I used it as my audio interface and play it hours every day, but I still strongly prefer tube amps like you say for live. The feel and having KNOBS.
I have the Friedman preamps and my board is built around the IR-D and I can go direct to FOH or back in to the FX return of my Friedman Dirty Shirley. Dave makes the best amps on the planet and has the EAR for tone. I had the IR-X first and then the IR-D. I set my channel 1 with the gain about 10 and it's kind of ac/dc level gain and then the boost is activated for a hotter crunch rhythm sound is my default setting. I use channel 2 with the mids dimed, gain about 3 c'clock and hit with the boost set to on for my solo. All under MIDI control along with delay and verbs I get complimented on the sound at gigs all the time and people asking me how I get it.
Having both is great. the IR'S are simply preamps. They are pedal versions of the rack preamps of the 80's and 90's. They do have nice computer control of the parameters. Need a powered speaker or an amp of some kind. Cool part of the Fractal or Neural or Kemper is the many choices with cab, effects or many other options. What is cool is you can find your tone either way. Have an FM3 and it is wonderful. Have a few great tube amps and they are great as well. Many options for great tone. Tools, and venue.
This year I set up a new system for gigs with UAFX amp pedals, an HX Effects and two Fender Fr12s. And frankly I'm having a lot of fun, the feeling is really good. I wouldn't have thought that, being a lover of good tube amps. Ok, it's not exactly the 'real thing', but having 4 distinct categories of amp sounds at your disposal is so satisfying, especially when versatility is important.
Lots of overdrive sounds on the videos have improved so much. There used to be a nasty unnatural treble spike that was hard to get past. This recorded sound is an incredible improvement over the old. Much more listenable. Great comparison overall.
I'm pretty sure you were on channel 2 (IRX) when you switched the IR's on Ch 1 at 8:20. I love that unit though, I use it all the time. thanks for the video!
Brian I would love to see you try out the Carvin x1 pedal. Man I don't understand why it doesn't get more love. I love that it's a real tube amp in a box. Sounds great as a stand-alone, preamp, and dirt pedal. I respect your take on this gear and would love it if you did a video on it.🎉
I always enjoy your video master classes on tone as much as I enjoy having Wampler pedals on my pedalboard !
I agree! But now ive bought a simplifier mk2, and i love it as my blues jr 4.
I have a fender hot rod (tube) linked with my Line 6 helix. It sounds amazing. IMO I still get that tube feel.
Sounds great, what is your signal path, how would you use it live???
My entire rig is built around an IRX. Been gigging it for almost a year. It sounds feels. It is a real amp. People compliment my tone and ask where my amp is all the time.
Same here, been using the IRX since it came out. My last gig I had someone tell me it was the best tone they had ever heard.
@@mudpuddledive Just got my IR-X three weeks ago. It is the cornerstone of my new pedal board that I am setting up for 70's/80's rock. Really looking forward to playing live with it. I'm highly considering getting an EV 12" powered coaxial FRFR monitor to use as my stage monitor and run balanced direct out to it.
It sounds feels??
Same here. Using it in the loop of an axefx3 and it sounds awesome. IMO it’s the best amp “modelling” out there - regardless of price
@@Jeremya74yes
Marshall released the JMP-1 in 1992, also with two 12 AX7s.
The only difference is in those days there were no IRs.
They also released the DRP-1 in the early 90s...so they were years ahead of the game.
That Tele through the IR-J sounds absolutely GLORIOUS.
Mans amp game is very strong! Respectable indeed.
plug in when home recording - fantastic perfect sounding late at night. cant crank and mic a plexi 100w late at night, then mix it with a Vox etc etc
I think Tech 21 does a fab job at Analog Amp and Cab modeling
This is, as always from you Brian, an excellent and informative vid. Your content is A+, thank you!
Totally agree with you Brian. They are a beast (heavy, but the tone is so sweet and organic.
So what you’re saying is there’s a new lease on life for my Peavey bandit. Never thought I would ever think that lol. 🤘🤘🤘
Thumbs up for the shoutout for transistor amps. No surprise Friedman pedals rock.
Some of us aren't millionaire pedal company owners, and we can't afford $500 pedals!
Ive been gigging out for 40 years and I honestly can't hear or feel the difference between a tube amp and a well dialed in solid state amp.
Probably because of hearing loss. I keed 😂
My experience with hybrid amps that I have used is they always sound good that’s going back to marshal valve state, Orange micro dark to Bluguitar amp 1 mercury (which will tone match most tube amps).
As for the digital amps Roland seems to be the most realistic the blues cube range is very good.
Every thing else from boss katana, Blackstar silverline, AxeFX has always had something missing which is difficult to describe but you really notice it if you started on tube amps/ hybrid amps.
As for solid state there’s good and bad but the Jfet ones are definitely the type to go for 🍊 Orange Super Crush 100 is very impressive. Other solid state amps Pevey bandit is a classic and orange crush pro series are also very good.
As for these Friedman pedal board amps they will definitely give digital players a taste of what they’ve been missing.
Would love to hear this with a Les Paul. Singles never do to an amp what a PAF will. .02
they all sound fantastic!
Of all of the amps that I've ever owned, my fractal sounds and feels better than all but one of them. The 'one that got away' for me was a mid 80's Peavey Butcher, through a Jackson 4x12 that I borrowed from a guy I knew.
I still keep buying pedals though, even though I have several that I've never even plugged in. The "problem" I have with something like a Fractal, is that it's a very different work process than plugging in pedals, moving them around, and turning those physical knobs. You just don't get to do that with something like a fractal. If you want to change a pedal setting, you can do it but it's a whole process, so generally I set it - and forget it.
Also, when I do use my "real" amp, it's currently a Blackstar HT-100 on a Marshall 2x12, and I typically use a Wampler Plexi Deluxe. It's a close vibe to my old Butcher, but not quite.
Tubes and shifting air is still the best. Modelling just does not cut it however good it's become.
Those pedals sound incredible , I dig them all. Personally I would get the IR-X. Friedman has that tone we love!
Totally I agree the air a guitar speaker gives you its never replicated with Irs. Since Im a giging guitarist it took a while to find something thats gave me that feeling. For me the two notes cab m plus le clean combined with analog pedal does the job
I have the IRD. Really happy with it. That and my Pinnacle are my victory nox pedals.
I almost think it's more about analog vs digital. Ive used a tonex for a year live. I got bored and plugged a sansamp in and it was night and day. I can now feel the latency in the tonex. It doesn't necessarily bother me, but it's definitely there.
Glad I didn't go for the Tonex. I, may splurge for the Kemper Player. $699 for that is a steal! I just don't record at all so it doesn't seem,like a good idea. All I have is combos and no FRFR speakers so I'm not so sure I'd gain anything from it except more complexity
latency !!! yup
LOVE my IR-X. I have a bazillion amp sim plugins. Always go back to my IR-X for my playing at home. I like to use some UAD effects after it.
If I were to gig with a tube amp it would undoubtably be the Tone King Gremlin or maybe the Falcon Grande. More than loud enough but can be attenuated and they sound amaaaaazing
I made a very tidy pedalboard with a Synergy Syn 1 on the actual board. I run it into a Torpedo Cab M and basically get the same stuff that the new Friedman products do except more options. Friedman makes great stuff. Its hella fun.
Yeah, synergy stuff is great too! My favorite module from them is the mark 2cp, it's fantastic!
Great video , I feel the same way, nothing sags like a rectifier tube big fat juicy open chords not really the sounds but yes feeling how the notes responds is totally a different , solid state rectifier ,for me ,better for Palm muted sounds and digital , sim’s and iRs are different feel as well 👍🏻👍🏻⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🖖🏻😎✌🏻🎸💪🏻👏🏻
Brian, are we listening to the Friedman pedals into the Power Amp in of the amps (Femder, Peavey Bandit, etc) and you’re mic’ing the speaker? Or are we just hearing the Direct signal through an IR?
Thanks so much for sharing
*This is the best I've heard these pre-amps sound, of all the demo's I've heard.* I've got a request for the suggestion box, Brian (my apologies if I've asked for this before...). You know exactly how to dial in these amps, to the tones they were designed for. 99% of the time, they're some version of the Marshall circuit. But, NO ONE these days are dialing these amps in for those killer crips, punchy, articulate Marshall-era tones. They're almost *ALWAYS* using too much gain...whether it's the style of music, or style of playing (i.e. lead tones that traditionally use a ton of gain). Can you do a short video to show how these Marshall-esq circuits were designed to sound like (that includes the SLO circuit). These days I wouldn't even call it high-gain (that's what we called it circa '87)...it's more of a "Super Crunch". Give these kids a bit of a lesson on making sure the design of the circuit is respected while they're doing their gear demo's.
thanks for the direct comparison. Already sounds great and one of the few videos showing all three side by side. But I think you still miss out on even a little more tube feeling having the output volume so low. The digital poweramp sim really wakes up if you have it a bit higher ( around noon) . better to turn down the following stage. this is also what Dave Friedman recommends. for ir-d and ir-x you have to upgrade firmware to 2.0 to really benefit from this „ooomph“.
I"m bypassing the digital poweramp here when running it into another amp's effects loop.
@@wampler_pedals ah, I see, you go out of the FX send.
The IR-J sounds so ridiculously good! All of them sound awesome, but if I could only pick one it would be the IR-J.
Btw: something I'd really would like to see in pedal format are the old Tascam GS-30 and BS-30 guitar and bass amp sims. They sound great, but they are built into these plastic tape recorder housings so they aren't really made for pedalboards. IIRC, the GS-30 is supposed to be based on the preamp and EQ from some old Tascam tape recorder. Really smooth and amp-like distortion.
I'm a helix lover, but I was missing that chime. Bought an IRD. just use that now. BUT, I can say, the Placator in the Helix, at high gain is indistinguishable. I enjoy playing more with a bit less gain with the IRD
Is it true that the clean channel on the IR-J is the same as on the IR-X? Also how similar/different would you say the gain channels on those are? It's hard to tell without a direct back-to-back comparison. I've got the IR-X and I'm trying to convince myself out of getting the IR-J, lol. Nice video btw!
Dear Brian "Ceasar Imperator of Tone" 😉, a lot of Wampler pedals have a 3 band EQ, which is great and versatile but more complex. I'd like very much to know what is your process to dial bass/mids/treble on an amp, on a pedal and on both.
During a long time, I began with bass to get punch, then trebble for clarity, then mids. But I often got the same kind of tones, slightly mid scooped. Now I often begin with mids then bass/trebble and bass/treble again, and I test few mids solutions. It's longer but I sometimes find a wider range of sounds.
What is your own method ? How do you adjust the pedal in front of the amp ?
That's a tough one to answer in a comment, so I'll summarize:
Amp: I start with all controls at noon, and adjust from there to get a good clean tone. I like more mids, depending on the amp, so I'll usually dial the mids up a little bit, and the bass up if playing for fun but I'll back off the bass a bit if playing in a band.
Pedals: It's all dependent on the pedal. If a particular pedal has a lot of highs with all knobs at noon then I'll turn it all the way down and ease it up until it gives me the sound I want, and same for the other eq's on the pedal.
@wampler_pedals thank you very much for the prompt answer. I thought it could be a subject of a future video. 😊
I had the ir-x it is well thought out bit of gear and very flexible - i ended up selling it because i moved to the synergy preanps with a fryette powerstation into a fractal for IR's and post effects.
Currently building sime analog pedals for the front end which I'm using your EGO 76 pedal which I'm vwry much enjoying.
It sounds great as well most digital modeler demo..but for me ,im still waiting for an amp or analog preamp or modeler with a gated/quirky fuzz as a gain / dist channel rather than the usual tight chuggy dist mostly guitarist like.Great video and explanation by the way.
You don’t get enough credit for how good a player you are. You got the touch yo
🙏 thanks so much! I appreciate that!
Tone Doctor, Brian Wampler, with another banger. Where would we be? No place good.
Cool vid, thanks for posting! I’ve been wanting to try out the X and D and now I’ll add the J to the list. I’m leaning towards the D but am open to what sounds best. Quick question, Do you disable the IRs when running into the amps?
You know it must be good if the BW gives you props!!!!
Great video Brian - since these units are running higher power into the tubes, do they get noticeably hot?
As an aside, I am running either Amplitube 5 or my HX Stomp into my Fender Princeton Chorus (SS amp) effects return, just like you did with your Bandit. It works!!
Come for the knowledge, stay for the playing.
I loved the Lay It Down reference.
Thanks for these videos, Brian.
I've got a rig with my IR-X into a Powerstage 700 with the IR off. Killer!
Can you give me some pointers on how you got this wired together. I have the IR-X Already and was thinking of getting the PowerStage just wasn’t sure how to hook up with delay, chorus , reverb and 2 combo amps to get that stereo thing going. Thanks
IRD is like the Dirty Shirley. I've got this pedal and the Little Sister head, great stuff for classic rock.