Friedman IR-Load

[Chocol8]

We need you and a couple others to get one and suss it out.

Honestly, I am far more interested in the Wampler Pedalhead at this point. It seems more geared towards what I want in a modern power amp, and I could use the Suhr RL into it to get most of the functionality of the Friedman as well. If I got the IR-Load it would be as an additional purchase and $1500 is a lot to pay for the convenience of having the Suhr plus Wampler in one box when I already have them as two smallish boxes.

 

[paisleywookiee]

Just out of curiosity how many Freyette amps and Power Stations did you personally see break? It may affect what I buy from them in the future.

I don't really keep track, but certainly more than Mesas, Friedmans, or other amps in that price range. Over the last ten years or so, it's been interesting to see what common amps come in. Obviously a lot of Marshall and Fender, but that's also because of how incredibly common they are.

 

[ejecta]

I don't really keep track, but certainly more than Mesas, Friedmans, or other amps in that price range. Over the last ten years or so, it's been interesting to see what common amps come in. Obviously a lot of Marshall and Fender, but that's also because of how incredibly common they are.

Gotcha. Yeah it’s weird how people have different experiences with some brands of gear. I won't buy anything Mesa because I had nothing but problems out the Tremoverb I had, also had a Mark IV that had issues, a Triaxis with issues but theirs plenty of people who haven’t had that kind of trouble from their products.

My personal history with VHT/Fryette has been pretty solid. I got a VHT Pittbull 100 in the early 90’s that I got at a place outside St Louis when they were new on the market and had no issues and I gigged quite a bit in the 90’s. I’ve had a couple of Deliverances over the years, a SigX, Stereo 90 with a the VHT preamp he had out back in the early 2000’s and now have the LX and PS100. No issues. A close friend who’s a working studio guy has an older VHT that’s more a Vox thing that’s been solid. Now I did have an issue the LXII where a part in there went bad which isn’t their fault and I got fixed through Fryette contacting a service tech in Nashville so I wouldnt have to ship it. They set all that up with no cost to me and also no problems with communication or timely responses.

It seems you’ve had a different experience so I was curious on how many you had seen and what issues they had.

 

[paisleywookiee]

Gotcha. Yeah it’s weird how people have different experiences with some brands of gear. I won't buy anything Mesa because I had nothing but problems out the Tremoverb I had, also had a Mark IV that had issues, a Triaxis with issues but theirs plenty of people who haven’t had that kind of trouble from their products.

My personal history with VHT/Fryette has been pretty solid. I got a VHT Pittbull 100 in the early 90’s that I got at a place outside St Louis when they were new on the market and had no issues and I gigged quite a bit in the 90’s. I’ve had a couple of Deliverances over the years, a SigX, Stereo 90 with a the VHT preamp he had out back in the early 2000’s and now have the LX and PS100. No issues. A close friend who’s a working studio guy has an older VHT that’s more a Vox thing that’s been solid. Now I did have an issue the LXII where a part in there went bad which isn’t their fault and I got fixed through Fryette contacting a service tech in Nashville so I wouldnt have to ship it. They set all that up with no cost to me and also no problems with communication or timely responses.

It seems you’ve had a different experience so I was curious on how many you had seen and what issues they had.

That's totally true. I can only tell you what I've seen, which is probably a little expanded from the average person, only because of being involved with a shop. But it's still a small sampling. Certainly enough for me to make a personal choice though.

 

[ejecta]

That's totally true. I can only tell you what I've seen, which is probably a little expanded from the average person, only because of being involved with a shop. But it's still a small sampling. Certainly enough for me to make a personal choice though.

Yeah I knew you had that experience in that end of the music space so that’s why wanted to get your thoughts. Thanks for your input

 

[dws2384]

It is really cool and I haven’t tried anything made by Dave I didn’t like. However, I’m starting to think we’re moving towards creating all these bits and pieces which just add up to a tube amp again.

 

[Frodebro]

Shur and PS have two stages, from memory only Captor and OX have a single stage.
2 Stages are already good enough, 3 stage costs more, but is essential for that last bit of mid punch in the 1K region

It is really cool and I haven’t tried anything made by Dave I didn’t like. However, I’m starting to think we’re moving towards creating all these bits and pieces which just add up to a tube amp again.

That's kinda the point of the Friedman, though-to build a modern rig around a core tube amp. This isn't about smoking a doobie and plugging straight into a Plexi to play Zeppelin riffs in the light of a lava lamp, this is for building a stereo rig with modern effects using any tube amp you want to be the centerpiece. With no volume limitations in either direction.

 

[Chocol8]

This isn't about smoking a doobie and plugging straight into a Plexi to play Zeppelin riffs in the light of a lava lamp,

It could do that job very well though.

 

[Whizzinby]

It is really cool and I haven’t tried anything made by Dave I didn’t like. However, I’m starting to think we’re moving towards creating all these bits and pieces which just add up to a tube amp again.

“You see, if you plug your tube amp into this device, it will give that sound and feel of plugging into your tube amp”

That's kinda the point of the Friedman, though-to build a modern rig around a core tube amp. This isn't about smoking a doobie and plugging straight into a Plexi to play Zeppelin riffs in the light of a lava lamp, this is for building a stereo rig with modern effects using any tube amp you want to be the centerpiece. With no volume limitations in either direction.

Yeah, good perspective. Kidding aside, Friedman, Fryette, Suhr etc. are giving us ways to keep amp usage alive and integrated in new and cool ways. For that, respect

 

[laxu]

That's kinda the point of the Friedman, though-to build a modern rig around a core tube amp. This isn't about smoking a doobie and plugging straight into a Plexi to play Zeppelin riffs in the light of a lava lamp, this is for building a stereo rig with modern effects using any tube amp you want to be the centerpiece. With no volume limitations in either direction.

It gets into this weird territory though, where it's really products to get around quirks of old tube amp designs, or to get around bad designs like poor volume control tapers.

I ended up selling my Fryette PS-2 because I felt it was unnecessary with the amps I had at that time - master volume, power scalable modern designs.

I don't even remember how I talked myself into buying a Fryette PS-100, but before it broke I was actually about to sell it too because I again found it unnecessary with the kinds of amps I had.

Like sure, my Mark V ch1/2 do sound a bit different if I crank them up to poweramp distortion, but they don't sound better that way. Just different.
Yet people keep buying 1950/1960s tube amp designs and then pairing them with attenuators gives them a different compromise from power scaling and master volumes.

The IR-Load will be no different in this regard. That reactive load won't be a perfect fit for every amp out there, and the biggest problem it solves is making the re-amping solid-state amp behave like a tube poweramp, which then allows for a poweramp at a smaller size, weight and cost than the Fryette PS-100. In stereo too.

 

[James Freeman]

As I understand there is some math involved to compensate the frequency response between the R/L/C physical impedance curve that the amp 'sees' and the measured impedance curse that the DSP uses for the virtual/emulated tube power amp response so the final result sounds transparent.

I am more curious about how the real-time impedance feedback from the real cab at the output of the Class D solid-state power amp interacts with the virtual tube power amp. Kudos to Synergy for making that happen.
The technical part of it is very simple, we measure voltage across a small series resistor to get the current and to calculate the impedance curve, similar to what REW does in its impedance measurement option, we can use that measurement in real-time.

@FractalAudio When?

 

[dws2384]

It gets into this weird territory though, where it's really products to get around quirks of old tube amp designs, or to get around bad designs like poor volume control tapers.

I ended up selling my Fryette PS-2 because I felt it was unnecessary with the amps I had at that time - master volume, power scalable modern designs.

I don't even remember how I talked myself into buying a Fryette PS-100, but before it broke I was actually about to sell it too because I again found it unnecessary with the kinds of amps I had.

Like sure, my Mark V ch1/2 do sound a bit different if I crank them up to poweramp distortion, but they don't sound better that way. Just different.
Yet people keep buying 1950/1960s tube amp designs and then pairing them with attenuators gives them a different compromise from power scaling and master volumes.

The IR-Load will be no different in this regard. That reactive load won't be a perfect fit for every amp out there, and the biggest problem it solves is making the re-amping solid-state amp behave like a tube poweramp, which then allows for a poweramp at a smaller size, weight and cost than the Fryette PS-100. In stereo too.

I sold my power station for this reason as well. Found it made zero difference with any amp that had a decent master volume and was just one more thing to wire up and power on. I have multiple old fenders too, it was cool to put effects after and always have the amp in the sweet spot, but after a while I just went back to using pedals instead the front same as I always did. If I had a bunch of old Marshall’s it might be a different story, but all my Marshall type amps are Friedmans anyways with great loops and master volumes.

 

[Humbug]

I wish to express my disappointment with the name. from a company that has products like "Brown Eye" and "Pink Taco". Come on Dave! It's a LOAD in a BOX FFS!

 

[Chocol8]

I wish to express my disappointment with the name. from a company that has products like "Brown Eye" and "Pink Taco". Come on Dave! It's a LOAD in a BOX FFS!

Yeah, but if Dave wants to move the company beyond serving 13 year olds and incels, dropping the sophomoric naming scheme makes sense.

 

[James Freeman]

Could have doubled sales if it had 'X' in it.

 

[ejecta]

I wish to express my disappointment with the name. from a company that has products like "Brown Eye" and "Pink Taco". Come on Dave! It's a LOAD in a BOX FFS!

 

[MTB1973]

FriedLoader

 

[Humbug]

That exact one is taken, but, I mean,there's "Big-",There's "Fat-", there's "Salty-" or even all of them combined.