My budget is about €1500 ($1750), I don't mind buying used. I'm looking for the Friedman amp that will give me the best singing lead tone, don't care too much about the cleans, I can't always get a fender and A/B box for that. I was thinking PT20, or if i get really lucky a smallbox? thx!
I have the SB 50 combo and love it but I dont play metal but if I did I would simply kick on a pedal and then look out.
I have a Smallbox head and it rips. But an overdrive or what have you is going to help you get the endless searing sustain it sounds like you're after. Personally I couldn't bear to pay basically pay nearly the same price for a combo as the head, especially for a 1x12. Especially for a single channel amp.
I think all Friedman amps will do singing leads without pedals if that’s the question. Except the buxom Betty which is a pedal platform by design. One of the things that prompted me to order a runt 50 is the foot switchable gain boost , ideal for lead work .
Are you stuck on Friedman? Granger has amps that are within your price range and will do custom work. I'd check out his M50 or G50 Firestorm. The M50 comes standard with a cascade mod he calls the X Gain, and he also has a mod he calls the SuperFET jack that can be added to the input of any of his amps. He built a custom JTM 45/100 for me and it is simply glorious. https://grangeramp.com/
Granger amps , never heard of them , but looking at their website seems like they have all bases covered. They would be worth a look if you’re in the states , not cheap or available in uk .
I'd shoot for smallbox since - You're willing to spend more than PT - The bigger ones like BE and sig models are probably going to be out of your price range. Not that it matters, 50 watts is plenty and - SB sounds great and is built to a little bit higher standard than the runt series and such, but also less features if you pickup an earlier one at least. That said, I've played most of them and they're all great. I have a PT20 and it really is a beast for what it is. I'd just get what appeals to you most.
Another vote for the SB, it covers so much ground too, not just "singing leads"...those things have nice cleans (I know you're not interested but that is key if you decided to try drive boxes for some variety - it's nice to know an amp also takes pedals well), VH brown sound, tight 80's crunch, chewy, singing leads, etc. They also have a pristine effects loop and sound great through a wide variety of speaker choices (not all amps can make that claim)...you can't go wrong really with the SB. Good luck!
Since when is the gain boost footswitchable? afaik the only thing that you can footswitch on the runt is going from the clean to the dirt channel. Also i'm still undecided between the Runt 50 and the SB50, guess I will have to try them in person!
You’re correct, it doesn’t have footswitchable gain boost I thought it did when I ordered it , my mistake . But one things for sure , it’s not going back , lol .
Friedman's shoot'n himself in the foot with his pedals. His new Small Box Overdrive sounds phenomenal. Mines gonna be here Friday! Be simple getting his amps singing especially pushed a hair here or there. EQ pedal in loop to tailor the solo tones. Easy peasy.
The small box pedal sounds amazing ( in Micheal Nielsens demo anyways ) I will probably get one myself , the runt 50 takes pedals into the clean channel like nothing else I’ve ever experienced it would be rude not to .
Like I haven't found an average vid of it yet. And it consistently sounds the same throughout. Excellent. Nielsen's, Tubb's, and Massaad's are my favs though.
pedals can sound pretty cool, i've owned the BE-OD pedal, however it is not a replacement for a tube amp at all, it lacks dynamics, punch etc. he does make cool pedals though, just like his amps, but he's not shooting himself in the foot by any stretch, if pedals can replace amp gain for you that is great, but for most of us the pedals come awfully short.
Personally, the BE OD got me jonesing for one of his amps. The pedal sounded killer in front of my dsl40, but for playing at band volume it couldn’t touch the Marshall’s drive channel. I just bought a JJ Jr, and WOW! The Friedman is everything I always wanted out of a Marshall type amp. Too bad Marshall won’t make what everyone’s asking for. Too me, Marshall’s almost become a legacy brand, nice fridges though, lol
