Which Friedman mod? HBE or BE? Also contact info

[Kapo_Polenton]

Confirmed with matt that the friedman brahma and Steve Stevens mods are close but not identical. Also for the record, I did not see what the Stevens looks like, I just had Fig tell me based on mine, if they were close. (so don't pm me for details lol).

To be honest, with Dave no longer having time to do mods, I'm personally of the opinion that some of his mods should be shared. I've said it before, if the friedman brahma is what the brahma was supposed to be off the assembly line, I have no issue with us sharing it. I know collectively we have info on the BE, brahma, and stevens mod. They are all slight variations on a circuit with a small amount of changes from stock.

Anyway, carry on!

 

[LunatiBSW]

That does sound good, my stock SL+ needs the Steve Stevens mod

 

[MarcoR]

I have seen a few of the modules Friedman modded for Steve Stevens in the classifieds over the years and always wanted to grab one. Including the one that Matt demoed! Wish I got it first..

Interestingly enough... I had the opportunity to meet Steve Stevens back stage a couple weeks ago and I had to ask about his time with the MTS amps and the mods Friedman had done for him.

He's answer was "They were cool and sounded great but ultimately, I wanted to get my old sound back when I was using my Plexis". He went on to say that the distortion in the MTS amps comes from the preamp and he prefers get the drive from the power amp. Also, he commented that he really didn't need a lot of preamp tones; just a good clean and dirty channel. He went on to say that he really doesn't play with much gain (Although in the show it sounded like plenty of gain).

His guitar tech Dave took me on stage to check out his rig and explained that one critical thing they do is use a variac to regulate voltage to the amp. About 113V was the sweet spot.

It was a dream experience as I have been a long time Steven fan!

The SS100 is his dirty amp and the BE100 is backup. The top CAA is for his clean and the bottom is backup.

 

[Mattfig]

If Friedman would OK someone to make a Friedman mod - wouldn't that kick ***? I'd help with it....

With 4 voicings or gain levels? BE/HBE/Marsha/RSC - I figure Brahma is distinct enough to be left alone? Any thoughts? Saturation switch???

That's one thing MTS does not have and that is a comprehensive Friedman module...I, for one, would find that indispensable...

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

I always make fun of Steve Stevens dressing like a 50 year old cougar but at the end of the day, he's a solid dude and a professional. A guy that takes the time to talk gear and then get you a tour of his gear and how he does things , is a guy who is top notch. Stevens is one of those guys who shares knowledge about playing and gear rather than hiding behind a legend of what he may or may not have used (EVH)..

Like you said, I also hear more gain there but he has also said he likes to boost plexi style amps. Add hot pups and a small boost and good hands can make any tone happen. He's got the chops for this. As for the MTS stuff being about the preamp gain, well, I'd think opening up the volume knob would give more poweramp juice so I'm not quite sure what he is saying there seeing as his Friedman's also have master volumes. Perhaps what he is implying is that he did not like the sonic qualities of MTS preamp gain?

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

If Friedman would OK someone to make a Friedman mod - wouldn't that kick ***? I'd help with it....

With 4 voicings or gain levels? BE/HBE/Marsha/RSC - I figure Brahma is distinct enough to be left alone? Any thoughts? Saturation switch???

That's one thing MTS does not have and that is a comprehensive Friedman module...I, for one, would find that indispensable...

You could probably easily use toggle switches to do this. HBE is the added gain stage which the bright switch could be used to engage. BE-RSC could prob be handled by the toggles.

 

[Mattfig]

Yep, combinations of toggles could yield cool results...I've contacted Dave already.... My excitement got the best of me...

 

[rblyn]

Yep, combinations of toggles could yield cool results...I've contacted Dave already.... My excitement got the best of me...

Please keep me posted on this! Wow- I am a huge fan of Friedman's tones. Everything I've played of his (both MTS and his amps) just kick @ss and "feel" perfect to me.

 

[MarcoR]

Perhaps what he is implying is that he did not like the sonic qualities of MTS preamp gain?

No, I think he was implying he didn't care for the power section. Maybe he would have been happier if a foglifter was installed? I also get the vibe Friedman doesn't care for the MTS power section either and that may have also influenced Steve's opinion.

 

[MarcoR]

I might be difficult to lock down any of the Friedman mods because he didn't necessarily ever do them the same way. I've seen a few posts from him where he indicated he would just tweak them till it sounded right like this one:
http://www.rig-talk.com/forum/viewt...=1385886&hilit=+till+it+sounds+good+#p1385886

Also, his mods were never nearly as extensive as JF, Salvation or SG. Typically, he would just swap out a couple components and rarely if ever did he put anything on a switch. He also charged a lot for changing 30 cents worth of parts. Then the Friedman modded modules sell used for crazy money; I saw an Egnater dual channel with BE/HBE on ebay a few weeks ago sell for $500+.

I'd love to have a SS100 but $3,699 is out of my range at the moment. Paying lots of money for that name...

 

[LunatiBSW]

I agree, Steve's wife has a nice power section also.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Fig, if he doesn't have the time and doesn't want to do it, I suggest sharing the mod. I know it is controversial but hey, tone quest is tone quest.

I think the weakness with the power section is that it is designed to fit all rather than one specific tone. I bet with a few tweaks Steve would have liked it just fine. I also think he likes the good ol fashioned cosmetic look of a vintage amplifier. He's also used Splawn in the past too though. Bottom line, something Marshall inspired.

 

[Mike P]

Fig, if he doesn't have the time and doesn't want to do it, I suggest sharing the mod. I know it is controversial but hey, tone quest is tone quest.

I think the weakness with the power section is that it is designed to fit all rather than one specific tone. I bet with a few tweaks Steve would have liked it just fine. I also think he likes the good ol fashioned cosmetic look of a vintage amplifier. He's also used Splawn in the past too though. Bottom line, something Marshall inspired.

In my conversations with Dave, he clearly favors the Marshall power section. I think I've mentioned this before, but he offered to tweak my RM100 power section for $125.00 dollars to make it more "Marshall-like". I didn't take him up on it because I think it sounds great with the Marshall mods from SG that I have, but I was also concerned that it *might* change the tone of other non-Marshall based modules.

 

[MarcoR]

Fig, if he doesn't have the time and doesn't want to do it, I suggest sharing the mod. I know it is controversial but hey, tone quest is tone quest.

I think the weakness with the power section is that it is designed to fit all rather than one specific tone. I bet with a few tweaks Steve would have liked it just fine. I also think he likes the good ol fashioned cosmetic look of a vintage amplifier. He's also used Splawn in the past too though. Bottom line, something Marshall inspired.

I agree with everything you said.

 

[rblyn]

I think with a set of good EL34's, the RM100 can "replicate" the Marshall tones pretty well- in fact, the Marshall type mods are the ones that sound and feel the closest to the real thing in these amps (at least to me). I would agree with Mike P in that changing it would affect all of the other mods tones and pull them all towards a Marshall sound.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

I think with a set of good EL34's, the RM100 can "replicate" the Marshall tones pretty well- in fact, the Marshall type mods are the ones that sound and feel the closest to the real thing in these amps (at least to me). I would agree with Mike P in that changing it would affect all of the other mods tones and pull them all towards a Marshall sound.

+1 on this and what MikeP also said. The whole point of MTS is to have multiple tones at your hands so the current power section favours this. If you change it, you might as well just be a Marshall guy and lose the versatility. As Lynch is a Marshall guy, I can see where he wanted his modded.. I asked Dave once about what he does to the RM series and if he mods them. He said he did nothing... I swear he reminds me sometimes of EVH because his story changes over time. In another thread he said he upgraded trannies.. to MikeP he offered to tweak the power section (I'm guessing around the phase inverter, negative feedback to Marshall values, probably 2$ in parts).

I don't think you'll be seeing him doing any more MTS stuff.

 

[audiomidijace]

Friedmans amps sound incredible. Personally I've never cared for his MTS mods. I had a bad experience dealing with him myself.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Friedmans amps sound incredible. Personally I've never cared for his MTS mods. I had a bad experience dealing with him myself.

Did you wait 6 months for a module that went missing?

 

[audiomidijace]

No. He had agreed to work with me at an amp event. He never showed up, never called, nothing.