# NAD: 1977 Marshall with Friedman Mods



## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Got it today. I played it for at least 2 hours. There is definitely a lot going on, but very simple to get great tone at most settings. I didn't run a pedal through it today, and I didn't miss them.

I'm very excited to dig in a bit more. I have to re-review all the friedman mods to figure out what switches go with what channel - ex. I just found out the C45 is meant for the BE channel (I thought it was busted), but I believe that's where the brown sound can be found.

I also have no idea what the "line" mod is. You can see it pictured. I contacted the seller to find out more.


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## Disbeat (Jul 30, 2011)

Glad to hear your enjoying that one man! A good Marshall always makes me forget about pedals.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

What's the story behind the find?? What a score. I'm jealous.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

sambonee said:


> What's the story behind the find?? What a score. I'm jealous.


I was on a hunt for a Friedman Small box, so I could get classic marshall tone, but with some of that intense Friedman modern gain. I came across a TGP ad where the seller had about 3 or 4 amps up, but I noticed there wasn't a price on his modded Marshall, so I enquired.

It turned out that the seller, fretmaster (great guy), couldn't bring himself to do it. After he went on to describe why it was so great, I became very interested in it. I told him that I understand, but would pay his asking price without arguing, if he decided to let it go. He was appreciative and was willing to let it go.

He bought it off of Beau Burchell, who used this amp in his LA studio "The Cottage". Dave Friedman did all the mods himself for Beau.

So,...with all the mods and the fact that it's an older Marshall, I'm happy as hell. I have the best of both worlds at a fraction of the cost of a friedman.

I'm not sure if there are 'good' and 'bad' Marshall within a given time period, but if that_ is_ the case, then this is certainly a good one.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I'll bring my 800 and my board, we'll have a little fun 

I suspect "line" means line out, so as to bypass the power section and go straight into a mixer or something. An odd mod if that's what they did, given it was in a studio...

Welcome to the Vintage Marshall Owners Club


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

I guess were all Calling for the "C" word !!!

Which means "Clips "....please !!?!


Congrats !!!


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## Chitmo (Sep 2, 2013)

Nice score man, congrats! I obviously missed something having been outta the county for the last 2 months though. I thought that you were cutting things down to 1 guitar and 1 amp? What ever happened with the Lazy J?


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Chitmo said:


> Nice score man, congrats! I obviously missed something having been outta the county for the last 2 months though. I thought that you were cutting things down to 1 guitar and 1 amp? What ever happened with the Lazy J?


You got time for a couple of coffees???

I am down to one guitar - a Larrivee RS-2, but it's just to tie me over until the Monty is finished. It's a fantastic guitar, but the neck is still bigger than I like.

I bought a Roland XL40 to tie me over until the Lazy J arrived. I kept the J20 for about 2 weeks - it simply took me too long to dial in sounds I preferred. I was pretty shocked at how different it was from my /13 CJ11 (which is based on the same circuit). Nevertheless, it sold in 5 minutes.

So, I went on a hunt for a Marshall type amp and ended up looking at Germino's, Tophat, metropolis, morris, etc, but decided that a Friedman Smallbox was my best choice (despite being told by a reputable source that I shouldn't buy a newer one). That led me to the current amp - Friedman BE and HBE channels, plus that vintage marshall sound.

I should also mention that I did crack and buy a marshall mini 1 watt stack, so I can play at night (thinking that this 50 watt would not work - but it can). Not sure if I'm going to sell the mini-stack now.

So that gets you caught up. 

But,...I have contacted Cithara Guitars concerning their guitar building course. I'm 70% sure I'll be taking the course. I think it will be money well spent, since it would have simply gone to more gear. I will end up with another guitar from this course.

I just realized I can probably go on forever (I'm also excited that I'm actually going to take a shot at recording and making music), so I better stop and get to work...


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

Love following your threads man. So much going on! Lol. I'm a lot like you in that respect. I am looking around for a guitar builders course that I can afford and have time to do. Sounds like it would be a lot of fun. Plus you end up with a great (or shitty depending on your skill) guitar at the end of it. 

Congrats on the Marshall. Can't wait to hear some clips!!


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Stratin2traynor said:


> Love following your threads man. So much going on! Lol. I'm a lot like you in that respect. I am looking around for a guitar builders course that I can afford and have time to do. Sounds like it would be a lot of fun. Plus you end up with a great (or shitty depending on your skill) guitar at the end of it.
> 
> Congrats on the Marshall. Can't wait to hear some clips!!


Thanks. My inner narcissist loves writing them 

Yeah, taking a course should be fun. I'm hoping to understand the instrument at a different level. 

I'm in the process of setting up a mini-studio in my basement. Once I have that organized, I'll do a few clips. Just have to find the time...


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

It took me about two hours to whip up to for-fun clips while the SO was out with a friend. Git R Dun!


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Budda said:


> It took me about two hours to whip up to for-fun clips while the SO was out with a friend. Git R Dun!


My wife never leaves.

I'll be coming home early today and will try to set something up. I really wanna get a clip of the digitech trio too, so I'll try to make some clips that cover a bunch of gear at once.


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## Moosehead (Jan 6, 2011)

adcandour said:


> My wife never leaves..


I feel your pain. But still wanna hear clips of the new amp...


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

If she never leaves, then she gets the opportunity to hear your new toys .

Sidebar, i sent you an email over the weekend, not sure if you got it


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Moosehead said:


> I feel your pain. But still wanna hear clips of the new amp...


OK. Will do. Stay strong.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Budda said:


> If she never leaves, then she gets the opportunity to hear your new toys .
> 
> Sidebar, i sent you an email over the weekend, not sure if you got it


Didn't get it.

If you don't get a response within 24 hours of trying to contact me, either I didn't get it or I have been murdered

If you don't hear from me the second time, have my wife arrested.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

UPDATE:

I've dialled in a serious lead tone with this amp. I'm mean...._seee_rious. I can't get it with the amp cranked, but I get it with the preamp at 50% and the master at about 25% or so. Some of you may be like, 'meh', if you heard it, but the relationship between what I'm hearing and the feel on my fingers is something I haven't experienced before, but is exactly what I've been searching for. The strange thing is that it was the sound I heard in the Lazy J20 bonamassa demo video, but I couldn't make the J20 do it. 

After jamming with Sambonee today. I only dialled in that lead tone once, for one riff, and it stopped him short - he _had_ to comment.

I just wish I could sort out the effect loop thing. 

I took it to an amp builder, Steve Moratto, in Ajax (thanks to a referral from Sambonee), and there simply is no space in the amp for a loop. He suggested that I remove all the friedman mods (he can install my preferred switch selections within the amp and free up space). But, I'm afraid that would make the amp much less valuable, but more importantly affect the tone.

I've spent a fair bit of time trying to research alternatives, and it's not working. I still don't think I can let go of this amp though.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

get used to your delay out front, buddy boy. It will only take a little while.


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## Moosehead (Jan 6, 2011)

I've always played with delay out front. I don't use really high gain that much anymore but the big muff gets pretty heavy. I don't have any issues. Just switched out my trex replica for my carbon copy and both sound good. Play through an early 80s Jcm 800.


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