I really like the fact that you were up front about your friendship with Dave Friedman. That level of honesty and integrity earned you a subscriber right there.
Thanks for showing the good, the bad and the ugly. It‘s so difficult to find real-world information about amps, and your videos have already saved me from bad buying decisions. I really appreciate you sharing your first hand experience and disclaiming your possible conflicts of interest. I really appreciate your work, here!
@@PsionicAudio on a more general note.. have you done a video on speakers? One of the first things some people do is replace the stock speaker with something 'better' but it's not always better. Often the factory speaker will be made/designed FOR that amp...not any amp
I wish more people would talk about using the right size screw driver. Took me years to learn this lesson in life. Previously I was blaming the screws. :(
I have the Runt 50 combo and it’s a great amp! 3 years old and still going strong. The clean channel with a tele style guitar does country tones very well. Also, I have used it with my Gibson ES 355 for jazz and it works great. My friend even used it for a rockabilly gig while his amp was being repaired. The overdrive channel does 60’s - 80’s rock very well. IMO, this amp does everything and now it is the only amp I own. Thank you for the review and opinion of this amp. 👍
You know you’re a fan of a amp guy when you want him to review and validate your latest amp purchase. Great content. Try to make it a habit of watching them all.
I have a JJ Junior combo which is essentially the same amp with the additional "JJ switch" for more saturation and compression. Killer amp, I have used it many times in Austin out live in a club. I also have a Dirty Shirley 40, killer amp as well. The DS40 combo has a bigger cab and has more balls and bottom end and sounds bigger. But live, miced, or using the direct out the audience can't tell the difference. Great amps and Dave is super responsive, I have emailed him a few times over the years and he has always responded very quickly.
Dave does great work. Saying good things about those amps in regards to the well thought out layout is just stating facts, especially for the lower price.
Great breakdown of the Runt Lyle... My kind of amp. I think Dave and yourself share a confidence that many consider 'abrupt'. I think it comes from years of competently fixing other peoples shit boxes. Oh... Thanks for the riff. RJ
I’m hoping to purchase a Runt 50 head one of these days so it’s nice to know these amps are Psionic approved. Looking forward to your future appearance on tone talk!
It’s good to uplift those who are doing things right and honestly. and I think we have plenty of footage of your reviews and opinions on other amps to know that you’re not gonna BS us on a product. I’m glad to here your opinion on Friedman, I like his amps ALOT!
Thanks for doing this. I have a Runt 20 head and had also seen the video from the UK gentleman. I am not an electronics guy but found a lot of what he said somewhat perplexing given Friedman's reputation as a amp designer. I can't say I was buying much of what he was saying as it really came off as a hatchet piect but it is still nice having a professional verify that I don't have a time bomb for an amp.
Would be great to see you on Tone Talk...one of my staples....I know a lot of people could garner new info/perspectives on amps & a variety of topics. Looking forward to it. Cheers from Vancouver Island
Hey LYLE ... great review as always :) I just thought you might like to know . Tony McKensie - was the guy who did the review you were talking about & it was the JJ JUNIOR he reviewed ..
I agree with everything you said in this video. Which is rare. I usually never agree with everything someone says. But you are speaking facts. Can't even argue with it if I wanted to. If you borrowed amps, and did reviews like THIS, your channel would really grow. Of course, a lot of people would be pissed off, because the truth hurts. But it would be fun! I would like you to review an ENGL Fireball 100, and a EVH Iconic head, but I know you typically only make a video for something that comes in for repair. You probably don't have a lot of free time to borrow a bunch of amps and review their build quality and circuit designs. But I think players need something like that, so they can know exactly what they are buying. Too much "snake oil" out there. So many channels on RU-vid where people just demo an amp. But literally NOBODY actually takes the chassis out to show the circuits. People are scared to use a screwdriver.
Hey hey just saw this notification for the Friedman runt 20 indepth review/ walk through had my notifications ready for it and never clicked faster !! Haha I was really looking forward to this one, and in some ways preparing to hear the worst and watch you rip it apart and break down any woes under the hood. ^ I'll say I'm not blues guy hard rock is my wheel house and this Friedman runt 20 at $1400 ish used (Canadian dollars) is in my opinion the best recording , gigging, jamming and " marshall esque sounding amp " for the money. In the 2 years I've had it I've sold 50w and 100w heads some Friedman some others, one even an old marshall jcm800 2203 because the Friedman runt 20 with the hot mod v2 ( I have an original and an older one ) just added that magic special sauce ontop like the best Cameron modded , Naylor style marsha or just the meanest sounding 80s modded marshall tone in such a small 20 w head. Can do lynch steve stevens, guns, dokken, Michael schenker , John Sykes the list goes on. Hasn't done me wrong yet even sent it to Dave for a second Friedman BE channel voicing with its own dedicated master, presence and gain control for said extra channel making it a 3 channel runt. After this one the only real competition at the runt 20 price point that could actually surpass its sound and feel isn't anything marshall - it would be the ceriatone 2202, or son of yeti stuff IF that can be found used , if you have to order from ceriatone direct and wait a year and a half then I'd say going back to the runt 20 new or on the used market would make any hard rock player looking for a 2 channel amp that is solid as is no mods needed more than happy for quite a long time made over seas import or not. American friedmans are great but they really made a great introduction model to their line with this one ( won't say it's the most affordable Friedman because even used I don't think we'll over 1k should be considered affordable but alas welcome to the times we live in ) ^ Cheers from Niagara falls Canada and thanks for the wealth of knowledge and indepth walkthroughs in these videos. Please do more friedmans and more ceriatones in the future if able. Thanks in advance 🤟🤟🙏
I like it that they use cage nuts for the chassis screws, instead of cutting the thread directly into the chassis - if you bork the thread you can replace the nut - BRAVO
Lyle great vid, from the first "gut shot" it was obvious you could have skipped the "disclaimers" Dave Friedman makes good stuff. Truthfully , I've noticed the good techs, builders and manufacturers all seem to know or know of each other and its pretty rare anyone "trash talks" without good cause. BTW I'd love to see you on tone talk that would be a real education for most of us neophytes .
My Runt 20 is solid! I love the versatility 3 cleans, dirty w boost, XLR easy recording. Option to play through my Vintage 30 cab. I tested it in store through a 6 speaker Marshall cab. Oof I felt it! Thanks for the in depth!
AFAIK the transformers are Heyboer or Classic Tone; maybe others since the latter closed shop. I think that the fan boys in the comments section need to remember that Dave Friedman doesn't build these amps or most under his name. It seems like Boutique Amp Distribution went through a tough time following the pandemic and warehouse fire, and a couple amps that came through for repair locally had cold solder joints or mis-soldered parts. Hopefully they're back on their feet and more consistent again. It's nice seeing inside one of these. It looks like a Bogner level of PCB that you'd never have to worry about. It helps that the pots and tubes aren't board-mounted, too. Good design.
I could see right through that old guy who reviewed the JJ Jr. I could tell it wouldn't be his cup of tea right off the cut, and I also knew his complaints were pretty much unfounded. Thanks for actually exploring this one in depth and delivering a thoughtful and well-laid out explanation video rather than a "turn camera on and moan about how I didn't know what I was purchasing" one, haha..
I have had direct communication with Friedman, I had a question about his amp compared to a Soldano. The fact that he would personally provide me an answer to a question tells me what kind of fella he is. I wish that my budget would accommodate both a Friedman and an SLO 100. But that wasn’t the case. Someday I will own a Friedman. Good honest review, Lyle!
Dave is a really good dude. I have a Runt 20 head that had a component failure (not Friedman's fault, just bad luck). He was in contact with me on a Sunday night troubleshooting and had a plan to get my amp fixed the following day. I'm a complete nobody and he was all over making sure I was taken care of, quickly. The amps aren't cheap but if you dig that sound I wouldn't go anywhere else.
Much better than say a Marshall SV-20 for roughly the same price, even a bit better price. This is much needed information for us players/musicians and DYI'ers of limited extent.
Thank you for this awesome video review. I own the Friedman Twin Sister Combo, love it. Your video helped me decide to pull the trigger on the this Runt 20 Combo. Running both amps with my Stereo board is tonal bliss, IMO. Really appreciate all your YT reviews.
You are not being overly kind to Dave. You just treat people the way you would like to be treated. Dave treats his customers with the same respect(personal experience). I am more than likely going to buy a Runt in the next few months.
The only thing I've decided is that it won't be long now before it's difficult to get an amp on the Psionic desk because everyone else is trying to do the same thing!
I add washers under the other washer like this amp does to all of my own amps and to customers amps. Its a cheap and quick way to stop tearing up the tolex. Also i see a lot of amps with stripped screws and its from people not using the proper screw driver. I even see people in videos online who are taking apart their amp, use the wrong screw driver size when they have a kit of screw drivers right next to them in the video. Take your time folks and do it the right way. ;-) Always love the videos, thank you so much for continuing to educate us all on equipment :-)
Just this morning I was in a Runt 50 with tone controls that are acting up. There were four resistors that appeared to have "non-factory" soldering, but the amp was brand new in sealed manufacturer packaging and was purchased in person from a very well-known music dealer. One of the resistors' connections was pretty crusty and very questionable. There were also two tack-soldered connections; a piggybacked resistor, and a cap across the resistor like you found. No doubt in my mind these are tweaks done before the amps go to the dealers.
The pot arrangement is nice, no board mounted pots waiting to break a trace if the nut comes lose, if a new one needs soldering to the little connector cable it can be done outside of the amp, no risk of any bits of solder accidentally ending up under the board during desoldering/soldering.
When seeing the thumbnail, my heart sank. Oh no...the Friedman is already on your bench...? Then thankfully the real reason is revealed😉 Innards look very nice. Don't know enough yet, but thanks to your videos, this amps components and placements look very nice. Parts are good quality too👍 Looking forward to more videos like this. Can't tell you how much its appreciated for future buyers decisions😎👍 It because of this look inside that takes the fear out of purchasing this manufacturers products😎👍 Thanks for a very important video 😃
A little extra thought in the design process makes for a superior piece of gear. Reminds me of old BMWs and Mercedes that were not only made of solid stuff, but designed to be serviced and making parts easily accessible as opposed to the modern ones that just fall apart and can't get to anything.
“Fiery death shit show“ has a nice ring to it. Definitely excited to hear you on tone talk if you guys can make that work. This video definitely got me looking at Friedman, and I’m really glad to know that even their budget stuff is quality. I would love to hear your take on Tone King amps
Personally, if you had said, "I like Dave, I like his amps, I am going to like this one.... deal with it." I would have been fine with it. I hate broccoli. No apologies for having biases. Really neat to see such care taken inside an 'affordable' amp. As someone who almost got a Hot Rod, if I were to shop, this kind of video helps a ton. Thanks for it. No need to respond.
Awesome and informative video and always look forward to your insight. That Scottish guy you spoke about, I had a few unkind words for him way before I watched this video so I feel validated...lol. Nothing too bad but just let him know to leave it to the pros such as yourself and throwing Friedman under the a bus was not cool.
The dirty shirley mini/little sister, pink taco, etc are actually handwired for $1500. The JJ JR, Runt, etc with the included load/mic-no-mo are PCB loaded. So you can actually get handwired for that price from them, just not the multi-channel + load offerings. Also regarding "bad copies" from a circuit perspective I have no idea, but the 5150 amps sound amazing.
There's another RU-vidr, a nice enough chap, well known for his "inside and out" gear reviews, and he did not have a nice thing to say about Jerry Cantrell's signature amp. Seeing as how I've come to value your opinion, I'm glad you decided to share this one with us. Hope to see you on tone talk soon.
I love the concept of the 2o watt. They are ear bleeding loud for sure. I still love EL34 based amps because of their sound. They seem to have more "thump", with good bottom end. Im told thought that its pretty much due to the capping and the output transformer but I dont know. I do have a Budda Superdrive 18 watt combo. Does some neat ZZ sounds but again it sounds like an EL84 amp.
Thanks for this review. Pretty sure not Mercury making the transformers, based on listing to many Tone Talk episodes. Looking forward to your schedules to line up to be on there.
@@jasonweidner3274 That sounds right. When I made the above comment I couldn't remember what he said he likes, just that he doesn't love Mercury like many others do
Thanks for this demo and review or should I say inside tips I guess maybe I’m a little late to the game. However I have been using a Marshall studio 2525C it’s the jubilee combo one by 12 for local gigs and I played one of these over at a buddies and fell in love with it, getting ready to make the trade and just wanted to take a double peek at this video again it just appears to be a better made amp and it certainly plays better the bottom and holds together better. It truly is just all around a better sounding amplifier than the jubilee and it gives me everything I need and even more Than the Marshall had to offer I’m not seeing the but I have to tell you the board did not look as good as this one not longshot nor did the soldering work so I don’t know I think the price on those in the UK was about $1000. Where is this for the combo is like 1699 and the USA the Marshall here is $2000 almost I certainly think 1699 is much more well spent on this amplifier. Thanks again great stuff here. 5:22
Regarding the 'British' chap who has a video, I think you are referring to Tony Mckenzie? He has a review of the Friedman Jerry Cantrell version of this amp? I've just watched that video and want to clarify what he actually says... He was complimentary of the amps tone and general build quality, there were a few things he was unhappy with and the fact it wasn't hardwired was not one of them!. His grumbles were... A couple of the switches were held on with gel, rather than screwed to chassis e.g. power switch. The cement resistors were soldered directly onto the board apparently these get quite hot and in his view these should be off the board. There were a couple of poorly soldered resistors that looked like they were added after the main board production. However the main thing he disliked was the fact that the JBE switch (I think this is only on the JJ model) didn't appear to do anything to the tone. His optics will be different to yours as Marshall amps are a lot cheaper in the UK compared to Friedman and you can buy a handwired amp e.g. Cornell in UK for less than this amp. He also pays for all the amps he reviews with his own money. BTW, these are his views not mine :-) I don't claim to know anything about amps and what is good/bad build quality.
@@ronj9448 right. I’ve had no reliability issues at all and I’ve gigged them consistently since 2019. I was mostly curious to get a tech’s opinions on the innards and build quality.
@@anthonymichael3029 Cool. Some people on here are buying expecting it to fail and how easy is it for the tech to repair. I'm buying with the expectation of it working 5-10 years without too much abuse. After that look at something else because my taste in tone can change.
Thanks for the review! The Pink Taco 20 is on my short list, along with this one. I've been playing on-and-off for 35 years and this will be my first tube amp, having always been traditional solid state or electric/acoustic (remember the California Blondes? :)).
I understand why you want to clarify so much, but honestly as long as you’re upfront about your relationship with Friedman or any other builder, it doesn’t matter what people say. I would hope that you would have integrity and either call out issues or just not make a video. I have seen videos of Friedman low watt amps having some bad solder joints and some questionable QC issues. But I also think the man would make it right if it were brought to his attention. He definitely cares about his products
Interesting power transformer to output transformer orientation on the chassis, most go with the irons perpendicular in one or both planes, I guess maybe the diagonal line between them might mean they sit in a null in their radiated flux or something though?
I have this very amp…it’s a fantastic sounding amp..I like everything about it…I also have an EVH 5150III Stealth 50 watt,which I like very much…I know,I know…it’s not built the same as the Friedman,but I love the way it sounds,and have never had a problem with it …
Something I didn't hear mention which should be mentioned (or did I blink?), is it looks easy to pull the PCB to work on the underside. It seems to be the big issue with PCBs is when they're hard to remove. It add to much labor time for any kind of repair. It looks like the amp was built like he had to service it.
The flat washer behind the dress washer also keeps the dress washer from deforming and collapsing on itself (a problem for someone like me who tends to over-tighten things for fear they MAY come loose at some point)
You were talking this older guy really cut down this amp i saw video that he did! and you are right he just cut down that amp! too me the inside looked very well build for a PCB amp! I have a blackstar HT 100 MK2 oh man if i new it was like that i would have ever got it. But this amp really nice! And it sounded to really good! I been thinking about getting the Runt 50 head to replace my blackstar. I really enjoy your video's you do! Thanks man!
Another advantage is the way the chassis is mounted, the tubes are less likely to cook the PCB. Mounting it on the bottom is best, but having the controls at the bottom is only practical if it's going to sit on top of a stack. Remote controls adds cost and problems.
Let me be clear. The man in the other video you are referring to is NOT SCOTTISH! That is a northern English accent that he has. I'm Scottish and he sounds nothing like us.
@@PsionicAudio I went looking for it when you mentioned it. I've seen that guy before. I don't think he's really any authority on amp building or design, clearly just a consumer. Don't really think it's wise to review amp design in that respect unless you know what you're talking about and it's pretty clear, from his video, that he doesn't or at best he has only a very vague understanding. No more than most of us to be honest. I think when the Scottish accent isn't heard a great deal, people often confuse it with English but they're very different. No different to me not really being able to distinguish between a Canadian and American accent sometimes I guess. 🤷
I watch a lot of BBC and ITV shows. I can distinguish a lot of different accents. My wife and I were in a cafe in Johnson City, TN over the summer, and our server was a young lady with an "English" accent. I asked her if she was from Northumberland. She was, and was suprised that anyone here even knew about it, let alone could recognize it. I can even tell Australians from Kiwis.
well, i have a mesa single rec, as pictured in my thumb nail. it has had a repair, though i feel it has served me well for many gigs over many years. in saying that, i don't dispute your opinion of build design, they are a tech's nightmare. unfortunately, i really love the tone and function of it. however, the most important thing after an amp needing great tone is reliability, and if i were to invest in an amp again, friedman would be at the top of the list. i just can't find fault, especially the twin sister, wow.
The older guy video is a Northern Englishman called Tony McKenzie… he is not Scottish as far as I know . ( he may be Scottish by birth and the name McKenzie is Scottish but he has a strong English accent and he is slightly quirky to say the least).
Another nice review /modification video. I hold your opinions, and observations in highest regard, buut I'm still not a fan of board mounted tubes. That's just me. Cheers 🍻
watching your vid....I found it funny that your amp had the same mods done as in the Tony Mckenzie Vid....and the first thing you did was find the mod not done very well and then have to re-do it....if I remember rightly....what TM was ranting about was that his amp was sold to him as NEW but had clearly been modded by the shop he got it from "not Dave Friedman" to mk2 specs....but clearly given to the Saturday Boy who had done a piss poor job doing it and even burning adjacent components....lol....love your vids by the way and I think TM comes from STOKE where Slash is from....nowhere near Liverpool.
yeah they both commented on the resistor mod, Tony seems to be getting misquoted his main gripes were concerning the solder work on the resistor mod, the cement resistors soldered right on the board and the gel holding the power and speaker cab switches in place. He actually stated the amp sounded good and gave it 8/10. He didn't complain about it not being point to point, he just stated that it was a PCB construction. From his other vid's his favourite amps seem to be Mesa's which are all PCB. What most of the commentators probably don't appreciate a Friedman costs close to £2000 in UK whereas you can pick up a Studio Marshall built in the UK for half that and even UK made Cornell amps which are point to point wired (and top notch) come in from £1200-£1600. Prices I think are very different in the US and hence so will the optics and how the amp is being judged. And hardly any of them picked up his correct accent apart from you!
