Loopy Pro: Create music, your way.
What is Loopy Pro? — Loopy Pro is a powerful, flexible, and intuitive live looper, sampler, clip launcher and DAW for iPhone and iPad. At its core, it allows you to record and layer sounds in real-time to create complex musical arrangements. But it doesn’t stop there—Loopy Pro offers advanced tools to customize your workflow, build dynamic performance setups, and create a seamless connection between instruments, effects, and external gear.
Use it for live looping, sequencing, arranging, mixing, and much more. Whether you're a live performer, a producer, or just experimenting with sound, Loopy Pro helps you take control of your creative process.
Download on the App StoreLoopy Pro is your all-in-one musical toolkit. Try it for free today.
TH-U BHS Friedman Handwired 100W Has anyone tried it out?
Was looking for a new amp, and I’ve always been into the Marshall JTM-45 tone of the ‘60s. I noticed the Dirty Shirley is based on that model, and this amp is combined it with a Friedman Brown Eye on the other channel.
It’s modeled by BHS, which I don’t have any experience with. All my TH-U rigs are by Choptones.
So, if you have used it, whaddaya think? Or, do you have a JTM-45 model you are happy with? Thanks!
Comments
If you have the chance you can demo the rigs with the desktop version. I liked this rig (in my opinion BHS is better than choptones for most rigs) but I got all my bases covered with the Soldano BHS rig. Very versatile.
If you are into marshall sounds, the Friedman might be the pack for you. Not quite sure about the JTM sounds. BE and DS were quite similar other than different mics and cabs used.
But I would definitely recommend BHS rigs in general. Great guy with great sounds. Check his YouTube videos if you can
I was demoing the Jerry Cantrell rig this morning. I really wanted to like it but I didn't. I have ML Sound Labs version of the am and IMO it does a much better job. Still you might not find better in the iOS system.
I actually like the Jerry Cantrell rig quite a bit, though I did try it only with humbuckers and haven’t tried ML Sound to compare. It is slightly compressed, and not very versatile, but it does the Jerry glam grunge thing well. Regardless, I don’t reach for that rig, I always go for the Buxom Betty. It has a great rowdy clean sound with a natural singing echo.
@SNystrom I haven’t tried the rig you mentioned above, but I’d assume it’s closer to a JMP than a JTM-45, considering it’s 100 watts. So it probably gets both cleaner and higher gain than a JTM. In general I would say Friedman amps, and their rigs, have a modern sound. It’s closer to a modern type Marshall of the 80s and 90s, regardless of how it’s voiced. It’s like a very tight and symmetrical distortion, more like a thick higher gain sound rather than a driven sound. A JTM-45 is pretty close to a cranked bassman, EL34s, which is why I recommend the Buxom Betty rig. It’s one channel, voiced to be Fender clean to British crunch as you adjust the gain. Still, it has a modern tinge.
So really when you say you’re looking for a JTM-45 sound, I think you mean low gain Plexi. Rather than the later JMPs. Even the Choptones Brit 67 rig is approaching JMP, though it is an actual 1967.
With that in mind I would highly recommend the Nembrini BG Ecstacy. It specifically has a “Plexi” and “vintage” toggle modes, and even with the gain knob maxed out, it’s a glorious low gain Plexi sound when in those modes. If you want to stay th-u, you have to look at the LRS Unchained rig, it has so many flavors of vintage Plexi. Th-u also has its own Choptones Bogner Ecstacy rig, where you could find some JTM-adjacent patches. There are also two new th-u rigs worth considering, “BM Bogna EC Classic”, which is another Bogner Ecstacy rig but not by Choptones. As I said I think generally all the Marshall and Friedman rigs do more of a modern 80s/90s Marshall sound, even the awesome 1987X rig. So if I were you I’d be looking at LRS Unchained rig, the two Bogner Ecstacy rigs, or the Nembrini BG Extacy.
Wow, thanks for all the thoughts and ideas. I probably should demo the desktop rig, @littlemusicbox, but my laptop’s hard drive is overflowing.
Thanks for history and comparisons, @JoyceRoadStudios. I always forget about the early Marshall’s being based on the Bassman — and I just happen to have the Nembrini Faceman, so that’s definitely an easy starting-off point.
There were a lot of JTM-45 players whose tone I loved, but probably my favorite was Gary Moore — especially his tone on the bluesy After Hours album. I read in numerous publications that he ran his JTM with a Marshall Guv'nor pedal to boost his leads. That was giving him the Plexi/JCM 800 growl. I have the Nembrini “The Boss” pedal, so I’ve got that covered.
And, of course, thanks to JRS’s excellent reviews over the years, I own the Nembrini Ecstacy — and a few hundred other apps and IR’s. I don’t yet own the Buxom Betty, but I get the feeling that is now inevitable.
When you’re in the Nembrini Ecstacy, assign the “Plexi Mode” to Channel 3. Keep in mind this will disable the “Structure” toggle and the “Gain Boost” toggle. Don’t remember if it disables the “pre-eq” toggles, but keep them at “N” I guess. Then you need to go to the “Master” tab and toggle between “Old” and “New”. While you’re in that menu, play with “Excursion A” and “Excursion B” toggles. Also, assign the “Presence B” knob to channel 3 for added control. You can’t assign Presence B to channel 2.
I forget how many toggles and knobs Plexi mode disables, but play with it on channel 2 or 3 and set the eq and all the other bells and whistles to your liking. I like to set up Plexi mode on channel 3 because I don’t need the high gain of channel 3, I use channel 2 for quintessential medium gain, and channel 3 in Plexi mode for low gain rumble goodness. I don’t remember if Plexi mode is identical when assigned to channel 2 or 3, but it probably is.
Anyway, once you set up Plexi mode and your desired eq and toggles, crank that gain knob! I like it maxed out, still low gain. It’s my favorite sound on that amp sim, followed by the cleans, and default blue channel 2 for rock. But that Plexi mode 🔥
Damn! @JoyceRoadStudios, I feel like the pilot of my flight has just died of a heart attack and you’re on the radio teaching a first-time pilot how to precisely and safely land the plane! 🤗
Those are very cool super-detailed tips. I can’t wait to get home and try them out. Thanks so much, as always.
Not sure how much AiC and Jerry Cantrell you listen to. I can go days/weeks without listening to anything else so when I demo something like this I have AiC and Jerry tones, like always, stuck in my head. Still it's a personal thing so like always, you have to trust your ears, and if you like it, it's good.
Lots of AIC on my playlist, not much Jerry. I always thought of him as a Peavey/Marshall/Bogner Fish kind of guy, but it’s not just the amps. We’re talking chorus, wah, whammy, flanger. The Bogner Jerry signature is a more recent thing for him. I wasn’t referring to it as an authentic sounding Jerry rig, as I wouldn’t really know. On its own terms it’s a good rig for heavy rock, slightly compressed, and the patches are mostly mid-high gain so not that versatile. He also switched guitars around from the 90s up to now. I think with his guitars and fx and that amp it could get close, but I know what you mean. Some of those rig presets get in the ballpark for me, but I don’t know his oeuvre well enough to say for sure.
Reminds me of a story, I made a CD mix once for a party in college, and it was just Love Hate Love 12 times in a row.
“ I made a CD mix once for a party in college, and it was just Love Hate Love 12 times in a row.”
Oh hell yeah! I can definitely relate to that.
Seriously, I'd just sit and enjoy that. One of my favorites and a Layne classic.