Jake E Lee’s Tone in a Box! The Friedman JEL-20 w/Ben Eller

Snag your official SHRED TILL YOU'RE UNDEAD merch here!!!! vonkowen.threa...
Downloadable practice tracks, bonus guitar lessons, and MORE here: / benellerguitars
How about a treasure trove of drone tracks that i made!? 12 root notes, 12 major chords, and 12 minor chords, for a total of 36 super long drone tracks! Its everything you need to learn all your scales in every key! Here's the direct link you need: / 49828461
Wanna learn ALL the notes and master the board? Here's the lesson you need: / 45181774
The BEST Half Hour of Alternate Picking Practice EVER: / 33563344
The secrets of note targeting revealed: / 38535524
My followup to my Ditch the CAGED System video: / 40492155
Get sweet deals on all the nice things i use here @Sweetwater !!! Sick deals on all kinds of good stuff: imp.i114863.ne...
Do you need the legendary shred tones of Jake E Lee in one box?!?! Do you need a low wattage all tube amp that can deliver an entire range of British rock tones, from Plexi to 800? DOES IT NEED TO ALSO BE RED?!?!?! If so, you've come to the right place!
On today's episode of Meet the Machines, Uncle Ben Eller here is gonna take you through everything you need to know about one of my new favorite amps, the Friedman JEL-20, the 20 watt cousin to his long-standing 100 watt signature amp!
Use the captions in the bottom left corner to navigate through the videos and hear the entire range of tones this 2 channel amp is capable of. I think you're gonna be impressed, I know I am!!!
Playing it with my Suhr Modern Satin, an occasional SD1 boost, all going through the amazing UA OX. Any delay or reverb is a Logic plugin. Enjoy!

[@garmisra7841]

Jake E Lee all the way up there with Lynch, and better tban most of the So Cal six stringers from the 80s. Vastly underrated talent. Those riffs on the Badlands records were impeccable.

[@MrJvieira72]

Those Badlands records were some of the best stuff of the genre.

[@sighermike]

You can always tell a dude from So Cal. Apparently, we're the only ones who use the phrase So Cal. Honestly, I think the Jake E Lee era of Ozzy was my favorite.

[@illiniheel67]

Pass on Brad...I think that some of Ozzy's worst early solo career efforts were with Jake....I think that he was perfectly in his element with Badlands...it was the separation they both needed... I remember the punch in the face I received from the opening riff on Miracle Man compared to the more pop/commercial/MTV-friendly Jake era Ozzy.

[@leftygtrplr6184]

@@illiniheel67 Different strokes. I couldn't disagree more. Love Speak of the Devil with Brad Gillis and the modern spin he put on all the Sabbath tunes. Then all the Jake releases were my favorites. The first release with Zakk was good, but couldn't come close to any of the previous with Randy, Brad or Jake. In fact, no more Ozzy for me after the Jake years. Again, different strokes...

[@jake.e.wanabee5333]

Jake.E.Lee should be a Hall of Famer and is ridiculously underrated. IMO, I actually love his work in 'Ultimate Sin' over BATM. But Badlands, Holy F**kn Hell he hit the bullseye and the Badlands albums are timeless and filled with amazing riffs, chordal progressions and solos. Love Randy, Zakk is cool, but Jake really hit me with his style, in Ozzy, Badlands, Solo work, and RDC. I want this AMP ASAP. Rock on Jake🤘🤘

[@aaronarchermusic]

I just ran into Jake at the bar after gigging on Fremont last week and chatted gear and Friedman amps. Nice fellow. That's it, a mere humble brag. Love your stuff, Uncle Ben.

[@BenEller]

Very cool!

[@frankhughes5702]

I had the privilege of seeing Jake live with his band Badlands back in 1989. It was life changing for me as a guitarist! Amazing talent!!

[@bluegroove536]

Indeed! Saw them in SF... just Killer!

[@jimgodofbiscuits]

Saw him with Ozzy in '83. Great show. Pete Way's Waysted, Motley Crue and Ozzy w/Jake.

[@mike5177]

Jake was Ozzy’s best, in my opinion. He just had something really wicked in his playing.

[@disco4535]

Theres just something about Friedman's gain/dirt. It's so saturated but really articulate and retains clarity. Sounds amazing

[@CrazyHenkie777]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZnXppSNhc6faq8 another great example of that heavenly Friedman tone!

[@TheColossusofRhodes]

Really?

[@Allguitarinfo]

It's the Flux capacitor that does it...

[@Custom6string]

We need a Badlands lesson Uncle Ben!! High Wire,Dancing on the edge,The last time...just a few that hit the brain but really anything.

[@tonykennedy8483]

The Last Time !! What a song, that was my introduction to Jakes playing, killer killer solo yes please for an Uncle Ben breakdown!

[@leftygtrplr6184]

Rumblin' Train would be a good one!

[@CD-gk9ix]

Glad to see Jake is receiving some way past-due recognition

[@jasonjohnson4170]

Jake was my favorite for quite a while growing up. He and Vivian were badass

[@jake.e.wanabee5333]

Jake & Viv, hell yeah

[@marclehmann1940]

We all should appreciate, love and respect Mister Jake E. Lee for his awesome playing in Ozzy and Badlands. But we also give a big shout out to his current band Red Dragon Cartel. Because they are awesome, too. 🤘🤘

[@joeytorresmusic5831]

Killer amp. Jake has always been one of my Favorite players. The first Badlands album for me is pure gold.

[@davidparker7719]

LOVE that Jake E. Lee sound!

[@PatrickLankton]

Killer amp right there, Uncle Ben! Loved how you built Thin Lizzy's Cold Sweat in the demo riffs.

[@philjohnjones]

Was going to say this!

[@peterwu3385]

You beat Ola Englund to the "Will It Chug" episode on this amp. Sounds awesome!

[@babylemonade2868]

The ultimate sin is my favourite Ozzy album. Jakes playing and solos on that are awesome and I wish they were longer. Especially never know why,they faded the outro solo too quick.

[@JackMcLeodJr]

100% agree!! Nice to see that record get some love, I always thought it was overlooked... Never Know Why is one of my all-time favourite hard rock songs, that outro solo in particular has always got me in the gut, superb melody and feel. The only bad thing is that damn fade out JUST as he's truly starting to tear it up. Sharon Osborne probably pulled the plug in the studio just to be spiteful LOL.

[@jtnachos]

Agreed. Ultimate Sin is near perfect. Never gets old.

[@tima6549]

One of my most listened to albums of all time. Bark was good, but Jake on Ultimate was the Ultimate. So, so good.

[@F.S.111]

Agreed but wish overall recording was better. Some stuff in 80’s just didn’t sound good.

[@TxpNoveske]

Its a great album. I saw that tour in maryland and it was great.

[@nathancloud6344]

Preach in on the mountain tops my brethren!!! Maybe the most underrated player of our time. It's a shame what Sharon did to him!!! Love me some Jake!!!!

[@azcodemonkey]

Great gear, great player, great human (well, both you and Jake). Thanks, Unc. Had the pleasure of hanging out with him in Vegas some years ago when he was prepping for the first RDC tour.

[@ICACJ]

This amp sounds amazing. Frequency response wise it is stellar. There is so much articulation and clarity in the lows, mids and the highs without being muddy or harsh on either end. You can hear every note in those chords. The tones I heard yesterday from Uncle Ben and Pete Thorn are quintessential Marshall rock n' roll goodness. I really wouldn't mind having this thing. Thanks for the demo, Ben. You are appreciated, sir.

[@iandavidson4852]

Amazing demo of what seems to be a killer amp. You showcased just how versatile the amp is... Some lovely tones on tap and some awesome 'fizz' for that 80's character. Fantastic work. Definitely a 'nice thing'.

[@BenEller]

Thanks! Loving this amp!

[@SwinginBluesTube]

Badlands Rumblin’ Train is such a killer song.

[@danieldeck7946]

Fantastic! Does anyone know where Jake is? He's been out of the picture for quite some time. I hope soon for a third RDC album👍

[@SwinginBluesTube]

Speaking of JEL, how about a lesson on High Wire (Badlands)?

[@lordgraga]

That's one bloody well designed preamp, really like the range of usable tones you can tweak out of that, really impressive.

[@jayheath1971]

Sounds glorious. Bonus points for the "Black-Hearted Woman" riff.

[@jayriver1644]

Could not get a JEL 100 in time so really excited to see this version.

[@slimsantilli4476]

Jake E Lee is on my Mount Rushmore. Voodoo Highway is a part of my lifes soundtrack. His use of effects have always taken an already killer tone over the top.

[@jake.e.wanabee5333]

Agreed 1000000000000%

[@stefanokrivtzoff1593]

Coolest album ever

[@marvinmartin3438]

Dude, I need this amp! Is it true bypass? Does it have a sweet spot? Is it transgender friendly? Nonbinary? Covid compatible? Can it get Eddy's "Smells like teen spirit" tone? Asking for a friend

[@jasonlamar6347]

His range with the Badlands stuff. Still some of my favorite of his. I'm glad I got to see the second album iteration of that band before it all went to hell. They were outstanding live.

[@metalheadpunk]

Nice job Hunk-le Ben. I literally barked at the moon after watching just 10 seconds of this video! Incredible.

[@BenEller]

AWOOOOO

[@ICACJ]

@@BenEller Glad he held on to it. Letting this amp go back to Friedman would have been the ultimate sin. The ultimate sin. HEYOOOOOOOOO

[@sebastianwei7721]

Would‘ve been crazy babies, right?

[@charvel1apm]

Man that is a sweet sounding amp ❤🤘🏼🎸

[@silvertear87]

Great sounding amp. The dirt is always nice, but I'm digging the cleans as well. Speaking of watts, I'm still surprised how dang loud my Orange 15w can get.

[@vslentineforniles6218]

A lotta John Sykes going on there Uncle Ben :) Cold Sweat, Bad Boys, plus a bit of AC/DC on the classic channel. Awesome stuff. Did I recognise a bit of Badlands on the clean settings? Fantastic.

[@eddiejr540]

Great sounding amp…Friedman make’s really nice stuff 👍

[@kenster865]

I LOVE IT!!! I'm old, nearly dead (well, not really) and have always wanted a hi-Gain amp. I was raised on Fender amp products. This might make me finally get one. Great sounding amp!!

[@sebastianwei7721]

There‘s a lot of potential in the not quite dead yet department. Rock on brother!

[@TobyKBTY]

I've always been a more a fan of the Orange flavored british amps, but as far as I'm concerned THAT is how a Marshall should sound. Lovely, crunchy, juicy, tight, clear and not brittle.

[@JackMcLeodJr]

A top 5 hard rock player of his era to me.

[@basementguitarguy]

Holy Smokes! This sounds amazing! Love how much it cleans up. Thanks for the incredible Demo!

[@BenEller]

Glad you like it!

[@TheArtofGuitar]

Quit being so awesome.

[@BenEller]

Nawwwww you first!!!

[@tractordirt]

Fantastic demo…thank you! I want my Runt 50 to do this. 😊

[@stefanokrivtzoff1593]

Jake e lee alongside randy rhoads have got the best tones.. thanks a lot Ben!!

[@jasongooding987]

Those tones are Jake-E-licious!

[@Varone26]

I’m hoping Friedman can do a 2 channel with the Pink Taco or make a BE and Small Box 20 watt. Hopefully one day it can happen.

[@wbk5644]

I believe the Friedman Wildwood 20 was based off the Pink Taco. It has 2 channels.

[@Varone26]

@@wbk5644 I took a deep dive into that model. The clean channel from my understanding is just a flat clean with minimal breakup. Though there isn’t many demos of the WW20. If it is similar to the Plexi channel on this JEL-20, I would have to consider getting one.

[@wbk5644]

@@Varone26 It’s definitely not the Plexi channel. You are correct that it is more of clean. Although, you can do a gain cut on channel 2 to sort of get you in the ballpark. The other option would be the Smallbox and I can’t recommend that enough. It’s killer. It still sounds awesome at low volume. I prefer the WW version of that too simply because you get another channel for additional gain if you need it.

[@MichaelSorensen-bl3ec]

Say hello to my li'lle friend! Jake has always knocked me out of my socks. He deserves all the respect in the world. Very unique and unorthodox approach in many aspects. Think I might have to rock out some Badlands tracks! Good to see you are rocking the real knees.... It just sounds awesome, and your playing certainly does it justice, to say the least. The way it retains clarity while grinding out the overdrive is phenomenal, there's a percussive character in there that is very desirable. That was probably the first thing I noticed about the sound. Symptom of the Universe!

[@superinsomniaddict]

Another slice of fried gold Uncle Ben! Any chance in future installment or perhaps in the Patreon orbit, you might show us Fractal folk how to create a similar tone profile for this amp? As always, thanks for showing us the way! 🤘🎸

[@billhannum4117]

Ya man but that 1987x is just.......unreal man. Man this friedman sounds more plexi than the small box to my ears

[@MrCleanPhoto]

Looks great and sounds great!!!! There are SO many great amps out right now, we are spoiled.

[@mattcrumbley6923]

Man this thing is gonna get back ordered so fast haha

[@ffxiiangel]

Those are some sexy sounds from that amp! 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻

[@billwarkentin3630]

Super informative review, Ben! Thank-you!!!

[@antonjohnsson679]

Some Opeth and Lizzy in there! Nice riffing as usual :D

[@BenEller]

Hey, thanks!

[@bestboy897]

the best marshall style plexi amps are made by friedman imo

[@artsal]

Best video so far. Pretty much covered everything. Thanks for playing it with the sd1 as well . AWESOME 👏

[@vethwynwetfeather]

UNC! Why didn't you demo the grunge pedal in front of it? 😢 #SadGrungePedals #Skankbanger

[@theprisonier]

I always find the video of Friedman amps to compress, not my taste, but this 20 watts sounds killer what an amp

[@sir.shreddington]

Super excited about this amp, I love Friedman stuff. AND Uncle B. sounding killer as always!

[@_Suzuka_Joe]

if there was ever an amp to bring me back from the land of fractal..

[@anthonypayne5628]

Great vid Uncle Ben. This amp sounds great!! Super glad Dave sent you this to promo!!

[@Rockandrollaz-d8l]

OH MAN!!! …this or PTV2?? 🙏👍

[@DesSherwoodGuitarTuition]

Great sounding amp! Wow! The saturation switch works really well, takes the slight flubby out, nice;-) Very versatile, love it;-) Nice demo;-)

[@je5tersd3ad]

Killer tones, Friedman makes some beastly gear.

[@j.t.cooper2963]

Seen Jake's talent on full display back in 1986 on Ozzy's shot in the dark tour. I ended up naming my 3rd son after him.

[@nm725]

"Kinda like my honeymoon" 🤣🤣

[@keithbriscoe99]

OMG... you say Jake, I say how much $?

[@clintn6677]

I did the Channel 2 JEL mod on my Headfirst 2204 build. I really dug it but ended up reversing it to a stock 2204. Nice to see they did this one in a 20 watt. Need the SS and the Butterslax 20 watt

[@keithbriscoe99]

Hey Uncle Ben... when you are running through OX in the room like in this video... what speakers/monitors are you using to hear yourself? The smallish monitors we see over your left shoulder? If so, what are your thoughts about those tones and that feel vs. coming through a speaker cab? thx

[@BenEller]

So right now, I am using a RAD wet/dry setup! Amp - OX, which then splits to a dry 212 cab under my desk, and also into my interface so I can go through monitors with delay or reverb on them if I want. It sounds so good!!!

[@keithbriscoe99]

@@BenEller Ah,. so none of the OX effects go thru to the 212, only monitors. Cool. Got it. Darn it, this is making me want to add a set of monitors and I can do same thing with captor x.

[@BenEller]

@@keithbriscoe99 I call it the CONE OF TONE! I’m hooked. Do it.

[@BigJohnDeere100]

Sadly, none of us peons will EVER BE ABLE TO AFFORD THIS SHIT

[@MrMetalhorse]

Incredible amp, but I have 1 complaint. The Bad Boys riff should have been played on the highest gain. At a dirty tone it's more like misbehaved kids.

[@spiritofrocknroll]

That Cold Sweat bit tho!

[@therewasascene]

Max brootalllls 🤘🏼yes Pretty cleans + nasty chonk = what I look for.

[@markbrooks8623]

Sounds okay. Way overpriced.

[@hemi426able]

Up to my neck in you!..all hail Malcolm!

[@bcjaliu]

Great review and killer chops! What speakers in a 2x12 would you recommend for Hendrixian cleans to hot rodded AC/DC tones ? Thanks!

[@weavercattlecompany]

What's insane is how expensive amp heads and guitars have gotten. I remember buying my Marshall 1987XL 50-watt head for less than that little 20-watt head 🤯 Nice gear review and as always I enjoyed your playing 😊

[@No-mart]

Killer demo dude. I literally rang up and ordered this head 30 mins after watching your video. 50th birthday present to myself...just don't tell the missus!

[@BenEller]

Cheers and happy birthday!

[@trevorwesterdahl6245]

Hope you like the amp. I looked it up and it was listing for $1,699. The 5150 III is easily obtained under $700. So, not for me. I bought a rediculous PRS for approximately $5k, so I get if you have cash, who cares. But... after hearing the Boss SDE-3000EVH... I need it and three amps and three cabs... to get wet/dry/wet. I then want to add the mimiq pedal to get that double track sweetness, and for the truly amazing, let me (one guitar player) mimick two... I want to add a harmonizer pedal with the mimiq pedal so I can solo with a pseudo dual guitarist (actually an outstanding rig) playing 1/3 up the scale to get holy crap goodness. So.... I need afforable amps and cabs. LOL BTW: the SDE-3000EVH has the absolute best noise supressor on earth (no noise and you still get trailing delay).

[@No-mart]

@@trevorwesterdahl6245 as a big Ozzy fan this was my holy grail amp. In Australia they are $3300! But life is for livin so consider it my midlife crisis buy instead of a Mustang convertible lol

[@trevorwesterdahl6245]

@@No-mart I completely get it. Most don't have the luxury, but if you can get exactly what you want... get exactly what you want. Hope its nailing it for you. I bought an Axe FX III because I like so many amps, cabs, pedals, etc... getting all that I want was impossible. With it, I can explore close enough to most. Enjoy!

[@FlangerNotAnger]

Ok, should I get the Jerry Cantrell or Jake E 20w head??? I love both! Just undecided. Badass!!!

[@mazsenior]

Finally ordered the JEL-20 and matching cab from Sweetwater. At 0% 36 month financing it was just too hard to pass up. Oh yeah…and it sounds killer:)

[@jeffreymorreale7223]

I am blown away with those cleans.

[@BenEller]

Right?! They’re so good!

[@4dmind]

Yep - that tone is killer. The response on the bottom end is making me want to buy one.

[@toddbot8950]

I was just listening to ultimate sin and bark at the moon yesterday great albums

[@koonsickgreen6272]

Awesome review, you're helping me alot. Does the pulling the knob take it to the jcm2000/dsl100 territory?

[@pjuliano9000]

A LITTLE symptoms of the universe going on there

[@Kasper911band]

Hey Ben what cab and mic combo you using in the OX box? IMO your demo is the best sounding one on KZbin! Thanks! 👍🏽

[@evan2757]

Awesome review, contemplating this over my PT 20 V2, love the 2 channels on the JEL. It would be sweet to get some low gain Hendrix/SRV from Channel 1...

[@Jdudas1]

Tried this amp out at a Guitar Center - I have a Marshall SV20, but mostly was just looking around for similar amps with two channels...I played the amp for like 30 minutes there and needed it walking out that day

[@jessicahayden1415]

JJ Junior= Solid Gold Jake E Lee= Red Hot Both amps are amazing. Just a matter of taste really. I like the red hot personally.

[@phillamoore157]

I'm telling ya, Ben... With these hot-rodded, plexi circuits (including my beloved SLO), they sound best to my ears on either the clean, or the crunch channel or "plexi" channel pushed. This IMHO sounds very similar to the Marshall SC20. When you go to its overdrive channel, it loses its tightness, articulate and punch...which IMHO defeats the purpose. The brilliance to me is that Dave was able to capture that tone in a 20watt amp. But, I digress... I think I left a comment on one of your other vids talking about how I just can't get into the Friedman's because rarely do you hear one of his amps dialed in with that killer classic, ultra-percussive 'modded JMP" tone. Everyone jumps straight to "diming" everything, thinking that because it's fundamentally a Marshall-esq circuit, and that's what you're supposed to do with Marshalls. You came really close when you pushed the clean channel into "dirt" territory. You recommended I check out the the JEL-100 for that tone. And, after a lot of deliberation with Dave himself, we decided to have him build me an amp with the SS-100 plexi channel for my modded JMP/Wizard MC tone, and then a Dirty Shirley for where I live 90% of the time, on my 2nd channel. Killer video. I had no idea this amp was on the market. I hope he does the same with the SS-100.

[@Billywagner22]

Have you ever sent a builders product back and never spoke of it again? Great demo!

[@BenEller]

Absolutely! Thanks!

[@eileenslick7024]

I had a Friedman Runt 50 it was alright nothing special, my Marshall DS40 sounded just as good and less money so I sold my Friedman also they are such unreliable amps two of mine broke fuck Friedman amps overrated

[@buzzcrushtrendkill]

How did you not play "Ultimate Sin" with that Jake E. Lee amp?!?!?

[@Bognerman14]

Sucks they made this amp a 20 watt EL84 amp. I can't wait for the big boy to be released, the 50 watter.

[@anthonycosta2662]

That’s Raw power

[@DisruptedSinner]

I literally think I just fell in love with that amp head. Sounds frickin' awesome.

[@BenEller]

Dude, I can’t quit playing through it!

[@DisruptedSinner]

@@BenEller Maybe your new go-to amp? 👍 I have to watch the video again... it's too good. And btw, because of you, I am now totally into yacht rock... I even ordered that captain's hat on Amazon lol.

[@stevedahl]

Friedman stuff all sounds warm. He should do a 20 watt Steve Stevens

[@SkeeterMcBeater]

Love the fatty ribeye color schematic. Making my mouth water. As clean as a USDA prime steak. Turn up the heat & it sizzles perfectly. Great articulation on the big chords.

[@binkywarren21]

The 80's Playboy, airbrush-style artist is Patrick Nagel....don't ask.😅

[@BenEller]

He gave us some fine work!

[@RtroyD]

Liked Jake but he never had good guitar tone with Ozzy or Badlands.....Badlands debut is great though in apitr of guitar tone

[@ddguitars1969]

I think you should pick this solo apart ben. .. kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5XLi62ngJ6FapIsi=Nco2nC8KSCIX6hof

[@noizewriter3324]

Love all the Sykes riffs getting some love!

[@knivesarequiet3706]

I tried this amp with single coils. I coudn't get anything that wasn't overly scooped.

[@buckysti]

Why do I feel this video is going to cost me? Currently have a Lee Jackson Ampeg and JCM 2000 (which is out of commission / kind of), so can't say I'm not due. Both those heads are 100 RMS, and I can't say I've ever gone past #3 on the volume on either. Also, I miss my JCM 800.

[@BenEller]

This would be a great amp for you, then!

[@peterargiros9508]

This…. Or mesa Tc50? Both likely with a quality attenuation😊