Brown Eye and
Naked Amplifiers
RACK SYSTEMS
great clean channel. The dark-toned nature
of the Naked really shows itself here, and it
hearkens back to the clean sounds of late-
’70s Marshalls. Generally, most Super Leads
from the early ’70s and late ’60s are considered to have a brighter sound than those
released much later. The smooth, clean tone
on the Naked was more in line with its late-
’70s Marshall forebears, and it offers more of
a traditional response than the Brown Eye.
The Naked has a huge amount of available
headroom, and, used in tandem with the
master volume, the two preamp controls
let you sculpt the top end. Higher preamp
settings rolled off those upper frequencies
but caused slight distortion when I struck
the strings harder. The Naked’s touch sensitivity came into play very nicely here, and
footswitching between the two channels put
even more timbral options at my fingertips.
The Final Mojo
As any gear fanatic will tell you, the more
you explore a particular sonic area, the better you’re able to scrutinize and pick apart
aspects and traits of your equipment. In this
case, my personal love of great Marshall
tone was almost a hindrance. The Naked
was specifically designed for a taste that’s
very similar to my own, which makes it hard
to find areas to critique. If I got a harsh,
unpleasant tone, it was easy to dial it out
with either a slight turn of the Presence
control or by simply backing off the gain.
The Naked is designed to perform exactly
this way, and it succeeds admirably. If you
love British high-gain sound, you’ll be right
at home with the Naked. And if you’re looking for an amp that can deliver tight and
focused tones with lowered tunings, you
must experience Friedman’s Naked amp.
Rating:
Rack Systems
Street $3500 100-watt head;
$3300 50-watt head.
tonemerchants.com
you want the smooth, dark overdrive
of a late-’70s Marshall with enhanced
gain for modern rock riffing.
Buy If...
Skip If...
lower gain, Fenderish
tones are more your taste.
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