🎸 Former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee has collaborated with Friedman Amplification to launch his new signature amplifier, the JEL-20, accompanied by a matching 1×12 speaker cabinet.
Tone Blending Classic and Aggressive
The JEL-20 head is visually striking, featuring a deep red Tolex finish with white piping. More importantly, the amp is engineered to capture Lee’s signature sound, effectively combining the best of two eras: the “sweetness and warmth of a classic ’70s Plexi-style sound” and the “aggressive punch of ’80s master volume amps.”
Lee describes the fusion of tones in the single head:
> “This amp puts the two specific tones I use to create my sound in one head… all tweaked to my taste.”
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He emphasizes the amp’s versatility, noting his effort to maintain that ’70s “muscular, articulate rock tone” heart while providing the ’80s aggression needed for his signature sound.
Modern Features and Recording Versatility
While rooted in vintage tones, the JEL-20 incorporates several modern functionalities:
* Silent Recording: It features an internal load and a cab-simulated output via XLR, allowing direct connection to a front-of-house mixer or recording interface without requiring a speaker cabinet. This XLR output includes ground lift, level controls, and switchable “center” and “edge” speaker emulation modes.
* Effects Loop: An ultra-transparent buffered series effects loop is included for seamless integration of external pedalboards.
Dual Channel Design
The JEL-20 showcases Lee’s tones across two distinct channels:
* JEL Channel: This channel delivers the focused ’80s aggression, featuring dials for Gain, Master Volume, Bass, Middle, and Trebles. It also includes a push/pull control for fine-tuning the gain voicing.
* Plexi Channel: This channel provides the classic ’70s Plexi tone. It shares the same 3-band EQ but has independent Gain and Master Volume knobs, plus its own Bright switch for added tonal flexibility.
The JEL-20 amplifier is now available for $1,699, with the companion speaker cabinet priced at $699.