VHT Special 6 Ultra 6W Hand-Wired Tube Guitar Amp Head

Most Liked Positive Review

A very cool guitar, if you're into the 1980's shred thing!

I have been in the market for an 80's style shredder for a few years now. As a big fan of George Lynch, in particular the stuff he did from 1985 to 1990, I've been looking for a used ESP Skulls and Snakes model. That said, they are hard to find on the used market, and they command a premium price. Enter the Friedman Cali model. With its high-output humbuckers, Floyd Rose tremolo, and single volume knob, it's got similar specs as the Skulls and Snakes, and with a much lower point of entry. So, I jumped on it, and I am glad I did. I've spent the last few days getting to know my new Friedman Cali and I can say with confidence this is an excellent guitar for the price. That said, it does have some minor drawbacks that I will gladly look past given how amazing the guitar feels and sounds. My particular guitar was a scratch and dent, which in my case means pre-owned. I say this because when I took delivery of the guitar, I noticed a tremolo stop had been installed, poorly I might add. I confirmed with Friedman they did not install these at the factory; hence my opinion the guitar was previously sold to another customer. In any case, there are no other blemishes or visual imperfections to speak of other than, of course, the factory relic job. After my initial inspection, I put the guitar back in the case to chill out for 24 hours to acclimate to the environment. After that, I remove the old strings, cleaned and polished the frets, lubricated the hardware, applied contact cleaner to the pot and switch, put on fresh strings, and gave it a proper set-up. Some things I noticed during the whole process: the b-string tuner doesn't seem to work as smoothly as the other tuners. These appear to be Hipshot open gear locking tuners, similar to what I have on my Tyler, and I know they usually work very well. Next time I change strings, i will pull the tuner and take it apart for inspection. Another thing I noticed is the screw-in style tremolo bar on the Floyd Rose. This is simply an antiquated design and needs to go the way of the rest of the dinosaurs: extinction. I much prefer the convenience, feel, and adjustability of the drop-in replacement bar, so that is what I installed. Now the tremolo feels expressive and smooth, and the bar drops in quickly. Once I got the Cali set up, I was amazed how comfortable it is to play. Let's first talk materials and craftsmanship. The relic job on the maple neck and fingerboard, combined with the rolled fret edges and slick fret crowning, make this guitar feel like you've been playing it for decades. It's really quite special and something you have to play to understand. because of the compound radius and excellent fretwork, I am able to set the action very low without excessive buzzing. I use 9-gauge strings, and two tremolo springs are sufficient to ensure the tremolo sits parallel to the body while keeping low tension on the strings. Bending is super easy and very smooth, and the tremolo feels so expressive. The guitar just feels slinky and rather addicting to play. On the tone front, it's an absolute monster. The Friedman Classic pickups feature Alnico 5 magnets, which happen to be my favorite for hard rock tones. The bridge pickup sounds thick with gobs of sustain, while the neck pickup is round and fat. Both pickups are articulate and clear, and allow single notes in complex chords to shine through. Rolling back the volume knob will clean up your tone nicely, especially with a good tube amp. These guitars were a collaboration between Dave Friedman and Grover Jackson. Unfortunately, they are no longer working together, and Grover has moved to the Nashville, TN area. I do believe Friedman guitars will be hitting the market again soon, made by someone other than Grover. With that said, the Grover-era are pretty amazing guitars, and may become harder to find. So, if you are in the market for a 1980's super-Strat style shredder, I'd recommend checking out a Grover-era Friedman while you can.