With Ozzy, his post-Ozzy band, Badlands and most recently, with his own group, Red Dragon Cartel, Lee’s playing embraced the athleticism of the ‘80s while remaining firmly rooted in the hard rock fundamentals of the ‘70s. Jake’s tonal choices provide the evolutionary glue between the sonics of those two great eras.

Following the massively successful release of the limited edition JEL-100 and JEL-20 signature heads, Jake E Lee and Dave Friedman have teamed-up, once again, using their legendary ears and talents to create the new IR-J, a signature all-tube direct solution that offers Lee’s ultimate tones in a compact pedal board friendly format.

In Lee’s own words, “Dave has an innate understanding of where I’m coming from as a player and we’re alike in the way we hear tones. Dave doesn’t hear things as a technician, he hears things like a musician, and that made him really easy to work with. I grew up in the ‘70s and those muscular, articulate rock tones were the tones I always sought, but I made a name for myself in the ‘80s when you needed a little more aggression and a little more scream. I’ve always tried to retain a little of that ‘70s heart and I still do, and that’s what this preamp does — though it’s got plenty more on tap if you need it!”

2 INDEPENDENT CHANNELS WITH BOOST

The IR-J features two fully independent foot-switchable channels with Volume, Gain, 3-Band EQ, Boost Volume and switches for Bright and IR select. Channel 2 includes a two-position gain structure switch. Like the famed Friedman flagship amps, Channel 1 takes your tone from bluesy, British-voiced cleans to a muscular Plexi-style roar. Engage Channel 2 for the Friedman signature higher-gain JEL voice and all the percussive punch, note clarity and singing sustain that comes with it. Use the lower gain switch setting to access the classic 800 style preamp circuit everyone knows and loves.

Ultra Low Latency

The IR-J combines high-voltage tube preamp tone with a powerful digital engine for impulse responses and power amp simulation. The oversized 500 Mhz ARM DSP processor is utilized solely for these two functions resulting in performance that is vastly better than competing products. How good? 50ms Impulse Response length in under 1ms of latency! This is compared to most products today which are only capable of achieving 20ms IR length at 1ms latency. At 20ms length the resolution is only 48hz, meaning the impulse response will mostly sound the same under 150hz – these are the critical frequencies where “punch” lives.

Dual Independent TS Style Boosts

Both channels feature their own independent and highly tweakable TS style Boost circuits (a first in the Friedman IR line). Each Boost has a dedicated Tone and Volume for maximum control. This famous Green machine is well known in the world of ‘800 style amps and will complement the tone nicely. This essentially gives you four channels, accessible with the tap of your foot.