Friedman Little Sister or Mini Dirty Shirley

Flotsam

Has anyone here owned either of these amps or played them at any length? If so, would you mind sharing your thoughts and opinions on it/them?

Nerine

If you can get either, the Little Sister would be the obvious choice of the two as it is basically the same amp with a bright switch allowing a bit more tonal variety. 

strtdv

I've got a Dirty Shirley Mini.

It's a great sounding amp, Marshall tones but smoother/darker, and as such pairs very well with single coils/firebird pickups etc. 

Effects loop works well, gain switch makes a big difference. 

I'm very happy with it, though I wish the gain structure switch was footswitch-able.

The little sister is basically the same amp but with a bright switch.

RickLucas

A friend of mine has both the mini Dirty Shirley and the mini Pink Taco. Both are small 1x10 combos and I have found them to be great for small gigs with their small footprint, light weight and great sound. The Pink Taco has more mids, is perhaps a little nasal in comparison, but it cuts through well. I preferred the Dirty Shirley. There are a few videos and comparisons on YouTube etc. This one I think captures it best, although the language is German. But you get the drift:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdpZlJWlBWg  

Flotsam

Thanks, everyone. That's super helpful. If you know anyone who might be selling a DSM or LS head, please let me know!

Hydra

I've had a MDS, PT20 and Runt 20.

Flotsam

Hydra said:

I've had a MDS, PT20 and Runt 20.

And what did you think of them?

Hydra

Didn't like the PT20 at all, just a bad kind of grit whatever I did, like sandpaper, couldn't return it fast enough.   MDS was nice, if lacking that Marshall kerrang, no real clean headroom either, but it was a solid performer.  Into a greenback.   A shed load of bass in it too.  Runt 20 quite different, good at Van Halen gain levels but anything less than 75% on the gain sounded pretty brittle.  The clean was quite nice though. 

MDS was mu favourite for versatility. Took pedals well. Good FX loop.   I still ran it with a weber attenuator though for house levels as the master does need to be up a bit.  It does house levels without but more is more.

Flotsam

Thanks. That’s super helpful. I had a JJ Jr (obviously similar to the Runt 20) and I’d describe it in similar terms. It did 90s rock/metal well but sounded bland with the gain down. And the clean channel was very good. I returned it because it felt like far too much money for what it was at the time.

I have a feeling that the MDS (or DSM) will be a little dark for some applications and that the bright switch on the LS would be a simple but welcome addition. But it cannot be a difficult mod, surely?