At the age of 18, Dave Friedman moved from his native
Detroit,
Michigan, to
Los Angeles, where he worked at a store renting high-end instruments to studio musicians. While there, a customer brought in a
Soldano SLO-100 modified by Bruce Egnater of
Egnater Amplification; an impressed Friedman contacted Egnater about creating a new preamp, which became popular with local studio musicians, and Egnater became Friedman's mentor. One custom build, for
Billy Howerdel of
A Perfect Circle, became the prototype for a line of amps released as Naked Amplifiers. The line proved popular, leading Friedman to start his own company in 2008. Initially named Marsha Amps, he changed it to Friedman Amplification after receiving a cease-and-desist from Marshall. The company quickly found success, as Friedman's time building rigs in Los Angeles helped him establish connections with prominent guitarists like
Jerry Cantrell of
Alice in Chains, who began using his gear. In 2014, Friedman signed a deal with Boutique Amps Distribution to build and distribute Friedman's products, with Dave Friedman himself continuing to sign off on all completed amplifiers. == Products ==