BE 50 Deluxe vs Small Box vs Runt 50

simon_d

simon_d

Member
Never played a friedman, but want one. But I'm a bit confused by these three amps in the product lineup, why they exist as separate products and what differentiates them. Can someone explain the reason for them and why you might want one rather than the others?

I think I have a handle on the Small Box, it being more like a vintage Plexi on Ch1 and modern BE on Ch2. While the BE Deluxe is 3 channel Clean/BE/HBE, (no plexi)

So is a Runt 50 a stripped down BE at lower price point or does it do something the BE and Small Box don't?
 
Runt is two channel, clean a d be. Small box is plexj and be. 50 is clean, be, hbe. Just different variations of awesome and price. Small box has more features than runt and is hardwired, be-50 has more features than smallbox.
 
Depends on what you want, and don't want.. I have experience with all 3.

BE, all the bells and whistles, (too many for my tastes, which is why its not ideal for me).

Small box is as described. Plexi channel was a love/hate for me, but the gain channel was a little more raw, and slightly more aggressive to me. Killer channel, but closer to the Runt to my ears.

The Runt is pretty straight forward.. I personally like stripped down. I rarely use cleans, but they're certainly good on the Runt. The gain channel is JCM800 with a touch more gain. It's not a high gain beast, BUT, it loves a good boost and gets you there, no sweat. I still have a Runt 50, and most have seen my gear silliness. I've gone back to the Runt 50 3 times. If you want alot more gain, a hot mod is a great option, but I've found pedals retain it's rawness, dynamics, and staple tone better than the hot mod. I find the Runt to be the most raw and organic sounding of the bunch, an EQ section that is very effective, (vs. an 800), and a stupid good value on the used market.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. The Runt 50 seems to fit the bill then and yeah it looks very good value 2nd hand. The BE deluxe is still pretty expensive used.

I was using a JVM recently into a 2x12 in a very small rehearsal room with loud drummer, and the volume was about 2/3 of the way up in order to cut through. That was surprising but its a very compressed sounding amp. Hopefully a 50w friedman into a 4x12 will have more punch and dynamics to cut, with less volume. I don't use a ton of gain (OD2 on the JVM with the gain at about 9 oclock).
 
simon_d said:
Thanks for the replies guys. The Runt 50 seems to fit the bill then and yeah it looks very good value 2nd hand. The BE deluxe is still pretty expensive used.

I was using a JVM recently into a 2x12 in a very small rehearsal room with loud drummer, and the volume was about 2/3 of the way up in order to cut through. That was surprising but its a very compressed sounding amp. Hopefully a 50w friedman into a 4x12 will have more punch and dynamics to cut, with less volume. I don't use a ton of gain (OD2 on the JVM with the gain at about 9 oclock).
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The only thing I liked, (loved, actually), on the JVM was OD2 Orange on a JVM205H. I had a few of those too. But, wasn't a fan of the noise, or the FX loop. You had to dime the loop level for most effects and I found that sucked low end from the amp.
 
napalmdeath said:
The only thing I liked, (loved, actually), on the JVM was OD2 Orange on a JVM205H. I had a few of those too. But, wasn't a fan of the noise, or the FX loop. You had to dime the loop level for most effects and I found that sucked low end from the amp.
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OD2 Orange is what I used too, its definitely the stand out tone on the amp. I'd been using an AX8 for a while and it was just a joy to play a real amp up loud again. Can't wait to try a Friedman.
 
Throw a od in front of the Runt 50 or install a Hot Mod V2 or Mr Scary and it will have tons of gain! I loved my BE 100 for the short time i had it, but i also like the simplicity of the runt 50 and the size.
 
I own several Friedman’s. The only one I’ve sold was the runt. I could never bond with it.

The BE50 is in some of my SoundCloud links in my signature. I set the 50 dip switches for the lower gain settings. It’s ridiculously easy to get a good sound on any of the channels.
 
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