Anyone have a BE Deluxe modded to make it meaner?

  • Thread starter Thread starter cragginshred
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harddriver said:
I think Dave wants people to be happy with his products so he seems to listen to his customers and at least makes an attempt....you can't fault the guy for that.......:no::thumbsup:
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Definitely not. The guy has a great ear and he puts out constant improvements and new products. He's very active within the community listening and sharing too. Absolutely top notch amp designer and person. The polish isn't for me but I know he can design lean and mean if he wants. I guess he figures that if you want that, just get a real Marshall. I'd love to hear more of his Vintage line Plexi though. Things have sort of fallen silent there for the time being. Probably just wanted it out for NAMM.
 
angelspade said:
Dave's a good guy. He definitely has a certain taste regarding a Marshall-esque high-gain sound with a boutique "polished" character that works very well for some. That said, he would be very well served (in my opinion) to put forth a 2 or 3 channel head that is tighter, more aggressive and a bit "meaner" sounding overall to compete in that space with the Bogner Uber Ultra, Wizard Hell Razor and Headfirst Alta type flavors. "Friedman BE Metal Deluxe"
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I agree. I've got an Alta 100 and it is just such a genuinely wonderful amp. I owned a Butterslax a while back, and it also had some amazing qualities to it. Channel 2 was really the star and makes me want to revisit it...but channel 3 lost something with the increased gain, hard to describe but kind of grainy and didn't take boosts well. If Dave released a metal amp (and by that I mean really marketed as a metal amp) I think it would get a lot of attention and I'd for sure have to try one.
 
Dave is at the top when it comes to customer service. I had a Brad King era CCV and it was a bit noisy and had a few small things wrong and Dave offered to clean it up free of charge. Class act!!!!
 
I had a 50 watt JMP he modded to BE spec. It was awesome until it caught on fire ? Dave had me send it back and he rebuilt it, took care of it no question.

I played a BE Deluxe and then a JEL20 through the same 4x12 at stage plus volume (back to back) and I preferred the JEL20, it sounded more raw and less compressed. Cool amp but I’m fine with the JEL20.

My only gripe at the moment is the almost $400 they want for a black JEL headshell ?
 
* velcro-fly * said:
I had a 50 watt JMP he modded to BE spec. It was awesome until it caught on fire ? Dave had me send it back and he rebuilt it, took care of it no question.

I played a BE Deluxe and then a JEL20 through the same 4x12 at stage plus volume (back to back) and I preferred the JEL20, it sounded more raw and less compressed. Cool amp but I’m fine with the JEL20.

My only gripe at the moment is the almost $400 they want for a black JEL headshell ?
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They were different cabs. and set up differently. The Deluxe is on another level from the the JEL 20, but they both sound great..
 
So Craig, even with the response set in center position you still not getting enough aggression? I have noticed previous Friedman were softer sounding, but this one gets mighty snarly to my ears. I have always gravitated to old school Marshalls JMP, JMP mk 2, and 800s up through the vet input single channel. I can get that snarl of a real Marshall, but so much more as well. I was never a Friedman guy, but this amp is killer.. My vintage amps are mostly collecting dust since I got this beast.
 
Tone Monster said:
Dave is at the top when it comes to customer service. I had a Brad King era CCV and it was a bit noisy and had a few small things wrong and Dave offered to clean it up free of charge. Class act!!!!
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How much you want for it
 
I saw a lot of sentiment on the internet about BE100s being polite and compressed before I bought a BE100DLX. I have it going through a 2x12 with v30s and you can definitely make it raw and aggressive, as well at polite and compressed. In between all the switches and the channel and MV control you can get any sound you want to a certain extent. If you can't you either haven't spent long enough with the amp or you don't know how to dial an amp. I had a JJ Junior before the BE and that was definitely compressed and polite, but its a different story with the BE.
 
RedPlated said:
Friedmans have a 220k or 470k resistor between treble wiper and master volume. Remove it and it’ll be more aggressive. Volume will increase slightly as well.

Can also remove the snubber cap on 100k cathode for v2b CF.

Try a small bright cap on gain pot maybe. Like 220pf.
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How does changing the snubber cap value on CF impact the tone vs removing it? Like going from 470pf/500pf to 330pf?

Also, I have seen a BE Deluxe for sale in the past where the owner had the BE converted to the Jake E Lee Specs but was able to keep HBE voicing if I recall correctly
 
yngHL said:
I saw a lot of sentiment on the internet about BE100s being polite and compressed before I bought a BE100DLX. I have it going through a 2x12 with v30s and you can definitely make it raw and aggressive, as well at polite and compressed. In between all the switches and the channel and MV control you can get any sound you want to a certain extent. If you can't you either haven't spent long enough with the amp or you don't know how to dial an amp. I had a JJ Junior before the BE and that was definitely compressed and polite, but its a different story with the BE.
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Thanks for clearing this up, it probably is just all of us not knowing how to dial in an amp....Forget this mod discussion. Problem solved. Greatly appreciated.
 
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yngHL said:
I saw a lot of sentiment on the internet about BE100s being polite and compressed before I bought a BE100DLX. I have it going through a 2x12 with v30s and you can definitely make it raw and aggressive, as well at polite and compressed. In between all the switches and the channel and MV control you can get any sound you want to a certain extent. If you can't you either haven't spent long enough with the amp or you don't know how to dial an amp. I had a JJ Junior before the BE and that was definitely compressed and polite, but its a different story with the BE.
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The BE DLX’s can get more raw and aggressive than other Friedman models, but the real key is to compare it to amps known for being more raw and aggressive like a good vintage Marshall or Wizard and that’s where I’ve found them comparatively lacking/tame no matter how they’re dialed in (just an inherent quality to those amps). Those comparisons are crucial for the information we want on aggression
 
yngHL said:
I saw a lot of sentiment on the internet about BE100s being polite and compressed before I bought a BE100DLX. I have it going through a 2x12 with v30s and you can definitely make it raw and aggressive, as well at polite and compressed. In between all the switches and the channel and MV control you can get any sound you want to a certain extent. If you can't you either haven't spent long enough with the amp or you don't know how to dial an amp. I had a JJ Junior before the BE and that was definitely compressed and polite, but its a different story with the BE.
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As someone who builds amps specifically to be pissed off and angry, it's my opinion that Friedman amps are largely on the tame/polite side. That doesn't mean they sound bad. They sound good. But they aren't what many consider to be "aggressive". You can look at a schematic of his amps and clearly see what's been intentionally done to smooth 'em out.
 
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angelspade said:
Thanks for clearing this up, it probably is just all of us not knowing how to dial in an amp....Forget this mod discussion. Problem solved. Greatly appreciated.
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You seem to have taken that comment personally. The fact that you came back 4 hours later to edit it makes me think i've won the internet for the day.

I was replying to OPs comment saying i own this amp, and despite what i heard on the internet my experience with it is different. The fact that i can get my amp to sound open and raw makes me think OP either hasn't spent enough time with it or doesn't know how to dial it. Maybe to add he's bought the wrong amp or our ears are completely different.

Just because you disagree with someone you don't need to take it personally or invest emotionally into it.
 
yngHL said:
You seem to have taken that comment personally. The fact that you came back 4 hours later to edit it makes me think i've won the internet for the day.

I was replying to OPs comment saying i own this amp, and despite what i heard on the internet my experience with it is different. The fact that i can get my amp to sound open and raw makes me think OP either hasn't spent enough time with it or doesn't know how to dial it. Maybe to add he's bought the wrong amp or our ears are completely different.

Just because you disagree with someone you don't need to take it personally or invest emotionally into it.
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Haaa...absolutely. I would agree, definitely a win for the day. You got me nailed, as I corrected a granatical error. I love this place.
 
yngHL said:
You seem to have taken that comment personally. The fact that you came back 4 hours later to edit it makes me think i've won the internet for the day.

I was replying to OPs comment saying i own this amp, and despite what i heard on the internet my experience with it is different. The fact that i can get my amp to sound open and raw makes me think OP either hasn't spent enough time with it or doesn't know how to dial it. Maybe to add he's bought the wrong amp or our ears are completely different.

Just because you disagree with someone you don't need to take it personally or invest emotionally into it.
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The op has owned vintage Marshall’s and Wizard’s both of which are just inherently a lot more raw and open than what the BE DLX is capable of regardless of settings. I’d guess the OP probably likes some things about the DLX, but would prefer rawness and openness more to the level of those amps, not just raw vs other Friedman’s. It very well could be the wrong amp for him in either case
 
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