Give me a basic rundown of BE 50/BE 100 deluxe differences

[romanianreaper]

First of all, I hate all of you on the forum. I say this because I was tube amp free for years and just played thru my Fractal. Then the JJ Jr. came out, all of this tube amp talk, etc. and here I am "looking" into bigger Friedman amps. I don't need a big amp......dammit.

Anyway just out of curiosity, trying to get the basic gist of the two amps. Obviously one has more wattage and know people dig that. Other than that, what are the main differences between these two? I'm primarily wondering if anyone has played both and if one stood out more than another. Appreciate the help! Just wondering.....

 

[jabps]

Great question.

And I'd like to follow up on romanianreaper's question and ask, which Freidman has the most gain / saturation?

 

[RoccoPezzin]

The main difference is the clean channel, the 50 has got the clean from the Buxom Betty amp while the 100 has got the Plexi circuit from the Smallbox, so it can get way dirtier than the 50. You have different ways to control the negative feedback on the two amps, a knob in the 50 and a three way position switch on the 100. The 50 doesn't have the c45 switch iirc... I've played both and I prefer the 100, but the 50 is a badass amp no doubt!

 

[RoccoPezzin]

Great question.

And I'd like to follow up on romanianreaper's question and ask, which Freidman has the most gain / saturation?

Definitely the Butterslax

 

[fusedbrain]

Great question.

And I'd like to follow up on romanianreaper's question and ask, which Freidman has the most gain / saturation?

Definitely the Butterslax

BE100 / BE100 deluxe is same amount of gain as Slax if using HBE mode with SAT on. ( and JJ in BE mode )
BE100 Deluxe can get Slax ( and JJ ) voicing with right settings of various controls.
Regular BE100 stock depth / NFB is not correct to do Slax or JJ voicing, but is an easy mod.
Older regular BE100 is current best value to capture all Friedman high gain tones ( except Jake amp ) if you know where to tweak.
Only limitation is difficult / impossible to do Smallbox or Slax clean channel mod to regular BE100 due to placement of clean channel tone stack.
SS clean is best option for clean channel mod to regular BE100.
BE50 Deluxe is different from all above mentioned amps and should be played first to ensure it meets expectations. It is very good amp, but not exactly like BE / Slax / JJ.

 

[romanianreaper]

The main difference is the clean channel, the 50 has got the clean from the Buxom Betty amp while the 100 has got the Plexi circuit from the Smallbox, so it can get way dirtier than the 50. You have different ways to control the negative feedback on the two amps, a knob in the 50 and a three way position switch on the 100. The 50 doesn't have the c45 switch iirc... I've played both and I prefer the 100, but the 50 is a badass amp no doubt!

Thanks man! Yeah, I guess it doesn't have the "System Volume" either if I understand correctly.

 

[romanianreaper]

Great question.

And I'd like to follow up on romanianreaper's question and ask, which Freidman has the most gain / saturation?

Definitely the Butterslax

BE100 / BE100 deluxe is same amount of gain as Slax if using HBE mode with SAT on. ( and JJ in BE mode )
BE100 Deluxe can get Slax ( and JJ ) voicing with right settings of various controls.
Regular BE100 stock depth / NFB is not correct to do Slax or JJ voicing, but is an easy mod.
Older regular BE100 is current best value to capture all Friedman high gain tones ( except Jake amp ) if you know where to tweak.
Only limitation is difficult / impossible to do Smallbox or Slax clean channel mod to regular BE100 due to placement of clean channel tone stack.
SS clean is best option for clean channel mod to regular BE100.
BE50 Deluxe is different from all above mentioned amps and should be played first to ensure it meets expectations. It is very good amp, but not exactly like BE / Slax / JJ.

Appreciate the info man! Yeah, I figured they were a bit different even beyond the wattage. I watched a video earlier and BE100 seemed to have a bit of a different feel. I guess they can only fit so much into the BE50 Deluxe.

 

[LP Freak]

I have the BE50 and it’s definitely no slouch.

 

[jabps]

Great question.

And I'd like to follow up on romanianreaper's question and ask, which Freidman has the most gain / saturation?

Definitely the Butterslax

BE100 / BE100 deluxe is same amount of gain as Slax if using HBE mode with SAT on. ( and JJ in BE mode )
BE100 Deluxe can get Slax ( and JJ ) voicing with right settings of various controls.
Regular BE100 stock depth / NFB is not correct to do Slax or JJ voicing, but is an easy mod.
Older regular BE100 is current best value to capture all Friedman high gain tones ( except Jake amp ) if you know where to tweak.
Only limitation is difficult / impossible to do Smallbox or Slax clean channel mod to regular BE100 due to placement of clean channel tone stack.
SS clean is best option for clean channel mod to regular BE100.
BE50 Deluxe is different from all above mentioned amps and should be played first to ensure it meets expectations. It is very good amp, but not exactly like BE / Slax / JJ.

Excellent. Thanks.

 

[romanianreaper]

I have the BE50 and it’s definitely no slouch.

Yeah, that was the first one of the deluxe series and I remember watching a vid and was blown away.

 

[Robotechnology]

BE50 Deluxe is different from all above mentioned amps and should be played first to ensure it meets expectations. It is very good amp, but not exactly like BE / Slax / JJ.

When you say different from the BE, can you expand upon what you mean?

Thanks!

 

[romanianreaper]

BE50 Deluxe is different from all above mentioned amps and should be played first to ensure it meets expectations. It is very good amp, but not exactly like BE / Slax / JJ.

When you say different from the BE, can you expand upon what you mean?

Thanks!

Yes, I'd like to know this as well actually. I have the JJ Jr. so I know that kind of vibe and have played the BE. The BE comparison is what I'd be interested in mostly because they should be similar.

 

[fusedbrain]

All the Friedman 100watt amps ( BE, JJ Slax, and SS ) are like brothers with very similar circuit DNA. Even the JJ jr is like a little brother with the EL84 power section, but same preamp DNA.
The 50 Deluxe has numerous areas in the circuit that have different DNA from the standard Friedman formula. It is a very good sounding amp but it's just a different vibe from all those others. Maybe like a cousin vs a brother?
A little tighter and less compressed maybe. Variable NFB ( response ) allows an aggressive voicing to be dialed in. Combined with the 50watt power section it's just ...umm...different. Separate gains and masters for BE / HBE are very cool.
Some guys think it's the best Friedman amp going. I liked it a lot when I played one but it wasn't enough to make me sell my BE100.

 

[panhead]

I think its just a couple of extra tubes, sorry couldn't help myself.

 

[awakespace]

Thanks man! Yeah, I guess it doesn't have the "System Volume" either if I understand correctly.

I know this thread is super old but just wanted to say that Dave said that the "Return Level" knob for the effects loops on the BE-50D is essentially the same as the "System Volume" on the BE-100D. So the BE50 does have a master volume for the whole amp so that you can level your three channels and then use one knob to bring the whole thing up or down - it's just on the back and the effects loop has to be engaged for it to work (on the BE100 the effects loop is always on and can't be bypassed)