Great review of the new BE 50

[Rdodson]

I like Dave, and have for a long time. I'd personally give him a shout before doing this. And as others have said, I always open up the back and begin rolling 12ax7s. I completely understand the frustration.

 

[SavageRiffer]

Is this your amp OP? If so that sucks but it happens and it will be resolved professionally by Dave and his dealer. Definitelty an inconvenience but you won't lose a dime of your money.
If it's not your amp what is your place to post this? It makes you look bad so I hope it's your amp. It doesn't point negatively to Freidman or his amps at all. Shit happens. We are talking about tubes and electronics. It obviously checked out fine in QC since it worked for 3 days.

Seems like some butthurt here. Who cares if it's not his amp? I agree, shit happens, but it seems shit's been happening with the Friedmans of late.

No thanks. I had some suspect things going on with the Runt 50 I bought before I returned it, and there's been a good handful of issues both here and TGP.

Great service/support or not, $3500 is alot of money. This could be a tube, however. That, you can't avoid. Not sure if they're still using JJ or Chinese, or still mix of both in the preamp, but both suck in the reliability department. Relabeled ARS.

At any rate, it seems the majority of issues have been non-tube related. That's the scary part.

These are the kinds of irresponsible comments which start rumors. On a forum where Friedman has its own sub-forum, of course you're going to see issues brought centrally for discussion here. What kind of logic deducts that it somehow reflects on the company's product quality and service? The fact that Friedman has a presence on this forum and actively listens to customers speaks volumes.

In the two instances where I've sought help from Dave Friedman, he has been generous in helping and precise in his assessments. Because of these experiences with Friedman amps, I feel very secure investing thousands in an amp. I don't assume that because out of thousands of amps sold worldwide that somehow the ones that end up here for discussion reflects on how well or poorly the products perform.

Someone who has been around the forum long enough like yourself should know that people seek information from Internet searches, and whomever stumbles upon this main source of discussion for whatever featured manufacturer may leave with a false impression. I was one of the people who recently sought support on my Friedman amp, and some good support I found indeed, but Dave Friedman was awesome in taking care of my amp.

 

[psychodave]

Demo sound great. I like the loud pop switching between channels. The clean channel on this demo sounds best IMO

 

[RACKSYSTEMS]

Thanks for your great coment Dave always helpful.. Ill bet 100% that its a bad jj first input tube. V1 its a JJ every so often they just die.. has nothing to do with shipping or anything. The fact that both channels do it tell me its V1. Which is why the pop.. who is it and where do we send you some?

 

[copilot]

Shit happens. In the 90's I had a brand new SLO 100 factory shipped w/ the Treble control pot working backwards.

 

[Beandust]

Dave is the best period. Thats support! Now i guess it would be much easier to swap a tube and enjoy or call and get help. Making a video is effort waisted and no resolve is reached. It sucks when shit happens but if the builder answers the call not much more can be said.

 

[psychodave]

Thanks for your great coment Dave always helpful.. Ill bet 100% that its a bad jj first input tube. V1 its a JJ every so often they just die.. has nothing to do with shipping or anything. The fact that both channels do it tell me its V1. Which is why the pop.. who is it and where do we send you some?

Although I may take a shot across your bow every one in a while, I do respect that you chime in and help often.

 

[SavageRiffer]

Ideal solution:

1. sell it to SavageRifferUberSnowflake
2. profit

Don't act like you know anything about me you dumb piece of shit. I've done lots of trading on this forum and contributed a lot of things to help other people out, so whoever says shit about me doesn't know what the fuck they're talking about. If those are the kinds of imbeciles you choose to follow, then you're fucking worthless as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Luca79]

So he took the time to make a vid, but not even tried to swap some tubes? Odd...

 

[Jon BCN]

Dave is the best period. Thats support! Now i guess it would be much easier to swap a tube and enjoy or call and get help. Making a video is effort waisted and no resolve is reached. It sucks when shit happens but if the builder answers the call not much more can be said.

Yep.

Dave is a class act.

 

[motorboy1]

I know, right? I would of at least contacted Dave for assistance. He would of taken care of it.

 

[Zado]

Is this your amp OP? If so that sucks but it happens and it will be resolved professionally by Dave and his dealer. Definitelty an inconvenience but you won't lose a dime of your money.
If it's not your amp what is your place to post this? It makes you look bad so I hope it's your amp. It doesn't point negatively to Freidman or his amps at all. Shit happens. We are talking about tubes and electronics. It obviously checked out fine in QC since it worked for 3 days.

Seems like some butthurt here. Who cares if it's not his amp? I agree, shit happens, but it seems shit's been happening with the Friedmans of late.

No thanks. I had some suspect things going on with the Runt 50 I bought before I returned it, and there's been a good handful of issues both here and TGP.

Great service/support or not, $3500 is alot of money. This could be a tube, however. That, you can't avoid. Not sure if they're still using JJ or Chinese, or still mix of both in the preamp, but both suck in the reliability department. Relabeled ARS.

At any rate, it seems the majority of issues have been non-tube related. That's the scary part.

Never heard of issues with Friedman's products before, that's a surprise.

 

[napalmdeath]

I disagree with it being a buyers responsability tondo anything but plug a cord and a speaker cable in turn it on and play it. All the profound statements about *you should be prepaired to swap tubes isnt part of the sale..unless I am missing something, does it say under the agreement or manual* swap tubes in arrival? Not. If it was a made in China mass production amp maybe so. It's a boutique piece of expensive gear so i think its horse shit. His money works* that he purchased it with. I am sure it will be resolved by DF no question. If the tubes are the issue how does it leave the factory? It's the shippers fault? Shipping tube amps is a challange so what the hell do you do ask them to pull the tubes and bubble wrap them individually? Regardless it sucks for a new product line debut that is on backorder.

Tubes go bad, it's a fact of life. What worked at the factory, could easily go south soon after. A $3500 Friedman is just as susceptible to a tube going bad as a $300 Jet City, so I'm with the posters who have a steady supply of preamp tubes on hand, for that reason. It's happened to me before, multiple times, and not once did I blame the manufacturer for a bad tube, that's just unreasonable.

However, if I find that a tube isn't the issue, it ends there and it goes back for replacement, or refund. I don't tend to screw around with warranty repairs, shipping all over hell's half acre, letting it sit with a local tech for weeks on end, fuck that. That said, Sweetwater, (if stock permits), nips that in the bud and normally ships a new unit and a return label.They're tops in the industry when it comes to that, no doubt. They've been good to me, when it comes to issues beyond a bad tube. I bought a new Helios with a transformer issue, (a demo), and they shipped me a brand new one at the demo price, and a return label. But, with backorders, you're kinda in a tough spot.

 

[glip22]

Is this your amp OP? If so that sucks but it happens and it will be resolved professionally by Dave and his dealer. Definitelty an inconvenience but you won't lose a dime of your money.
If it's not your amp what is your place to post this? It makes you look bad so I hope it's your amp. It doesn't point negatively to Freidman or his amps at all. Shit happens. We are talking about tubes and electronics. It obviously checked out fine in QC since it worked for 3 days.

Seems like some butthurt here. Who cares if it's not his amp? I agree, shit happens, but it seems shit's been happening with the Friedmans of late.

No thanks. I had some suspect things going on with the Runt 50 I bought before I returned it, and there's been a good handful of issues both here and TGP.

Great service/support or not, $3500 is alot of money. This could be a tube, however. That, you can't avoid. Not sure if they're still using JJ or Chinese, or still mix of both in the preamp, but both suck in the reliability department. Relabeled ARS.

At any rate, it seems the majority of issues have been non-tube related. That's the scary part.

No butt hurt here. I could give a shit. I wasn't aware there were other issues. I was coming in the thread to check out the great review. What I got was what seemed to me someone who had no business posting this. Who cares that the guys amp stopped working. One amp doesn't reflect on the brand. Now that you said there are many issues ;that's a different story

 

[supersonic]

Not cool to post this, shame on you!

 

[Beandust]

I disagree with it being a buyers responsability tondo anything but plug a cord and a speaker cable in turn it on and play it. All the profound statements about *you should be prepaired to swap tubes isnt part of the sale..unless I am missing something, does it say under the agreement or manual* swap tubes in arrival? Not. If it was a made in China mass production amp maybe so. It's a boutique piece of expensive gear so i think its horse shit. His money works* that he purchased it with. I am sure it will be resolved by DF no question. If the tubes are the issue how does it leave the factory? It's the shippers fault? Shipping tube amps is a challange so what the hell do you do ask them to pull the tubes and bubble wrap them individually? Regardless it sucks for a new product line debut that is on backorder.

Tubes go bad, it's a fact of life. What worked at the factory, could easily go south soon after. A $3500 Friedman is just as susceptible to a tube going bad as a $300 Jet City, so I'm with the posters who have a steady supply of preamp tubes on hand, for that reason. It's happened to me before, multiple times, and not once did I blame the manufacturer for a bad tube, that's just unreasonable.

However, if I find that a tube isn't the issue, it ends there and it goes back for replacement, or refund. I don't tend to screw around with warranty repairs, shipping all over hell's half acre, letting it sit with a local tech for weeks on end, fuck that. That said, Sweetwater, (if stock permits), nips that in the bud and normally ships a new unit and a return label.They're tops in the industry when it comes to that, no doubt. They've been good to me, when it comes to issues beyond a bad tube. I bought a new Helios with a transformer issue, (a demo), and they shipped me a brand new one at the demo price, and a return label. But, with backorders, you're kinda in a tough spot.

It is supposed to work when you pull It out of the brand new box regardless of what tubes or Mary Freaking Poppins does or has done. I would not disagree with any possibilities happening with shipping. Shipping tubes is risky especially in an amp with weight. Have not seen a disclaimer on any I have bought. Sweetwater is a safe bet period.as is DF.

 

[gibson5413]

I tried a brand new VHT Pitbull out of the box about 10 years ago at one of my local guitar shops with a similar issue. The store owner called up Steve Fryette on the spot and determined it was a bad preamp tube (again, out of the box). Replaced it and I was off to the races putting the amp through its paces.

I guess what I am saying is that this kind of thing can easily happen and doesn't make it bad build quality. Dave Friedman, Steve Fryette, our very own Steve Henning and many other amp builders stand by their products and deserve a chance to fix it before we jump off the deep end.

 

[Beandust]

I tried a brand new VHT Pitbull out of the box about 10 years ago at one of my local guitar shops with a similar issue. The store owner called up Steve Fryette on the spot and determined it was a bad preamp tube (again, out of the box). Replaced it and I was off to the races putting the amp through its paces.

I guess what I am saying is that this kind of thing can easily happen and doesn't make it bad build quality. Dave Friedman, Steve Fryette, our very own Steve Henning and many other amp builders stand by their products and deserve a chance to fix it before we jump off the deep end.

+1

 

[LP Freak]

Thanks for your great coment Dave always helpful.. Ill bet 100% that its a bad jj first input tube. V1 its a JJ every so often they just die.. has nothing to do with shipping or anything. The fact that both channels do it tell me its V1. Which is why the pop.. who is it and where do we send you some?

Although I may take a shot across your bow every one in a while, I do respect that you chime in and help often.

Dave’s a great guy, so why do you feel it’s necessary to take shots period?

 

[napalmdeath]

I disagree with it being a buyers responsability tondo anything but plug a cord and a speaker cable in turn it on and play it. All the profound statements about *you should be prepaired to swap tubes isnt part of the sale..unless I am missing something, does it say under the agreement or manual* swap tubes in arrival? Not. If it was a made in China mass production amp maybe so. It's a boutique piece of expensive gear so i think its horse shit. His money works* that he purchased it with. I am sure it will be resolved by DF no question. If the tubes are the issue how does it leave the factory? It's the shippers fault? Shipping tube amps is a challange so what the hell do you do ask them to pull the tubes and bubble wrap them individually? Regardless it sucks for a new product line debut that is on backorder.

Tubes go bad, it's a fact of life. What worked at the factory, could easily go south soon after. A $3500 Friedman is just as susceptible to a tube going bad as a $300 Jet City, so I'm with the posters who have a steady supply of preamp tubes on hand, for that reason. It's happened to me before, multiple times, and not once did I blame the manufacturer for a bad tube, that's just unreasonable.

However, if I find that a tube isn't the issue, it ends there and it goes back for replacement, or refund. I don't tend to screw around with warranty repairs, shipping all over hell's half acre, letting it sit with a local tech for weeks on end, fuck that. That said, Sweetwater, (if stock permits), nips that in the bud and normally ships a new unit and a return label.They're tops in the industry when it comes to that, no doubt. They've been good to me, when it comes to issues beyond a bad tube. I bought a new Helios with a transformer issue, (a demo), and they shipped me a brand new one at the demo price, and a return label. But, with backorders, you're kinda in a tough spot.

It is supposed to work when you pull It out of the brand new box regardless of what tubes or Mary Freaking Poppins does or has done. I would not disagree with any possibilities happening with shipping. Shipping tubes is risky especially in an amp with weight. Have not seen a disclaimer on any I have bought. Sweetwater is a safe bet period.as is DF.

Whatever, dude. Tubes go without warning, (if this is the case). It's a fact of life, that any SANE tube amp owner/buyer/seller/builder/whatever, comes to grips with pretty early in life. $3500 doesn't buy piece of mind that a JJ preamp tube won't take a shit in a week. I've had that happen to brand new tubes bought from reputable dealers that test, grade, and screen for defects, as well.

I don't believe the gentleman in the YouTube video was the sharpest knife in the drawer. Again, any seasoned tube amp buyer/owner should have a stash of tubes. I know I probably have 50-60 preamp tubes of all makes/brands, 5751, AX7, AT7, NOS, current production, etc., as well as 3 or 4 sets of 6L6's, KT77's a pair of JJ 6CA7's, some EL84's and EL34's.