Just Picked up a Friedman BE-100 Deluxe - VIDEO

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zzwish

zzwish

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Hey folks. Just snagged a BE-100 Deluxe and made a quick video. There's a ton of riffing at the end of the if you're trying to bypass the chit chat. Hope you dig it!

 
killer tones, you like this more than that VH2? that comparison video vs the BE100, the VH2 definitely sounded better to my ears.
 
UberschallEL34":3erosujr said:
killer tones, you like this more than that VH2? that comparison video vs the BE100, the VH2 definitely sounded better to my ears.
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I like the BE100 Deluxe more than the VH2, but that's just personal preference, not saying it's a better amp. The VH2 is definitely bigger & meaner sounding, but I've been playing Friedman Amps for a few years now and the feel is pretty addicting. It's funny because the Friedman's natural compression is what made me want to try a Diezel in the first place. I was looking for something less compressed & more raw (JCM800, PT100, Splawn) but still had a fair amount of gain on tap. But Every time I'd plug the Friedman back in, it felt more like what I was used to. They both sound crazy good though, so it's hard to go wrong.
 
halomojo":2e0da6ht said:
UberschallEL34":2e0da6ht said:
killer tones, you like this more than that VH2? that comparison video vs the BE100, the VH2 definitely sounded better to my ears.
Click to expand...
I like the BE100 Deluxe more than the VH2, but that's just personal preference, not saying it's a better amp. The VH2 is definitely bigger & meaner sounding, but I've been playing Friedman Amps for a few years now and the feel is pretty addicting. It's funny because the Friedman's natural compression is what made me want to try a Diezel in the first place. I was looking for something less compressed & more raw but still had a fair amount of gain on tap. But Every time I'd plug the Friedman back in, it felt more like what I was used to.
Click to expand...

I understand that take, compressed amps are fun to play and have a different feel than the Diezel tone. Great playing, you got some nice tones out of it.
 
From Black Shuck to Opeth....think I just met my new best friend! Sounds sick
 
crwnedblasphemy":2grqk3l1 said:
From Black Shuck to Opeth....think I just met my new best friend! Sounds sick
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Ditto that! Killer tunes, killer tones. Haven't played a 100 Deluxe yet, but sure loved the 50 Deluxe.
 
Sounds great, man. Was that Plex, Be and HBE, and no Sat engaged on the last two?
 
Junk Yard Dog":hlbgoxve said:
Sounds great, man. Was that Plex, Be and HBE, and no Sat engaged on the last two?
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Yeah, I thought about that in retrospect, that I should have pointed out which channel I was at the time. This was all done on the Plexi, BE, and HBE channels with none of the switches on the back of the amp turned on.

At 5:54 in the video I switch from BE > HBE > BE > PLEXI so you can hear the changes in gain. I'll be sure to point out which channels I'm on in the next video though.

I kick on a few pedals throughout the video. They would have been the POG (as an octave down), Walrus Fathom Reverb, Boss DD500, EVH Phase 90, and Boss CH1 Chorus.

Thanks again for watching!
 
More questions... 1) You said you had a lot of other Friedman amps; which ones and how would you compare them to say the JJ, Slax, Previous Gen BE100s, like 2015 and below.

2) What speakers are in the Suhr cab: Creamback H75?

3) What are your thoughts on the Frequency and Response Switches? How much of a difference do they make?

Thanks!
 
Damn dude that sounds primo. Excellent riffing
 
Junk Yard Dog":33fhde0e said:
More questions... 1) You said you had a lot of other Friedman amps; which ones and how would you compare them to say the JJ, Slax, Previous Gen BE100s, like 2015 and below.

2) What speakers are in the Suhr cab: Creamback H75?

3) What are your thoughts on the Frequency and Response Switches? How much of a difference do they make?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
So Friedman Amps I've owned (not all at the same time!)...and this is a bit embarrassing:

Friedman SS100 (owned multiple times) | A little bit darker than the BE100 with a similar gain range. Fuller sounding bottom end and cleans up a little bit nicer than the BE100. Richer sounding clean channel. Could have just stopped here and been happy, but where's the fun in that?

Friedman BE100 (owned multiple times - 2 input and one input) | Classic Friedman modded Marshall sound. I really liked the addition of the Gain Structure to this amp. I never really heard a huge difference from older version to more current versions but I never played them back to back. Also, in contrast to this giant ass list of amps, I'm not all that picky, like if one BE100 has slightly more gain or whatever, I don't really care that much. It'll probably be EQ'd on a recording or live anyways.

Friedman Smallbox | Great sounding amp and I much prefer having the Plexi Channel as opposed to the clean channel of the BE100. I missed the 100W power section of the bigger amps though.

Friedman JJ100 | One of my favorites. Less of a classic voicing when compared to the BE100 and feels a little bit tighter for some heavy riffing. Bigger low end as well. Fits the style of music I play well. Sold it because I'm dumb.

Friedman Phil X | | Really enjoyed this amp as well. Slightly less gainy than the other 100W heads and was the first Friedman amp I played with the Gain Cut / Structure switch. Very JMP-ish with an easier feel and more gain on tap. Missed the extra gain from the other amps I owned prior.

Friedman Modded Marshall JTM45 | The tone of this amp ruled. His modded Marshalls keep that Marshall rawness to them but with a bit more compressed feel. Not as much of an easy feel as actual Friedman amps, but killer none the less. Played a few really loud rowdy shows where I had to max the volume out to keep up so I found the 100w version and sold this. (Wish I still had it though).

Friedman Modded Marshall 1959SLP (Kitchen Sink) | This was my main amp for a long time. Play tons of shows with it. Huge bottom end, classic Marshall cut but with lots of gain and compressed feel. The amp that the BE100 is based on I think (could be wrong about that). Probably should have kept it, but I found a deal on a BE100 and they were pretty close in terms of tone. The "newness" of the BE100 appealed to me and it didn't have the quirks of an older amp in terms of transformer hum, picking up radio signals and other small, relatively insignificant things like that. Like a kick ass old muscle car vs a really sleek modern car. They both have their benefits, but for a long drive, I'd probably pick the modern car. Probably should have kept this one too.

Friedman Modded 1987 Marshall JCM800 2203 | Was also killer, but I liked the 1959SLP better.

Friedman BE100 Deluxe | My current amp. Does what it says on the box. The best of all worlds in my experience (for what I'm looking for at least). All the features I want. Master volume on the front of the amp, Thump Knob for extra low end that stays tight, Plexi clean channel, gain structure switch to get more classic sounds out of the amp, separate gain / volume controls for BE & HBE channels.

They're all great in their own right, just depends what kind of music you're playing. Slightly different flavors of goodness.

The 2x12 cab in the video is the stock Suhr PT-100 Cab with Celestion Creamback G12H-75's (the PT-100 amp is also awesome). Cab sounds great to me though. My main cab I use live is a beat to shit old white Marshall 1960A from the 90s that has 2 Creamback 75s on top and 2 V30s on the bottom. I also have an EVH 4x12 with V30s but I rarely bring two cabs to a show.

I haven't messed with the Frequency and Response Switches all that much. Just set it to what sounded good with my rig. I have the response switch in the middle which is the "Brightest & Punchiest" according to the manual and I think the standard BE100 setup. The frequency switch shifts the frequency effected by the Thump knob. The middle setting sounded right to me. It's not a world of difference when switching between them, just subtle tweaks.

Anyways, that's a novel of an answer. Lots of good amps out there. I really dig these ones though.
 
Great review!!! Ive been playing my be 100 deluxe for months now and not one bad setting or sound in this thing!! Now matter what switch you move or how a knob gets set,its a killer tone every time.
 
halomojo":3anoyu7r said:
Junk Yard Dog":3anoyu7r said:
More questions... 1) You said you had a lot of other Friedman amps; which ones and how would you compare them to say the JJ, Slax, Previous Gen BE100s, like 2015 and below.

2) What speakers are in the Suhr cab: Creamback H75?

3) What are your thoughts on the Frequency and Response Switches? How much of a difference do they make?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
So Friedman Amps I've owned (not all at the same time!)...and this is a bit embarrassing:

Friedman SS100 (owned multiple times) | A little bit darker than the BE100 with a similar gain range. Fuller sounding bottom end and cleans up a little bit nicer than the BE100. Richer sounding clean channel. Could have just stopped here and been happy, but where's the fun in that?

Friedman BE100 (owned multiple times - 2 input and one input) | Classic Friedman modded Marshall sound. I really liked the addition of the Gain Structure to this amp. I never really heard a huge difference from older version to more current versions but I never played them back to back. Also, in contrast to this giant ass list of amps, I'm not all that picky, like if one BE100 has slightly more gain or whatever, I don't really care that much. It'll probably be EQ'd on a recording or live anyways.

Friedman Smallbox | Great sounding amp and I much prefer having the Plexi Channel as opposed to the clean channel of the BE100. I missed the 100W power section of the bigger amps though.

Friedman JJ100 | One of my favorites. Less of a classic voicing when compared to the BE100 and feels a little bit tighter for some heavy riffing. Bigger low end as well. Fits the style of music I play well. Sold it because I'm dumb.

Friedman Phil X | | Really enjoyed this amp as well. Slightly less gainy than the other 100W heads and was the first Friedman amp I played with the Gain Cut / Structure switch. Very JMP-ish with an easier feel and more gain on tap. Missed the extra gain from the other amps I owned prior.

Friedman Modded Marshall JTM45 | The tone of this amp ruled. His modded Marshalls keep that Marshall rawness to them but with a bit more compressed feel. Not as much of an easy feel as actual Friedman amps, but killer none the less. Played a few really loud rowdy shows where I had to max the volume out to keep up so I found the 100w version and sold this. (Wish I still had it though).

Friedman Modded Marshall 1959SLP (Kitchen Sink) | This was my main amp for a long time. Play tons of shows with it. Huge bottom end, classic Marshall cut but with lots of gain and compressed feel. The amp that the BE100 is based on I think (could be wrong about that). Probably should have kept it, but I found a deal on a BE100 and they were pretty close in terms of tone. The "newness" of the BE100 appealed to me and it didn't have the quirks of an older amp in terms of transformer hum, picking up radio signals and other small, relatively insignificant things like that. Like a kick ass old muscle car vs a really sleek modern car. They both have their benefits, but for a long drive, I'd probably pick the modern car. Probably should have kept this one too.

Friedman Modded 1987 Marshall JCM800 2203 | Was also killer, but I liked the 1959SLP better.

Friedman BE100 Deluxe | My current amp. Does what it says on the box. The best of all worlds in my experience (for what I'm looking for at least). All the features I want. Master volume on the front of the amp, Thump Knob for extra low end that stays tight, Plexi clean channel, gain structure switch to get more classic sounds out of the amp, separate gain / volume controls for BE & HBE channels.

They're all great in their own right, just depends what kind of music you're playing. Slightly different flavors of goodness.

The 2x12 cab in the video is the stock Suhr PT-100 Cab with Celestion Creamback G12H-75's (the PT-100 amp is also awesome). Cab sounds great to me though. My main cab I use live is a beat to shit old white Marshall 1960A from the 90s that has 2 Creamback 75s on top and 2 V30s on the bottom. I also have an EVH 4x12 with V30s but I rarely bring two cabs to a show.

I haven't messed with the Frequency and Response Switches all that much. Just set it to what sounded good with my rig. I have the response switch in the middle which is the "Brightest & Punchiest" according to the manual and I think the standard BE100 setup. The frequency switch shifts the frequency effected by the Thump knob. The middle setting sounded right to me. It's not a world of difference when switching between them, just subtle tweaks.

Anyways, that's a novel of an answer. Lots of good amps out there. I really dig these ones though.
Click to expand...

Very helpful, thank you!! I was on the verge of getting the DLX and listing my JJ100 with the JBE volume mod, but I can't take that hit financially right now. I loved Response in the Middle also; just roars. I think I favored Frequency to the left.

I think the DLX can get close enough to the JJ's BE and JBE with Sat on and the Response and Frequency knobx. ...I keep thinking it may be worth it, but will have to see what bonus time says next year.

Congrats. It's a RAWK MACHINE that can do a lot on the spectrum.
 
UberschallEL34":2fyhhqa5 said:
. . . that comparison video vs the BE100, the VH2 definitely sounded better to my ears.
Click to expand...
Interesting. Furthermore, for me, that's like comparing a '68 Nova to Frank Bullitt's '68 390 GT 2+2 fastback.

In this class, Diezel will always shine through the majority of the noise.
 
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