Should I buy a BE100 Deluxe?

[zzwish]

That's probably true of some of them, but I'm also seeing people with lots of expensive gear selling them and their reasoning is “to try other things”.



This guy is one example.

Hey folks! I'd say the BE-100 Deluxe is a killer amp and probably up there in the top 5 amps I've ever owned personally (my other favs being a JCM800 2203, 5150 II, Matchless Chieftain, SS-100 amongst a few others). I've tracked multiple records with it for my own band and for others and found it really easy to live with, especially under a microphone. I think people are generally in one camp or the other of wanting that really dry, crispy, in your face transient, gut punch attack of an amp like an old school Marshall, Wizard, Splawn, etc vs the more compressed, greasy, easy-under-the-fingers feel of an amp like a Friedman. I personally like both, but the Friedman feel is probably my home base.

I've seen some people say they don't cut in a live situation, but that has never been my experience personally, it's always worked great and been a breeze live. I've owned the majority of the 100W Friedman heads at this point just because I was curious in the early days of chasing tone (multiple BE-100s, multiple SS-100s, Phil X, JJ-100, Friedman Kitchen Sink, modded JTM45, modded 800, and a few others), and after all these years, they could all get the job done for me. The differences between a lot of those amps are pretty subtle and once you throw a bass player ripping through a loud SVT and a drummer in the mix, most of those subtleties fly right out the window in my experience. The same has been true when recording. If one amp was brighter than the other, or had slightly more low mid content, etc, it's nothing that a hair of EQ on the way in or in post wouldn't address. Sometimes a choice of amp has come down to features like, "oh hey, this one has the master volume knob on the front vs the back," or just wanting less knobs and switches on one amp vs the other because the tone was there on all of them especially once you're up at a drummer volume level.

Definitely not trying to convince anyone that's where they should spend their money, just saying that in my opinion, that amp rips. ️

 

[Jon BCN]

I think people are generally in one camp or the other of wanting that really dry, crispy, in your face transient, gut punch attack of an amp like an old school Marshall, Wizard, Splawn, etc vs the more compressed, greasy, easy-under-the-fingers feel of an amp like a Friedman. I personally like both, but the Friedman feel is probably my home base.

One of the great things of the BE100 I had, was it's capability to sound darker or brighter depending on how you set it. The famous Akira Takasaki settings did wonders for me, because they allowed my BE100 to be crispy, aggressive and brighter. For some people that tone was too shrill, but for me it was how a modded 80's style Marshall should sound for the music I like to play. And I still had the option to change the settings and had the typically smooth and darker BE tone if I wanted.

If the shrillness people refer when talking about the BE100 Deluxe is similar to the shrillness of those Akira Takasaki settings, then I'm sure I will love the amp.

 

[rm5153]

One of the great things of the BE100 I had, was it's capability to sound darker or brighter depending on how you set it. The famous Akira Takasaki settings did wonders for me, because they allowed my BE100 to be crispy, aggressive and brighter. For some people that tone was too shrill, but for me it was how a modded 80's style Marshall should sound for the music I like to play. And I still had the option to change the settings and had the typically smooth and darker BE tone if I wanted.

If the shrillness people refer when talking about the BE100 Deluxe is similar to the shrillness of those Akira Takasaki settings, then I'm sure I will love the amp.

Agree as the Freq/Response/Voice switches totally change the sound of the amp on the BE/HBE channels in a huge way. I just leave it on the BE channel 99.99% of the time. It is just a matter of finding the right setting on each of those 3 switches to get the tone that you are looking for. Also nice if you have a overly bright or dark guitar that you can either brighten or darken the tone with the flip of a switch.

 

[Jon BCN]

It's coming home.

 

[Racerxrated]

It's coming home.

Congrats! Hope you dig it.

 

[scottosan]

Regular or extra crispy ?
Too soon ?
Seriously if its backordered don't.

Smoked actually.

 

[JerEvil]

I have a 2015 (upgraded to 2016 specs) BE100 and my other guitar player has the Deluxe version. Both are fantastic amps if you ask me, but there is something about my old BE100. I feel the same about the BE100 vs BE100 Deluxe comparison as I did with my BE100 and my old Butterslax. The BE100 just has more of a punch to it. It's slightly bigger sounding and hits your gut harder. Again, The Deluxe is a great amp and i'd use one all day, but I personally think the old BE100 is a better amp by a small margin.

This right here. I had the opportunity to get either a Slax or BE-100. I opted for the BE after playing both. It just kills for tones I like. Then when the Delixe came out, again I tried it back to back with the current BE, and still prefer the standard overall.