BE-100 owners

Mattfig

Member
Yo! I'm about to pick up a used Friedman BE-100 modified by Friedman himself with a B+ mod and 2015/2016 toggle to switch negative feedback to these production values...Also getting a used Friedman 412 with V30s on bottom and Greenbacks on top... :)

It's used gear but still more than I've ever dropped on an amp...

BE-100 owners, is it still love for you? How long have you had yours???
 
I've had mine for a year and a half. Bought it new and have the matching 412. I almost sold it but couldn't bring myself to do it. I have 5 amps so I don't play as much as I should but I do like it a lot.... though it's my least favorite of the bunch.
 
mhenson42":2y3foygr said:
I've had mine for a year and a half. Bought it new and have the matching 412. I almost sold it but couldn't bring myself to do it. I have 5 amps so I don't play as much as I should but I do like it a lot.... though it's my least favorite of the bunch.

Least fave? Why?
What others do you have???

Thanks,
Mattfig
 
Does all the rock stuff and has great mid-gain plus clean tones well. If you want modern metal you will want an OD but by modern metal I'm talking death metal or newer prog stuff.
 
Had my BE100 for about 2 years now, and it's still my baseline, go to amp. I love the damn thing. I've got a bunch of other really cool amps that cover different things, but I just seem to gravitate to the Friedman. It sounds killer at any volume and has a variety of really nice tones under the hood. My favorite amp for classic AC/DC all the way up to Alice and Chains type stuff.

I don't have the Friedman cab, but I took the idea and swapped out the bottom 2 speakers in my EVH 4x12 for V30's, and that cab seems to get the most use around here as well.
I'm pretty sure that as soon as you plug in and hit the first "A" chord, you'll understand where the money went.
Congrats on the new amp :rock:
 
LOVE my BE100. Dave has it now to update it to 2017 specs. Can't wait to get it back.

Only thing i did was switch speakers out on the cab. The v30's were not doing it for me at all. I hate those things. I slapped in H75's
 
Mattfig":27ma2ves said:
mhenson42":27ma2ves said:
I've had mine for a year and a half. Bought it new and have the matching 412. I almost sold it but couldn't bring myself to do it. I have 5 amps so I don't play as much as I should but I do like it a lot.... though it's my least favorite of the bunch.

Least fave? Why?
What others do you have???

Thanks,
Mattfig

Don't take that to diminish how great I think the BE is, I just have other amps I like better....

Wizard MCII, Wizard MTL, Fryette Ultra-Lead and Bogner Uberschall. Though the Uberschall is still in the honeymoon phase. :LOL: :LOL:

As I said, I think the BE is a keeper even among those amps.
 
atrox":6jdwua1l said:
LOVE my BE100. Dave has it now to update it to 2017 specs. Can't wait to get it back.

Only thing i did was switch speakers out on the cab. The v30's were not doing it for me at all. I hate those things. I slapped in H75's

What are the 2017 specs? So now the vaunted 2016s will be out of fashion. :LOL: :LOL:
 
mhenson42":2mjhz6x8 said:
Mattfig":2mjhz6x8 said:
mhenson42":2mjhz6x8 said:
I've had mine for a year and a half. Bought it new and have the matching 412. I almost sold it but couldn't bring myself to do it. I have 5 amps so I don't play as much as I should but I do like it a lot.... though it's my least favorite of the bunch.

Least fave? Why?
What others do you have???

Thanks,
Mattfig

Don't take that to diminish how great I think the BE is, I just have other amps I like better....

Wizard MCII, Wizard MTL, Fryette Ultra-Lead and Bogner Uberschall. Though the Uberschall is still in the honeymoon phase. :LOL: :LOL:

As I said, I think the BE is a keeper even among those amps.

Sounds like you're into the harder end of the rock/metal spectrum then. The BE has that classic 80s brown sag and I can see why those other amps would float your boat more for that. Tighter and drier than the BE. I had a VHT UL (with EQ) and it was a great amp, but was too dry/sterile for me. Though I'll admit that I don't like too much sag or compression either. I haven't owned a BE, but did have possession of my friend's for a while and loved it. I liked it more than my Taco, Smallbox, and even my Shirley. I also had possession of his Uberschall Twin Jet for a while and though it sounded great alone... my favorite tone was when running it in stereo with my XTC Classic. That was probably the biggest, chewiest, most organic tone I've ever had going. It was pretty cool.

Btw... I've heard that the newest BEs are a little less compressed sounding than previous ones. That would be an improvement if true. But regardless... I consider the BE to be one of the best amps I've ever spent time with. If I was gigging rock stuff regularly, I would absolutely have one. But since my regular gig is a solo flamenco thing... it doesn't have much use for me now. :LOL: :LOL:
 
Red_Label":d3rxpbpv said:
mhenson42":d3rxpbpv said:
Mattfig":d3rxpbpv said:
mhenson42":d3rxpbpv said:
I've had mine for a year and a half. Bought it new and have the matching 412. I almost sold it but couldn't bring myself to do it. I have 5 amps so I don't play as much as I should but I do like it a lot.... though it's my least favorite of the bunch.

Least fave? Why?
What others do you have???

Thanks,
Mattfig

Don't take that to diminish how great I think the BE is, I just have other amps I like better....

Wizard MCII, Wizard MTL, Fryette Ultra-Lead and Bogner Uberschall. Though the Uberschall is still in the honeymoon phase. :LOL: :LOL:

As I said, I think the BE is a keeper even among those amps.

Sounds like you're into the harder end of the rock/metal spectrum then. The BE has that classic 80s brown sag and I can see why those other amps would float your boat more for that. Tighter and drier than the BE. I had a VHT UL (with EQ) and it was a great amp, but was too dry/sterile for me. Though I'll admit that I don't like too much sag or compression either. I haven't owned a BE, but did have possession of my friend's for a while and loved it. I liked it more than my Taco, Smallbox, and even my Shirley. I also had possession of his Uberschall Twin Jet for a while and though it sounded great alone... my favorite tone was when running it in stereo with my XTC Classic. That was probably the biggest, chewiest, most organic tone I've ever had going. It was pretty cool.

Btw... I've heard that the newest BEs are a little less compressed sounding than previous ones. That would be an improvement if true. But regardless... I consider the BE to be one of the best amps I've ever spent time with. If I was gigging rock stuff regularly, I would absolutely have one. But since my regular gig is a solo flamenco thing... it doesn't have much use for me now. :LOL: :LOL:

Yes that's true!

I love how tight and uncompressed the UL and Wizards are. Very percussive and they just punch you in the chest. I don't like a lot of fizziness/saturation in the tone. Those amps are razer sharp. On the BE, I never use the SAT switch, which pretty much kills the tone IMO. The BE loses a bit of the compression and get's tighter when you crank it up. That's how I like it. :thumbsup:

It's funny. I use to like a darker compressed tone, but now I'm the complete opposite.
 
mhenson42":22p82alf said:
atrox":22p82alf said:
LOVE my BE100. Dave has it now to update it to 2017 specs. Can't wait to get it back.

Only thing i did was switch speakers out on the cab. The v30's were not doing it for me at all. I hate those things. I slapped in H75's

What are the 2017 specs? So now the vaunted 2016s will be out of fashion. :LOL: :LOL:

I think the BE100 has been the most changed/updated/revised high end amp in current times. WTF?
 
Wizard of Ozz":8xkrer9o said:
mhenson42":8xkrer9o said:
atrox":8xkrer9o said:
LOVE my BE100. Dave has it now to update it to 2017 specs. Can't wait to get it back.

Only thing i did was switch speakers out on the cab. The v30's were not doing it for me at all. I hate those things. I slapped in H75's

What are the 2017 specs? So now the vaunted 2016s will be out of fashion. :LOL: :LOL:

I think the BE100 has been the most changed/updated/revised high end amp in current times. WTF?

I have a 2015, when I played the 2016 at GC, while I didn't have them side-by-side I didn't feel that there was much difference from mine. Certainly nothing that the EQ couldn't alter. Internet hype more than anything. The S switch was cool, but I would never cut the gain so...
 
mhenson42":3rp6gmah said:
Red_Label":3rp6gmah said:
Sounds like you're into the harder end of the rock/metal spectrum then. The BE has that classic 80s brown sag and I can see why those other amps would float your boat more for that. Tighter and drier than the BE. I had a VHT UL (with EQ) and it was a great amp, but was too dry/sterile for me. Though I'll admit that I don't like too much sag or compression either. I haven't owned a BE, but did have possession of my friend's for a while and loved it. I liked it more than my Taco, Smallbox, and even my Shirley. I also had possession of his Uberschall Twin Jet for a while and though it sounded great alone... my favorite tone was when running it in stereo with my XTC Classic. That was probably the biggest, chewiest, most organic tone I've ever had going. It was pretty cool.

Btw... I've heard that the newest BEs are a little less compressed sounding than previous ones. That would be an improvement if true. But regardless... I consider the BE to be one of the best amps I've ever spent time with. If I was gigging rock stuff regularly, I would absolutely have one. But since my regular gig is a solo flamenco thing... it doesn't have much use for me now. :LOL: :LOL:

Yes that's true!

I love how tight and uncompressed the UL and Wizards are. Very percussive and they just punch you in the chest. I don't like a lot of fizziness/saturation in the tone. Those amps are razer sharp. On the BE, I never use the SAT switch, which pretty much kills the tone IMO. The BE loses a bit of the compression and get's tighter when you crank it up. That's how I like it. :thumbsup:

It's funny. I use to like a darker compressed tone, but now I'm the complete opposite.

I've always been curious about the Wizards and may have to get one eventually. I do like amps with immediate attack that don't sag a lot and that have real punch. So that's good to know.
 
I suppose i should have said latest specs. 2016 was the last major update, but i told him 2017 since who knows what else had been tweaked.
 
Wizard of Ozz":1gv0id4d said:
mhenson42":1gv0id4d said:
atrox":1gv0id4d said:
LOVE my BE100. Dave has it now to update it to 2017 specs. Can't wait to get it back.

Only thing i did was switch speakers out on the cab. The v30's were not doing it for me at all. I hate those things. I slapped in H75's

What are the 2017 specs? So now the vaunted 2016s will be out of fashion. :LOL: :LOL:

I think the BE100 has been the most changed/updated/revised high end amp in current times. WTF?

Yeah, but ask Mike Soldano if he could have a do-over in his marketing approach to the SLO which has never changed basic spec. He'll openly admit his biggest competition is himself as there are x-number of SLO's out there at 50% the price of a new one.

The negative feedback update is really a preference thing. Those guys wanting "open & raw" will like it, those wanting "tight and angry" will prefer the old spec.
 
Rdodson":3c3q2fut said:
Yeah, but ask Mike Soldano if he could have a do-over in his marketing approach to the SLO which has never changed basic spec. He'll openly admit his biggest competition is himself as there are x-number of SLO's out there at 50% the price of a new one.

The negative feedback update is really a preference thing. Those guys wanting "open & raw" will like it, those wanting "tight and angry" will prefer the old spec.

Great point!

And as irritating as it can be that Dave is always updating his stuff (for those who've bought an earlier model)... on the other hand it's great that he's always tweaking and tinkering, trying to improve it. Behemoths like Fender, Marshall, etc never cared that much. They were obviously making things on a much larger scale... but even when they were catering to a much smaller number of players before solid state and PCB mass-production really took off, they didn't tweak their stuff to the same level that Dave has. Being a small, boutique builder obviously allows him to do that. Which is why it's surprising to me that Soldano never did the same. The SLO, like any other amp, has a few warts and things that could have been improved (based solely on what I've read from owners -- the SLO remains one of the few boutique rock amps that I haven't owned or played).
 
OK, here's a question for the BE owners. Which cab do you use and why? I'm dead set on V30s on bottom and Greenbacks on top on in a 412....

Have a shot at a Bogner or a Friedman....Which would you pick and why?
 
Mattfig":qbnroxsi said:
OK, here's a question for the BE owners. Which cab do you use and why? I'm dead set on V30s on bottom and Greenbacks on top on in a 412....

Have a shot at a Bogner or a Friedman....Which would you pick and why?

Both cabs are made by Boutique Amps Distribution and have probably a very similar construction. I know my Wizard cabs do (also made by BAD). I have a Friedman cab. I always hated greenbacks. I was a little disappointed in the cab at first, but once the speakers broke in it sounds awesome. It's an awesome cab. If you are getting a BE, definitely get the Friedman cab.
 
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