NAD: Friedman BE100

J

Jon BCN

Active member
My first tube amp have arrived. First of all, it's a beauty, it looks better in person. Kind of sober and elegant.

Initial impresions: I have only played at bedroom volume, less than 1 on the Master Volume, and for now... im not that impressed.

In fact, at that volume the tones reminded me a lot to the Yamaha THR10 I had, which I never bonded with and sold before the BE came.

The speakers are new also (Marshall MR1936V), and I think in mono only one speaker works, but Im not sure. They need to be broken in for sure.

Also, I didnt notice much difference with some of the switch options.

Tomorrow I will change the strings of my guitar and give it a more in deep try.
 
If the refined Marshall thing ain't for you, then sell and try something a bit your thing.

What kind of tones are you looking for? I'm sure we could help get something more along the lines of your tastes.

Lastly, The Friedman will sound decent at low volumes, but definitely not what is indicative of the Friedman tone. You gotta push a tube amp to get their proper tones they are known for.

Many of the switches are subtle. ESPECIALLY at low volumes and they tend to affect feel more than tone in some cases. The bright switch and channel switch (obviously) being the most noticeable. C45 changes the mid and gain structure a touch. The FAT switch is great for single coils. just adds a slight bit of extra "ooomph". SAT is obvious as is the S switch.
 
For the C45, try rolling back your guitar volume with C45 ON and OFF. The amp cleans up a bit differently with C45 ON/OFF.
 
I was hooked as soon as i hit a A5 cord. Thing just sounds real. Maybe not as vintage as some prefer..i like modern/modded sounds. Not so much the modellers tho. Not good at being patient enough i guess. The Be100 is old school knobs and a few added switches. It was nice to feel the releif when i played it. I have missed on a few internet review/ youtube purchases. Its a rock amp and then some.
 
I played a little bit more with it. Cranking the presence knob helped a lot, much more punch with it.

The BE channel sounds sweet and refined and the HBE gives it more balls (but also more noise). Clean channel is nice too. Right now I Love the Sat switch the most.

I hope to have the chance of cranking the amp soon.
 
Jon BCN":em0e5ycd said:
I played a little bit more with it. Cranking the presence knob helped a lot, much more punch with it.

The BE channel sounds sweet and refined and the HBE gives it more balls (but also more noise). Clean channel is nice too. Right now I Love the Sat switch the most.

I hope to have the chance of cranking the amp soon.
Click to expand...

Don't be afraid to crank that bass....how the amp is eq'd gives the impression of more/less gain.
 
My smallbox does not start sounding good untill the bass is up to 8. I think most people run the bass on Friedman amps between 7-10. I would dry that.
 
Most high gain amps at "bedroom" level especially a 100w don't give the best impression. There are exceptions and I feel my BE100 (Dave's modified a number of things for me) sounds killer at low volume. Weather studio or live the amp sounds amazing (I also own many of the other boutique amps) I actually like the tone of my BE straight to DAW (Tube Preamp/SM57 etc.) also using TC Electronic rack gear through the EFX-Loop than through my Fryette PS II Attenuator, I really feel it's that good.

Work with your BE100, try some effects (maybe a little reverb or delay) I like using my KOT to hit the front of the amp, just makes it a bit more fun during lead work, or dry for rhythm?

\../
 
You should try it in a Green Back Speakers loaded cabinet. How about a Friedman 2x12 or 4x12 cabinet. Its like Night and Day if you compare them to a Marshall
 
wait wait wait.. OP, are you saying you have been playing your BE into these? https://www.thomann.de/gb/marshall_mr1936v.htm

:scared:

Am I also reading right that its been your first tube amp? Well have you considered that it may be your playing that got accustomed to non-valve based amps? It takes a lot of time getting used to the dynamics of a tube amp man. I would never ever compare that BE to that Yamaha.
 
Purpleibby":39dgy0ea said:
Jon BCN":39dgy0ea said:
I played a little bit more with it. Cranking the presence knob helped a lot, much more punch with it.

The BE channel sounds sweet and refined and the HBE gives it more balls (but also more noise). Clean channel is nice too. Right now I Love the Sat switch the most.

I hope to have the chance of cranking the amp soon.
Click to expand...

Don't be afraid to crank that bass....how the amp is eq'd gives the impression of more/less gain.
Click to expand...

I actually did the opposite: I cranked middle and treble and backed off bass a little bit, around 4 (11 O'clock). I will try to crank it more tomorrow and see what happens.


MantraSky":39dgy0ea said:
Most high gain amps at "bedroom" level especially a 100w don't give the best impression. There are exceptions and I feel my BE100 (Dave's modified a number of things for me) sounds killer at low volume. Weather studio or live the amp sounds amazing (I also own many of the other boutique amps) I actually like the tone of my BE straight to DAW (Tube Preamp/SM57 etc.) also using TC Electronic rack gear through the EFX-Loop than through my Fryette PS II Attenuator, I really feel it's that good.

Work with your BE100, try some effects (maybe a little reverb or delay) I like using my KOT to hit the front of the amp, just makes it a bit more fun during lead work, or dry for rhythm?

\../
Click to expand...

Next month I would buy some reverb and delay pedal for sure.

K-Roll":39dgy0ea said:
wait wait wait.. OP, are you saying you have been playing your BE into these? <span class="skimlinks-unlinked">https://www.thomann.de/gb/marshall_mr1936v.htm</span>

:scared:

Am I also reading right that its been your first tube amp? Well have you considered that it may be your playing that got accustomed to non-valve based amps? It takes a lot of time getting used to the dynamics of a tube amp man. I would never ever compare that BE to that Yamaha.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's the cab I've been playing with my BE. It's also new and needs to get the speakers broken in, I guess. The Friedman 2x12 would have been a better match, obviously, but I run out of money. Is that cab that bad? I read good reviews about it.

Also, it has the option of running in mono or stereo. Right now I have it in mono, and I don't know if I read the manual wrong or what, but seems to specify that in mono only one of the speakers is working?

No experience with real cabs, so I don't know.

And relative to the Yamaha vs BE comparison at bedroom volumes, I would say the BE sounds and feels better right now, but I just was expecting more. Maybe I had too high expectations of what can be achieved at really low bedroom volume, I don't know.

And the Marshall gain and clean side of the Yamaha, while worse, was relatively really close tonally to what im hearing on the BE.

This is just my experience so far.
 
Try my settings....bass cranked, presence 6, mids 3-4, treble 6......c45 on voice switch on! Crank that gain....max out the bass and gain.
 
Jon, The BE100 is "high-level" in the world of amplification. Really great advice from the forum members, a lot of experience. There is a definite "Feel" to Tube Amps, and a tone that Guitarists love.

Congrats \../
 
Don't forget that engaging the FX loop brings the second master volume into play which makes the volume more manageable. It does alter the tone somewhat.
 
Congrats on the amp, hope you can get the tones you want out of it. I love the BE-100, i personally want to grab the Butterslax.
 
Congrats, man.
I have a Smallbox and I really love it even in bedroom volumes....

I know it is not the same amp, but my EQ settings for low volumes are:
Mid and Bass at max.
Presence and Treble at 2 O'Clock.

For high volumes (live playing:) All EQ on max, except for the Bass at 2 O'Clock.
 
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