Couple of questions about the Friedman BE-50 Deluxe

Hi Dave and everyone,

In the Tone Talk video in response to Henning you said that the BE-50's clean channel which is based on Buxom Betty has it's own transformer. Does it mean we have different kinds of transformers inside for Clean and BE/HBE channels?

Also the half power/full power being pentode/triode I assume it applies on all channels at once being working on power tubes configuration. But how about the "Gain Structure" switch? Does it also apply to all channels? Or just BE/HBE? I hope it only applies on the BE/HBE.

Also, is it possible to get the Small Box Plexi channel (and even the SB's BE channel which also sounds different than BE-100 to be honest) sound by turning the Response knob higher, Thump lower and Gain Structure switch in medium gain? None of the videos available demoed these really...

Anyone here who owns both can shed some lights on these questions?

Cheers

Dave may still chime in but here's my take.
-Gain switch is just gain channels, BE/HBE.
-Half/Full power is all channels.
-You can get in the realm of the SB's BE and Plexi channel but not the same. The 2 amps are voiced different. It might sound similar but the SB has a different feel then the 50DLX. IMO, The SB plexi channels is one of Dave's best creations and the 50DLX is the best thing he's done since. I'd like to see that Plexi channel in the 20 watt mini amp format with Response/Presence/Thump controls.
-I don't know about the transformer but I think what he means is that it's be designed for this amp, not separate transformers. This thing would weight a fuck ton if it did. It's actually not too bad on weight for it's size. Lighter then a BE100.

tripstan":18rbxkmn said:

Dave may still chime in but here's my take.
-You can get in the realm of the SB's BE and Plexi channel but not the same. The 2 amps are voiced different. It might sound similar but the SB has a different feel then the 50DLX. IMO, The SB plexi channels is one of Dave's best creations and the 50DLX is the best thing he's done since. I'd like to see that Plexi channel in the 20 watt mini amp format with Response/Presence/Thump controls.
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Damn! That’s my main worry in selling my SB to get the 50DLX - I’ve grown to love and depend on the plexi channel, it’s so versatile. With the bright switch you get sparkling cleans, and I like using some transparent and D-style OD pedals on top of that. (Which I imagine will sound great with the BB cleans as well). And then, of course, as you crank the gain and volume (I use a Fryette PS so I can get output tube distortion) you get that classic plexi roar. I see the SB’s two channels as: the best of the 70’s on one side and best of 80’s+ on the other. I might be content just having Dave add the HBE boost channel, like the Wildwood SB’s.

But I’ll be closely watching and listening as the 50DLX’s make their way out to the broader public in the coming months and see if people can get closer to those sounds. I hope so, because everything else about the 50DLX seems amazing and I’d really like to have all those extra options!

Anyways, congrats on the amp! Thanks for the insight.

It is a killer amp! I just received mine on Monday night. My 212-BE cab came in yesterday. Such a great setup. The tone is amazing from this head!

If you like using OD for other flavors the BB clean on the 50DLX is better then the plexi. B.B. clean is very very pedal friendly. The plexi still had plexi tone underneath which is cool but if I’m using a D style OD or any other overdrive that has its own distinct flavor I like the amp to be more neutral. If you love Friedman drive tones but what to still use pedals for other flavors the 50DLX us your amp. 50DLX is the an elite high gain 3 channel amp. The clean channel is hands down the best sounding most pedal friendly I’ve used on a channel switcher. Diezel’s cleans are a close second.

Thanks tripstan and everyone else for the responses. Well, apparently both BE-100 and BE-50 should sound almost identical with some small differences here and there, but whenever I have tried Small Box it sounded different than the BE-100 side by side (and in fact to all the other Friedman amps). Regarding the clean platform of the BE-50, if by clean you mean being completely clean/clean, then I must say that I have tried the BE-100's clean channel with pedals and it sounded ok~ish. It is a great pedal platform but not really something special to be honest.

In fact, I think Plexi channel of the Small Box sounded great with pedals in almost all settings. There is a kind of "Matte" (in compare to the more polished/glossy sounding BE-100) texture to the Small Box's both channels that gives it a smokey and raw feel and tone which I loved... All amps have their own flavours so it's just the matter of taste what pedal platform you prefer. What I'm hoping to achieve here is to see if by using the Response and Thump knobs it is possible to get very similar sound, feel and specially the "Dynamic" of the Small Box?
I mean in theory it should be possible because Response is nothing but a variable Negative Feedback and Thump is something like Resonance on other amps. I know the power configuration, filtering and all those stuff are also a bit different but both of them being 50 watters I assume one can hope BE-50 can get close enough?

Then again, and I'm not saying it's always the case with all amps, but honestly, to my experience, the more an amp has features, modes, switches and tone shaping options the more it loses it's organic, raw and dynamic character. The simpler the amp is the more it keeps its pure tone. Again I'm not saying it applies on all amps but so far I have never seen any multi channel amp that sounds the BEST in all of the tones it offers. In other words, it's like being a good jack of all trades versus being the best in one category. I used to record and use my Boogie Mark V and Diezel D-Moll in the past couple of years a lot and they sound glorious in some of the sounds they offer, but I almost never used perhaps 2/3 of their sound as they were mediocre at best.

Cheers,

FWIW, I found a video that compares a clean SB with a Buxom Betty. Obviously the BE50DLX is its own thing with extra tonal options, but its clean channel is supposed to be the same as the BB. Maybe those with a BE50DLX can say whether or not this is an accurate representation:
https://youtu.be/YojsLVpRLgU

Skeeter":3puj8p5m said:

FWIW, I found a video that compares a clean SB with a Buxom Betty. Obviously the BE50DLX is its own thing with extra tonal options, but its clean channel is supposed to be the same as the BB. Maybe those with a BE50DLX can say whether or not this is an accurate representation:
https://youtu.be/YojsLVpRLgU

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I had a BB, SB and now a BE-50. Through an open back cab with the same speaker as the BB combo the BE-50 clean sounds very close to how I remember the BB but I never had them side by side. The SB Plexi channel could get sparkly with the bright switch but it still had more of a brit vibe than the blackface kind of thing going on with the BB and BE-50 clean.