BE OD Review

[mniel8195]

Just received my Friedman BE od. I am using a suhr modern with SSH+ and SSV pickups playing through my Friedman smallbox 50 combo hooked up to my torpedo live. I am using the torpedo live friedman v30 cab with a sm57 mic.

The pedal sounds just as good through my plexi ch with the bright switch off than the BE channel. I would say the small box BE is bigger sounding and less polished and less gain/ compressed. The BE od really feels and sounds like an amp. At no point have i felt like it sounds or feels like a pedal. The Be od does not roll off as well as my small box but i doubt a real BE 100 does either. It def has the Friedman knob turning thing. There are not extreme settings on this pedal. Every setting sounds good just like my smallbox.

I am playing it in 18v mode and it sounds better than 9v. So if you have the option use the 18. I also love the tight knob. IT makes this pedal very versatile. I can get dirtly shirely tone all the way to BE 100 and beyond. I would say this pedal can sound even more modern because of the tight knob. You would have no problem using this pedal with a 7 or 8 string guitar! I would truly love a boost pedal from friedman with just the tight and level control its that good!

The only thing that sucks is i have to have the bright switch off on the smallbox when playing the pedal. And i never turn it off when using the plexi channel. If i was gigging and wanted to use the clean ch. and just bypass the be channel on the small box i would not know how to balance it. I am sure it is possible though.

If you are thinking about selling your small box don't. The smallbox can be dimed and when the volume is rolled down or you pickups are split its just a magical thing that's worth the price of admission. IF you love your smallbox and want more gain and hate boosting amps like i do buy this pedal now! I have never had much luck tonally boosting my smallbox with a koko boost or ts pedals. Its like taking a fine meal and throwing ketchup over it. The BE od def gets you into modern metal territory without the fizz. I am guessing most peoples mileage will very. I am playing a friedman amp which probably does not hurt the end result. This pedal also makes the best solo tone because you can really dime the tight knob and it sounds sick on the neck pickup.

When i go play guitar with my brother i will probably leave my amp at home and just bring my pedalboard and play through it fender twin. If you are on the fence about this pedal just buy it. Its going to go down as a legendary pedal! Great job Dave!

 

[Mailman1971]

Nice write up!

I should have mine next week. Shipped today.
I bought mine looking for that type of gain. Not so much an over drive.
So it sounds about exactly as what I want it for.

 

[tarices22]

Agreed - the tight knob totally makes the pedal. Loving this thing!!

 

[hatrick00]

Its like taking a fine meal and throwing ketchup over it.

I love this. Couldn't have said it better myself. Nice write up man. No this pedal doesn't REPLACE my BE100 or JJ, but damn I added an extra SICK gain channel to my rig for $200. If you play high gain this pedal is a no brainer. Dave is the man.

 

[billboogie]

An EP Booster with the BE OD is a wonderful lead option.

 

[J-Rocks]

Such a great sounding pedal, Enjoy it!!

 

[romanianreaper]

I've been enjoying playing the pedal thru my Axe-Fx II so much that I have been using a clean amp setting with the pedal instead of utilizing the actual BE and HBE amps in the unit.

 

[DADA]

Gonna test it in the loop of my Snax-Ultra.
Might be the BEST realer then real update EVER for my Ractal Audio.


And the 18v adapter is on its way.

A $200 pedal killing a $2100 expensive system should be fun!

 

[mniel8195]

I also want to mention how quiet the pedal is. I also could not see a reason on changing the internal trim pot unless you had really low or high output pickups.

 

[Red_Label]

I also want to mention how quiet the pedal is. I also could not see a reason on changing the internal trim pot unless you had really low or high output pickups.

I turned mine down from noon to 10:00 and that way i can run the gain knob at noon. I had to keep the gain at 9:00 or below with the trim at factory setting. Just my personal preference to set the gain at noon, for the ability to have maximun adjustability. The trim pot is a great feature.

 

[metalmaniac93]

Definitly not a Friedman fanboy at all, but this pedal is amazing!!! I originally bought it having full intentions of returning it to the local GC, but when I tried it trough my setup, I was floored so I am keeping it for a different flavor.

The pedal comes with the internal gain trim pot maxed at around 4 o clock. I backed it off to noon. Sounds awesome through my Atomica in the LG channel with no clipping and the gain at noon. I bought it for the high gain style not as a boost. If I need a boost in low gain mode for my KK++ or Atomica I just use a Maxon OD 808, SD-1, or a Koko Boost.

 

[romanianreaper]

I haven't adjusted the trim pot at all from factory settings and using mine anywhere from 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock depending on what I'm playing. At around the 11 o'clock position I was getting some great Slash tones and when I crank it up a bit I can play some heavier stuff. Such a great pedal that is usable at all types of positions.

In my opinion, the "Tight" knob is the gem of this pedal more than any other knob. It is like where the magic happens. I like every knob and think they are balanced really nice but the "Tight" adjustment has allowed me to get so many tones out of one pedal. I was jamming on Pink Floyd last night and turned down the gain and tight, and turned up the bass. Then later I was jamming on some heavier stuff and adjusted to fit that.

 

[Red_Label]

Definitly not a Friedman fanboy at all, but this pedal is amazing!!! I originally bought it having full intentions of returning it to the local GC, but when I tried it trough my setup, I was floored so I am keeping it for a different flavor.

The pedal comes with the internal gain trim pot maxed at around 4 o clock. I backed it off to noon. Sounds awesome through my Atomica in the LG channel with no clipping and the gain at noon. I bought it for the high gain style not as a boost. If I need a boost in low gain mode for my KK++ or Atomica I just use a Maxon OD 808, SD-1, or a Koko Boost.

I don't understand people tripping all over themselves to distance themselves from admitting an affinity for Friedman stuff around here. Dave makes great sounding amps (and pedal). It is what it is... maybe not for everyone, but kickass regardless. Just like Bogner, Deizel, etc. I like what I like... regardless of the prevailing winds on internet forums. Sounds like you do to.

 

[Red_Label]

Definitly not a Friedman fanboy at all, but this pedal is amazing!!! I originally bought it having full intentions of returning it to the local GC, but when I tried it trough my setup, I was floored so I am keeping it for a different flavor.

The pedal comes with the internal gain trim pot maxed at around 4 o clock. I backed it off to noon. Sounds awesome through my Atomica in the LG channel with no clipping and the gain at noon. I bought it for the high gain style not as a boost. If I need a boost in low gain mode for my KK++ or Atomica I just use a Maxon OD 808, SD-1, or a Koko Boost.

I don't understand people tripping all over themselves to distance themselves from admitting an affinity for Friedman stuff around here. Dave makes great sounding amps (and pedal). It is what it is... maybe not for everyone, but kickass regardless. Just like Bogner, Deizel, etc. I like what I like... regardless of the prevailing winds on internet forums. Sounds like you do to.

P.S.I never list my gear in my signature precisely because I don't do fan boy stuff. But I do speak out about stuff that i really like.

 

[asheslimbu]

Gear used : Calor 20 watts all valve amp (clean channel), Gibson les paul traditional pro


Have purchased this pedal after watching numerous demos and reviews on you tube. This resulting in high expectations from this pedal and finally when i received this pedal and when plugged in I was bit disappointed. Which I will tell you why down the line. Built quality is nice so as the packaging and comes wit a manual card.

Coming to the pedal, this pedal is a high gain distortion and less of overdrive. It has a trim pot inside which is by default at 12 o'clock and even if you set it to minimum there is still a lot of gain. The gain/distortion tone is more like Marshallish and has ton of hair if you know what i mean, lot of highs & lows but mids are not pronounced enough resulting the distortion to sound thin when you play individual notes/ soloing. However there is a lot of chug/body for power chords or riffing.
The pedal is quite versatile with presence control and you can tweak anti clock wise for brighter sounding amps and clockwise if you amp is on the warmer sounding side. Tight knob comes handy and is quite responsive and so as the treble but there is still a lot of bass even if you tweak below 9 o'clock. but remind you notes still sound thin even when you push the bass know past 12 o'clock which is the main cause of my disappointment.

However this pedal is one of the bst sounding distortion pedal i have tried so far in last one decade of playing music and trust me I have owned or played atleast 25 to 30 various distortion pedals alone.

I have been using wampler soverign distortion for a long time and this pedal is rich in mids and great playing solos as the each note sounds fat and ballsy compared to Friedman BE-OD. But mind you these two pedals are totally different.

Friedman is for you if you are into high gain stuffs and riff a lot as this pedal gives you that ballsy tone but if you are more into blues of overdrive territory or love the mids this may not be an ideal one.