BE vs JJ vs SS

[MistaGuitah]

Are the JJ and SS just two different variations of the BE? I played them all before and it seems like they are more similar than different. If I had the money to buy one, it seems like it would be tough deciding between them. What are the biggest reasons why you'd prefer one over the others? Also the clean channel on the Smallbox seems better than both the BE and the JJ, but the SS seems to have an equally beautiful clean channel as the Smallbox. Which has the best clean channel in your opinion?

 

[sg guy]

-$$- best sparkle, almost Unicorns cleans-
-JJ- has the best HBE channel + the JJ voicing
-BUTTA-for the Marshall-(JMP)-old school BROOTALZ




---the very first run of the ---PTP-(BE100's)-the limited production-original circuit--(ghost tweaked)--BE100's-(the ones that started the buzz)-(the ones the few got, then immediately stashed--
----------is the best one--------

 

[idnotbe]

i owned BE-100 (latest version), JJ, Butterslax and Small Box. (but not SS)

BE-100' BE channel and JJ's are similar enough. (the latest BE-100 has less NFB in the power amp)
JJ seems to have slightly less bass and it can be good or bad, depends on your preference and the cabinet / speaker you use.

i felt BE-100 is more usable because of the versatility.
JJ is for very specific sound and has the limitation of tone tweaking.

personally i don't like the clean of BE-100 and JJ.
they are not high headroom type clean and the loudness is far smaller than BE channel.

i don't like Small Box because of the vintage feel and the clean (the same reason as BE-100 and JJ mentioned above) .
maybe BE-50 Deluxe which has Buxom Betty clean channel can solve the issue.

 

[CrazyNutz]

Are the JJ and SS just two different variations of the BE?

yes, slight variation. Most of Dave's amps are based around the BE channel with slight variations in a few component values.

Also the JJ does not have an HBE. HBE is an extra gain stage to the BE, JJ does not have this extra gain stage. Therefore it's just a BE channel tweaked to Jerry's liking. It's tighter, and works better for down tuned stuff. This is mostly due to a slightly different value cap in the fixed resonance circuit. The Slax has the same, but it has the added benefit of a variable resonance, or thump as its called.

 

[MistaGuitah]

Thanks. This is some good information. I went with the BE100 because it's the easiest one to settle with. They all sound so good. My only concern now is that I really like the clean channel on the Smallbox and never really messed around with the clean channel on the BE-100, so I hope that it has an equally good clean channel with high headroom. If not then I'll have to see if I can find someone to trade an SS for it. What are your thoughts on the BE-100 clean channel?

 

[dogman]

Are the JJ and SS just two different variations of the BE? I played them all before and it seems like they are more similar than different. If I had the money to buy one, it seems like it would be tough deciding between them. What are the biggest reasons why you'd prefer one over the others? Also the clean channel on the Smallbox seems better than both the BE and the JJ, but the SS seems to have an equally beautiful clean channel as the Smallbox. Which has the best clean channel in your opinion?

The SS clean is amazing. Hell, The SS is probably the better overall amp. The BE is a close 2nd with a rawer bite to it. The Stevens is just a little more refined sounding. The JJ seems too dark to me..

 

[MistaGuitah]

Are the JJ and SS just two different variations of the BE? I played them all before and it seems like they are more similar than different. If I had the money to buy one, it seems like it would be tough deciding between them. What are the biggest reasons why you'd prefer one over the others? Also the clean channel on the Smallbox seems better than both the BE and the JJ, but the SS seems to have an equally beautiful clean channel as the Smallbox. Which has the best clean channel in your opinion?

The SS clean is amazing. Hell, The SS is probably the better overall amp. The BE is a close 2nd with a rawer bite to it. The Stevens is just a little more refined sounding. The JJ seems too dark to me..

At the very end it came down to the BE and SS for me. Actually I think the JJ has a more outstanding gain sound, but two things caused me to think twice about it: the clean channel was a little less spectacular, and it struggled a little with the touch response at lower gain levels. One thing I dig so much about the Smallbox is it's touch response. I don't like it when I feel like I have to work harder when I play so the effortless response wasn't there at all volume levels on the JJ.

That left me with the BE and SS. The SS clean was amazing and that was not something I expected. Unfortunately of all the times I played the BE100, I barely touched the clean channel and that was the big question mark. It seems like the SS has the most authentic kind of plexi flavor as far as I can tell. The reason I went with the BE was that I really like it's C45 switch. Just switching that lets you really dial in the amp. When it's engaged with the Sat switch, it's almost like too much goodness. I really don't know because now that I bought it, I'm kind of regretting not getting that JJ overdrive and also regretting not checking out the BE clean channel more before picking it over the SS.

 

[dogman]

Are the JJ and SS just two different variations of the BE? I played them all before and it seems like they are more similar than different. If I had the money to buy one, it seems like it would be tough deciding between them. What are the biggest reasons why you'd prefer one over the others? Also the clean channel on the Smallbox seems better than both the BE and the JJ, but the SS seems to have an equally beautiful clean channel as the Smallbox. Which has the best clean channel in your opinion?

The SS clean is amazing. Hell, The SS is probably the better overall amp. The BE is a close 2nd with a rawer bite to it. The Stevens is just a little more refined sounding. The JJ seems too dark to me..

At the very end it came down to the BE and SS for me. Actually I think the JJ has a more outstanding gain sound, but two things caused me to think twice about it: the clean channel was a little less spectacular, and it struggled a little with the touch response at lower gain levels. One thing I dig so much about the Smallbox is it's touch response. I don't like it when I feel like I have to work harder when I play so the effortless response wasn't there at all volume levels on the JJ.

That left me with the BE and SS. The SS clean was amazing and that was not something I expected. Unfortunately of all the times I played the BE100, I barely touched the clean channel and that was the big question mark. It seems like the SS has the most authentic kind of plexi flavor as far as I can tell. The reason I went with the BE was that I really like it's C45 switch. Just switching that lets you really dial in the amp. When it's engaged with the Sat switch, it's almost like too much goodness. I really don't know because now that I bought it, I'm kind of regretting not getting that JJ overdrive and also regretting not checking out the BE clean channel more before picking it over the SS.

Yup. Its tough to get the best of both worlds. If the SS clean channel was available in the BE-50 I'd be all over it haha

 

[MistaGuitah]

Are the JJ and SS just two different variations of the BE? I played them all before and it seems like they are more similar than different. If I had the money to buy one, it seems like it would be tough deciding between them. What are the biggest reasons why you'd prefer one over the others? Also the clean channel on the Smallbox seems better than both the BE and the JJ, but the SS seems to have an equally beautiful clean channel as the Smallbox. Which has the best clean channel in your opinion?

The SS clean is amazing. Hell, The SS is probably the better overall amp. The BE is a close 2nd with a rawer bite to it. The Stevens is just a little more refined sounding. The JJ seems too dark to me..

At the very end it came down to the BE and SS for me. Actually I think the JJ has a more outstanding gain sound, but two things caused me to think twice about it: the clean channel was a little less spectacular, and it struggled a little with the touch response at lower gain levels. One thing I dig so much about the Smallbox is it's touch response. I don't like it when I feel like I have to work harder when I play so the effortless response wasn't there at all volume levels on the JJ.

That left me with the BE and SS. The SS clean was amazing and that was not something I expected. Unfortunately of all the times I played the BE100, I barely touched the clean channel and that was the big question mark. It seems like the SS has the most authentic kind of plexi flavor as far as I can tell. The reason I went with the BE was that I really like it's C45 switch. Just switching that lets you really dial in the amp. When it's engaged with the Sat switch, it's almost like too much goodness. I really don't know because now that I bought it, I'm kind of regretting not getting that JJ overdrive and also regretting not checking out the BE clean channel more before picking it over the SS.

Yup. Its tough to get the best of both worlds. If the SS clean channel was available in the BE-50 I'd be all over it haha

There are only a few videos of the BE50 but I thought the cleans were outstanding. I'd say as good as the SS. Have you seen this one? The clean stuff doesn't start until 4:00 and it's brief but it's tasty.