aside":3mgz8s58 said:
fusedbrain":3mgz8s58 said:
aside":3mgz8s58 said:
Hey guys,
Has anyone had successful communications through Friedman on this? I have a 2015 BE I'd like to get upgraded by a local tech as shipping the amp back to the states is ridiculously expensive. I wouldn't necessarily need parts, just instructions.
I'm wondering if I'll have any luck as I bought the amp used and I'm 12,000km away (Sydney).
Thanks.
Just out of curiosity, what are you looking to have updated?
Seems the overwhelming opinion is that the 2016 update is worth it, so thought I'd try it out. I like a less refined/less smooth tone with some better plexi-like options, I believe the update will help with this. Open to opinions of course, this is mostly from reading older threads.
As I understand it, this is the run down on the changes from the 2015 BE100 ( my BE is a 2015 as well.)
Structure switch: The cathode resistor & cap on V2a is 2.7k // .680uf cap. The structure switch upgrade replaces this with a 10k resistor on the board, and adds a 3 position switch that is center off, or either a 4.7k resistor // with the 10k, OR a 3.9k resistor + .680uf cap // with the 10k on the board. This provides 2 levels of LOWER gain from stock, with the 3.9k + .680uf cap in // with the 10k providing the exact same sound as stock.
This is a great upgrade, and is extremely useful to get lower gain tones. ( the 3.9k resistor might be 3.3k, I can't remember for sure. 3.9k // with 10k = approx 2.7k. If you use 3.3k, you'll get slightly more gain than stock. )
NFB mod: The 2015 BE has the NFB connected to the speaker jack. If your running a 16ohm 4x12 cab, that's a shit ton of NFB and it can make the amp sound too smooth. The 2016 amps have the NFB connected to the 4 ohm tap on the impedance selector. This change opens the amp up, and makes it brighter and more aggressive sounding. Another must have mod as far as I'm concerned.
Synergy caps : Your amp probably has Mallory 150 caps, and in 2016 Dave switched to using Synergy caps. I love Synergy caps, and they are my first choice for all my builds. But.... the Mallory's are good sounding caps, and they have a thickness in the lower mids that the Synergy's lack. Dave voiced the BE100 around these caps and they work very well in combination with all the other parts of the amp. Switching to Synergy's will change the tone. You may like the change. You may not. Also keep in mind you'll need to order these from the US, and you'll need about a $100 USD worth of caps to do the whole amp. DO NOT switch out the Mallory's for any other caps other than Synergy's.
Power supply filtering :The 2015 filtering scheme is 50uf main, 16uf screens, 100uf PI, 22+22uf Preamp. The 2016 scheme is 50uf main, 47uf screens, 100uf PI, 47+47uf Preamp. The big change here is the move to 47uf on the screens. This changes the feel significantly. 16uf is greasy. 47uf is stiffer. Personally, I like the 16uf on the screens.
A couple of suggestions: The clean channel tone stack is kind of a Vox thing. It's dead simple to convert it to a Fender type TS ( SS-100 clean), and only requires a couple of caps and resistors. Orange drop caps are used here, and are widely available. Any competent tech should be able to figure this out. ( I mean seriously, if I can figure it out, so can your tech
)
Secondly, if you don't use the DI out, consider adding a Depth control and a BE / JJ switch to change the value of the depth cap from .0047uf ( BE ) to .0068uf ( JJ ). The depth pot can go in the hole for the DI level, and the switch can go in the jack hole. Very worthwhile mod in my opinion.
The BE100's are super easy to work on, and any competent local tech should be able to do all these mods no problem. My suggestion would be to do the structure switch and the NFB mod ( which is just moving a wire ) and see what you think. Maybe do the clean channel mod and the depth mod while the amp is at the tech's. That may be enough to get you where you want to go, and won't cost much at all, as the parts required are minimal.
If that ends up not getting the amp to where you want, then go ahead and get your tech to order the Synergy coupling caps and the ARS filter caps, and go to town.
