Friedman BE-100 vs CAA/Suhr PT100

[BaRTY]

Can anybody comment on this?
I've got OD50 Standard Plus and like what it does. But I dig all the Friedman clips on youtube. And it makes me want a friedman amp. )

 

[Vanlaing5150]

Youtube is your friend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSR61dXq-d4

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

I've owned both of the older versions of these amps. Both were great, couldn't go wrong either way. The PT100 gives you footswitchable gain tones and get get into heavy rock, to me it was a little stiffer than the BE100. Hard to pick the "better" of the 2, not sure you could.

 

[BaRTY]

Thx, folks.
I should concentrate on playing technique rather than GAS. )) According to that yt clip I have a great amp. BE is not any kind of "better" indeed.

 

[Rayneman]

I had the PT100 and have the BE100. For me, its the Friedman all the way. I really did like the PT100, but the BE has a more pleasant high gain tone both to hear and to play, IMO. Pete Thorn makes the PT100 wail, but I think he typically isn't going for super high-gain tones and so the amp reflects that. Previous to the PT100 I had an OD 100 SE+ and I preferred that over the PT100, but this is just me.

 

[WizardSouth-JP]

There's a gain adjustment inside the PT100 that can give it as much gain as the SE+ (got this info from Pete Thorn and John Suhr)
One big difference I found was that the PT100 had to be louder for it to sound as good as the BE does at lower volumes. The master on the BE100 is so good that it's good from bedroom to arena. I would like an SE+ though, I think it's voiced for heavier stuff although Mark Day's vid seems to show they both are heavy.

 

[journeyman73]

i have the current versions of both amps (ie PT 100 Sig, which is very different than the old one).

which one someone prefers is going to be a strictly personal thing because both amps are fantastic best-in-class amps. I find the BE (and all my Friedmans, actually) to be a little more organic sounding, i guess. its sort of hard to describe. even though the new PT has much more vintage vibe to me than the old one i still feel like the BE has some combination of vintage and modern (in that its polished sounding) that is more comfortable.

the PT has the edge in tweakability and how much you could cover - between the 3 channels, cunch/boost on every channel, feedback, depth...there's a lot of tones in there. The BE has a lot of tweaking too but i find i can alter the tone of the PT more radically.

really depends on what your priorities/emphasis is - i ended up keeping both, for now

 

[BaRTY]

If I could afford both I would ))
I've got OD50 Standard+ now with 6L6 and pretty satisfied on "hotrodded" marshall type of sound. I don't need more gain at all. I barely turn gain above 6 or 7.
For old school type of sound I've got 1959. )

 

[LP Freak]

Both are great amps for sure. The BE is more polished sounding. I guess that's why I gravitate toward the PT.

 

[lespaul6]

I wish Dave would come out with a new BE that has less of that Vox low mid thing and more upper mids and less congestion in the gain.

 

[journeyman73]

I wish Dave would come out with a new BE that has less of that Vox low mid thing and more upper mids and less congestion in the gain.

sounds like the Phil X to me (minus all the switches )

 

[lespaul6]

I wish Dave would come out with a new BE that has less of that Vox low mid thing and more upper mids and less congestion in the gain.

sounds like the Phil X to me (minus all the switches )

Cool... didnt realize this!

 

[LP Freak]

I wish Dave would come out with a new BE that has less of that Vox low mid thing and more upper mids and less congestion in the gain.

They used to sound that way. I always preferred his mods on a Marshall.

 

[splawner]

I wish Dave would come out with a new BE that has less of that Vox low mid thing and more upper mids and less congestion in the gain.

They used to sound that way. I always preferred his mods on a Marshall.

^^^^^^^This

 

[se7en]

I wish Dave would come out with a new BE that has less of that Vox low mid thing and more upper mids and less congestion in the gain.

Newer ones have more upper mid bite and less of the squishy low mids IMO. Less smear to the notes...