Friedman BE-OD...... BE-OD Deluxe or Smallbox OD........

[The~Kid]

I remember shooting these out not so long ago about 2 years ago and while they were all great one stood out to me but I forgot which one......


What I do remember that I liked was what it gave in that .800K-1.6K range....



I think it was the Smallbox or the BE-OD but honestly forgot. The Deluxe is nice but I feel too midscooped and dry for lack of a better term, subtle air but not enough for me.


I'm thinking it was the BE-OD even though it had less options but I don't remember if it was the Smallbox. The one thing I remember is that although the one I liked out of the two had a bit less gain and controls than the Deluxe less is more and there was more air and note separation between the two and overall crunch maybe not as much presence and top end but definitely a lot of air.




Out of the three which one do you prefer and what do they offer for you?

 

[Nashville Riff Co]

Have you considered…..?

 

[DanTravis62]

Lawrence petross eighty 7 deluxe instead of beod

Lawrence petross seventy 4 deluxe instead of smallbox

Honestly the golden pearl is the best sounding out of the friedman pedals IMO

if you need less gain but want to retain the marshall flavor the pedalpal 800 is very amplike, but for a similar amount of gain the LPD pedals absolutely murder the beod IMO - they're more amplike, have more kerrang, and are superior in basically every way

 

[The~Kid]

Have you considered…..?

View attachment 391616

I like the way those chillies look....... definitely some red rockets with a lot of heat

 

[Nashville Riff Co]

I like the way those chilies look....... definitely some red rocket with a lot of heat

It’s actually not a bad pedal lol, I used to have the entire series of those steel panther pedals lol

Are you looking to boost an amp or a true distortion/overdrive? Also what’s the platform amp?

 

[The~Kid]

It’s actually not a bad pedal lol, I used to have the entire series of those steel panther pedals lol

Are you looking to boost an amp or a true distortion/overdrive? Also what’s the platform amp?

Just like a straight up amp in a box. It's hard to explain but I have a FATRAT that goosed with an SD1W before it and a 6 band EQ at the end of chain post mod and dirt will get me pretty nasty but I kind of want like a vintage/modern tone Ala plexi.

Probably the only other amps I can think of that can get me what I want are either a Vintage Modern which don't cost to much looking at prices again or a Friedman but yeah funds for that or space doesn't make sense for me right now. Really do like the Friedman sound in general and thinking back the pedals really impressed me. I'm thinking it was the BE-OD and am at GC to try them out.


Not going to get it anytime soon but just kind of want to check in for when I make the decision. Unfortunately they don't have the Smallbox to compare to. I'ma try the BE-OD and if it doesn't wow me when it comes time to it will probably settle on a Smallbox. I'm thinking it was the BE-OD as the tight knob and feature on those is pretty responsive or not sure if it was the Smallbox offering that 800K-1.6K in the mid to upper mids I like.

 

[The~Kid]

Lawrence petross eighty 7 deluxe instead of beod

Lawrence petross seventy 4 deluxe instead of smallbox

Honestly the golden pearl is the best sounding out of the friedman pedals IMO

if you need less gain but want to retain the marshall flavor the pedalpal 800 is very amplike, but for a similar amount of gain the LPD pedals absolutely murder the beod IMO - they're more amplike, have more kerrang, and are superior in basically every way

Definitely need to check those out and will consider but kind of want to limit options to what I can try near by for reference to know what I'm getting. If I can come come across some of those I may consider them or checking out some clips.

Took a chance with some BearFoots and I love them never trying them before but the flavor there is pure vintage/tame for lack of better term vs the more more modern sound I'm after. Haven't heard of Lawrence though and will check them out for sure.

 

[Nashville Riff Co]

Just like a straight up amp in a box. It's hard to explain but I have a FATRAT that goosed with an SD1W and a 6 band EQ at the end of it will get me pretty nasty but I kind of want like a vintage/modern tone Ala plexi.

Probably the only other amps I can think of that can get me what I want are either a Vintage Modern which don't cost to much looking at prices again or a Friedman but yeah funds for that or space doesn't make sense for me right now. Really do like the Friedman sound in general and thinking back the pedals really impressed me. I'm thinking it was the BE-OD and am at GC to try them out.


Not going to get it anytime soon but just kind of want to check in for when I make the decision. Unfortunately they don't have the Smallbox to compare to. I'ma try the BE-OD and if it doesn't wow me when it comes time to it will probably settle on a Smallbox. I'm thinking it was the BE-OD as the tight knob and feature on those is pretty responsive or not sure if it was the Smallbox offering that 800K-1.6K in the mid to upper mids I like.

BE-OD Deluxe is your answer

 

[The~Kid]

BE-OD Deluxe is your answer

Honestly it wasn't bad but I would only see myself using that higher gain channel as good as the lower gain one is........ it sounded pretty sick.....

But Ima give the BE-OD a shot as I think the tightness knob may bring a little bit more something the Deluxe doesn't offer even though it has a mid knob instead and the tight switch over the BE-OD. I mean both great but just coming back to these and kind of need to find my bearings with both.

 

[DanTravis62]

Definitely need to check those out and will consider but kind of want to limit options to what I can try near by for reference to know what I'm getting. If I can come come across some of those I may consider them or checking out some clips.

Took a chance with some BearFoots and I love them never trying them before but the flavor there is pure vintage/tame for lack of better term vs the more more modern sound I'm after. Haven't heard of Lawrence though and will check them out for sure.

Definitely check out the clips, but if youre limiting pedals to ones you can try why don't you try the UA lion?

 

[TheGreatGreen]

The biggest thing that bothers me about the BE-OD Deluxe is that Friedman took the coolest control from the BE-OD, the Tight knob, and downgraded it into a 3-way toggle switch.

Come on Dave, take a BE-OD Deluxe, change the Tight controls back to pots, and call it a BE-OD Super Deluxe. Go ahead, make the coolest AIAB pedal ever.

 

[The~Kid]

The biggest thing that bothers me about the BE-OD Deluxe is that Friedman took the coolest control from the BE-OD, the Tight knob, and downgraded it into a 3-way toggle switch.

Come on Dave, take a BE-OD Deluxe, change the Tight controls back to pots, and call it a BE-OD Super Deluxe. Go ahead, make the coolest AIAB pedal ever.

I mean I don't want to say it's lesser but just different.



I feel the BE OD Deluxe is good for higher gain in general like thrash/death metal territory because it's more dry in either channel and a bit brighter, chainsaw like and cut throat. The Pressence knob is more dry, the tight switches work different and overall for me while both were great I really liked the BE-OD because I feel the tight knob works out better for me vs the mid knob and I like control over the tightness and overall per same taper I felt the BE-OD offered more headroom in general.



I always play a new pedal on some stock Line 6 whatever or Fender Mustang because I figure your always going to get it's best pros and cons that way and well testing on a Mustang Gen 8 or whatever now...... which aren't bad by the way felt the BE-OD came out on top for what I'm after.


In general do feel the BE-OD Deluxe offers a bit more gain and that lower gain channel is pretty great but I kind of felt the regular BE-OD offered more air, headroom and more usefulness, range practicality and control over the tight and presence knobs for me. I know the smaller knob works out that it should be the same or that they both sound alike but they kind of really don't and are opposites on every level.


Both are great but the BE-OD Deluxe is the more straight up modern version, a bit more mid cut in general and more gainy with more top end while the BE-OD is modern but more vintage vibe too can still get nasty with but still smooth and plenty of air and the right amount of mids and works out for me that's my take on the two but YMMV.

 

[The~Kid]

Definitely check out the clips, but if youre limiting pedals to ones you can try why don't you try the UA lion?

Yeah honestly just haven't had the chance to play them, some of the places around here have had them but didn't consider before. Going in today to the GC they didn't seem to have any so I didn't ask......

But checking right now they actually did have them in stock at the one I went to..... and I'm on the way back home..... definitely need to check out next time I have time to go.

 

[The~Kid]

Personally what I liked about the BE-OD was while it didn't have more gain for me the tracking, tracing, bass handling and overall attack and air kind of made me lean into it more and dig in along with more headroom per same taper in volume iMO.


I do like the higher gain and dryer sound but I appreciate more air and higher headroom more. IMO what would be great would be an updated version that simply has a switch that gives you the standard version and then an even higher gain version that is more mid cut and dry but still offers the headroom and some air.