Smallbox or BE100

  • Thread starter Thread starter marshallmel
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marshallmel

marshallmel

Well-known member
If anyone has played both. which one did you like better and why?
 
I prefer the be100 deluxe. You can get it to sound pretty close with all the switches on the amp. It just has more gas in the tank. I prefer the small box with the sat switch if you can get one.
 
I have a Runt 50 now and I’m not 100% satisfied with it. It just lacks oomph and seems lifeless. I played a Smallbox and loved it but there are some good deals on BE 100’s at the moment.
 
marshallmel":2iuo27ga said:
I have a Runt 50 now and I’m not 100% satisfied with it. It just lacks oomph and seems lifeless. I played a Smallbox and loved it but there are some good deals on BE 100’s at the moment.
Click to expand...
The BE is a great amp but it’s definitely different than the SB unless you go with the BE Deluxe as stated. What exactly are you looking to get out of the amp?
 
LP Freak":2znxuwut said:
marshallmel":2znxuwut said:
I have a Runt 50 now and I’m not 100% satisfied with it. It just lacks oomph and seems lifeless. I played a Smallbox and loved it but there are some good deals on BE 100’s at the moment.
Click to expand...
The BE is a great amp but it’s definitely different than the SB unless you go with the BE Deluxe as stated. What exactly are you looking to get out of the amp?
Click to expand...

I play in an 80’s hair metal tribute band. We do everything from small clubs to huge outdoor festivals. I like the size and weight of the smallbox because I’m old. I just can’t compare the two and I don’t want to be amp shopping again in a month.
 
marshallmel":3gnd5ywr said:
LP Freak":3gnd5ywr said:
marshallmel":3gnd5ywr said:
I have a Runt 50 now and I’m not 100% satisfied with it. It just lacks oomph and seems lifeless. I played a Smallbox and loved it but there are some good deals on BE 100’s at the moment.
Click to expand...
The BE is a great amp but it’s definitely different than the SB unless you go with the BE Deluxe as stated. What exactly are you looking to get out of the amp?
Click to expand...

I play in an 80’s hair metal tribute band. We do everything from small clubs to huge outdoor festivals. I like the size and weight of the smallbox because I’m old. I just can’t compare the two and I don’t want to be amp shopping again in a month.
Click to expand...
If you need a dedicated clean and overall more versatile amp, go with the BE. The BE50 is awesome too.
 
Assuming we're talking about the BE100 and NOT the 100 Deluxe, this is my take:
Clean channel - Small box has the Plexi channel, which is stellar. It will do a Plexi style clean, and because it has a master, you can dime the gain and get a nice light crunch tone as well.
The BE100 clean channel uses a Vox style tone stack, and does not have a master vol. It will not break up until the amp is ungodly loud, but good clean tones are achievable with the Bass / Treble EQ and the bright switches. Just don't expect it to sound like Fender cleans.

BE channel - exactly the same on both amps. ( technically, there are small differences, but you'd never hear it unless you had both amps side by side. I'm talkin' REALLY small :D )

The BE100 adds an HBE mode ( +1 gain stage ) and has the SAT switch for adding Diode clipping. The SAT switch is a cool feature, but it adds a lot of compression ( and gain ) and you may find yourself not cutting through the band mix in a live situation running the amp with the SAT on. (and it's not foot-switchable)

I love my BE100 to death, and I kept it over the Small box I owned at the same time for various reasons. But... if I was looking for my first Friedman to do Classic Rock / Hair Metal, I'd probably just go with the Small box and an SD-1 or ( insert favourite boost here ). You can get the extra gain and tone of the HBE and SAT modes with various boosts, and have a much more portable rig.

The biggest factor is probably going to be what your requirements are for the clean channel. If you have to have a Fender-y clean tone, you may want to look at the 50 Deluxe, or go with the BE100 and mod the clean channel tone stack to Fender values. Not sure if you want to go down that road, but the mod is dead simple and shouldn't cost too much, even if you have a tech do it. My BE100 has the Fender tone stack mod and it sounds really sweet for that Fender thing.
Hope that helps :thumbsup:
 
I would get the bogner helios instead,just a better all around modded marshall tone
 
My BE100 has the Fender tone stack, and I had the filtering and NFB changed to the lower Small Box levels (but I had the NFB put on a switch). The filtering and NFB change the way the amp responds dynamically. I also had a Plexi switch added that took out a gain stage - so with the switch enabled the whole amp is like a 100w Small Box. And, I converted to 6CA7s.

The amp is KILLER. Just amazing. In a perfect world I'd have more tonal control over the HBE, but as it stands this is just the most killer amp, if you like dynamic response. If you lean more toward a Diezel or Cameron thing (both super cool) I went the other way.
 
Owned both. Loved both. I always felt the BE has a bigger sound more bass more clean headroom. More options. The small box is more vintage in some ways. Can be boosted to have as much gain as the BE. I always preferd the bigger sound of the BE personally even when playing classic rock. Very similar yet very different. The used market on a BE is about if not cheaper than a used SB. So if a bigger sized head/heavier too are a concern get the smallbox. Glws
 
marshallmel":3f3hf3o1 said:
I have a Runt 50 now and I’m not 100% satisfied with it. It just lacks oomph and seems lifeless. I played a Smallbox and loved it but there are some good deals on BE 100’s at the moment.
Click to expand...

Damn! Really?! Runt 50 is my favorite Friedman by far. I preferred it over the JJ 100, BE100, and the Butterslax that I spent a lot of time with. Haven't tried the Smallbox yet.
 
dvoricci":f46sg3j4 said:
marshallmel":f46sg3j4 said:
I have a Runt 50 now and I’m not 100% satisfied with it. It just lacks oomph and seems lifeless. I played a Smallbox and loved it but there are some good deals on BE 100’s at the moment.
Click to expand...

Damn! Really?! Runt 50 is my favorite Friedman by far. I preferred it over the JJ 100, BE100, and the Butterslax that I spent a lot of time with. Haven't tried the Smallbox yet.
Click to expand...
Interesting, 1st I've ever seen this one win out on those amps.
 
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