Picked up an old Friedman

WizardSouth-JP

Well-known member
#0059
scored a 2011 BE100 the other day, super great shape from the original owner. He said Dave built it, modded it etc.
1 input top right, single volume for clean, footswitch jack underneath the clean volume, and switchable clean, BE.HBE via 2 button footswitch.
Switches on the back for FAT, C45, SAT and loop.
this sucker is LOUD!
 

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Congrats on your new amp... you mention its loud, louder than another BE you tried? wonder why? is the negative feedback wire connected to the 4ohm jack or?
 
lespaul6":tx0lnv8x said:
Congrats on your new amp... you mention its loud, louder than another BE you tried? wonder why? is the negative feedback wire connected to the 4ohm jack or?

Running into 16ohm cab with 16 ohm out of the amp. To me, these older Friedmans react like a Plexi in terms of authority - not sure why. But the master is still good enough you can play at lower volumes, but as you turn the amp up - it's evident it's gonna push some air like a 100w Plexi
 
Heck yea, I hope Dave releases a more authentic old school Plexi, as the older BE's were but even more chirping and sizzling. I’ve played and owned a few of Dave’s old Marsha and early BE100, they do have a more Plexi type response. Currently still have a 2013 BE100 that is just killer to every amp I have compared it to.
 
Adambomb":vrr8gwhw said:
Heck yea, I hope Dave releases an authentic old school Plexi type amp. I’ve played and owned a few of Dave’s old Marsha and early BE100, they do have a more Plexi type response. Currently still have a 2013 BE100 that is just killer to every amp I have compared it to.

Yes, hard to describe but these older ones are definitely their own thing. I had an older 2 input BE-100 too, similar vibe.
 
UberschallEL34":2sgci6mx said:
Adambomb":2sgci6mx said:
Heck yea, I hope Dave releases an authentic old school Plexi type amp. I’ve played and owned a few of Dave’s old Marsha and early BE100, they do have a more Plexi type response. Currently still have a 2013 BE100 that is just killer to every amp I have compared it to.

Yes, hard to describe but these older ones are definitely their own thing. I had an older 2 input BE-100 too, similar vibe.


Nice score! I'd rather go down the simple BE100, or earlier versions and maybe send it in for some custom mods, rather than drop all that cash on a brand new. Oh its got 4 inputs, didn't notice that before.
 
Only 1 input for the guitar, the bottom right is plugged.
The one below the single knob for the clean channel is the footswitch jack.

there's also a 2 way voicing switch, but it's pretty subtle, at least to my ears.
 
UberschallEL34":1gldwmci said:
lespaul6":1gldwmci said:
Congrats on your new amp... you mention its loud, louder than another BE you tried? wonder why? is the negative feedback wire connected to the 4ohm jack or?

Running into 16ohm cab with 16 ohm out of the amp. To me, these older Friedmans react like a Plexi in terms of authority - not sure why. But the master is still good enough you can play at lower volumes, but as you turn the amp up - it's evident it's gonna push some air like a 100w Plexi

He meant the internal negative feedback tap off of the speaker jacks.

I just picked up a two input 2012 BE-100. I had one a while back but sold it. I have an extensively modded 2015 BE and had the BE100DLX. I totally prefer the simplicity of the older two inputs version. Mine has a 3 way gain structure switch added which is a great addition.

lespaul6 - Funny you ask about the negative feedback. I felt this specific 2012 that I have was a little too dark and smooth compared to the last one I had. I moved the feedback wire to the 4 ohm tap and it was the perfect fix. Opened it up with a little more bite.

Here’s a pic of the amp and the feedback tap moved from the 16ohm to 4ohm jack

bOkLqAyl.jpg


oS4Dt1Wl.jpg
 
RedPlated":3cffgxgf said:
UberschallEL34":3cffgxgf said:
lespaul6":3cffgxgf said:
Congrats on your new amp... you mention its loud, louder than another BE you tried? wonder why? is the negative feedback wire connected to the 4ohm jack or?

Running into 16ohm cab with 16 ohm out of the amp. To me, these older Friedmans react like a Plexi in terms of authority - not sure why. But the master is still good enough you can play at lower volumes, but as you turn the amp up - it's evident it's gonna push some air like a 100w Plexi

He meant the internal negative feedback tap off of the speaker jacks.

I just picked up a two input 2012 BE-100. I had one a while back but sold it. I have an extensively modded 2015 BE and had the BE100DLX. I totally prefer the simplicity of the older two inputs version. Mine has a 3 way gain structure switch added which is a great addition.

lespaul6 - Funny you ask about the negative feedback. I felt this specific 2012 that I have was a little too dark and smooth compared to the last one I had. I moved the feedback wire to the 4 ohm tap and it was the perfect fix. Opened it up with a little more bite.

Here’s a pic of the amp and the feedback tap moved from the 16ohm to 4ohm jack

bOkLqAyl.jpg


oS4Dt1Wl.jpg


Yep that's all I did to my BE and it was just the right amount of bite and openness I was looking for. Except mine was just a wire without that resistor and cap, never seem them like that. Oh wait, you have all jacks, not the rotary taps, probably why. On the black board versions, you move the purple wire from the speaker jack to the 4ohm tap on the impedance switch. Dave removed one of the big caps when mine was in for repair a couple of years ago, or changed the heavy filtering or something.
 
If there is a 220k resistor between the treble wiper & master volume input try replacing it with a 18ga wire. It should open up.

David
 
RedPlated":239re8aj said:
UberschallEL34":239re8aj said:
lespaul6":239re8aj said:
Congrats on your new amp... you mention its loud, louder than another BE you tried? wonder why? is the negative feedback wire connected to the 4ohm jack or?

Running into 16ohm cab with 16 ohm out of the amp. To me, these older Friedmans react like a Plexi in terms of authority - not sure why. But the master is still good enough you can play at lower volumes, but as you turn the amp up - it's evident it's gonna push some air like a 100w Plexi

He meant the internal negative feedback tap off of the speaker jacks.

I just picked up a two input 2012 BE-100. I had one a while back but sold it. I have an extensively modded 2015 BE and had the BE100DLX. I totally prefer the simplicity of the older two inputs version. Mine has a 3 way gain structure switch added which is a great addition.

lespaul6 - Funny you ask about the negative feedback. I felt this specific 2012 that I have was a little too dark and smooth compared to the last one I had. I moved the feedback wire to the 4 ohm tap and it was the perfect fix. Opened it up with a little more bite.

Here’s a pic of the amp and the feedback tap moved from the 16ohm to 4ohm jack

bOkLqAyl.jpg


oS4Dt1Wl.jpg

good feedback... thanks!
 
NewReligion":18fn9ca2 said:
If there is a 220k resistor between the treble wiper & master volume input try replacing it with a 18ga wire. It should open up.

David

Good info, thanks.
 
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