FRIEDMAN BE 100 HBE VS MARSHALL JCM800

[maestroberetta]

hi guys which of those years has more gain? friedman be 100 hbe channel or marshall jcm800 ? thanks a lot

[Joey Voltage]

Re: FRIEDMAN BE 100 HBE VS MARSHALL JCM800

hi guys which of those years has more gain? friedman be 100 hbe channel or marshall jcm800 ? thanks a lot

Depends on what you mean by 800. The JCM 800 was a series, not just a model. if you mean just the plain 2203/4 that's stock, no modifications, than the HBE will have more gain in the sense of more distortion.

[Red_Label]

Re: FRIEDMAN BE 100 HBE VS MARSHALL JCM800

Yup... no question. I've owned a 2203X and currently own a BE100. The Friedman's got more gain. The 2203X was great with my OCD driving the front end. But it's not nearly as smooth and versatile as the BE

[JMP/HBE]

Re: FRIEDMAN BE 100 HBE VS MARSHALL JCM800

HBE has more tube gain than an 800 and the Friedmans volume is more managable.

800's are loud & mean you gotta turn them up.

[Mincer]

Re: FRIEDMAN BE 100 HBE VS MARSHALL JCM800

I am thinking the HBE probably doubles the gain, really.

[JMP/HBE]

Re: FRIEDMAN BE 100 HBE VS MARSHALL JCM800

I am thinking the HBE probably doubles the gain, really.

The HBE is an extra 12AX7 or actually X 100 gain factor.

[Joey Voltage]

Re: FRIEDMAN BE 100 HBE VS MARSHALL JCM800

The HBE is an extra 12AX7 or actually X 100 gain factor.

Not exactly... A 12ax7 can never reach its full potential of an amplification factor (or gain) of 100 in most normal configurations because its internal resistance is way too high. The most you can usually juice out of a 12ax7 is typically about a gain of 60-70, although there are ways to increase this potential, it is never used in the guitar world, nor is it required. That said there are other interactions around the circuit that will slug that down as well. The extra stage in the HBE is also heavily attenuated afterwards, so realistically you only end up with about 1/10th of that extra signal being passed through to the next stage, but this in no way means 10x more distortion.

All that said, saying something has x times more gain is only relevant if we are talking about gain in the engineering sense and not gain in the musical sense (distortion), the two are distinctly different, and "Gain" in the musical distortion sense is not recognized in the engineering sense the same way. Meaning all it will imply is that the signal has the potential of being 10 times larger than it was going in, not 10 times more distorted. The signal at the output of the device could still be 100 times larger than the one on the input but very clean, its still a gain of 100

[JMP/HBE]

Re: FRIEDMAN BE 100 HBE VS MARSHALL JCM800

Thats alot of Hypothetical Hyperblia all things considered.

[Joey Voltage]

Re: FRIEDMAN BE 100 HBE VS MARSHALL JCM800

There's really nothing exaggerated, nor uncertain about it. It's pretty well established and known. The only thing is that when certain terminology is applied to something that can have two completely different meanings, the context in which they are applied becomes more critical.

[JMP/HBE]

Re: FRIEDMAN BE 100 HBE VS MARSHALL JCM800

I feel like its 1986' and i just got a lecture from my Electronics Professor.