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Friedman BE OD

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  • Friedman BE OD

    It's decent. I like it better than the DLS MKIII, but not as much as the Bogner Blue or the Plextortion, or Distortron.

    I have spent six hours with the BE, through three amps, run into all manner of clean, barely crunchy, mildly crunchy or used as a moderate boost. LOUD to low bedroom volumes.

    Not feeling the love or getting the hype.

    Even with the internal trim pot backed all the way off, its got too much gain to do an old marshall crunchy sound. Its got an unatural haze/muddiness over the midrange no matter what settings you use, and especially kills something off in the high midrange. It doesn't clean up all that well with the volume pot, and kills off some natural sustain until you get the gain up beyond 9 oclock. At which point, my volume and tone controls are pretty much worthless except as on/off switches. It also flat out made a couple of my pedals (phase and chorus) sound like @$$.

    Even through the very fenderish clean green on my dsl, it didn't "take".

    It does have a very tube like warmth..the warm fizzies...kinda like my OR15 has. More warm/tubey than the catalinbread dls or bogner blue

    Sounds decent if you are playing mostly single note high gain lead work and heavy distorted power chords. (Cowboy/complex chords kind of smear into a muddy mess).

    The controls are very interactive and I was able to dial in my DSL, OR15 and even my little Blackstar to get the EQ where it needed to be for each amp.

    Im just a tube snob I guess. Id rather have the amp do the work and hit it with a pedal if need be. Much more natural sounding and dynamic.
    I'm an internet person. All we do is waste time evaluating things that have next-to-zero real world significance.

    Remember, it's just a plank of wood. YOU have to find the music in it - The Telecaster Handbook

  • #2
    Re: Friedman BE OD

    6 hours !
    if It has a very tube like warmth
    that's what we want
    what did you expect said G Clooney ? !

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    • #3
      Re: Friedman BE OD

      I can get better tube like warmth out of a radial plexitube.

      My point- its not as reality bending as people make it out to be. Its a decent one trick pony distortion pedal. Its not going to replace any decent tube amps. My DSL red channel still sounds better for that kind of sound.
      I'm an internet person. All we do is waste time evaluating things that have next-to-zero real world significance.

      Remember, it's just a plank of wood. YOU have to find the music in it - The Telecaster Handbook

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Friedman BE OD

        I know Friedman is the newest cool kid on the block, coming up behind Bogner, especially on the LA amp scene.

        However, I wouldn't trade any of my Bogner products for Friedman.

        I'm basing my opinion on real play time on both companies. I even cranked a $5000 BE100 halfstack today. I still like the Dirty Shirley 40W enough to own one, but I still think Bogner amps and pedals are more worth the high dollars than Friedmans.

        The difference is in Bogner's tonal range, where Friedmans just sound like improved Marshall 800's.

        I can't knock Friedman at all though. All of them sound great, and I'm sure I'll own a Dirty Shirley when the opportunity arises.
        Originally posted by Boogie Bill
        I've got 60 guitars...but 49 trumpets is just...INSANITY! WTF!

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        • #5
          Re: Friedman BE OD

          Yeah, the Bogner Blue is definitely the more versatile pedal, within it's scope. The Friedman is more adaptable to different rigs because the eq/shaping tools are so powerful.

          I like the small box and especially the dirty shirley as far as Friedman's amps go. But if I was gonna go that modded Marshall route, I'd be talking to David Bray I think.
          I'm an internet person. All we do is waste time evaluating things that have next-to-zero real world significance.

          Remember, it's just a plank of wood. YOU have to find the music in it - The Telecaster Handbook

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          • #6
            Re: Friedman BE OD

            Well, amp-wise, I really dig the Dirty Shirley, but no idea how that would translate into an overdrive pedal.
            Administrator of the SDUGF

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            • #7
              Re: Friedman BE OD

              Thanks for the review from someone who's ear I trust.
              I am looking for a gnarly overdrive pedal, and this was on the short list.
              My list is now: 5150, Palladium.
              Why don't you take your little Cobra Kais and get outta here?!
              My collaborative PROGRESSIVE ROCK PROJECT, As Follows.

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              • #8
                Re: Friedman BE OD

                I was really surprised it wasn't better or at least prtty dsrn good through ONE of my amps. The weirdness with the midrange...muddy and choked off.

                It probably sounded best through the Blackstar ID10.

                You should probably check out a Bogner Red too, Ben

                Edit, I also used it as a preamp into the loop of both the DSL and OR15. Overall, no better OR worse than into the front of them, but it doesn't have enough volume/output. Maybe @18v would be better
                Last edited by JeffB; 11-05-2016, 04:47 PM.
                I'm an internet person. All we do is waste time evaluating things that have next-to-zero real world significance.

                Remember, it's just a plank of wood. YOU have to find the music in it - The Telecaster Handbook

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                • #9
                  Re: Friedman BE OD

                  Gave up.

                  Going back.

                  Maybe better through something like a deluxe reverb...
                  I'm an internet person. All we do is waste time evaluating things that have next-to-zero real world significance.

                  Remember, it's just a plank of wood. YOU have to find the music in it - The Telecaster Handbook

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Friedman BE OD

                    did you try it in both 9 and 18v? Im sure the dif is very subtle, but just wondering.. I like my OCD on 18 v
                    Believe me when I say that some of the most amazing music in history was made on equipment that's not as good as what you own right now.

                    Jol Dantzig

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                    • #11
                      Re: Friedman BE OD

                      I did not. I have a 18v power supply, but I couldn't locate it. I'm not sure it would help with the fundamental issues I have with the pedal, but I can see it being a help when running the pedal into a fx loop return for sure!
                      I'm an internet person. All we do is waste time evaluating things that have next-to-zero real world significance.

                      Remember, it's just a plank of wood. YOU have to find the music in it - The Telecaster Handbook

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Friedman BE OD

                        Yeah, I dont think its going to change your opinion of the pedal, but just wondered what benefit (if any) it would have on the tone
                        Believe me when I say that some of the most amazing music in history was made on equipment that's not as good as what you own right now.

                        Jol Dantzig

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                        • #13
                          Re: Friedman BE OD

                          My co-guitarist has one. We've both come to the same conclusions as the OP. The BE seems to need a clean platform to really shine. The biggest drawback for me is there's no taming the thing! I live in the low/medium gain range most of the time and that's not what this pedal wants to do. Even with the trim pot dialed back there's almost too much gain. In the end I decided to stay with my 3 dirt box setup (Zendrive for leads, TS for boost/low gain, Fallout Cloud for fuzz). Just my .02.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Friedman BE OD

                            I thought you nailed some perfect tones like a year ago - I forget what set up. You still chasin' or just trying stuff out?

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                            • #15
                              Re: Friedman BE OD

                              Originally posted by DankStar View Post
                              I thought you nailed some perfect tones like a year ago - I forget what set up. You still chasin' or just trying stuff out?
                              Just looking for a lower volume alternative. My DSL is great when Im able to get the volumes up way loud. But these days I don't get the opportunity very often.
                              I'm an internet person. All we do is waste time evaluating things that have next-to-zero real world significance.

                              Remember, it's just a plank of wood. YOU have to find the music in it - The Telecaster Handbook

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