Best overdrive i've ever purchased (friedman)

[Open lane]

I've owned a lot of fuzz/od/distortion pedals over the years. Some have stayed around, some have not.

Just making this post incase anyone is purchasing an od pedal anytime soon and may be looking for a option to consider.

The pedal i'm talking about and am using is the friedman be-od. It is extremely full and rich sounding. I've been mainly using it for shred. I don't really know what else to say, except that i'm generally not a tinkerer and i've found it hard not to get good sounds out of this thing. I also own the friedman small box (which i also like), and think the be-od is even fuller sounding. Playing through it really gets my juices flowing.

 

[Open lane]

I tried to change the name of this thread to say "my favorite" instead of "best" because it's all subjective. But when i tried to do such, it was too late.

 

[Bogner]

All the Friedman pedals sound good if you are looking for that M type and or hot rodded M type sounds.

 

[Mincer]

Is an amp-in-the-box pedal different than an overdrive?

 

[eclecticsynergy]

The Friedmans I've played do the hot-Brit sound better than stock Marshalls do.
It's only to be expected that their pedals would totally rock.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Is an amp-in-the-box pedal different than an overdrive?

To my mind, the AIB label really covers two different types.
One is an OD intended to give a relatively neutral amp the sound and feel of a Marshall, Vox, blackface, tweed, etc.
The other type is designed as a standalone solution for direct recording with the character of the intended classic.
Of course, there's some overlap, and a lot of grey area in between.

 

[Bogner]

Pedals have too many pronouns now a days. I prefer to go back to how it was. The pedal sounds good or the pedal sounds bad. You decide for you.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Do you think they sound more like an M than an actual M does?

They are what an M amp should be but has never actually been.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Very grey indeed. It seems like some pedals marketed at one application are actually better at the other, or are low-key more built for it.

The nature of drive pedals in general seems to be moving towards more amplike behavior.
Many designs now employ several gain stages with tone shaping in between, just like a real amp.
Some even duplicate actual tube preamp circuits, replacing the tube stage with transistors.

Many of my Lovepedal drives have great touch response, cleaning up nicely via volume knob & playing dynamics.
The Ethos TWE-1 is downright amazing in that repect, and the Blackstone MosFET.
Both of those are multiple-gainstage pedals, I have no doubt.

That amplike trend is partly driven by the countless thousands of bedroom players buying gear these days, I think.
But even among working musicians, stage levels are far lower than they used to be.
Big amps cranked up as one's core tone have become the exception rather than the rule now, even for rock.
It makes sense that ODs would rapidly evolve to address that situation - cranked sounds for cleaner amps.
Of course the more sophisticated modern circuits mostly sound great with a driven amp too,

Anyway, I'd have no qualms recording direct (through the great Iconoclast cab sim) using drive pedals that weren't designed for that.
Hi-Volt, Brownface Deluxe, Purple Plexi, maybe even the Marvel Drive and Jubillee. With decent post EQ they could be album quality.

In a world of impulse responses and digitally modeled amps it's easy to forget, all of that simply makes things more convenient.
You don't need 21st century sophistication to get a great recorded sound. If necessary, a lot can be done with almost nothing.
Heck, in the early 80s I once got usable lead tone from a Tube Screamer plugged straight in, with only the console EQ for a speaker sim.

 

[Gtrjunior]

So who decides that? Dave? His market? Does Marshall know their amps have not been cutting it all these years ? How much do they respond to the amp modification culture?

I decide that

 

[Gtrjunior]

You cant decide for me!

In all seriousness, Marshall makes a great amp. They were modded heavily from almost the beginning of their inception. Anything from a simple OD pedal in front to full blown circuitry changes.
Guys like Friedman, Splawn sand Bogner have just incorporated their mods into their own platform. And they have done a fantastic job. I own a Splawn and it is a phenomenal amp. And I’ve had the pleasure of playing a BE-100 and an SS-100. Both spectacular. Oh! I also had the pleasure of plugging into a 68’ Plexi and turning it up LOUD. That was something to experience.

 

[CaptainWhizz]

Is the BE-OD Deluxe more... um... deluxe? Because I like extra stuff.

The deluxe has two channels, and they each have 3-band eq sections, rather than the two on the regular. But one of the controls has changed from a pot on the regular to a switch on the deluxe I think?

Also, there is/ was a special edition deluxe IIRC.

EDIT:
https://m.thomann.ae/friedman_be_od_deluxe_overdrive_ltd.htm
Cogs ahoy!

Also, I think the NUX Fireman is meant to be inspired by the BE-OD deluxe, I know you like to sample clones sometimes before getting the real deal.

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

If Joyo Uzi is indeed the clone of the said Friedman, then I have to concur with the OP....lol.

 

[NegativeEase]

Friedman is great stuff, They have the "emotional tonal zeitgeist" right now (I just made that up) like some other brands have had in past eras -like Hiwatt, 5150, Soldano, Mesa etc etc

Why is this ETZ important?

because you get a serotonin rush from you expectation of how great it will be right before you even hear it -which make you love it more predjudiciously than in just a blind test.

This is why the industrial design and pedal graphics play such a part in our evaluation of a pedal -you are drugging yourself.

So while Friedman stuff fares well in a blind test and is great stuff that is really earned their place in the last 10 years,

-we all are expecting and being drugged by our own expectation of them.

If Friedman made a bad pedal, none of use would likely consider it bad.

That said, I have no doubt they make an excellent OD pedal, but out Marshalling a classic Marshall? thats the Serotonin talkin....

 

[NegativeEase]

Friedman is great stuff, They have the "emotional tonal zeitgeist" right now (I just made that up) like some other brands have had in past eras -like Hiwatt, 5150, Soldano, Mesa etc etc

Why is this ETZ important?

because you get a serotonin rush from you expectation of how great it will be right before you even hear it -which make you love it more predjudiciously than in just a blind test.

This is why the industrial design and pedal graphics play such a part in our evaluation of a pedal -you are drugging yourself.

So while Friedman stuff fares well in a blind test and is great stuff that is really earned their place in the last 10 years,

-we all are expecting and being drugged by our own expectation of them.

If Friedman made a bad pedal, none of use would likely consider it bad.

That said, I have no doubt they make an excellent OD pedal, but out Marshalling a classic Marshall? thats the Serotonin talkin....

I should add, Im in a studio next month that has every classic Marshall Head from the right years AND a half dozen of Friedman's best head -so I'm glad to report back from a blind test on my ETZ synopsis.

and eat my words if necessary. :lmao:

 

[jeremy]

In all seriousness, Marshall makes a great amp. They were modded heavily from almost the beginning of their inception. Anything from a simple OD pedal in front to full blown circuitry changes.
Guys like Friedman, Splawn sand Bogner have just incorporated their mods into their own platform. And they have done a fantastic job. I own a Splawn and it is a phenomenal amp. And I’ve had the pleasure of playing a BE-100 and an SS-100. Both spectacular. Oh! I also had the pleasure of plugging into a 68’ Plexi and turning it up LOUD. That was something to experience.

i think what you want out of your "marshall" makes a huge difference. i want a jtm45 or superbass, if you want a hot rodded plexi, then yeah friedman might make a "better marshall" than marshall. my favorite "marshall" ive played recently was a friends blankenship, looked like a plexi but hes not a gearhead so couldnt tell me much about it

 

[LLL]

i think what you want out of your "marshall" makes a huge difference. i want a jtm45 or superbass, if you want a hot rodded plexi, then yeah friedman might make a "better marshall" than marshall. my favorite "marshall" ive played recently was a friends blankenship, looked like a plexi but hes not a gearhead so couldnt tell me much about it

Excellent point. There is no single "Marshall tone"... every Marshall model (at least the traditional pre-2000s models) has its own thing/tone going.

 

[NegativeEase]

Excellent point. There is no single "Marshall tone"... every Marshall model (at least the traditional pre-2000s models) has its own thing/tone going.

The only "thing" I don't want from a Marshall is the early 90s Valvestate "thing"

 

[LLL]

The only "thing" I don't want from a Marshall is the early 90s Valvestate "thing"

What a tube snob.

 

[NegativeEase]

What a tube snob.

Nah, Later Valvetates I've used are a much better attempt.

Their early attempts just sound so "Empty"