Why U No Kvetch Bout This One? Friedman BE Mini

[LLL]

Lots of talk about lunchboxes but don't think I've seen anyone snag one of these:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/BE-Mini--friedman-be-mini-30-watt-head

 

[beaubrummels]

Superficially, the specs and price are identical to the Bogner and Diezel 30w minis. Makes me wonder if there's a single overseas company making them all just with different logos. Albeit slight differences with the EQ tilting switches/knobs across them all. Conspicuously, the reviews are almost all 5-star.

I'm not in the market for a lunchbox at the moment. 30w is still pretty loud and I have an Orange AD50 that can do 30w class A, and I have a Plexi that is 45w, so I don't feel a strong need for an SS 30w that is mimicking a tube 30w base I already have covered. But I'd be interested in hearing a shootout, if someone has all of them to compare.

 

[Top-L]

I have never tried it, but just looking at it and thinking about Friedman’s other amps makes me kind of sad.

One of the Sweetwater reviews, the guy is gushing about it and says, "I'm so happy! This is my first Friedman!"

No. No, it is not.

 

[Top-L]

You could get a Friedman sticker and put it on your Katana and have the best of both.

 

[LLL]

I've heard clips by Michael Nielsen and it sounds great (boosted Marshall tonal ballpark - like Friedman's flagship amps).

 

[devastone]

It (all of them) are just their amp-in-a-box pedals repackaged with a 30W class d power amp. If you already have some kind of power amp, or an amp with an fx loop, the pedal seems like a better investment. But, that's IMHO only, YMMV, ice cream, etc...

Is it a real Friedman, Diezel, whatever, uhm, no, still might be a cool toy, but hardly the "real" thing.

 

[LLL]

Your ears will tell you the truth.

 

[Top-L]

Honestly that sounds pretty bad. It doesn't have any depth.

It sounds like there is some kind of intermodulation or pulsing in the distortion. Doesn't have any thump. Sounds like a typical distortion pedal.

Please anyone considering this... just get a Katana.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

The PT20 is an incredible little amp. Of course, that's an actual tube amp.

 

[Bogner]

Oh look! A powered pedal in an amp enclosure!!

Not my thing and just more gimmicky BS catering to these lovers of low wattage amps cuz my back hurts and I can't carry a proper amp.

 

[Phantasmagoria]

A low wattage tube amp is still a lot different than a powered pedal..

Unless you actually manage to build something that sounds like this (funky aesthetics are a bonus)

So tubey and organic you'll wonder why you ever had to lug around that big old Orange or Matamp of your's :laugh2:

I just wish that the $15.00 chinese class D power amp did'nt die in there so often (had to give up on them after the 4th one crapped out). It's a shame cuz they sounded pretty awsome :lmao: