Friedman BE50 Deluxe at NAMM 2018: New 50W boutique amp head
An all seeing eye of an amplifier
Friedman Amplification is about to launch the BE50, a 50-Watt, three-channel amp that combines the BE and HBE circuits in one big old boutique one amp head.
Friedman BE50 Deluxe 50 Watt
This new amp combines the Brown Eye and Hairy Brown Eye amplifier circuits that made Dave Friedman’s amps famous. These were both based on boutique hot-rodded Marshall Plexi-style high gain, crunchy amp tones. What is really cool is that you can switch between them both via a footswitch, making for a flexible amp with lots of tones on tap.
With independent volume and gain controls for each of the three channels, this new model looks like a lot of amp squeezed into one head. You could dial in three separate tones and switch between them easily, so great for both live and studio work.
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- Friedman BE50 front panel · Source: Friedman
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- Friedman BE50 rear panel · Source: Friedman
Buxom Betty cleans and plenty of options
Yes, this amp does drive tones. But you also get some of Friedman’s clean tones from the Buxom Betty amp, too. I’m a big fan of Friedman amps, as I own a Pink Taco model. On paper, this new model looks pretty amazing.
The amp has a few added ways of tweaking tones, like the SAT (saturation) FAT (ow end and warmth), Bright, and Voice switches. There’s also a toggle switch that selects between 50-Watt pentode operation and 25-watt triode mode, so you can dial down the output. The Thump switch adds or cuts low-end rumble, the Response control adjusts the amp’s feel and a Presence knob attenuates the amp’s power sections high frequencies. Oh, and the effects loop should be transparent, if my Pink Taco is anything to go by.
RRP – USD 3499
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