The best Friedman amp...

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Ironic given Dave's professed love for all things "Marshall."

Dark, smooth, and bloated. Everything I don't want or need in a "Marshall." :facepalm

I think once you play one you'll find that it doesn't have to sound dark at all. Mooooore than enough sizzle on tap if you want it.
 
On clean headroom I think the Deluxe can get the power amp burning while keeping the system volume low? I remember that system volume being the best master volume I've ever used.
Nah, it’s all happening in the preamp. System master is basically just an fx return level, like another master volume after the main one. Recto’s have something similar, same with Peavey XXX. you can get killer tones at nice levels with them.
 
TBH get a JVM and dial it with your ears instead of your eyes. There are two mint used ones near me for £600.
 
BE is great but it doesn’t cut through like a Marshall live . It does have a softer attack that makes it feel more forgiving. At home I would take the BE but live the Marshall.
It’s totally moot to me. Aside from the fact there are at least 5 different super lead circuit variations, and several BE’s (as well as the different modes and settings), one isn’t a replacement for another.

For 95% of us, using a 100W Super Lead live (without mods or some kind of power soak) is at best inconvenient and at worst a jerk move. It’s just not useful in any way to be THAT loud. At the lowest possible settings on mine, it’s still instant pain levels of volume. Want to use it with Greenbacks? That means you have to pair it with a full stack of cabs. 100W SL is fun in the studio under certain conditions but it’s so impractical. I wouldn’t really feel comfortable taking 50 year old amps out and about either, they stay in the studio. As soon as you start modding it or doing stuff to make it quieter, it becomes something else and you’re just picking compromises at that point.
 
It’s totally moot to me. Aside from the fact there are at least 5 different super lead circuit variations, and several BE’s (as well as the different modes and settings), one isn’t a replacement for another.

For 95% of us, using a 100W Super Lead live (without mods or some kind of power soak) is at best inconvenient and at worst a jerk move. It’s just not useful in any way to be THAT loud. At the lowest possible settings on mine, it’s still instant pain levels of volume. Want to use it with Greenbacks? That means you have to pair it with a full stack of cabs. 100W SL is fun in the studio under certain conditions but it’s so impractical. I wouldn’t really feel comfortable taking 50 year old amps out and about either, they stay in the studio. As soon as you start modding it or doing stuff to make it quieter, it becomes something else and you’re just picking compromises at that point.
I used to gig 1959s on full but I realise you can’t really do that anymore. If I was gigging tomorrow I would probably use a JVM or my VH4 , X88ir /VHT over the BE.
 
Not been the biggest fan of most of Dave’s amps but the new Plex I played was finally one that I thought I could gel with. In fact it’s one of the main captures I use on the Quad Cortex now.

All the other models he has out just aren’t my thing.
 
The best Friedman is the one you sell to buy a Marshall

:sofa
Or many other “Marshall” knockoff’s for me. I don’t care for how he makes them more on the darker/smooth side and more compression than a Marshall. He says his amps sound just like his favorite 50 watt plexi. IMHO if his original sounds like that then that wouldn’t be a Marshall I’d be interested in.
 
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It definitely has more emphasis on the lower mids than a Marshall. Kinda like a Mesa.
Like a Bogner basically is a modern take on a JMP it got more low mids and saturation like a Mesa but still the core topology is Marshall
 
I picked the Bogner Goldfinger 45 SL over the Friedman BE-50 Deluxe because the Bogner had a more old school sound, a more gradual master volume and it was a good chunk cheaper.

I do like the BE and GuitarJon got some great tones out of it in his video, but it's still not my favorite Marshall style amp.
 
A friend of mine who is a world class blues player has the BE 50 and he is not normally a Marshall guy.
 
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