Check out more amp reviews: ruclips.net/p/PLNaLwTdlpQNHNo5bubVjV1OW04gkqU8rM Or get all my music (you can even take it for FREE): www.patreon.com/elmojk
The BE-OD is hands down the best sounding distortion pedal I've ever owned. Never selling that thing because it will always have a use with any amp I can pair it with
Excellent review, Elmo! This is essentially a BE-OD with an effects loop and power amp. However, I think my 5 watt Peavey Mini Colossal amp is louder. I bought for recording and practice (where it shines), and if I'm feeling lazy, a back up for gigs, as you can carry with one finger.
Mr. Venters - You look to be right. I looked on their web site. Information was a bit lacking. They said it was 30 watts. However, I strongly suspect that is a class D amp. Often, this is into 16 ohms and with an 8 ohm speaker you may get 15 watts with a class D amp. The price in US is about $330. I'd think the Hughes & Kettner Ampman may be a bit better for a bit more money. It's $400 and stated as 50 watts. Any way, I don't think it is a good amp for a beginner player like me. Good playing. The Les Paul copy looks very nice.
You are correct, it is class D, and you don't want to misplace the power wart. It does have "that" Friedman sound, very similar to my BE-50 Deluxe. Your clean tone will be achieved via your volume knob. It's a great practice amp, with a quality effects loop. Should I ever need it as a back up to a tube amp at a gig, the PA will be doing the heavy lifting, for sure. It looks cool and sounds great, especially as a practice tool. I don't regret buying. With the addition of the Bogner and Diezel micro heads, you can collect them all, lol.
@@vandal_dk You have a point there, but I'll still think it through a bit.. Common sense tells you that if you have an 8 ohm speaker and are given the same power from either a tube amp or a class D amp that the same energy then flows through the voice coils of the speaker. The speaker cone will move in an identical manner moving the same amount of air. This presupposes that the sound frequency us the same. The mistake a lot of people make with amps is thinking tube amps with same watt rating are louder. The waveform to the speaker is different. Tubes distort the sound in a different manner. The mind can be made to think it's louder. Let's suppose you had a tube amp with little distortion and a class D amp with little distortion. Let's then suppose you applied the same wattage at a 1000 cycles / second to an 8 ohm dynamic speaker. I can guarantee you that the sound pressure measurements made in decibels would be almost the same. It's physics. However, the dynamic response of the amps may differ along with the tube distortion, this can also make the tube amp sound louder. Yeh - different beasts. Comparing apples and oranges.
Great review once again Elmo - another piece of gear I was already curious about and delighted to see you demo (as a Friedman owner myself). Man, this thing needs a clean channel or that special "Something Else" as I too wouldn't be able to find a use for it in my band or recording projects. Thanks again for saving me a bit of dosh! Loads of Love, Gabe
Was hoping you would be picking one of these up. Sounds dark, tend to prefer brighter amps which I can then tame to tastes. Having said that some of tones were monster considering what's producing them. As always great honest review thank you Elmo.
How does this compare to Marshall 5 watt DSL or Origin? Its the same price pretty much or close. If you run this through tube power amp would it be more comparable to a tube amp? Great channel
I don't really like it. You can't alter the tone nor clipping enough. Around the same price range Orange super crush (or the discontinued cr120) or fender champion 100 are more worth the money. Just my opinion
Huva Païva ! ! I think thé same but i think also that you dare not critize toi much this amp which is worth nothing. But we know that its big brothers with valves deliver one of the best tones. Salut !
Good review as usual Elmo! It's a very good amp but not very flexible as you say. It's sound dark to my ear. Probably, as you suggest, a Joyo jackman 2 will be a better choice in therms of flexibility. Thanks a lot :)
Another commenter mentioned the bluguitar amp 1. I would be curious to get your take on that piece of gear. Idk if they are still marketing it as hard as they were a couple years ago but maybe they will send you one out if you reach out. When this be mini was released I wondered who it was for. It would of made more sense as a little combo amp for beginners with the Friedman name. What beginner is going to want to buy a cab and and a mini head when you can easily get a bugera for less. Even a vox ac10 or ac4 etc etc etc. I don’t know who this was for. Makes no sense. I wonder also how much this is just a be pedal with a class d power amp attached. I also wonder if running a be pedal into say the Seymour Duncan power amp would be a similar experience. Strange item to bring to market in my opinion.
I have the Mercury edition and it is sick. 4 great channels, built like a tank and VERY loud if needed. I gig with another guitar player and a loud drummer and the master is on 4, tops. Insane product. Effects loop can be noisy
I tried the regular Amp1 and the Mercury edition. I forget what my exact verdict was, but I have the memory that they're quite good, but not great. But as always, it's all subjective.
@@MrPolevaulter I think your verdict was something like….”meh” I played it side by side at gig volume with a friends JCM 800 and he couldn’t tell the difference. I did a blind test with an amp switcher, same 2x12 vintage 30 cab. I now have less back pain, too 😆
hello Elmo, just wondering if you kept the ibanez universe swirl, cuz you it wasnt what you expected. i got my dream guitar last month. A jem 777! it was yellow instead of green but I dont mind. very happy with mine!
Interesting I had heard another review. Thought it had clean. Not sure what or who these little amps are for. H&K solid state mini ones seems a waste of money as well.
It was really dark while gain all the way down. It brighten up just by giving more gain. Sound was nice but that lack of anything even close to clean is really bad :(
Wow. I didn't get the notice about this brother. I don't think. Can't wait to hear this. Just now hearing the video. Well, now that I've watched it sounds really good to me. Especially with the humbucker guitar, but I'm partial to those guitars / pickups. I think getting the od pedal would be smarter and pairing it with a clean amp and then you would have the best of both worlds. Just my thoughts though. Great reviews as always sir. I could tell you liked it by the way you were playing. 🤣😜 I could play a gig with it though no problem.. 🤟♥️🤟♥️ Hope all is well in viking panda sir!
Hello I have a combo amp with a Celestion Greenback in it. The amp take me from clean to hard-rock/80`s metal but am struggling to get more modern and tight high-gain metal sound. This might be ideal to plug into the speaker of the combo and use for strictly high-gain tones? The other option is to get the BE-OD pedal and hope it pairs well with the amp I already have.
So...You're saying this is great for someone who doesn't want eed a(nother) cab around, and who could start with working on playing more flexibly... and it's cheap? I'm in
@@carnovector6396 - SLO is a Soldano, not Friedman. I stand by the fact that I had this amp, and it was about as awesome as sharing a sleeping bag with Adam Lambert underneath Barry Manilow's grand piano.
@@scottcummings8602 lmao Yeah i know slo is soldano but that friedman is part of 4 mini amps built by a different company i dont remember who Theres a soldano, friedman, bogner and diezel all based on their respective od pedals
I have a peavey Penta 140 amplifier that sounds great, but it will blow down the walls if it was wound up like this. I wonder if this would be a cool addition and just use the penta for clean tones.
I owend this amp. Not very happy. Getting very fuzzy. And...i think it has not sooo much gain. It sounds sometimes like the tom scholz rockman. When i play longer this amp...my ears gonna hurt. I dont like those frequenzy
Seen this wee amp get some hate on YT and, as someone who prefers Fender amps, I think it's perfectly good for the money. If someone wants something that gives very decent British crunch that won't break the bank, it's a solid (state) option. The BE mini is cheap as chips, it's not supposed to sound like a Plexi or Silver Jubilee.
I thought it sounded good, but who its aimed at I can't work out . It sounded great but I wouldn't buy it, there bigger amp heads though are soooo good, they're quite expensive but worth it there are so many great amps out there, have you heard the Marshall 1 watt practice or studio amp ? They are really good maybe you could review one Im sure they still make them. And it seems I also upset a lot of people, I treat everyone like they've been playing for years have lots of gear & are professional musicians , thats my fault. I guess its like agig 99.9% of the audience isn't a musician maybe some guitarists becauase they've heard things . Its the same here most of your sub"s are like I just mentioned but most don't seem to have amps at all, its straight into the computer. I use real amps not modellers, they have Chinese guitars ha, again thats on me I treat people on these RUclips guitar channels like they are pros and they are Not. I wont get sucked into arguments anymore ( And they have the gaul to call me a troll, I don't stand fools lightly ) But I will defend myself , I don't know why coming to think of it they are most likely trying to learn Bar chords plugged into a soldano emulator , by the way the Soldano emulator sounds nothing like a real soldano, I owned one just like they sound nothing like real Marshalls especially live. a Marshall can scar a fan for life if its loud enough hahaha . Emultors & children telling me im wrong , Rant keeps going :) Take care Mate .
Too be honest this was the only demo of the mini BE that didn't sound shitty! I was expecting you to say that is sounded bad... but you said "for a solid state sounds good" ....until you hear something like the Bluguitar Amp1, your perspective on solid state amps will be limited :D
People are really starting to clue in that these mini amp heads are just a fad and are actually all basically the same garbage, all made in China, and are all just pedal circuits into a crappy solid state amp. Honestly the old Joyo stuff destroys these.
Check out more amp reviews: ruclips.net/p/PLNaLwTdlpQNHNo5bubVjV1OW04gkqU8rM
Or get all my music (you can even take it for FREE): www.patreon.com/elmojk
The BE-OD is hands down the best sounding distortion pedal I've ever owned. Never selling that thing because it will always have a use with any amp I can pair it with
Excellent review, Elmo! This is essentially a BE-OD with an effects loop and power amp. However, I think my 5 watt Peavey Mini Colossal amp is louder. I bought for recording and practice (where it shines), and if I'm feeling lazy, a back up for gigs, as you can carry with one finger.
Mr. Venters - You look to be right. I looked on their web site. Information was a bit lacking. They said it was 30 watts. However, I strongly suspect that is a class D amp. Often, this is into 16 ohms and with an 8 ohm speaker you may get 15 watts with a class D amp. The price in US is about $330. I'd think the Hughes & Kettner Ampman may be a bit better for a bit more money. It's $400 and stated as 50 watts. Any way, I don't think it is a good amp for a beginner player like me.
Good playing. The Les Paul copy looks very nice.
You are correct, it is class D, and you don't want to misplace the power wart. It does have "that" Friedman sound, very similar to my BE-50 Deluxe. Your clean tone will be achieved via your volume knob. It's a great practice amp, with a quality effects loop. Should I ever need it as a back up to a tube amp at a gig, the PA will be doing the heavy lifting, for sure. It looks cool and sounds great, especially as a practice tool. I don't regret buying.
With the addition of the Bogner and Diezel micro heads, you can collect them all, lol.
Thanks!
@@vandal_dk You have a point there, but I'll still think it through a bit.. Common sense tells you that if you have an 8 ohm speaker and are given the same power from either a tube amp or a class D amp that the same energy then flows through the voice coils of the speaker. The speaker cone will move in an identical manner moving the same amount of air. This presupposes that the sound frequency us the same. The mistake a lot of people make with amps is thinking tube amps with same watt rating are louder. The waveform to the speaker is different. Tubes distort the sound in a different manner. The mind can be made to think it's louder. Let's suppose you had a tube amp with little distortion and a class D amp with little distortion. Let's then suppose you applied the same wattage at a 1000 cycles / second to an 8 ohm dynamic speaker. I can guarantee you that the sound pressure measurements made in decibels would be almost the same. It's physics. However, the dynamic response of the amps may differ along with the tube distortion, this can also make the tube amp sound louder. Yeh - different beasts. Comparing apples and oranges.
Good review, honest opinion, thanks for that. The tone seemed a little scooped but it may be my listening setup.
Another great review, Elmo. Keep 'em comin'.
Nice Uli-Jon Roth style string bending & vibrato 👍🏻
Great review once again Elmo - another piece of gear I was already curious about and delighted to see you demo (as a Friedman owner myself).
Man, this thing needs a clean channel or that special "Something Else" as I too wouldn't be able to find a use for it in my band or recording projects.
Thanks again for saving me a bit of dosh!
Loads of Love,
Gabe
My pleasure!
Was hoping you would be picking one of these up. Sounds dark, tend to prefer brighter amps which I can then tame to tastes. Having said that some of tones were monster considering what's producing them. As always great honest review thank you Elmo.
I don't exactly think they sound dark
Thanks!
Thanks for keeping it honest, thanks for trying a pedal with it, thanks for giving an alternative - and good luck with the channel \m/
Thanks!
How does this compare to Marshall 5 watt DSL or Origin? Its the same price pretty much or close. If you run this through tube power amp would it be more comparable to a tube amp? Great channel
Would be interesting to compare the Mini Amp with the BE Pedal in Front of a clean Marshall..is the Pedal better than the Amp?
Sounds like what is costs.
I always like your review ,keep up good work!👍
I don't really like it. You can't alter the tone nor clipping enough. Around the same price range Orange super crush (or the discontinued cr120) or fender champion 100 are more worth the money. Just my opinion
This sounds better. If you want options then sure buy something else
Huva Païva ! ! I think thé same but i think also that you dare not critize toi much this amp which is worth nothing. But we know that its big brothers with valves deliver one of the best tones. Salut !
Good review as usual Elmo! It's a very good amp but not very flexible as you say. It's sound dark to my ear. Probably, as you suggest, a Joyo jackman 2 will be a better choice in therms of flexibility. Thanks a lot :)
Cheers!
The name alone tells me im paying too much.
Sounds cool for the money, I don't think it's for me, but cool none the less.
Sure does! Basically you get a dist pedal with it's own power amp, simple, plug and play!
@@JohnWiku Does seem cool, I'd like to see/hear it alongside an Orange Stamp
Another commenter mentioned the bluguitar amp 1. I would be curious to get your take on that piece of gear. Idk if they are still marketing it as hard as they were a couple years ago but maybe they will send you one out if you reach out.
When this be mini was released I wondered who it was for. It would of made more sense as a little combo amp for beginners with the Friedman name. What beginner is going to want to buy a cab and and a mini head when you can easily get a bugera for less. Even a vox ac10 or ac4 etc etc etc. I don’t know who this was for. Makes no sense.
I wonder also how much this is just a be pedal with a class d power amp attached. I also wonder if running a be pedal into say the Seymour Duncan power amp would be a similar experience. Strange item to bring to market in my opinion.
I have the Mercury edition and it is sick. 4 great channels, built like a tank and VERY loud if needed. I gig with another guitar player and a loud drummer and the master is on 4, tops. Insane product. Effects loop can be noisy
I tried the regular Amp1 and the Mercury edition. I forget what my exact verdict was, but I have the memory that they're quite good, but not great. But as always, it's all subjective.
@@MrPolevaulter I think your verdict was something like….”meh” I played it side by side at gig volume with a friends JCM 800 and he couldn’t tell the difference. I did a blind test with an amp switcher, same 2x12 vintage 30 cab. I now have less back pain, too 😆
hello Elmo, just wondering if you kept the ibanez universe swirl, cuz you it wasnt what you expected. i got my dream guitar last month. A jem 777! it was yellow instead of green but I dont mind. very happy with mine!
No, I sold mine.
Interesting I had heard another review. Thought it had clean. Not sure what or who these little amps are for. H&K solid state mini ones seems a waste of money as well.
It was really dark while gain all the way down. It brighten up just by giving more gain. Sound was nice but that lack of anything even close to clean is really bad :(
Hi 👋🏽, have a nice November Sir
You too :)
Wow. I didn't get the notice about this brother. I don't think. Can't wait to hear this. Just now hearing the video.
Well, now that I've watched it sounds really good to me. Especially with the humbucker guitar, but I'm partial to those guitars / pickups. I think getting the od pedal would be smarter and pairing it with a clean amp and then you would have the best of both worlds. Just my thoughts though.
Great reviews as always sir. I could tell you liked it by the way you were playing. 🤣😜
I could play a gig with it though no problem.. 🤟♥️🤟♥️
Hope all is well in viking panda sir!
Hello
I have a combo amp with a Celestion Greenback in it. The amp take me from clean to hard-rock/80`s metal but am struggling to get more modern and tight high-gain metal sound.
This might be ideal to plug into the speaker of the combo and use for strictly high-gain tones? The other option is to get the BE-OD pedal and hope it pairs well with the amp I already have.
I think the BE-OD pedal is easier to shift in case you don't like it.
Hi Elmo you didn't say what cab you have used with it or how was the sound recorded?
Marshall 1960AHW. AKG C-414 as the mic.
hi Elmo. sounds good
Greetings to Sesame Street. ;)
:D
Hi Elmo!
Hello :)
Do you still have the Harley Benton tube 15? This seems nowhere near as good.
My luthier friend has it, and he has his workshop in the same building as our studio. So I kind of still have it :)
Itd be great back up amp for gig’s
Keep it right in pedal bag
True.
Not bad! You made it sound good!😂
Thanks!
👍
Nice video
Thanks!
So...You're saying this is great for someone who doesn't want
eed a(nother) cab around, and who could start with working on playing more flexibly...
and it's cheap?
I'm in
It’s only a pedal. Not an amp
I had this and couldn't get rid of it fast enough..... I just HAD to have it, and for whatever reason thought it would be amazing..... WRONG.
Really? What happened? I heard theyre based on their pedals
I have the SLO pedal and its amazing
@@carnovector6396 - SLO is a Soldano, not Friedman. I stand by the fact that I had this amp, and it was about as awesome as sharing a sleeping bag with Adam Lambert underneath Barry Manilow's grand piano.
@@scottcummings8602 lmao
Yeah i know slo is soldano but that friedman is part of 4 mini amps built by a different company i dont remember who
Theres a soldano, friedman, bogner and diezel all based on their respective od pedals
@@scottcummings8602that sounds like a total nightmare horror flick!
I have a peavey Penta 140 amplifier that sounds great, but it will blow down the walls if it was wound up like this. I wonder if this would be a cool addition and just use the penta for clean tones.
I owend this amp. Not very happy. Getting very fuzzy. And...i think it has not sooo much gain. It sounds sometimes like the tom scholz rockman. When i play longer this amp...my ears gonna hurt. I dont like those frequenzy
Seen this wee amp get some hate on YT and, as someone who prefers Fender amps, I think it's perfectly good for the money. If someone wants something that gives very decent British crunch that won't break the bank, it's a solid (state) option. The BE mini is cheap as chips, it's not supposed to sound like a Plexi or Silver Jubilee.
Definitely not my kind of amp! Solid review, as always.
Cheers!
Better just to save 300 euros and play unplugged than get a bad tone for that money.
Good tone, but its solid state, so its a swwet spot and thats it. Anything Friedman needs a noise gate even a solid state, LOL!
I thought it sounded good, but who its aimed at I can't work out . It sounded great but I wouldn't buy it, there bigger amp heads though are soooo good, they're quite expensive but worth it there are so many great amps out there, have you heard the Marshall 1 watt practice or studio amp ? They are really good maybe you could review one Im sure they still make them. And it seems I also upset a lot of people, I treat everyone like they've been playing for years have lots of gear & are professional musicians , thats my fault. I guess its like agig 99.9% of the audience isn't a musician maybe some guitarists becauase they've heard things . Its the same here most of your sub"s are like I just mentioned but most don't seem to have amps at all, its straight into the computer. I use real amps not modellers, they have Chinese guitars ha, again thats on me I treat people on these RUclips guitar channels like they are pros and they are Not. I wont get sucked into arguments anymore ( And they have the gaul to call me a troll, I don't stand fools lightly ) But I will defend myself , I don't know why coming to think of it they are most likely trying to learn Bar chords plugged into a soldano emulator , by the way the Soldano emulator sounds nothing like a real soldano, I owned one just like they sound nothing like real Marshalls especially live. a Marshall can scar a fan for life if its loud enough hahaha . Emultors & children telling me im wrong , Rant keeps going :) Take care Mate .
Cheers!
@@MrPolevaulter ooookay
Too be honest this was the only demo of the mini BE that didn't sound shitty! I was expecting you to say that is sounded bad... but you said "for a solid state sounds good" ....until you hear something like the Bluguitar Amp1, your perspective on solid state amps will be limited :D
The Bluguitar isn’t a solid state amp though.
Cheers! The Amp1 is a nanotube amp. Fairly expensive compared to this (much more versatile and better also).
People are really starting to clue in that these mini amp heads are just a fad and are actually all basically the same garbage, all made in China, and are all just pedal circuits into a crappy solid state amp. Honestly the old Joyo stuff destroys these.
Sounds bad. Overated product. In this price we can get a full tube amp