Friedman BE, CAE OD-100 SE+ Head, Bogner Shiva.

[johnatanasoff]

Hi Guys,

Considering the following amps.

- Friedman brown eye
- Custom Audio Electronics, OD-100 SE+ Head
- Bogner Shiva 20th anniversary


Both the bogner and custom audio have boost modes acting as a 3rd channel for extra gain.

I dig the sound of the Friedman BE though. I need an amp delivering great clean, crunch and lead(as boost). Plus versatility.


No shop where i'm located stocks these heads to try them.



If you have played them what's your opinion? Both as a general amp; for recording and live situations. My range of playing goes from blues to metal.

[Tahoebrian5]

For the amount of money involved it might be worth taking a trip to try these amps before you buy them. I've never played any of them but I'm fairly enamored with the CAE amps based on YouTube tone.

[eschertron]

For the amount of money involved it might be worth taking a trip to try these amps before you buy them.

I'd surely take a test drive before spending as much as I'd pay for a car. Especially if it was my first car

edit: My wife likes to watch those shows about women buying their wedding dresses. They will spend several thou$$ on the dress and of course try on many, many before having their 'bridal moment' when the right dress is worn. The dress is for a one day! A couple hours! How much more should a person want to confirm a special connection (by way of having a special moment) with an amp that they'll have for years, possibly play every day for the rest of their life? Getting an amp is more like being married. be sure to take a test drive first

[Joe L]

The Friedman. I built an accurate version of the HBE/BE and it is fantastic for rock plus the clean mode is probably the best I've heard in a multichannel amp. A friend bought a Jca22H and we modded the lead channel to HBE mode and it just kills.

[Chuck H]

Well I just peeked at the OP's profile hoping to get an idea what sort of trip might be necessary to try the amps personally, but there's no location info there either. I would never buy an amp of that price based on the opinion of virtual strangers. Then again, I would never buy an amp at that price. Maybe having that kind of dough to spend is just accompanied by a sense of adventure? I wouldn't know

Unless it's truly impractical financially I would suggest trying before you buy. If it's actually impractical to travel for this investment then buy all three and sell the two you don't want at a loss. This assumes that loss will be less than the cost of travel would have been. If you don't try all three you will always wonder and you'll never be satisfied with what you choose.

[Daver]

The Friedman. I built an accurate version of the HBE/BE and it is fantastic for rock plus the clean mode is probably the best I've heard in a multichannel amp. A friend bought a Jca22H and we modded the lead channel to HBE mode and it just kills.

Joe, do you have a schematic for the HBE/BE you'd be willing to share? Thanks.

[Joe L]

I would rather you get it from the source. Join the SLOclone forum at www.slocloneforums.com | Index page. Do a search and you will find everything there is to know about it. Dave Friedman even jumped in to confirm a few items. But it is just another Jose style modded Marshall.