The Ultimate Back-Up Amp for Rock?

[LucSulla]

Yes, that title is a bit tongue-in-cheek.

Dave should just take a cut of every one of my paychecks. 

This looks perfect to take along to gigs in case of a main-amp meltdown. 
 

 

[cynic]

$329.99. Not cheap for solid state but not a show stopper either. 

[Travis]

Finally got a chance to check out the video on speakers other than my phone. Michael Nielsen’s channel is one of the few that I’m subscribed to. Love his reviews. Glad he put this out so I could hear what it sounds like. 

I guess my question would be more around the usability of 30w solid state in a band situation.  Loud enough to compete with a drummer on its own without hooking up to a PA? Would it be strictly for home/studio recording use?  

Seems like a BE-OD hooked up to a power amp in one nice little package. Could be great for a beginner or travel or home recording, etc. Might be a nice little toy to toss around, tho. 🤔🤔🤔

[Biz Prof]

Sounds pretty damn good on that demo video to me.  But...(isn't there always a condition?)...I was waiting to hear how the lower gain settings sounded, as just as he dialed it down and played a scant few bars, he waved it off, dialed it back up, and implied that no one would buy the unit for that purpose.  Huh?  As a couple of others here nearly always join me in asserting, it's the low gain sounds that really show how good SS or modeling amps perform. 

[LucSulla]

I bought it and will report back.   I keep a solid state amp on me as a backup in case of total disaster, so this will replace the Vox MV50 R ock that I use. 

[Travis]

16 minutes ago, LucSulla said:

I bought it and will report back.   I keep a solid state amp on me as a backup in case of total disaster, so this will replace the Vox MV50 R ock that I use. 

Eagerly awaiting your review...

[tbonesullivan]

I'll be waiting for the Ola Englund "Does it Chug" review to make any decision on this.

[LucSulla]

Here is a better video:

It is a BE-OD with a Class D power section.  I *think* it is still made in the US as well.  Sounds like what you would expect for a one channel something with a pre-amp section designed around the hot-rodded plexi thing.   What I really dig about it is that it has a loop, which means if one of my main amps went down, I don't have to do anything but plug everything in like normal.  I very rarely use sparkling clean, so a nice, slightly dirty, chime works fine for me. 
 

 

[scottcald]

Looking on Sweetwater, it doesn't say Made in USA on the back like others do, so I'm guessing it's made overseas.  That falls in line with the pricing.  Looking forward to the report.  

[LucSulla]

1 hour ago, scottcald said:

Looking on Sweetwater, it doesn't say Made in USA on the back like others do, so I'm guessing it's made overseas.  That falls in line with the pricing.  Looking forward to the report.  

I don't think so.  Most of the other PCB stuff from Friedman (J.J. Junior is the exception) just says, "Los Angeles, California" on the back, like this one does.  The handwired stuff says, "Handwired in Los Angeles, California."   Obviously, a lot of the parts in all of these and every amp comes from Asia, regardless of where they are assembled.  But the Runts and Pink Tacos are built here, and I believe this one is as well.  While just saying "Los Angeles, California" is a bit ambiguous, that there is no where else listed is notable.  I've never seen an amp built in China or Vietnam that didn't say so, though I'm sure there is an example out there somewhere.  

[Biz Prof]

7 minutes ago, LucSulla said:

I've never seen an amp built in China or Vietnam that didn't say so, though I'm sure there is an example out there somewhere.

Same thought I had. 

[tbonesullivan]

3 hours ago, scottcald said:

Looking on Sweetwater, it doesn't say Made in USA on the back like others do, so I'm guessing it's made overseas.  That falls in line with the pricing.  Looking forward to the report.  

None of the Friedman amps say "Made in USA" on the back. They say "Hand Wired in Los Angeles CA" or "Assembled in Los Angeles CA".

California has some weird laws they passed regarding using "Made in the U.S.A." on products produced there. They are much more stringent than the Federal guidelines, which is why you now don't see MADE IN USA on things like Fender American Instruments, Music Man Instruments, etc.

"a product may be labeled as “Made in the USA” provided that not more than 5 percent of the “final wholesale value of the manufactured product” is derived from foreign ingredients. The permissible amount of foreign ingredients increases to 10 percent if the manufacturer can show that the foreign content cannot be produced or obtained in the United States, irrespective of cost."

With things like amplifiers, components, tubes, "baltic Birch", speakers, and other components are not "made" in the U.S.A., it became far easier to just say they were made in California, which only requires that 51% be made there.

[LucSulla]

26 minutes ago, tbonesullivan said:

None of the Friedman amps say "Made in USA" on the back. They say "Hand Wired in Los Angeles CA" or "Assembled in Los Angeles CA".

California has some weird laws they passed regarding using "Made in the U.S.A." on products produced there. They are much more stringent than the Federal guidelines, which is why you now don't see MADE IN USA on things like Fender American Instruments, Music Man Instruments, etc.

I imagine it means all the parts, or at least a certain percentage, have to be U.S. sourced.  I listen to Tone Talk a lot still, and Dave has talked a lot about supply issues and component prices due to the pandemic on a lot of episodes and with other builders.  I'm probably not telling anyone anything new, but even boo-teek stuff has a whole lot of offshore parts.  Pretty much regardless of what you're buying, once you get past the head cabinet and transformers, it seems quite a bit of the amp is foreign regardless of what the name is.  

[tbonesullivan]

2 minutes ago, LucSulla said:

I imagine it means all the parts, or at least a certain percentage, have to be U.S. sourced.  I listen to Tone Talk a lot still, and Dave has talked a lot about supply issues and component prices due to the pandemic on a lot of episodes and with other builders.  I probably not telling anyone anything new, but even boo-teek stuff has a whole lot of offshore parts.  Pretty much regardless of what you're buying, once you get past the head cabinet and transformers, it seems quite a bit of the amp is foreign regardless of what the name is.  

Yep. Like... speakers and tubes. Music Man uses Schaller tuners for their guitars. Rosewood doesn't grow in the U.S.A. Neither does Okoume, Khaya, or Honduras Mahogany.

I have wondered how long U.S. Transformer manufacturing will still continue, especially after Magnetic Components / Classic Tone closed. I was looking at some older amps I have, and many of the transformer makers no longer exist, or moved production overseas.

[LucSulla]

3 minutes ago, tbonesullivan said:

Yep. Like... speakers and tubes. Music Man uses Schaller tuners for their guitars. Rosewood doesn't grow in the U.S.A. Neither does Okoume, Khaya, or Honduras Mahogany.

I have wondered how long U.S. Transformer manufacturing will still continue, especially after Magnetic Components / Classic Tone closed. I was looking at some older amps I have, and many of the transformer makers no longer exist, or moved production overseas.

Yeah, it's a shame.  But how many times do you get stuck in a line at the grocery store while someone rummages around and argues about a 50 cent off coupon for one item when they are buying $100 worth of groceries?  I can't see anyone building and/or retooling to produce some of this stuff here again only to risk having no one buy it when they find out it also means paying substantially more.  I used to know the research on it a little better, but I do remember the markup tolerance, even for those who say they want to buy American, is quite a bit less than 10%.  When you read about that and think about said anecdotal coupon crazies, I just don't see that trend turning around unless something like 3D printing makes local, bespoke, small-scale manufacturing practical.  

[Rich_S]

10 hours ago, LucSulla said:

I bought it and will report back.   I keep a solid state amp on me as a backup in case of total disaster, so this will replace the Vox MV50 R ock that I use. 

Can’t wait to hear how they compare.  I have an MV50 Rock as backup, too.  Through a real cabinet, it’s an awesome little “Marshall”.

[Travis]

2 hours ago, LucSulla said:

I imagine it means all the parts, or at least a certain percentage, have to be U.S. sourced.  I listen to Tone Talk a lot still, and Dave has talked a lot about supply issues and component prices due to the pandemic on a lot of episodes and with other builders.  I'm probably not telling anyone anything new, but even boo-teek stuff has a whole lot of offshore parts.  Pretty much regardless of what you're buying, once you get past the head cabinet and transformers, it seems quite a bit of the amp is foreign regardless of what the name is.  

Yeah, Dave talks a lot about not using the “made in USA” labeling due to the majority of components coming from overseas. They have to say “assembled in USA” or “hand wired in USA” or something like that. 

My first thought when I saw the price was that it was made overseas. But, with the way he talks about that stuff and the fact that he probably used the existing BE-OD circuit, he may have pulled off having it assembled in the USA...

I’m anxious to see all the deets. 

[Travis]

Ok, made in China apparently.  
 

 

[scottcald]

6 hours ago, tbonesullivan said:

None of the Friedman amps say "Made in USA" on the back. They say "Hand Wired in Los Angeles CA" or "Assembled in Los Angeles CA".

California has some weird laws they passed regarding using "Made in the U.S.A." on products produced there. They are much more stringent than the Federal guidelines, which is why you now don't see MADE IN USA on things like Fender American Instruments, Music Man Instruments, etc.

"a product may be labeled as “Made in the USA” provided that not more than 5 percent of the “final wholesale value of the manufactured product” is derived from foreign ingredients. The permissible amount of foreign ingredients increases to 10 percent if the manufacturer can show that the foreign content cannot be produced or obtained in the United States, irrespective of cost."

With things like amplifiers, components, tubes, "baltic Birch", speakers, and other components are not "made" in the U.S.A., it became far easier to just say they were made in California, which only requires that 51% be made there.

It's funny, I went back and looked at all the Friedman amp head pics on Sweetwater, and of course the mini Dirty Shirley was the only one I'd looked at in comparison to the BE mini before: 

 

[tbonesullivan]

13 hours ago, LucSulla said:

Yeah, it's a shame.  But how many times do you get stuck in a line at the grocery store while someone rummages around and argues about a 50 cent off coupon for one item when they are buying $100 worth of groceries?  I can't see anyone building and/or retooling to produce some of this stuff here again only to risk having no one buy it when they find out it also means paying substantially more.  I used to know the research on it a little better, but I do remember the markup tolerance, even for those who say they want to buy American, is quite a bit less than 10%.  When you read about that and think about said anecdotal coupon crazies, I just don't see that trend turning around unless something like 3D printing makes local, bespoke, small-scale manufacturing practical.  

I wonder if the demand for tube amplifier transformers is even high enough for overseas manufacturing to even be interested in it. I google mapped the Marvel Electronics and Magnetic Components factories in Chicago, as well as Heyboer and Mercury Magnetics. They are not huge factories / companies by any means. I even looked up Drake in the UK, which is still in existence, though I don't know if Marshall uses their transformers anymore.

[RobB]

So, it’s basically a stompbox with tranny power section?

[bubs_42]

At some point if Fender keeps doing well with the Tone Master, I think that may be the Way to pay forward old designs. I still love the smell of tube amps. 

[Travis]

49 minutes ago, RobB said:

So, it’s basically a stompbox with tranny power section?

That is my impression. 

[scottcald]

Sweetwater interviewed Friedman about it, and he was cagey about the Class D power section.  Since it's Made in China, curious if the power section is actually from Mooer, NUX or Hotone.  

[Travis]

Play through by Reza. Still sounds cool. But he’s claiming it’s USA made...  🤔