Late to the party on the BE-OD, have some questions

[IRG]

So it's been, what, 4 years since the Friedman BE-OD is out, but I'm thinking of trying it. I need a good high gain pedal. Currently, I have a Keeley D&M Drive that I like a lot, and it can get fairly high gain with both sides on, but no real control over the mids, and in the end I prefer it more as a medium gain drive (or even more as a boost).

Also I have a fuzz face and a Thorpy Muffroom, both great, but aren't quite in the tight rock/metal vein I'm after (can't quite do a clean palm muting chugga tone with the muff, but close). Lastly, I have a newer Revv G3. This is what I thought I needed, and I almost really like it. But it is fairly noisy (it needs a noise gate), and is fairly sterile sounding overall, which at times I like, other times I don't. It has such a different gain structure than my other pedals that when i switch from one to the other, it's like I have a completely different setup. I'd like something that is warmer, a bit more organic, like the Keeley and the Thorpy, but a tad more aggressive, just not overly clinical, does that make sense?

So the Friedman BE/OD has my attention. I see there's a deluxe now too, with control for the mids. That has me interested, is it needed though? My Revv G3 has a 3 way EQ as well, but it's fairly narrow, almost everything around noon sounds best, a little tweak here and there. But the Friedman seems to have more control over the type of gain structure you want. The Revv doesn't, it's basically really heavy, or even heavier. Empress Heavy was the same way.

Does the BE seem like what I'm after? YT clips are nice, gets great reviews. I also can order it from Sweetwater which is highly preferred for me. Cheers.

 

[Demioblue]

The BeOD is heavier than the G3, but has an internal trim pot. The Deluxe has 2 channels, with the green channel having slightly lower gain than the Blue channel. The Deluxe I’d say covers between the G2 on Red aggression to the G4 on Blue aggression.

 

[IRG]

The BeOD is heavier than the G3, but has an internal trim pot. The Deluxe has 2 channels, with the green channel having slightly lower gain than the Blue channel. The Deluxe I’d say covers between the G2 on Red aggression to the G4 on Blue aggression.

Interesting. The G3 is pretty heavy too, really a metal type pedal, without the ability to be more hard rock. Whereas the BE seems more like hard rock, into metal territory perhaps. I'll do some more listening. Any issues with not having a mids control? I'd prefer the smaller version, but maybe it makes sense to have the deluxe, not sure yet.

 

[CohenTheBarbarian]

The BE-OD is definitely heavier with more gain than the G3. I also find the G3 quite sterile and have been mostly underwhelmed with it so far. The BE-OD is much more organic and probably closer to what you are looking for. I do miss a mid control at times but I think this is manageable by dimming the bass and treble and boosting the volume.
You should also have a look at the Keeley Filaments, it’s even more organic than the BE-OD and a bit less mid-scooped as well.

 

[IRG]

The more I look, I think the Deluxe is the way to go, at least over the regular BE.

Listening to the filaments now...

 

[Demioblue]

Interesting. The G3 is pretty heavy too, really a metal type pedal, without the ability to be more hard rock. Whereas the BE seems more like hard rock, into metal territory perhaps. I'll do some more listening. Any issues with not having a mids control? I'd prefer the smaller version, but maybe it makes sense to have the deluxe, not sure yet.

a lot depends on your amp. For me the G3 into my Pro Jr sounded like classic rock. Think Deep Purple. The BeOD can do EVH all the way to Metallica. The mids Control is a MUST. The other one that’s very versatile is the Dirty Shirley. That’s smaller, and what the BEOD controls should’ve been.

 

[IRG]

I use a clean, solid state amp, the Roland Blues Cube Artist. 80w, non digital, very versatile, and a great pedal platform. Home use only (use the 15w setting most of the time).

For me the G3 was more like Slipknot, not Deep Purple, lol.

The more I listen to the Filaments, the more I like it. Seems more organic than the G3, but more aggressive than my D&M Drive. And I have an extra power tap for 18v, which is a nice plus. Maybe I like the Keeley sound too.

 

[Gear Ears 4 Years]

The BeOD is heavier than the G3, but has an internal trim pot. The Deluxe has 2 channels, with the green channel having slightly lower gain than the Blue channel. The Deluxe I’d say covers between the G2 on Red aggression to the G4 on Blue aggression.

The green channel is the higher gain channel compared to the blue.

I had a BEOD on my board and tried the G3, but it didn't get the tone I was after and I returned it. I now sport a BEOD Deluxe, and I can say that it is way better than the standard model. The mid control is a huge help and the switchable tightness is perfect for my use.

 

[Demioblue]

The green channel is the higher gain channel compared to the blue.

I had a BEOD on my board and tried the G3, but it didn't get the tone I was after and I returned it. I now sport a BEOD Deluxe, and I can say that it is way better than the standard model. The mid control is a huge help and the switchable tightness is perfect for my use.

I need to pull mine out again to check. I could’ve sworn the blue was the higher gain one? Maybe I remembered wrong.

 

[IRG]

The G3 has a normal channel (least gain), blue channel (more gain) and red channel (most gain).

BEODluxe has Blue and Green (more gain).

I like the Filaments options too. I don't really need to switch between channels, just the ability to dial in the right sound. Does the Body control on the Filaments sort of act like a midrange?

 

[CohenTheBarbarian]

Does the Body control on the Filaments sort of act like a midrange?

The body knob on the Filaments controls the level of tightness of the bottom end.
The crunch switch gives a midrange boost.

 

[IRG]

Filaments has been ordered.

 

[ikan]

Following this thread. Interested to know the outcome of the Filaments.

 

[CohenTheBarbarian]

Interested to know the outcome of the Filaments.

I really like mine

 

[peponline88]

The be od deluxe sounds like what you need.
Another option could be the Bogner red pedal

 

[IRG]

So, just got the Filaments today, and have spent about 2 hours with it. Pretty easy to figure out. Lots of options on it, but once you figure out the toggle switches and find your tone, it seems pretty natural. I like the gain knob at noon or a little less (past noon it just seems redundant, and more noise creeps in). The presence control is subtle, I need more time with it to see how useful it is. Not a bad thing to have, just not sure how effective it is yet. Bass and body controls are helpful, more body gives it just a bit more tightness to it, and bass helps match your amp. Treble control really changes the character on this pedal, but does so on the Revv too. Finally the 3 toggles I like in the up position, especially the bright control (although interacts with the treble control) and the boost I like on, and I think it impacts the midrange a bit when on it adds more (more volume too naturally).

So what I first noticed right away is that it feels more natural and more "organic" compared to the Revv G3. It's not as tight, but just sounds more amp like and feels like a better integration with my other pedals, which is what I was after.

Here's the thing though. It actually sounds remarkably like my Thorpy Muffroom. Where they differ is that the Thorpy while a muff derivative, is more of an outright distortion pedal, but it has a ton of bass on tap. I keep mine around 9 o'clock, treble around noon or just past. The amount of gain is not that wide on the Thorpy, around noon is good, much less or much more isn't a big difference. But the overall character is very similar. The Filaments has a bit more djent tone to it, a bit tighter, but not that much more, - enough for me though. The G3 is definitely heavier/tighter sounding for palm muting. But it's also sterile, so I like the Filaments more overall. Filaments is quieter too, unless you crank the gain and treble too much (you don't need to though).

I think it is a keeper. The Muffroom will be more of a stoner rock type of pedal, Filaments more for heavier rock/metal. For the money it's a good pedal. If I could have one thing different, it would be to have the boost toggle have it's own footswitch, ala the D&M Drive.

 

[jclogston]

So, just got the Filaments today, and have spent about 2 hours with it. Pretty easy to figure out. Lots of options on it, but once you figure out the toggle switches and find your tone, it seems pretty natural. I like the gain knob at noon or a little less (past noon it just seems redundant, and more noise creeps in). The presence control is subtle, I need more time with it to see how useful it is. Not a bad thing to have, just not sure how effective it is yet. Bass and body controls are helpful, more body gives it just a bit more tightness to it, and bass helps match your amp. Treble control really changes the character on this pedal, but does so on the Revv too. Finally the 3 toggles I like in the up position, especially the bright control (although interacts with the treble control) and the boost I like on, and I think it impacts the midrange a bit when on it adds more (more volume too naturally).

So what I first noticed right away is that it feels more natural and more "organic" compared to the Revv G3. It's not as tight, but just sounds more amp like and feels like a better integration with my other pedals, which is what I was after.

Here's the thing though. It actually sounds remarkably like my Thorpy Muffroom. Where they differ is that the Thorpy while a muff derivative, is more of an outright distortion pedal, but it has a ton of bass on tap. I keep mine around 9 o'clock, treble around noon or just past. The amount of gain is not that wide on the Thorpy, around noon is good, much less or much more isn't a big difference. But the overall character is very similar. The Filaments has a bit more djent tone to it, a bit tighter, but not that much more, - enough for me though. The G3 is definitely heavier/tighter sounding for palm muting. But it's also sterile, so I like the Filaments more overall. Filaments is quieter too, unless you crank the gain and treble too much (you don't need to though).

I think it is a keeper. The Muffroom will be more of a stoner rock type of pedal, Filaments more for heavier rock/metal. For the money it's a good pedal. If I could have one thing different, it would be to have the boost toggle have it's own footswitch, ala the D&M Drive.

I'm trying to decide between the filaments and the sinvertek no 5 distortion...

 

[IRG]

I'm trying to decide between the filaments and the sinvertek no 5 distortion...

Not familiar with that pedal at all, have a link? I've had a bunch of heavier type pedals, like the Wampler Triple Wreck, and the Empress Heavy and a bunch of others. Filaments seems like a nice "compromise" of having a pedal that straddles the heavier rock and into metal, but is not a one trick only metal pedal. A bit more range to it. The Empress Heavy was really good, I think the 2 channels should have had a wider range of tones to them, they were pretty similar. The noise gate on the Heavy was fabulous.

The Filaments if you look for one used is a heck of a good value. I haven't tried the Amptweaker stuff, but they seems to have a loyal following for sure, one day I'll try one (or two).

 

[jclogston]

Not familiar with that pedal at all, have a link? I've had a bunch of heavier type pedals, like the Wampler Triple Wreck, and the Empress Heavy and a bunch of others. Filaments seems like a nice "compromise" of having a pedal that straddles the heavier rock and into metal, but is not a one trick only metal pedal. A bit more range to it. The Empress Heavy was really good, I think the 2 channels should have had a wider range of tones to them, they were pretty similar. The noise gate on the Heavy was fabulous.

The Filaments if you look for one used is a heck of a good value. I haven't tried the Amptweaker stuff, but they seems to have a loyal following for sure, one day I'll try one (or two).

Sinvertek N5 5th Anniversary Limited Version https://reverb.com/item/24082415-si...are&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=24082415

 

[IRG]

Sinvertek N5 5th Anniversary Limited Version https://reverb.com/item/24082415-si...are&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=24082415

Interesting. Never heard of them before, I see they're a Canadian company - lots of good Cannucks in the pedal business. Pedal layout looks busy to me. The Filaments has a lot of controls too, but it's not really a tweakers pedal either. To some extent it is, but in my short time playing it, I found quickly where I liked stuff to be, and then just a few things I wanted on and then off (like boost) but otherwise, I don't think I'm going to be doing a ton of tweaking.