AFIII Friedman BE-100 (HBE channel) vs the Axe-Fx 3 HBE Model

It's recommended (in the manual, actually, if I recall correctly), to push hard on the bass on the BE100, it's the way this amp was designed I guess.

Strange. If that's the recommended setting then he should've just changed the taper of the bass pot. It's a Log15 IIRC. If he had made it Log30 or Linear then you could leave it around noon and get the same thing.
 
Strange. If that's the recommended setting then he should've just changed the taper of the bass pot. It's a Log15 IIRC. If he had made it Log30 or Linear then you could leave it around noon and get the same thing.

Does the Log 15 value maybe give it "finer" control over the Log 30? Curious to know...
 
This is the old HBE, right? How does your amp compares to the HBE 2018?

No this is the standard, the 2018 is a another sound, less gain, slightly different voicing, maybe a bit thinner, not sure.

My amp is a 2016 model with the gain structure mod added, also has the sat, fat and c45 modes, all of them disabled for this comparison purpose.

It’s an awesome sounding and very versatile amp, but unfortunately it’s heavy as hell and very hard to carry around to gigs and rehearsals, hardly ever leaves the house :)
 
Strange. If that's the recommended setting then he should've just changed the taper of the bass pot. It's a Log15 IIRC. If he had made it Log30 or Linear then you could leave it around noon and get the same thing.

Yeah, but this one goes to 11!
 
Wow that's an awesome clip! The Friedmans are my favorite amp sims in the Axe-Fx so I'm very happy to hear that they sound just like the real thing... not sure what Dave himself would say now but I'd love to challenge him into a blindfold "guess which is which" with the Fractal. :)
 
Very nice... according to Mr. Friedman modeling sounds nothing like his amp, I think this shows something entirely different.
I bought 3 of the Friedman amplifiers including the Jerry Cantrell model. They were (and are) fantastic amps. I sold ALL of them...because my Axe III sounded exactly like them after appropriate adjustments. I am 63 today and I often dreamed of having an invention like The Fractal Axe Fx III...now my dreams are “ just how much better is the III than the ‘real’ amp in question?” Rock on FAS!
 
No, seriously, I know that Friedman advises that Bass setting. That's why I included that recommendation in the Guide to the Fractal Audio Amp Models.
Yeah when Isaw those settings in the guide I was like "noway, really" but then I tried out the exact settings you listed in the guide from the manual, and they actually sounded really good. I think the trick is that Friedman says to just crack the master , So I run my HBE with an extremely low master volume, and it seems to counter all the low end you are adding in, but keeps the tone full from the higher bass settings if that makes sense.
 
from the manual...
These are the settings it recommends in the plugging in section of the manual
PLUGGING IN

We recommend starting the amp on the BE
channel with the Bass on 10, the Mids at
around 6 , the Treble at 5 and the Presence at
5. Set the Gain around 8 and then bring the
master up to taste. After plugging in, you will
notice instantly, the tight bottom end and rich
harmonically detailed chords and single notes,
that's the Friedman sound. This amp cleans
up remarkably well with the guitar's volume
control even with the amp on higher gain
settings. For even more gain switch to HBE
mode. Switch to the Clean channel and set
the Treble and Bass at 5 and turn the Volume
up to taste and experiment with the Bright
Switch.
 
No idea what you just said :D

Here's a comparison of a Marshall tone stack (basically the same thing used in a BE-100). The top is stock with a LogB bass pot taper (LogB = Log10) and the bass control set to 8. The bottom is the same tone stack but with the taper of the bass pot changed to linear and the bass control set to 5. IOW, a log taper with the control on 8 is the same as linear taper with the control at noon.

be_tone_stack.JPG
 
Ok, I got it, thanks for the explanation!

There’s no way to know what Mr Friedman was thinking, but maybe there’s some reason behind his choice.

Sometimes is an availability/cost issue, but I don’t think this is the case at all.
 
These are the settings it recommends in the plugging in section of the manual
PLUGGING IN

We recommend starting the amp on the BE
channel with the Bass on 10, the Mids at
around 6 , the Treble at 5 and the Presence at
5. Set the Gain around 8 and then bring the
master up to taste. After plugging in, you will
notice instantly, the tight bottom end and rich
harmonically detailed chords and single notes,
that's the Friedman sound. This amp cleans
up remarkably well with the guitar's volume
control even with the amp on higher gain
settings. For even more gain switch to HBE
mode. Switch to the Clean channel and set
the Treble and Bass at 5 and turn the Volume
up to taste and experiment with the Bright
Switch.
not sure why you quoted me?
 
I just dialed in the regular ol' BE last night for my gigging presets. It sounds fantastic through my CLR with my strat. The HBE was great; but was always a little too aggressive and treble hyped with my strat. It's the guitar's fault. It was great for heavier stuff but I could never find a sweet enough spot where it wasn't quite "in your face".
 
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