Friedman BE50 based build

[dbeasley]

So after hearing the demos for the relatively newish Friedman BE50 deluxe I've been lusting for one. The fine folks over at SLO clone forum have already drawn up a schemo for one - so I took the liberty of using that and creating a board layout to build my own.

I am not going for direct apples to apples clone. I did away with the variable NFB control, as well as the "SAT" switch (adds clipping diodes like the Jose Marshall mods) and streamlined a few things in the power supply.

I ended up having a chassis fabbed by Steve at Seaside Chassis. He does great blank aluminum chassis.

Reggie Silva at RawCabs in Fresno built a D style headcab for my project. He also does great raw pine cabs for a good price.

I found some great vintage pattern radio speaker grille cloth for my build - kind of vox looking. Something familiar yet different.

Faceplate logo will light up when you flip it on. Kinda like a Matchless.

I saw a comment on a review for the BE50 DLX where someone said "man this amp is MEGA!" Lol. So I thought I'd call mine the MEGAPLEX.

Front valance will have a 1/8" thick brass piece of trim around it. Similar to how the dumbles have aluminum.

Will post more photos as I progress.

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[mhartman]

Very cool. Can you post a copy of the schematic?

[dbeasley]

Will do when I get back to my PC!

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[M Fowler]

Great looking amp Bease.

[statorvane]

Very cool. Why the different knob on the Mid control for each channel?

[bal704]

Who made the faceplate?

[dbeasley]

Who made the faceplate?

I designed it and had a local laser engraver do the actual engrave/cut


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[Guy77]

Looks awesome!
We need to hear sound samples of this beast cranked once it is done! I am sure she will sound amazing cranked.
I also gathering parts to do a Friedman inspired style build (Dirty Shirley 40 , 2 x 5881) with a few changes once I am finished my CJ11 build.

Cheers
Guy

[xtian]

Awesome, Beez! I want to see the guts! And please show the backlighting on the logo, too!

[deeder]

Lots of promises with that chassis ;^)

[dbeasley]

These are made on pcbs, but after lots of effort I made an eyelet board layout.

For the most part, the factory amp uses 1w xicon resistors, 2w Dale MOX or wirewound for power supply droppers.

Also uses the new fancy Sozo Royal Mustard caps. I think I threw down almost 100 dollars in caps alone!

I sourced a great NOS OEI 50W Marshall OT. I wasn't completely sure of the secondary voltage spec, ( i got lazy ) so I got the classictone 100W universal project PT. Has selectable secondary taps for pretty much any tube circuit. Couldn't hurt to have an over spec PT that will run cool right?

I can't take credit for the schemo. That's the culmination of lots of hard work from a fellow named Patrice on SLOclone forum.

BE50 Deluxe V1.5.jpg

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[dbeasley]

Very cool. Why the different knob on the Mid control for each channel?

I was saving space in the chassis so I staggered the mid pots. I used a smaller knob to accommodate.

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[martin manning]

Is that schematic supposed to be readable? It isn't...

[Mark]

I couldn't read it either. No that interested in building one, just saying I can't read it.

[M Fowler]

Not sure if it the same schematic I have or not. This one is BE100.

BE100 Schematic.png