Friedman BE-OD Deluxe Dual Overdrive Pedal - Clockworks Edition Sweetwater Exclusive Reviews

My favorite overdrive. Very versatile having two channels. Huge upgrade from the BE
OD. Contact Sales engineer Andy Rice for great tech advice and service.

Been using a Fulltone overdrive for years! Really like the pedal however there was something missing! I described to my rep Jordan what I was looking for and he suggested the Friedman overdrive! Used it at rehearsal and everybody gave it a thumbs up!

I have a DSL40, which gets you part of the way there; I have a Pinnacle, an SL Drive, and I previously returned a Catlinbread DLS. Each of those got you in the ballpark, but not quite there and each with some annoyances. The BE-OD's grain texture is a little more open and gritty and is really straightforward in setup. You can start with everything set at 12 o'clock, and make small adjustments to taste. The Deluxe isn't much more than the standard, and totally worth it to get the mid control and ability to switch between two gain levels.

The answer is YES! I used to have 3 stacked overdrives on my board until I got this last year - a Plexi Drive (preamp), a Plumes (boost/solo), and a Boss SD-1. This has replaced all 3. If you want modern or vintage Marshall tones on the "cheap", this will do it. This and a decent solid state power amp will do everything you need if you're looking for straight classic/hard rock tones. Stick it in front of a crunchy amp (Friedman or otherwise), and it'll melt your face without throwing mud at you.

After messing with this thing for a bit, I got things setup for my liking. I set the internal trim pot on the blue channel to about 1/4 up from zero. This gives me Hendrix/ SRV slightly overdriven sounds, all the way up to Van Halen sounds. At least this is what it sounds like to me.

I set the green channel trim pot to 100% up. This to me is Alice In Chains, and anything super heavy. Its honestly more gain than I normally use, but its nice to have the option.

Basically set up this way, the green channel starts where the blue channel stops to my ears.

This pedal can be used through a completely clean channel or a slightly dirty channel. I have a Marshall TSL 122. With the crunch channel gain set to 4, the BEOD Deluxe pedal just puts it into another realm of awesome.

Through the clean channel, this pedal sound great too. Honestly, I don't know which sounds better. On the crunch channel, you get a more saturated easier to play feeling, but the sound is just as good as on the clean channel of the amp.

The sound of this pedal is very clear and responsive no matter the gain setting.

Also, this pedal allows me to play at very low, don't wake the baby levels just by adjusting the volume on the pedal. It still sounds great at such low volume.

Anyway, great pedal, and I think most people will love it.

This thing is so powerful. There's a ton of gain on tap, way more than you'll ever need. The dual channels makes it very useful. I was going to get the regular BE-OD but last minute decided on the deluxe and thank God I did. Having separate dirt for rhythm and lead is fantastic. Or I can get a classic rock dirt sound and switch to a treble boosted high gain metal sound with the click of a button. I pulled 3 other dirt pedals off my board because this can do what they do but better.

I already own a Marshall #2204 (it's a magical one - no joke) and although I couldn't ask for a better amplifier, after adding the "Clockworks edition"Freidman BE-OD Deluxe, I had no idea what I was missing!
Now I have 3 different flavors of Hot Rodded Marshall. The pedal delivers - period! It has some great tones inside and the addition of that mid knob made all the difference in the world for me. What a terrific pedal!
No brainer, the Freidman does exactly what I needed and thanks to my sales rep, Steven Graham He once again hit it outta' the park for me!

Really great, amp-like pedal. Responds very well to pick dynamics. I have no need for super saturated metal gain... and my amp has a LITTLE natural breakup to it when played at band volume. So I just popped it open and cranked back the gain knobs inside for each channel. It sounds worlds better than any of the higher gain pedals I have tried. More natural. I'm definitely a "tube amp pushed to the point it might explode" kind of guy... but that leaves very little headroom on most amps for solo boosts in a 2 guitar band. And does not endear you to many sound guys. This little guys gives me 2 VERY useable distortion sounds at volume unity with my "clean" sound, regardless of what volume I have to put my amp at. And it works very well with boost pedals after it. Coming from an obsession with "transparent" overdrives... I was concerned that this pedal would be just too hairy for me. It is not. It shines at lower gains too. Really anything past Tom Petty style overdrive is totally fair game. And considering it wound up taking the place of a couple of $200 boutique overdrive pedals... the price is actually pretty reasonable. Fully delivered on what I expected with a LOT of room to grow if I start dipping into some meaner sounds. Highly recommend to any gigging guitarist who is going to be using a moderate to high amount of gain on a regular basis.

I had the BE-OD and actually didn't love it. Crushing metal tones, but I needed mids. Also, the presence was too touchy and the tight control was useful, but confusing. I returned it and got the BE-OD Deluxe expecting to be disappointed, but NO! This is what I was looking for. As metal as a Revv G3 with full mids (or not) and the issues I had complained about above were all solved. Presence knob seems to work better and is ideal for me at noon. The 3-Way tight switch is killer! This makes it easy to dial in new sounds without losing the old ones. I use it in all 3 positions. The gain range is improved. Setting the gain at noon is no longer way, way too much. The mid control just makes this pedal for me. The blue channel is awesome. Hard to believe it's the same pedal, just different settings. Maybe it was voiced differently, I'm not sure? I just love it for low gain clarity style & tapping tones. I go ESP Horizon, Seymour Duncan pickups into a clean Fender Princeton or Bassman. Hope this helps. Thanks for reading.

Wow this box is amazing. As good as it gets and with channel 1 screaming and channel 2 kicked back a little. There isn't a sound you couldn't pull out of this thing, from ACDC to Metallica to Alice in Chains... I've got it all in this OD Deluxe.
Adding the mid knob was great, subtle but just enough to matter. I really can't say enough about it. Currently running just 9v but hearing the 18v opens up more headroom?! Look out!
Love the pedal and love Sweetwater for fast shipping. Keep on rocking

This pedal is amazing. Sounds like a hot rodded marshall plexi and gets into slo 100 territory. Very easy to nail that 80s metal tone ala Dokken, extreme and even thrash. Tremendous gain on tap, two flexible channels, extremely responsive eq. Love it, not a bad sound in the box.

This pedal has taken a permanent place on my board. I chose this after researching the reviews and watching the videos. What I like about it is the full range of tone I can get with clarity and it does not muddy out. Running it into the front of a Friedman Small Box 50. I don"t use a lot of pedals and my board consists of a Shure Wreless, Dimebag WAH, BE-OD Deluxe, a Tube Screamer for the lighter side, a noise gate and a Univibe into the front of a 50W Friedman Smallbox 50 - I am happy and this covers the full range of tones I need for the band I play in. Another cool feature is the ability to run it 9vDC or 18vDC (for more headroom). Bottom line - I love this pedal.

The Friedman BE-OD Deluxe Dual Overdrive Pedal is one of the best overdrive pedals I've bought in years. The pedal was based on their legendary BE-100 tube amp which if you've ever heard you know it's a step above the rest. With 2 separate channels you can adjust one for the rhythm and the other for those higher volume and gain leads to get the crowds attention when out gigging. What I really like about the unit is the ability to not just have a higher volume and gain but to use the Bass, Mid, and Treble knobs to tune in to your personal preference. A couple of other features are the 3-position Tight switch allows you to select between a vintage-y, loose feel and a modern, hyper-responsive feel along with the bottom channel re-voiced to give you a slightly lower gain.One option that cost no more but looks very impressive to me is the Clockworks edition vs the plain black unit. I love the design of the Clockwork Edition which you can see on the Sweetwater website. One last feature I must mention is the power supply. These units run strictly on a power supply and not batteries. What makes these units extra special is the 18 volt power supply doubling the voltage to give it an extra boost of power for that hard pounding sound. If your in the market for an overdrive pedal go to Sweetwaters website and check out the videos on this special unit.

Wanted a more portable setup that allows me to sound good while not having to haul a full size half stack around. Am currently using a hand made, hand-wired version of a Fender Pro Reverb (1 X 12 Pete Anderson Hemp Dog speaker, 37 Watts), sort of a Deluxe Reverb on steroids. I keep the amp completely clean and use this BE OD Deluxe for all of the 'dirt'. I cannot say enough good about this pedal, it sounds utterly fantastic. This is coming from a guy who has never EVER before considered using a pedal to get my dirty sounds.

Technologically, things have come a LONG way in the past few short years, so much so that I can play out with a small amp and a pedal board with a sound that completely rivals what I get from my JMP and 5150-II half stacks. This pedal is versatile as hell and you just cannot get a bad sound out of it! Have played it with my Les Paul, SG, my Tele, and thoroughly loved the tone coming from any one of these. It'll do anything from AC/DC to Brad Paisley, EVH to Tom Petty, and does it all extremely well. I can't recommend this pedal highly enough. Oh, and the added special Sweetwater graphics are a pretty cool add on as well.

First off, good pedal, quality high gain tones, cool Sweetwater color, although I do like black effects over weird bright colors (pink is just horrible pedal makers!). Now, I must see this every time someone does a "demo". As anyone should know the smaller original BE OD does not have a mids control, the deluxe has one. With the mids knob ALL the way OFF it is just like the tonality of the smaller unit, so when you put this at noon you are not "flat" you are boosting the mids significantly! (Ask Dave.) Now the bass tight switch: mid position is the lesser "tight" effect w the previous smaller version knob at 9:00 (there is no "off" position), position dwn is knob at 12:00, position up is knob at 3:00. (Again Dave's info). If there is one of the many things I hate about the million pedal demos on YT it is the lack of knowing even what the controls do, just spinning knobs. Guitar players tend to be really lacking in understanding anything and anyone who tries to inform them on facts is often castigated. Another thing that just sets me off is falsely pumping the tone and sound of any pedal via plug ins and production tweaks. You hear a pedal and wow, get it and your tone is never going to be that great as the result was rigged. There is one thing about being stupid, you are easily duped and BS'ed, there is nothing wrong with understanding something via manuals or proper design info. What will you do get a complex Fractal unit and just turn knobs?? Wake up guitarists, getting smarter means better quality and designed pedals, else you are going to be had by simple circuits that cost too much and paid reviewers who make a living presenting stuff for you to buy like QVC does.

This pedal will change your sound in a superlative way if you are playing anything heavy- metal, rock, grunge... It's all in the wheelhouse of this awesome Friedman product. Two channels offered on the deluxe model makes it beyond useful in switching between leads and rhythm sections seamlessly. I highly recommend it!

I put this infront of my blackstar ht100 using only the clean channel and it's sounds incredible! Highly recommended product tp anyone.

I had the original BE OD and it was great. The Deluxe is much more versatile. Two separate channels are a great feature. It"s like having a Dirty Shirley and BE OD I"m one pedal. Mid controls on both and the three way tight switches really change the feel of each channel.

I highly recommend this stomp box. It"ll do everything from blues to djent.

The dual channels makes this pedal really versatile. More gain that you should need, but still cleans up beautifully when you turn down the volume on your guitar.

The pedal is well made and looks great. It took me a couple of days to get it tweaked to my taste. Redoing my setup, so still fine tuning it. This is the most expensive pedal (I'm a cheap bastard) I've ever bought. I don't think I have had it long enough yet to really get the potential out of it yet. But at this stage of use, it's not lived up to the price for it.

I have been trying to find a versatile, two channel/stage overdrive solution for my rig for YEARS. Tube screamer and KLONDIKE clones, Fulltones, Xotics, Earthquakers, Walruses, all kinds of stuff in between.

Then there was this thing. I tried a Be-OD and loved the tone. Then got my hands on THIS. The second channel with less gain gives you a great rhythm tone and the with the click of a button you get that same tonal familiarity, but thick, creamy, and over the top. This pedal can do everything from practically clean boost, very light, barely-there, dynamic OD for that pick-attack-sensitive tone, to full on wall rattling tubby distortion with enough mids and presence to punch throats and melt faces as needed.

Really versatile. Everything else I tried involved stacking and eventually got muddy or did some things excellent but not all things or all guitars were accepted equally. Closest I came was the Xotic AC/RC Oz Noy and the Walrus Ages/Warhorn single enclosure. But even they had weird quirks and real tonal Achilles heels at times.

This Friedman does legitimately everything I could ever need it to - and I try to challenge its spectrum. Just sounds like it's Friedman Be-OD namesake - a suped up Marshall tone with all the best sounds in that tonal "color wheel"

Only dock half a star for being pretty noisy when on… but, I really haven't found too many good sounding dirt boxes that aren't so, just remember to kick it off at the end of the song. Thing RIPS. You won't be disappointed.

You can't really get a bad tone of the high gain BE OD section just a matter of dialing it in to taste. Nice voicing on the EQ, gain seems to max out a little past half way. It seems to have it's sound and it's a matter of how much high end spectrum you want in it and how much bass low end. Tight switch does the deal, mid is slight, dwn is perhaps the most useful I am not one of those "cut the bass" out players but it for sure has no problem doing that.
Been trying to lower down the gain on the blue channel for more a mild dirt drive. Seems to do the deal, I like the tonal spectrum of it for a high gain. Comes alive with a boost or TS in front. I do wish I had tried out the Revv G4 but I like this better than the 5150 I had. I can't help but feel Friedman is really pushing the profit margins on his gear, the wah, his super expensive amps and the pedals all seem to be overtly priced while you get the feeling they probably did not cost much to make. Don't want to run dwn the pedal as this is certainly one of the best sounding high gains just a little tired of the hype not holding up so much.

Still experimenting with this OD. So far I'm pleased with it.
I'd suggest watching YouTube video before purchasing as I did. Good product for the money
FYI..make sure to arrange your pedals in specific order to reduce noise.

I bought this pedal for my nephew's pedal board, and I must say it sounds AND feels, amazing. Nice squish and compression. I happen to play through a Helix myself and when compared, they're virtually indistinguishable, given the rights tweaks. Putting a physical TS9 in front of the BE-OD Deluxe was also indistinguishable from the same signal chain within a the Helix. If I used a analog rig, this would be my pedal of choice for high gain—though, just personal taste I like it with a TS9 in front to tighten it up. Also, I would recommend putting the TS9 through the blue (low gain) channel with the trim pot maxed out and the gain at 3 O'Clock. The green (high gain) channel had too much hair for my tastes, but it sounds amazing when you roll it back to 9 O'Clock, or dial back the internal trim a bit. It does do a great Jerry Cantrell impression on both channels for rhythm and solos, dialed in right. Also, (again, just my tastes) I would consider putting an EQ pedal behind it to mid-scoop it some. It's a VERY mid-range, hot-rodded Marshall impression here; which it's supposed to be, after all. It's very creamy and squishy, and if you're only playing classic rock, pedal is to die for. It feels better than anything I've played. The closest I've played to that feel is a Bogner Ecstasy Red I had that has a variac circuit in it. Both are great, but the Friedman is still on top for me.