Overview

Natively Yours! The Gorgeous Tones of a Modded British Classic

The Friedman BE-100 amp was created after Dave Friedman had amassed years of experience working with mods on his client’s Marshall plexis. The native plugin brings you an exacting emulation of the rich tone made possible by Friedman’s modifications to the classic Plexi DNA, complete with a silky treble, super-tight bass response and hefty gain capabilities. Having shared the stage with many stars such as Alice in Chains, Pink, Bon Jovi, The Cult and the Foo Fighters, the BE-100 is no stranger to a variety of music styles: from classic and hard rock to metal, punk, country and blues. The new native version features over a 100 high end recording chains, a scalable user interface and a Recording Chain On/Off parameter.

Why Go for the BE-100?

The BE-100 is a true rockstar in its own right: 2 Channels, 100 roaring watts, all powered by an EL34 vacuum tube. Friedman’s architecture under the hood yields a massive, yet tight low end along with extremely detailed chords at any volume. Playing single notes through the amp is also a real joy with the BE-100s punchy and dynamic tone that can really cut through the mix. The Clean Channel is capable of a seriously dramatic clean tone when you want it: dial in your bass and treble and then play around with the three-way bright switch to get the exact sound that you are after.

Use the volume knob on the amp’s front panel for more traditional vintage “Plexi” tones. With the “Simple Clean” and “C45” mods engaged, players can go from lush, in-your-face guitar aggression to singing, sparkling highs that are so pristine that you hardly need any EQ. This unrivaled tone coupled with the onboard FX rack makes the BE100 one of the most usefully versatile guitar amps ever made.

A Little Bit of History

Add a remarkable piece of rock in roll history to your In The Box sessions. Dave Friedman is the man behind the signature tones of rock icons Eddie Van Halen, Steve Stevens and Jerry Cantrell. Dave has been building, modding and repairing amplifiers for many of the world’s biggest stars for the past 25 years. Friedman’s innovative designs and meticulous construction have made him legendary in the world of professional touring musicians while earning him a loyal clientele from all over the world. One of Friedman’s mainstays has been modifying amps to each player’s specific tonal palette, and to consult with other established amplifier companies to improve their own designs.

More on FX

Like with many of our other amps, inside this new native version you will have access to plugin-only Brainworx developed features like the FX Rack with host syncable lo-fi delay, Noise Gate, tight and smooth filters, a Power Soak control and a Power Amp bypass.

Features

  • Exacting emulation of the original Friedman BE-100 Tube Guitar Amp Plugin approved by David Friedman 
  • Full EQ consisting of bass, middle, treble and presence (BE, HBE channel)
  • Clean channel featuring volume, treble, bass and 3-way bright switch
  • SAT, FAT, C45 and Voice switches create a multitude of unique textures
  • FX Rack include host-syncable lo-fi delay, noise gate, tight and smooth filters, power soak, pre and power amp bypass
  • 105 High-End Recording Chains
  • Scalable User Interface
  • Recording Chain ON / OFF Parameter
  • Recording Chain detailed Info

Audio Examples

Industry Reviews

  • Sammy Boller

    Sammy Boller

    Guitarist & Candyrat Recording Artist

    I'm a huge fan of both the new Friedman Plugins from Brainworx. I've used the Friedman BE-100 on the road and in the studio for years, and the new plugin is an incredible accomplishment. I've… Read More

  • McRocklin

    McRocklin

    Guitarist, McRocklin & Hutch

    Just when I thought software amp sims have peaked, Plugin Alliance blew my mind with the release of the Friedman collection. From wonderful low gain vibes found in the DS-40, to blazing riff and… Read More

Customer Reviews

  • Some sort of...

    ★★★★☆
    by Faydit
    Sounds good, but - in my opinion - not really like a real Plexi.
    Friedman amps have their own voice, but obviously Americans are not really capable of capturing the real "magic" of a Plexi very… Read More
  • BE100

    ★★★★★
    by Rando
    I have a tube clone of the real thing. After trying this for a few minutes free, I bought it. Besides the excellent sound, I like how little DSP this amp uses so I can record tracks with a fantastic… Read More
  • Absolutely Fantastic

    ★★★★★
    by Jeremy
    This has become my go-to amp sim for guitars. It can do pretty much anything.
  • Great sounding amp!!

    ★★★★★
    by Dave
    I haven't tried the original, so I can't compare, but I really like this one! Give it a go!
  • Amps for ever

    ★★★★★
    by Cyrille Cassier
    Plug and play, sounds real!
    What else???

Specification

Supported Plugin Formats
AAX DSP, AAX Native, AU, AAX AudioSuite, VST2, VST3

Supported Operating Systems
macOS 13 down to macOS 10.11
Windows 11 down to Windows 8

Mac
Intel, or Apple Silicon

PC
x64-compatible CPU

System Requirements
Display resolution: 1440 × 900px or 1280 × 960px or higher
Memory: 2 GB RAM

Downloads

With the Installation Manager you can select, download & install all the Plugin Alliance products. Select any and all formats you need for your system! Mac & PC.

ChangeLog

BE-100

Friedman BE-100 - Changelog

Version 1.4.1 (Oct 9, 2023)
- General: fixed CPU spikes on Mac OS

Version 1.4.0 (Aug 15, 2023)
- General: added native Apple Silicon compatibility for AAX
- General: added macOS Ventura support
- General: improved plugin loading time in the DAW
- General: fixed issue causing Logic to crash when closing the plugin UI
- General: improved font drawing behavior

Version 1.3 (Mar 15, 2022)
- General: added native Apple Silicon compatibility for VST3, VST2 and AU
- General: added macOS Monterey support
- General: added Windows 11 and Windows 10 21H1 support
- General: discontinued Windows 7 support
- General: discontinued macOS 10.9 and 10.11 support
- General: fixed metering behavior in block sizes of 2048 samples and higher

Version 1.2 (Mar 22, 2021)
- General: Compatibility with Logic on Apple Silicon devices via the Rosetta-2 layer
- General: Fixed possible artefacts when freezing or bouncing tracks in Pro Tools
- General: Fixed automation highlighting disappearing in Studio One
- General: Improved license dialog visibility in dark mode

Version 1.1 (May 27, 2020)
- General: Qualified for use with the Windows 10 May 2020 Update
- General: VST3: Fixed potential hangs in a DAW upon loading
- General: Fixed logical issues in undo / redo behavior
- General: Fixed UI resizing issues in Ableton Live on Windows
- General: Fixed audio processing initialization issues on amp and delay products

Version 1.0 (Feb 14, 2020)
- Release version