Friedman
Latest Friedman guitar news, new electric and acoustic guitars, signature models, artist collaborations, and releases tracked by Guitar Radar.
Guitar Radar follows Friedman through 1 story and 2 product releases, covering new gear, launches and company news as they happen. Most of it sits under gear. The most recent story, from Aug 29, 2026, is “Friedman Builds the JOSE 20 Around Jose Arredondo's Mod Legacy”. The newest product in the releases catalog is the Friedman Jose 20 1x12 Combo.
About Friedman
Friedman Amplification was founded in Los Angeles by Dave Friedman, who moved there from Detroit at 18 and learned his trade working with studio gear and apprenticing under Bruce Egnater. By 1993 he was modifying amps on request, often Marshalls, and building custom amplifiers; clients are reported to have included Eddie Van Halen, Steve Stevens and Jerry Cantrell.
The BE-100 is the amp that made the brand, a high-gain head essentially a hot-rodded Plexi, modeled on the circuit of a 1968 50-watt Marshall Super Lead. Sweetwater describes it as the first totally Friedman creation, and its design has since evolved into the Runt series and the BE-50 Deluxe. The best-known pedal, the BE-OD, models the drive channel of the BE-100.
In 2014 Friedman signed a deal with Boutique Amps Distribution to build and distribute its products, with Dave Friedman signing off on every finished amp. Guitar Radar follows new Friedman amps, pedals and signature models.
Sources: Wikipedia: Friedman Amplification · Equipboard: Friedman · Sweetwater: Friedman
