Terrifying
Tone
by Michael Ross
Guitar One Magazine
Reverend Hellhound
Joe
Naylor is well respected among boutique amp
aficionados for his now discontinued line of
Naylor amps. Dennis Kager's fame stems from
his role in designing the workingman's amp -
the '60s Ampeg line. They have joined forces
to create an amp that combines their designs
in the Reverend Hellhound. Have they created
the best or the worst of both worlds?
Pulling
the Hellhound out of the shipping box reveals
the first pleasant surprise: For a 60-watt,
all-tube amp, it is relatively light at 36 pounds
- no heavier than a Fender Deluxe. The small,
boxy 1x12 plywood cabinet had me worried; experience
has led me to believe boxy cabinet equals boxy
tone - but I reserve judgement.
Back
to Basics
The tooled vinyl covering and Supro-like grill
cloth add a cool factor to an otherwise unprepossessing
package that features basic knobs and a plastic
handle.
In
the spirit of both boutique amps and vintage
Ampeg, there is no channel switching. The first
rocker switch is the Schizo control, which toggles
between U.S., a Fender-style sound, and U.K.,
a more British (á la Marshall or Vox) voicing
by introducing an upper midrange boost in the
second stage of the pre-amp. Next we have knobs
for Gain, Volume, Treble, Mid, Bass, Presence,
and Reverb. A second switch is for power. There
is no standby switch; the amp is specifically
designed not to have one. The back panel offers
a choice of 4-, 8-, and 16-ohm outputs (the
supplied Naylor All-Tone Speaker is 8 ohms),
a mono effects loop, and a 40/60-watt switch.
This last lifts the cathode from ground, limiting
the conductivity of the output tubes. The amp
runs on four 12AX7 preamp tubes and a pair of
6L6 power tubes. In the spirit of vintage and
boutique amps, the class AB Reverend sports
ceramic tube sockets that, like the jacks and
switches, are chassis-mounted and hand-wired.
Unleashing
the Beast
Until you plug in and turn it on the Hellhound
is, for the most part, just another amp - then,
wow! You will not believe the sound coming from
this petite package. Forget everything I said
about the cabinet; the chiming openness of the
sound recalls a Deluxe Reverb, but the huge
low end is more reminiscent of a Twin (to the
point where Reverend recommends an extension
cabinet if you want to crank it in 60-watt mode).
Tuning my Tele's low E down to D and tearing
off those bottom string licks through the 60-watt
U.S. setting made a noise that blew me away.
At a rehearsal it handled my Framus' P-90 style
pickups without even breathing hard. The U.S.
setting has miles of headroom, with little more
than crunch available at the most extreme gain
settings. (Naylor recommends replacing the first
12AX7 with a 12 AT7 for even more headroom and
a warmer sound).
Pulling
myself away from the U.S. tone, I found that
the U.K. setting offered a viably British alternative
to the U.S. sound, plus more gain for you harder-rockers.
The point of this amp is neither gain nor switchable
sounds, however. For the most part it is for
the player who wants to stick to one amp sound
for the whole set (or at least song) and add
distortion or vary the sound with pedals.
Dream,
Not Nightmare
If I could design an amp for my personal taste
it would be very much like the Hellhound. It
provides everything I prefer in a guitar amp:
a big, transparent open sound (thank you 6L6s);
lots of headroom for twang or funk (something
missing in many boutique amps); and a master
volume and 40/60 switch, so I can set just the
right amount of breakup regardless of room size.
Add to this a weight that will the keep the
chiropractor away and a price that won't require
a loan shark. If this sounds like your taste
as well, this Hellhound is on your trail. G1
Features:
Schizo switch, for U.S. or U.K. voicing
Three-spring reverb
40/60-watt switch
Effects loop