Divine
Combo
Before introducing his vibey, price-busting guitars
and basses in 1996, Reverend founder Joe Naylor built
amps under the Naylor Engineering brand. Now Naylor
is back in the amp business with the Reverend Hellhound
40/60 1x12 combo, which is designed by Naylor and
ex-Ampeg guru Dennis Kager.
Construction
The Hellhound forges a unique look with its cowboy-cool,
tooled-vinyl covering, gray and white peppered grille
cloth, and no-frills control panel and nameplate.
Its diminutive size might deceive you, but make no
mistake, this little devil is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
The
Hellhound's steel chassis houses two glass-epoxy PC
boards, but the ceramic tube sockets, jacks, and switches
are hand wired and chassis mounted for reliability
and ease of maintenance. The amp's tube complement
consists of two 6L6s and four 12AX7s including one
12AX7 for the short-spring reverb. Front panel controls
include the Schizo (U.S./U.K.) voicing switch, and
gain, volume, treble, mid, bass, presence, and reverb
knobs. The rear panel sports a series effects loop,
three speaker outs (4, 8, and 16 ohm), and a 40/60-watt
power switch.
A
stenciled-on warning advises that extended, high-volume
use of the amp in 60-watt mode may damage its 50-watt
Reverend All-Tone 1250 speaker. The Naylor designed
ceramic-magnet unit is based on a vintage Jensen C12N,
but with an unseamed, British-style cone for smoother
overdrive and tighter low end.
Tones
We tested the Hellhound with several guitars including
a Hamer Artist Korina, a Fender Deluxe Nashville Tele,
and a Paul Reed Smith Custom 24. Cutting straight
to the chase, the Hellhound rules, and the
keys to its reign are its power-cut and ingenious
Schizo circuits.
The
latter function yields luscious tones by letting you
toggle between U.K. and U.S. modes, and the 40/60
switch tailors the dynamics to suit the country of
origin. For example, select 40-watt operation and
U.K. mode, and righteous Vox flavors burst from the
speaker. The Hellhound cops class A sparkle and grind
better than any class AB amp I've played.
Flick
the Schizo switch to the States and Bassman-style
grind is at your fingertips. (By installing a lower-gain
12AT7 into the preamp's first socket, you can also
revel in deliciously lo-fi tweed and Supro tones.)
Want to get heavy? Shift to the 60-watt setting and
Brit mode, and prepare to be mauled by Hiwatt-like
grind or vintage-Marshall crunch. If only the Schizo
and power modes were footswitchable! Complementing
the Hellhound's tones is its deep-sounding reverb,
which offers rich textures throughout its range.
The
Hellhound' s tonal flexibility and amazing dynamics
make it one of today's best tube-amp deals. If you
seek divine tones at a clergyman price, the Hellhound
will have you shouting "Hallelujah!".
The
Ratings Game
Tone 5
Workmanship 4.5
Features 3.5
Vibe 4.5
Value 5
The
Rate-O-Meter: Dismal=1, Excellent=5
Reverend
comments: We feel a footswitchable Schizo would not
be useful unless it had separate level and tone controls.
At that point, it would be a two channel amp and the
cost would go up (or the quality would go down). Also
a footswitchable power mode switch would not be useful,
as it's function is to set the wattage according to
room size.
We
recommend our Drivetrain overdrive pedal for those
who want to switch between clean and dirty sounds.
The
speaker is in no danger unless Gain and Volume are
simultaneously run at near maximum in 60 watt mode
for an extended period of time.
