Hellhound users...need opinions

[JohnK24]

I'm selling my Vox AC15 and going a different direction. So, how's the 1x12 Hellhound for overall clarity of tone, depth and punch. I'd like to find a nice mostly clean punch with a shade of dirt on it, then use a stomp box for added drive (thinking Blues Driver or Drivetrain). While I like the Vox tone, my ears tend more towards the tweedy tones for my country & blues pickin'. I hate SF/BF tones (if that matters).

Opinions please...

[Mike Better]

Check out a Dr.Z Z-28 combo.. if you look, you can find 1x12's for 850-900... killer amp for what you wanna do..

Mike

[Ben Harmless]

Hmmmmmm... That's a tough one.

Honestly, I'd say that the US side of the Schizo switch on my Hellhound sounds somewhat like more of a BF/SF amp. It's got punch similar to a Deluxe, while maintaining a nice smoothness on sustained notes not unlike a Bassman.

I spend most of my time on the UK side however, as I'm mostly a British-toned man. While some people really despise Marshall cleans, I love 'em. They're the most gutsy cleans on the planet - just not really suited to Beatlesesque jangle. That being said, the clean tones in UK mode are more flexible that those on my JCM800. There's a lot more bounciness and jangle to the Hellhound than the Marshall. In fact, when my new 4x12 cab comes in, I plan to use my Hellhound (I have the head version) on my 2x12 and my Marshall on a 4x12 for A/B/Y clean/dirty/both tones. I'd compare the cleans on the UK side to a blend of Marshall, Vox, and Hiwatt, but I think you might actually be able to squeeze tweedish tones out of ther UK mode if you play with the eq a bit.

The gain knob is a nice one. In fact, I'd say that where the Hellhound excels is in the "in-between" tones. Crank the knob all the way up, and you've got a good amount of gain, but the guitar will always shine through - you don't need to worry about that. In fact, in the UK mode, with a spoonfull of gain is where you might find the tweediest of sounds in the amp.

I happen to occasionally use both of the pedals you mentioned, and if you need a fully-saturated tone, you can hit it with either one, and get a pretty mean grind. It reacts very well to pedals, and especially to clean boosts. I played in a semi-hardcore band for awhile with nothing but my Hellhound and a BD-2 to kick it up a notch.

Whether it's for you or not is a tough call. I know that I love mine, and up 'till now whenever I've gotten a new amp, I've sold the old one (poor college student dontcha know?) but when my Marshall showed up, I knew I was keeping the Hellhound.

Last note. I tried the combo version during my search, and it's pretty nice too. I just needed more of a closed-back tone so I went with the head. I might venture to guess that the open-backed combo might even lend a little more jangle and bounce to the cleans on the UK side.

Best of luck. If there's anything else I can tell you about it, feel free to PM or E-mail me.

[Ben Harmless]

I just wanted to bump this once to make sure JohnK24 got to read it.

Won't do it again.