Wondering about Alessandro Amps

I've briefly owned a Bloodhound, and a good friend has owned a Redbone Special for over a year now.

Both amps are among the finest amps I've ever heard. Build quality is superb, and there is just so much detail and musicality to every note. I have to say that the reason I sold off my Bloodhound was the volume. It was just unreal. I would have had trouble using it anywhere I play. As for the rest of the models, I'd rather not have to put up with the octal preamp tube situation. My experience with Octals is that they're more temperamental than 12ax7s, and I'd rather not deal with that.

 

i ve got a rottweiler 1x12, and its the first alessandro i own. great sound, allthough if you want to naturally overdrive the amp, that could be a problem, since its 40 watts, going only to 20 (with the power attenuator). the sound however is spectacular..

here are some clips i uploaded for some friends at youtube, but mostly clean sounds


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpw4Bo42C4U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zuEGUyzHa8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjsBIvJa18w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgKlbDhxmUA

(i posted them on another thread as well, but don't remember which one )

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I've heard a Bloodhound, and I agree with Rhinocaster that it's a monster. It's one of my favorite monsters, though! It has more gain than I thought it would; the tone controls are almost like preamp gain knobs. It's got a lot of low end and can get bright. The first thing I thought when I plugged in was "blackface Marshall".

I recently bought (sound unheard) a Working Dog Boxer. I had read on Harmony Central comparisons with the blackface Deluxe Reverb but with more gain like a plexi Marshall. Two sounds I like, so I had to try it. To me it's more like a 6V6-based Bloodhound combo with reverb. It's got a nice jangly blackface tone with the knobs and guitar turned down, but there is a surprising amount of gain/distortion on tap (way more than a plexi) and I'm not sure it will have the clean headroom for jazz when turned up to match a drummer in a club. I don't care, though -- I'm still mostly a rock player and this amp gives me stupid grins. I might pick up some 12AY7s and 5751s to try out with it, because it has more gain than I need. It's quite light, even for a 1x12" combo -- around 35 pounds.

I've never heard the Beagle or English, but I'd like to some day.

Crikey

 

I have a Plot(two 6V6 class A), a comins(jazz amp) and a working dog with two 6l6s. They are great. I use the Plott with an attenuator in my studio as a practice amp.

 

..........Those are the best clips that I have heard on here particularly the strat and the archetop cuts.

 

I'd suggest you call Tony directly and talk to him. His phone number is on his website. I was interested in one of his working dog amps a couple years ago and spoke to him about it. Nice guy,and knows his stuff. I haven't bought (yet), but might sometime in the future.

 

I got to try an English and it was beautiful sounding. It is voiced similar to an AC30 but more complex and rich if you can believe it. I own an amp that is octal based, similar to Redbone special, and it is true that you have to get extremely high quality NOS tubes in order for the amp to not run away with oscillation and or noise. Luckily, I have a source for these octal tubes, but most people will have a hard time. I would love to try a Bloodhound......

 

The Alessandro amps are amazing. There are upgrades available the distinguish them as "High end" over "Standard" model. I own a High End English (4 EL84 20 watt Class A), a High End Blue Tick (4 6v6 20 Watt Class A), and a Italian Greyhound (2 6550s). They are all loud, and I have muzzles (attenuators) for them. Not needed in clubs generally, but good to have in lower volume situations. The English can dial into a chimey voxy type tone. The Blue Tick is in the Fender zone. Both these however have their own voices. The clean to overdrive is very impressive with very rich harmonic quality. Very musical sounds at all times. The Greyhound is a low gain amp. I use it primarily with my baritone guitars on 2 x 12 cab, or for a more straight ahead jazz sound with a twin 8 Raezers Edge cabinet. The clarity and quality of sound of the Greyhound is very impressive.

-RAH3

 

I've got an English and a Working Dog Boxer. I've had a Working Dog Doberman, a Black n' Tan and a Redbone. All incredible amps. Lots of other amps get a lot of fanfare and a lot of others have come and gone, but George Alessandro has been quietly building some of the best boutique amps in the business since the begining of boutique amps. He's an incredibly talented builder who builds some of the most toneful, responsive articulate amps. The English is my favorite.

His amps are very undervalued and often overlooked. I great and inexpensive way to experience the Alessandro sound is to find a used Working Dog amp. His stuff is short on the eye candy factor, but the construction, quality and most importantly tone, is all there and then some. Don't let the octal preamp tubes put you off. There still seems to be a decent supply of NOS octal preamp tubes around, and they sound great -- warmer and rounder and a little more "hi-fi" if you know what I mean.

 

+1!!
I had a Bloodhound head as well (still wish I did). I'd recommend a lower wattage model, the Bloodhound is like a small nuclear bomb. All the Alessandro stuff is top notch. When I hear the word "boutique" I honestly think of these amps 1st. Do some research and call George if need be, I've always heard he's just the coolest cat. Kind of like talking to "Yoda" of the amp/gear world.

 

I had a Beagle for a few days once. It didn't sound like any amp I ever heard. I remember liking it and it having a very compressed full sound. It had its own sound very different from the vintage Fenders, Marshalls, Voxes, etc. that I was used to. In the end I didn't keep it but maybe I should have. There was definitely a lot going on with this amp. I have always wanted to try a Black & Tan....

 

I've owned an older Redbone, a Working Dog, and currently own a high-end English and a stock Beagle.

All have been extraordinary amps. The Redbone was incredible sounding, but was just too loud for my use.

The Beagle is probably my favorite out of all the amps that George makes.

 

I have a high end Beagle and high end Black n Tan.

the Beagle is mine
http://www.cnc-search.com/chris/alessandro.wmv

The Beagle is the Little Brother to the English (2 X EL84) As noted it is a beautiful amp. It goes from clean to crunch with the guitar volume. More importantly, the amp is voiced so that it sounds fantastic anywhere on the guitars volume.

The Black n Tan takes 2X 6v6, 6l6, EL34, KT66. It has a certain prettiness with 6v6's. I just put in KT66s and it got huge and darker and bolder and yeah!!! Playing with the Mids really changes the character of the amp too. It can sound similar to the Blue Tick (video above) when the mids are rolled back or pumping the mids gives it more body and roundness to the notes. It almost sounds like a different amp.

One of things about these amps is the feel. They are very fast. There is NO sag, the notes jump out of the amp. If feels VERY different than my TR Custom or Soldano Astroverrb or any Fender I have ever played.

They are so sensitive to guitar volume and pick attack and there are soooo many shades of clean to not so clean, all off of the guitar volume, these amps are just fantastic.

anyone in the NY/NJ/ CT Tri-state area wants to hear / play them, we can set something up.

cmn

 

What's up with the sold gold options?

Component Upgrades

UpgradePrice*Preamp and power tube upgrade (NOS and custom)

$1,000.00​

Black Gate Filter Capacitors

$500.00​

Audioquest functionally-perfect silver wire

$300.00​

24k Gold-plated solid Copper Chassis

$800.00​

Solid Pure Silver Chassis

$4,000.00​

Solid Pure Gold Chassis

$50,000.00​

 

Hmmm.... you guys are making me lust for another amp. I have also always wanted to try the English since I use Vox amps quite a bit. I bet the B&T does sound great with the KT66s. I have a JTM45 with 66s and I don't think I have ever heard a more pleasing sound come out of an amp.

 

Disregard that. It's just marketing ********.

His "basic" amps sound just great WITHOUT breaking the bank.

 

Great stuff. I have a Redbone Coonhound(6550s) that is my #1 recording amp.

 

I have a Black n Tan with NOS Mullard EL-34,s and silver wiring,chassie and most of the good stuff with a 2-12 Celestion blue cab from George and for 15 watt amp it just kills any 50 watt amp,and the tone is from Fender to Marshall with just guitar volume.
Also it was mentioned that the Mid adds to the tone,and it takes the amp tone to all kinds of shades of sweetness.
I havnt tried any 6v6 because I have been so thrilled with the 34,s
I had a JTM 45 and with KT66 it still didnt come close to the tone the BNT does.
Outstanding amps!!!:AOK