Jonas Hellborg Warwick arrives!

[sandman]

loved the hellborg, looks great in you rack jon! the units first came out with an aussie retail of $3999, and then went bloop..
.......
.......
...... and now is $2799. I think Jon is the only dude in oz to own one at this stage. am gassing quite severly for one now. i did take one to a gig. freakin' awesome.

 

[KJung]

A dealer from Australia that carries both lines stated that the new TecAmp Puma line of heads has a very similar voicing to the extremely expensive, heavy Hellborg components. Might be worth a listen for those who want that very high end 'throught the board' sound in a small and relatively low priced unit. I am TOTALLY digging my Puma500... warm and fat in the lows, crystal clear in the highs, but also plenty of mid punch, which can be lacking on these more 'hi fi' type units.

 

[OldogNewTrick]

the wonders of pricing of same products in different markets never seize....

here current local (German) prices of preamps
(incl. 19% local tax, so for export "x0,81", excl. shipping)

Hellborg Pre - EUR 1.449
Markbass Studio Pre - EUR 1.449
Glockenklang Pre - EUR 1.049
Eden WT 100 - EUR 999
Alembic FX-1 /F2B - EUR 999
SWR MM - EUR 838
Fender TBP1 - EUR 749


for a further bit of context:
Neve Portico 5033 - EUR 1.489
UA LA 610 - EUR 1.499
Avalon VT 737 - EUR 1.989
Millennia Stt1 - 2.490


So is the Hellborg Pre -
overpriced ? at least here, no, in line with other boutique pre's
expensive ? depends on what you compare to....
worth it ? Not to me... YMMV

 

[jokerjkny]

the wonders of pricing of same products in different markets never seize....

here current local (German) prices of preamps
(incl. 19% local tax, so for export "x0,81", excl. shipping)

Hellborg Pre - EUR 1.449
Markbass Studio Pre - EUR 1.449
Glockenklang Pre - EUR 1.049
Eden WT 100 - EUR 999
Alembic FX-1 /F2B - EUR 999
SWR MM - EUR 838
Fender TBP1 - EUR 749


for a further bit of context:
Neve Portico 5033 - EUR 1.489
UA LA 610 - EUR 1.499
Avalon VT 737 - EUR 1.989
Millennia Stt1 - 2.490


So is the Hellborg Pre -
overpriced ? at least here, no, in line with other boutique pre's
expensive ? depends on what you compare to....
worth it ? Not to me... YMMV

i guess this wont make stateside for quite a while. all the better my money should stay in my wallet.

 

[OldogNewTrick]

i guess this wont make stateside for quite a while. all the better my money should stay in my wallet.

or you could carry it to the bank... ah, wait, maybe not so good an idea

sorry for the derail, hope everybody's fine and your money is safe

 

[Mr. Pickles]

Congrats on finding and purchasing an exceptional bass pre.
I hope the JH line of gear does well for Warwick.

I would be interested, though, in A/B ing the JH Neve inspired pre against actual Neve strips and clones thereof.

There are many manufacturers that make gear along these lines:
Wunder Audio
Great River
Chameleon Labs
Vintech Audio
etc.

Mr. Rupert Neve is still in business with his Portico line of products, as is Neve itself.

I know some cats are using the Millenia gear in their bass rigs, but that stuff is really the antithesis of the Neve stuff.

 

[jokerjkny]

Congrats on finding and purchasing an exceptional bass pre.
I hope the JH line of gear does well for Warwick.

I would be interested, though, in A/B ing the JH Neve inspired pre against actual Neve strips and clones thereof.

There are many manufacturers that make gear along these lines:
Wunder Audio
Great River
Chameleon Labs
Vintech Audio
etc.

Mr. Rupert Neve is still in business with his Portico line of products, as is Neve itself.

I know some cats are using the Millenia gear in their bass rigs, but that stuff is really the antithesis of the Neve stuff.

yea,

but to be fair, the JH preamp does have a few good things going for it, i.e. has the basscentric EQ points, maybe a more robust build for gigging, and if you're so inclined, the awesome lights!

 

[Krügmeister]

 

[sandman]

here's the one in the shop.


and yes, the lights are so awesome!!!

 

[theroan]

Best bass amp I have ever played.

 

[ghoulbug]

Best amp I have never played.

 

[WOOFMAN]

LOUDER THAN LOVE IS HAS BEEN SILENCED?

 

[Taylor Livingston]

I think we can give him the benefit of the doubt - some people don't check TB every day (or 20 times a day) like some of us.

 

[WOOFMAN]

For sure, not everyone checks their post every twenty minutes. But, this thread was started in July. I'm not at all suspicious.

 

[WOOFMAN]

And so after further investigation there is no reason for me not to think LouderthanLove if trying to pull the wool over our strings(pun). That's one loud band J.B.!

 

[ovialexm]

Anybody knows why Hellborg don't have cabs with 10"?
I like 10" because has more mids and punch.
I saw they just have cabs with 12" and 15".
thanks

 

[markorbit]

I'd love to have one of these but gasp... there are no tubes in it. As an Ampeg fan that worries me somewhat. I like what good tubes add to the sound, even at the preamp stage on my SVPCL.

And yet... it's calling.

Trouble is, the last time I bought into the hype was an Aguilar DB680 and I didn't like that at all. Found it a bit cold and sterile which was the opposite of my expectations.

So, I'm a bit wary this time. On paper it seems a good match for a Berg IP.

How's it do for finger funk?

 

[JimmyM]

That really seems odd he didn't make the Big Cab a 3-way if he was trying to get studio-like flat-response sound. I'm sure it sounds good, but 15"s + horns usually end up leaving holes in the upper mids, so to do a 215 cab with a whizzer that does 18K and no mid speaker would have to leave gaps, no? The other cabs are neat but don't look like anything we haven't seen before. I'm still digging the idea of the pre/power amp, but I'm just not feeling the cabs.

And unfortunately, it looks like I'll never get to feel the cabs, anyway. Thought for sure Bass Central would have one by now.

 

[seamonkey]

I'd love to have one of these but gasp... there are no tubes in it. As an Ampeg fan that worries me somewhat. I like what good tubes add to the sound, even at the preamp stage on my SVPCL.

They managed to get a signature "Hellborg" artistic sound by designing what they thought was important.

In my opinion, no tube is a big plus. I've ruled out other amps like the Shuttle because it has a tube and no way to bypass it. Tubes are too variable in my tastes. You can see thread after thread in many bass/guitar forums about which tube sounds the best, so there is no reliable way they could insure the signature sound over time.

If you want "tube sound" you can add an external effect.

 

[Taylor Livingston]

They managed to get a signature "Hellborg" artistic sound by designing what they thought was important.

In my opinion, no tube is a big plus. I've ruled out other amps like the Shuttle because it has a tube and no way to bypass it. Tubes are too variable in my tastes. You can see thread after thread in many bass/guitar forums about which tube sounds the best, so there is no reliable way they could insure the signature sound over time.

If you want "tube sound" you can add an external effect.

Well, in other forums, people commonly discuss which transistors sound best also. And people buy up 40-year-old diodes and transistors just like people buy 40-year-old tubes. Personally, I think the variance in tubes is overstated.

Besides that, it was my understanding that the Hellborg amps were in fact going for a "tube sound", by using an output transformer, which you would normally only see in a tube amp, and which some people believe has a lot to do with the "tube sound", whatever that means.