Warwick Hellborg amp reviewed in BP

[nofretz]

all good, maybe after another ten years we can bump it again

How about 4 years?

Last weekend I bought Viktor Krauss' (yes, Alison's brother) Hellborg rig used on his tours with Lyle Lovett. I'd never met him, but he was super nice, and gave me a great deal.

After seeing Travis Carlton play a Hellborg rig live with his dad, I always wanted to try one, but never imagined I'd own one. I also have a Xotic XJ1T5, so the Travis Carlton rig is completely checked off on my bucket list haha.

I bought two preamps (Viktor travelled with a spare), two mono 500 power amps (one for each cab), a Big Cab (2x15), and a Hi Cab (2x12) all in the road cases.

Viktor was the original owner, and the gear is all in great condition considering the life it lived thus far.

The sound is remarkable. It doesn't get as loud as my steamrolling Aguilar rig, nor does it have that wooly feel and color, but the clarity and balance are like nothing I've ever tried. I've had Eden, EBS, Apmeg, SWR, and Aguilar stacks over the past 30 years, so I'm somewhat qualified to compare to other setups. I'm by no means an expert or professional, though.

All in all, I would recommend the Warwick JH line to anyone who is looking for the attributes I listed above, especially if you find a good deal on some used items.

One last note: it's by leaps and bounds the coolest looking amp I've ever seen.

 

[father of fires]

Have you tried the preamp solo at all? I remember the power amps were a unique design as well.

 

[nofretz]

Have you tried the preamp solo at all? I remember the power amps were a unique design as well.

Not yet, but I plan to use it next time I record on bass. I will report back here afterwards.

 

[kevk]

Have you tried the preamp solo at all?

I acquired all the HB pieces at some point, but ultimately only kept the preamp…

It's not my "everyday use" preamp, but definitely worth keeping around in my home studio rack. It produces really balanced, clean (but not sterile) bass tone…works nicely with other instruments, too!

 

[HeavyJazz]

I acquired all the HB pieces at some point, but ultimately only kept the preamp…View attachment 4362856
It's not my "everyday use" preamp, but definitely worth keeping around in my home studio rack. It produces really balanced, clean (but not sterile) bass tone…works nicely with other instruments, too!

Had one for several years - it was definately the finest I've ever owned. Live or in the studio, either way it couldn't be beat. And I'm comparing it to the Demeters, Kerns, (originial) Aguilars and Avalons of the world too.

 

[TonyP-]

Had one for several years - it was definately the finest I've ever owned. Live or in the studio, either way it couldn't be beat. And I'm comparing it to the Demeters, Kerns, (originial) Aguilars and Avalons of the world too.

There some TB-ers opinion you can trust more then others and I like always likes your HJ...

 

[JimmyM]

Out of all the new bass amps I've heard about over the last 30 years, nothing but Markbass and this Warwick Hellborg have got me excited. In the new issue of BP, they reviewed it. And it sounds like it may possibly be the best bass amp I'll never buy.

From the sound of the review, it's like Hellborg took the preamp out of a Neve console and optimized it into a bass preamp, then paired it up with an 80's era Crown stereo power amp with an output transformer to give it a more tubey sound. Which is fine by me. You get a truly ungodly bass sound with a Neve board and Crown power amps feeding a huge tri-amped studio monitor system in a control room. Then throw in a $2000 tube compressor, and what more could you ever possibly want in a bass sound? And not that I know about such things, but apparently this output transformer thing has as much to do with making it sound like tubes breaking up at higher gain as the tubes.

I wish they had tested the big 12" cab, though. They tested single 15"s, with and without a tweeter. That kind of sucked. I'm sure Jonas designed those big cabs to sound like a control room ported over to an arena, and the small ones probably don't do it justice.

So my thoughts about the amp and preamp without having had the benefit of playing through one is that it will be the greatest bass amp system I have ever heard that I'll never ever think about owning. Now I could really get behind the preamp because Neve has awesome preamps in their consoles for bass. But $3000? To go do an arena show where my sound's going to get processed through a slew of boards ranging from Meyer to Mackie for the stage? What's the point? And really, I think my Markbass amp does every bit as good a job at reproducing that audiophile quality of a Neve preamp at a much lower weight and price. The one thing it won't do is break up like a tube amp, and apparently the Warwick does. But I've got plenty of other stuff that does, and it does it as well and cheaper than a Neve console, and most of the stuff I do is clean tones anyway. And if it's that important to you, buy a solid state Markbass with a tube preamp.

However, just once, I would like to take this entire Warwick rig just as Hellborg sets it up into a big rehearsal studio with a band and wind it out for a few hours. There's no doubt in my mind that it will be awesome. I totally agree with a lot of concepts he has about bass amplification, especially the use of 12"s instead of 10"s. I'm not as big into the 15"s for live stuff as he is, but I'm now convinced about 12"s being better than 10"s as an all-around bass speaker. But I think there are more cost-effective and easier ways to do it than the Warwick rig. For the vast majority of us, this system would be wasted. Why bring a studio to a gig when so many other factors like room acoustics and non-studio PA will reduce your sound down to a lowest common denominator? And look, 90% of good tone is playing well. The gear you use means nothing, ultimately. Look how many truly great tones on recordings have come out of some very inexpensive amps. Fender Bassmans, B-15's, Sunns, Marshalls, Laneys, Crates, whatever. Why were those tones great? Because the player did an outstanding job of playing.

So while it must be nice to commandeer a manufacturer and make totally uncompromised amps for yourself and get paid for it, I think it's going to go completely over everyone's heads. Having said that, I think a lot of rich bass players will be lining up to buy it, and we all know that catering to rich people equals getting them to part with the big bucks for their toys. Me, I'm sticking with Markbass and Ampeg. Between the two there's no sound I can't get.

How things change....ended up sticking just with Ampeg, and I kind of lost interest in this rig when I decided I don't care about big studio type monitors for my sound. The Neve part sounds like a good idea, but I still prefer tubes.

 

[Mastermold]

Wow this thread started the year before I joined TB …

 

[Jazzjames]

Best setup I ever had was Ampeg SVP-CL into a Hellborg 500w power amp. The tone and power on offer were immense. So was the weight. Now I have an SVT-7 pro, which is very similar sonically, but a breeze to transport. If I had roadies, I'd play the SVP-CL/Hellborg rig at every big show.

 

[The_Owl]

How about 4 years?

Last weekend I bought Viktor Krauss' (yes, Alison's brother) Hellborg rig used on his tours with Lyle Lovett. I'd never met him, but he was super nice, and gave me a great deal.

After seeing Travis Carlton play a Hellborg rig live with his dad, I always wanted to try one, but never imagined I'd own one. I also have a Xotic XJ1T5, so the Travis Carlton rig is completely checked off on my bucket list haha.

I bought two preamps (Viktor travelled with a spare), two mono 500 power amps (one for each cab), a Big Cab (2x15), and a Hi Cab (2x12) all in the road cases.

Viktor was the original owner, and the gear is all in great condition considering the life it lived thus far.

The sound is remarkable. It doesn't get as loud as my steamrolling Aguilar rig, nor does it have that wooly feel and color, but the clarity and balance are like nothing I've ever tried. I've had Eden, EBS, Apmeg, SWR, and Aguilar stacks over the past 30 years, so I'm somewhat qualified to compare to other setups. I'm by no means an expert or professional, though.

All in all, I would recommend the Warwick JH line to anyone who is looking for the attributes I listed above, especially if you find a good deal on some used items.

One last note: it's by leaps and bounds the coolest looking amp I've ever seen.

View attachment 4356701 View attachment 4356703 View attachment 4356704

Reviving this thread since I just picked up a Hellborg rig at an extremely good price. Preamp, mono 250 and 500w, hi cab all in rack and with flight cases. I also have the big cab incoming soon.



I concur in everything you said about the sound. I've owned an Aguilar DB 751 and a Sunn 300T, but nothing quite compares to this. The fantastic dynamics, the clarity without being "thin" or sterile and the overall girth and plushness to the notes so intoxicating. Expect more pictures when the full rig has been assembled

 

[tombowlus]

Reviving this thread since I just picked up a Hellborg rig at an extremely good price. Preamp, mono 250 and 500w, hi cab all in rack and with flight cases. I also have the big cab incoming soon.

View attachment 5258231

I concur in everything you said about the sound. I've owned an Aguilar DB 751 and a Sunn 300T, but nothing quite compares to this. The fantastic dynamics, the clarity without being "thin" or sterile and the overall girth and plushness to the notes so intoxicating. Expect more pictures when the full rig has been assembled

Wow, great score! Enjoy!

 

[Jon Burnet]

Yeah the Hellborg is on my short wish list of pre's I would love to Profile/capture....

 

[Lance Bunyon]

I have a big heavy power amp that sounds like a tube amp... because it's a tube amp!

 

[The_Owl]

Wow, great score! Enjoy!

Thanks! It's quite literally a dream come true. Long story short; I missed an opportunity some ten or eleven years ago to buy a Hellborg preamp plus stereo power amp at a very good price. It's been nagging at me ever since - the one that got away, the white whale, etc etc.

Happy to say I got this rig for an EVEN more amazing price. Including full, road ready flightcases for everything. The first part (preamp, 250 and 500W mono poweramps, and the Hi Cab) I got for the equivalent of $950. So I finally came full circle and put an end to a story that's been bothering me for a decade. Feels good

 

[agedhorse]

Yeah the Hellborg is on my short wish list of pre's I would love to Profile/capture....

Why not buy the preamp and support the builder's cost and effort developing it?

They were still available earlier this year.

 

[FRoss6788]

Why not buy the preamp and support the builder's cost and effort developing it?

They were still available earlier this year.

Because, unfortunately, lots of folks want the quality sound of a well researched and developed product for next to nothing.
Happens with pedal knock-offs too.
Weird that they somehow think that these companies putting out quality products that others basically rip off will continually put out products to copy even if no one ponies up for the genuine article.
I don't get it.
Save up, get the real deal.

 

[frankie5string]

Is the Hellborg cheaper than buying a 500-series Neve preamp or a 1073SPX?

 

[The_Owl]

Is the Hellborg cheaper than buying a 500-series Neve preamp or a 1073SPX?

Honestly wouldn't know! I'm just happy with what I paid for the rig.

 

[HeavyJazz]

Sure do miss my 500 and pre... Those were the top of the heap, no question. But HEAVY! Best to keep them in the studio then transport for live shows.

 

[blackybasser]

This setup rocks!