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The new Allen Hot Blond amp is my take on the
iconic 1963 Fender blond Bassman™ (6G6) head's normal channel.
I added the much desired tube driven spring reverb plus a few
other useful features to make the amp more versatile while
maintaining its original character. It features adjustable
fixed bias with measurement jacks on the back, an impedance
switch for 4 or 8 ohms, a bright switch, a middle control, a
TONE control for the reverb and my unique RAW mid/gain
control.
I feel that blond Bassman™ was all about getting the most
clean headroom possible (short of going to an ultralinear
output transformer) out of a pair of 5881s. Like the 59
Bassman™ and the Concert™, this amp has a HUGE output
transformer. The 6G6 had a solid state rectifier and a high B+
voltage which keeps the amp clean to a higher volume. Brian
Setzer of the Stray Cats has made this particular amp very
popular to Rockabilly/Gretch players. It has the clean
headroom to keep the percussive thump and click of those
Rockabilly basslines tight and punchy. From Country chicken
pickin' to Blues or Surf or Jazz or Rock, it is a great
platform to work with. It is available as a head with separate
speaker cabinets or as a 1x12, 1x15 or 2x10 combo amp.
The stock amps are blond/wheat with cream barrel knobs, Tung
Sol or JJ 5881s, (4) 12AX7s and your choice of a plug-in
solid-state rectifier or a tube rectifier. Gold and Oxblood
grill cloths are also available. Like all Allen amps, it
features top quality components throughout. Finger-jointed
pine cabinets, stainless-steel chassis, glass epoxy eyelet
board, Switchcraft jacks, Carling switches and so on.
At 40 watts, it might be too much amp for some playing styles
or situations. With a tube rectifier installed and the
convenient bias jacks and adjustable bias, the amp can easily
be set up with 6V6 power tubes for 22 watts with either an 8
or 16 ohm speaker load.
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Hot
Blond
