chillerthanmost wrote:I convinced our guitar player to hit up Alex since he is looking into getting two amps soon. He really dug all the Science models. I remember seeing Birds in Row and Loma Prieta share one a while back and it sounded great. I think it was a Hellhawk. I like the Hellhawk and Mother. I think they would sound killer together. This is what I told our guitarist, that way I can use the Mother on bass, while he uses my Sunn or Sound City on guitar, until I get a Dunwich 200
I went through this whole thread and got a little more familiar with the models but didn't see much about the Hellhawk. Has it been posted or said what it's based on or similarities to a vintage make?
Here's a detailed Hellhawk description Alex gave me via email:
"The Hellhawk is inspired by the the late 60's Marshall 'Plexi' amps - kind of a cross between a Superbass and Superlead. The Sunn Model T was a little unusual for Sunn actually because the entire preamp and driver was a Marshall Superbass clone (which itself was copied from the Fender high powered 'Tweed' Twin). The main difference was it's big 140W ultra-linear output stage, in an attempt to keep the amp loud and clean for bass. So yes, the Hellhawk does share similarities to the Model T and the Tweed Twin as well, but is not a replica of either.
This amp excels at warm cleans, broken up sounds, and crunchy rock tones. It's higher gain sounds are very old school and raw, due to the power tube distortion. This amp works great for punk, hardcore, stoner rock, and classic styles but not high gain metal, which is why I created the Decolonizer and Mother amps, both which have more gain and the ability to get high powered high gain sounds.
The master volume in the Hellhawk is a post-phase inverter type, and keeps the tone consistent down to very low volumes. The "High Cut" control also helps control the very upper harmonic range, and can smooth out the overdrive without making it muddy, which also helps with low volume playing when the speakers and sheer volume are no longer part of the equation.
Each channel has it's own bright switch as well to accommodate darker guitars like Les Pauls, etc., and add versatility when switching and/or blending the two channels. Both channels are not voiced so disparately that foot-switching sounds awkward, however they are different enough to work with different guitars are provide more tonal options when blending. The "Focused" channel has just a bit more gain that the "Full" channel, so that there is not an insane volume jump with the single master volume. Still if you are using this amp for faux channel switching (with one gain set low and the other high), then there will be a volume jump, which works great for some styles and songwriting that are more dynamic, but not others where people want their clean and overdrive volumes about equal. That's not an issue in the Shiv, which has a Level control just for the OD, or the Decolonizer that has two independent master volumes.
The Hellhawk does not feature an effects loop for the same reason as the Shiv because much of it's overdrive is developed in the power amp, which would make the loop moot. The Decolonizer has a very good tube buffered effects loop, and was definitely not an after thought or "extra", like the loops in most commercial amps. That amp, for the most, part develops it's distortion in the preamp and the loop is an integral part of the design."
