Alessandro/Hound Dog Redbone Coonhound Head

Too many knobs with too wide a range give you the versatility for a wide variety of bad tone. The Four knobs on the Hound Dog limit you to useful ones. Dialed in for grownups. Volume, treble, middle, bass. An Indian once turned an amp into a music store complaining "too many knob." I laughed at that as a kid. Now I see the beauty of his statement. Less is more and the Hound Dog is definately more.

I have a '58 335, 54 Les Paul Jr., 64 SG, ES5, strat, tele, etc. Singles, minis, and humbuckers. They all sound SUPER on the Dog. My music hits about every style but head banger and I have been playing professionally since the days of four tracks. This amp rocks. I bought it for outdoor concerts but playing this amp is infectious. It is alive. You feel it. I've been using a 4x12" Bogner bottom with it but I'm going to track down a single 12" so I can play it at smaller venues too. Don't let the fancy wooden cabinet fool you. This dog can hunt! It has tons of punch and focus. Its 55 watt rating is a joke. Mine eats the lunch of 100 watters no sweat. For tonal reference my other favorite amps are a Matchless 2x10" Chieftain and a Carr Slant 6 with a 15" (for airy Fendery stuff). As for the Hound Dog's tone, the guys that play with me are the pickiest tone dogs on the planet and have played on some of your favorite records. They are floored by the Hound Dog. Great thick, punchy, clean and delightful overdrive. The overtones kick in with delicious predictability. Turn the volume up on the Dog and down on your guitar. Your knob takes you from clean to cream. This is an amp for tone purists not posers.

The design is simple and elegant. Not much to go wrong. The fellow who owned the amp before me dropped it and bent the chassis and tranformer mounts but the Dog plays on just fine. (I always carry spare tubes.)

I called and George answered the phone. What more do you want? He has the answers.

I have been playing so long that if I was a dog I'd be on my fifth reincarnation. I have played, owned, and sold hundreds of amps. The Hound Dog is a keeper. If the amp was stolen I would track down the felon and force him to listen to Tony Orlando records. I love the feel and sound of the Hound Dog. Try one. Join the pack.

First of all, I'm new to this 'posting' thang and just thought I'd add my two cents worth. I've owned and played many, many different amps so I guess I feel qualified to do just that! The lack of feautures have all been addressed here so I won't go into great detail but I've always felt not every amp even needs all the "bell & whistles". Mine was made in and around 1994 I believe. George Allessandro and I discussed in detail what I wanted and what guitar I was going to be using so he 'tweaked' it for that particular guitar. George was an abosulte pleasure to do business. Very informative and cordial. I ordered mine with his "vintage transformer upgrade" option and paid extra for it!
Rated at 55 watts it is VERY LOUD and at times seems to be 80 watts!

When I purchased this amp I had a rather extensive so-called 'vintage collection' of guitars.
I was instantly blown away by the sheer volume and touch sensitivity this amp possessed with the 'particular guitar' that George 'tweaked' for me. My love for this amp was growing by the minute then I decided to try some of my other 'vintage' guitars thru it and this is where my 'dream' literally ended. To put it bluntly...it made the rest of my guitars sound like cheap imitations of what they actually were. I mean, other than the guitar that George 'tweaked' specifically for this amp all others were lifeless and toneless! I had many people play the amp and the conclusions were unamious..." sounds unbelieveable...with that one guitar, all others sound horrible"!

Needless to say, I sold the amp so didn't have it long enough to know the reliability of it. It seemed extremely well made.

George Allessandro is a true professional in what he does but this particular amp just did not work out for me! Repair wise I wouldn't know anything about...didn't have it long enough!

I've been playing off and on for twenty five years and have to admit that my ear does 'lean' towards vintage Marshall & Fenders. I'm convinced once you acquire what I call a 'vintage ear' you are somewhat screwed on what 'new, boutique amps' will bring to the table. Most will dissappoint you after the first few days! As far as if it were 'lost or stolen'...well, I sold it so cheap that I felt like the guy 'stole it' from me'. Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! It just didn't do it for me...or alot of other people that played thru it!