Alessandro/Working Dog Mastiff Prototype 112 Combo

This is a "one-off" 60w, 1x12 combo, according to George. He said, if he produced it, he may call it the "Mastiff", cause he needed a "big-dog's" name. :) It bassically has the same controls as the other "Working Dog" amps I've seen, including the built-in attenuator, reverb, and jangle/creamy switch. However, George used 6550's in this one, and increased the output to 60watts. The amp also has the new Celestion "Century" speaker, with that ultra-light, ultra-efficient magnet. Very cool.

Well, to put it in a nutshell, the amp is a beast. George informed me that he originally designed this model for Jazz guys, but they weren't that floored by it. He admitted to not being much of a Jazz-purist himself, hence the amp might lean toward a rock-voicing. Corrrect! The nice thing about the circuit is that it is just so damned powerful, if needed. It will easily hang with a Twin, volume wise, despite it's one speaker. The "Century" that resides in it is rated at 80 watts, 123db sensitivity, so it is a LOUD speaker. It is voiced somewhere between a Blue, and a G75 to my ears. Very sweet. Not as "papery" or "woody" as the Blue, but not as "boxy", or "brittle" as a 75. Glassy-crunch is easliy acheived, sans any harsh high end. The amp accepts pedals wonderfully, which is a blessing, because to drive this thing to natural overdrive levels w/o one would require a very BIG room! I love my overdrives anyway, and always rely on them, so this is not a problem, it's a plus. I use a Les Paul, and a Tele, and both sound wonderful. (prefer the Paul lately) I leave the "jangle" setting on with both guitars, as it is a tad dark for me w/o it. The amp's eq controls are very interactive, and the amp can emulate both Fender and Marshall-esque tones. (yes, it really can) Very effective mid-range control, something that so many amp manufacturers just never get right- in my opinion.(with my Maxon 820, it does avery convincing Marshall-type crunch, mids backed off to @ 9:30,... with the Paul, I can NAIL "La Grange"). George loaded this amp with Svetlana 6550's, nice. The reverb is so-so, I dont care for it, so I leave it off. I've just never been a big reverb person, so this doesn't mean it sucks, I just don't like it....never have. The tones I coax from this amp can best be described as "spanky", "3-D" tones that are very punchy, yet pleasing to the ear. No harsh tones here folks, just fat, jangle, with that wonderful "growl" we are always looking for. I primarily play "rootsy-rock" these days, ala Petty, Wilco, The Jayhawks, and the amp just eats that stuff up. Perhaps the most amazing "feature" of this amp is the weight. It weighs LESS than a Deluxe Reverb!!! 60 watts, of all-tube power, with a great speaker, all at around 30lbs! Un-real. Great cabinet work, and one of the cleanest, most organized point to point circuits I've seen. It's pretty much a one-trick amp, but all the great amps I've evr encountered are, and this one is no different. It will do the lushest clean, and nasty grind with a good pedal, and that's all I need it to do. I use a lead-boost (fulltone)for solos, and the amp's head-room just lets that thing boost me right out where I need to go. NEVER goes mushy......at all. Who needs channel switching anyway!!?? NOT ME!!

This thing is built like a tank.....literally. It is rock-solid. Not a worry, and since George is such a nice Dude, and so easily reached, I feel very safe. (and I gig.....2-6x /month)

The best.

Been playing 28 years. I own several other peices of gear, all nice, but this is my #1 amp. Over the yeras I've owned over 30 amplifiers, many boutique peices in the lot. This ranks very high on the list of "gems" I've had. (#1 still being an old AC30 I foolishly let go) Pound for pound (literally) this is quite an amp, and the fact that I may be the only guy with one just makes it cooler. I imagine many, if not all of the attributes of this model can be found in any of George's amps. I would lay money that there aint a "crapper" in the lot. This one just came along at the right time, right place (Action Music- Arlington VA...thanks Matt.....great guy....great store....YES, a plug....sorry>)