Alessandro/Working Dog Rottweiler 212 Combo

Features: Reverb, Final Output Control, Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, Jangly/Creamy switch, Stand-by switch and On/Off switch.

2 Jensen C12N 12in speakers
Point to Point wiring, old school with a new twist... the final output control. This allows you to cut the final output up to 50% acting like a power attenuator. When cut down to it's lowest, it darkens the sound a bit, this allows you to pump up the EQ to get more overdrive.

This amp is 40 watts, a very loud 40 watts.

The reverb is OK, if your a reverb person and are in love with deep fender reverb, than this is the amps weak point, if your a reverb person. When I play it oud, the reverb is not that much of an issue anyway and when I play at home, I put the reverb at 65% and it sounds fine to me.

The 2x12 is loud like a Fender super reverb, so I use an analogman TS9/808 modded peddle in front of it. (sweet!)

This is where I would stop in my comparison of the Rott to a Super ( I had a 66 Super), it's more like the tweed twin, but not quite. It has it's own personality and voice.

I play it mostly with my G&L Legacy with it set to 'creamy', push the treble and mids a bit and forget about it. I adjust everything from my guitar.

Also, it's relativly light, my super was like 80 lbs, this is about half that.

Like I said, I play this amp with my G&L Legacy, but I also use my '58 reissue Les Paul, so I'll explain my two different set ups.

With the G&L I use the analogman TS9 and his clone chorus. I can get all the Clapton, KWS and SRV sounds I want. I play mostly Rock/Blues but I also like some country. With the same set up and just adjusting my guitar I can get a great country twang. Some of my old freinds like to play stuff from the 70 garage band days, I can cover the Who, Stones what ever, with just the set up above.

Then there's the RI 58 Les Paul. Straight in from the guitar, that's it. Set the amp to 'jangly', crank dime the mids, back off the bass and stand back. Again, setting the guitar is all I do. Sweet distortion, very strong and warm. The guitar has a dark tone to start with so I also push the treble a bit. With this set up I can cover early Zep sounds, Allman Bros., etc. It's almost a Marshall tone when cranked, yet again, it has it's own voice. I ahven't had the LP that long so I don't have any giging time with this amp and it. But I'm looing forward to it!

I've had this amp less than a year, it has given me no problems so far. Because it's just a tube amp I would want a back up, just in case a tube goes, or I blew a speaker, etc. I wouldn't be freaking out worrying about it, the amp is very well built, I put as much faith in it as I would put in any good amp.

When I called George to ask about the amp before I bought it, I must have talked with him for about an hour. I've had a couple of questions that I've emailed him and I've gotten a quick response.

I've been playing 38+ years and have owned about 8 amps in tha time. Last year I had some pretty bad GAS, Mesa Nomad 45, Mesa Nomad 100, 1980 Marshall JMP 100, Mesa Lonestar Special, Fender 66 Super Reverb.

Now that the dust has settled I have the Working Dog and the Mesa Lonestar left. This week that Lonestar goes on Ebay and I am ordering a 4x10 version of the Rott, specificly to play with the LP ( I like the 10's, but wouldn't touch the 2x12's !)

These are simple high quality amps that sound great.

late 2001 or early 2002
1 channel volume, treble, bass, middle reverb, power attenuator
2 x 12 Jenson C12 I think.
Weighs 44 lbs
40 watts of 6L6 power tube

Jangly/Creamy switch

To rate features is totally subjective based on what the buyer is looking for.

This has the features I was looking for so and I can't think of anything I would change so it it gets a 10.

I use a California strat with Lawrence 290s, a 57' resissue gold top, a danelectro barritone, and a relic nocaster.
I play cajun/zydeco/funk/blues and jazz in a four piece combo.

This amp covers the type of music that I play perfectly. George described it as kind of a combination between a low powered tweed twin and a 2x12 bluesbreaker but with reverb.

That's exactly how I would describe it. The jangly side has more highs and stays clean with single coils at pretty high volumes. The creamy side seems to have more midrange and less highs and is going to take on more of a bluesbreaker character.

Both jangly and clean exhibit a really nice grind when pushed with the creamy side grinding a more than the jangly side. Reducing the power via the attenuator provides the same characteristics at lower volumes. (40 watts vs 20)

The amp responds really well with my Fulldrive 2 for more juice which I mostly use to get more drive when running the amp at lower volumes.

Someone may ask why I don't just get an old black face pro or super reverb. 3 main reasons are:
1. This amp only weighs 44 lbs vs whatever a pro or super or bluesbreaker for that matter weighs.
2. This amp is a new amp that is superbly supported by it's builder.
3. I've had those amps and I honestly think this is a better amp. It has the features and sounds I was looking for.

For a rating, once again it's subjective but I can't think of anything I would change.

The amp that I purchased was a demo that George had shipped back and forth to California and then to me in Atlanta. When it arrived, a solder joint had come apart. I called George and he had it picked up at my house by Fed Ex at his expense, fixed it and had it back to my house in less than a week once again at his expense. He also sent me one of his new guitar cables.

That's the best customer support I've had in 40 years of buying equipment.

I've been playing for 40 years, 35 of those as a professional. I'm down to just playing weekends these days and my friends know me as an equipment junky. I've owned and still do own a lot of equpment. For my current situation, this amp is exactly what I want and need.

It is a very straight forward tone machine. No bells or whistles really, just plug in and play or add a pedal or two. And only 44 lbs!
Another thing about the amp I really like is it's cabinet design. The controls are on the top of the amp like a bassman and when carting it you can lay it face down and not worry about banging up the controls.

I really like both the amp and the great customer support behind the amp and would buy another if was stolen or lost.