Hilgen Basso Grande B2503

60's funky head and 2-12 cab. 7591 power tubes. 2 channels (bass and instrument) normal and high inputs for each. volume and tone for each. stand-by setting. probably 20-30 watts.

very unique sounding amp. great cleans at low volumes through the instrument channel. great growl at higher vols. jumper to bass channel and the sound gets dark and mean. unfortunately at very high volume the amp starts to squeal in a very unpleasant way. i'll have this checked out when i get a chance. the useable volume is loud enough to gig with now.

would definately bring a backup

very little info available on this (now defunct) company.

been playing and gigging for 20+ yrs. own thd bivalve, deluxe reverb, tweed princeton. les paul, 335 studio, ej strat, am std strat, etc. i would definately buy this again just for the retro funky looks. that it actually works is a bonus. it sure sounds great at living room volumes, very organic cleans and bluesy grind as the tubes are pushed. hopefully i can get the squeal fixed and put this thing to better use. a great find!

I found this little gem junk picking today covered in mildew. Took it home cleaned it off, plugged it in. Didn't Expect anything to happen. I WAS WRONG!
your typical two channel, four input. one for bass one for instrument. volume and tone knob on each channel. PLAIN AND SIMPLE. One output jack on the back of the head.

Put a bass through it and it was kinda boxxy sounding. didnt impress me much... but after all i didnt even think this thing would work. Put a strat into the inst channel and got a clean dull sound. quick little adjustment on the tone knob and it was loud and clear. plugged in my sonex and sounded pretty cooler, turned the volume knob and got a very DISTINCT CRISP tube break up. The only other amp i could describe this with is an old ampeg b-25 but i got that added grit that makes this amp special and im happy to have it.
The cabinet it came with has two no name speakers, very skimpy looking. That gave it the "dark sound" Hilgens are supposed to have. I achieved all the above when plugging it into a big ol 2x10.

OK LOOK! I found this in the trash. Curbside on junk day. It was covered in mildew and smelt like a basement. I plugged it in and all the tubes lit up and i was cranking it jamming with my bassist for about 2 hours. Its exceeded my expectations - i mean come on really.

All i could find out about this amp is that Hilgen was a company from NJ that made amps in the early sixties along side Ampeg and Sano. Im pretty sure i could bring this to any good tech and have it worked on real easily.

Ive been playing for 14 years mostly punk rock and garage stuff. This will do the job as does all the others. I love how it dosn't sound like anything else and i love that it looks so cool. Very 60s looking grille cloth and a cool looking logo. Seems it will fit in very nicely with the rest of my monsters.