Tamerlane Amplifiers Hodgee Ba Ba V2 Head

This is a basic hand built point to point Amplifier. It uses an Ef86 high gain pentode preamp valve, and two matched KT66 power amp valves. It has a useful line out facility. One input, one tone, and one volume. The tone pulls out to disengage the tone circut, which gives a mid boost, and gain in output. There is also a pentode/triode switch internally.
I don't believe you need anymore!

It is virtually impossible to get a bad sound out of this amp...I play Rock/blues, use single coils soap bars and humbuckers. I'm an old school player who uses the guitar volume to control the final tone. I believe the less complicated the tonal path...the easier it is to reproduce the sounds you want. This is the holy grail of tone!

I called Gar and he built it for me...Really decent guy...knows what he's talking about and responds to all those questions immediately. Mine has a 240 volt UK mains transformer. Anything you want just ask him I'm sure he can do it. Built like a tank ( a high quality tank at that). Don't anticipate any trouble...but if there is Gar is at the end of a phone...he also gives a 3 year guarantee!!!

Gar is the man! Enough said.

I've been playing 30 years, and I've had everything...this is the simplist and the best. Would definitely replace if it got stolen.

This is my second review of the Hodgee Ba Ba head...I had given a review of the head in a el-84 power tube form but after a lot of fussing around with the head a decided to have Gar change it to use kt-66 power tubes.
Features still get a low rating. This amp isn't a one trick pony but it won't do most of the things a modern amp will (channel switch, effetcs loop, reverb, etc.)

So. It sounds way different with the octal power tube modification. I really liked the head with el-84's but it was best as a "rock" amp with those power tubes. And as I don't play much rock any more I had Gar switch the power tube sockets from the 9-pin el-84 type to the more standard 8-pin type. Now the Hodgee can accept bascially any 8-pin tube (w/o rebias) including the 6v6 (there's a power switch on the back of the amp to allow for the safe operation of 6v6 tubes). I had Gar load it up with kt-66 power tubes and quite honestly I don't think I'll ever try any other tube. Just an absolute perfect match with this amp. The tone is fat fat fat. Warm, thick, and rich. Absolutely perfect for jazz. My L-5 just sounds incredible through it...it brings out the natural reverberation in the guitar that I've never heard from another amp!!! I plugged my friend's les paul into it the other day and it also sounded great...very crunchy and warm, perfect for led zepplin riffs. With the 6sn7 preamp tube in this amp you get a fairly clean and rich tone but it will crunch nicely when you up the volume. Basically I liked this amp before with the el-84 power tubes and now I really like this amp. Also I got one of tamerlane's own plug-in solid state rectifiers for the rectifier slot. It's called a fast freddies and it essentially gives the amp a little more punch and a little more frequency bandwidth. I have a mullard gz-34 rectifier tube for this amp too but I gotta say that for the punchiest tone I reccommend the fast freddies. My reccomendations: if you play mostly rock and/or blues and need a fairly ballsy tone- go with the el-84 power tubes. If you play a lot of jazz or anything that requires a fairly clean sound I'd go with the el-34/6l6/kt-66 option. You can still optimize the head for a good amount of crunch in this configuration but it doesn't have quite the degree of slice and chime that the el-84 configuration does. In a perfect world I'd have both versions but after this last election I can very honestly say that this is NOT a perfect world.

so far so good

the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lovely sounds, lovely customer service, and lovely looks. Lovely all around

All of the Amps in the Hodgee Ba Ba series are intentionally built to be pure and simple for tone without a lot of features. These amps have only two control knobs (Volume and Tone). Unlike the previous review on the V2 (cleaner model), I have the standard Version 2 with an ef86 pre-amp tube and the push-pull tone circuit. There is a switch for going between a solid state and tube rectifier and you can choose just about any of the standard rectifier tubes in it. It has a line out and a speaker out with 2/4/8 ohm impedance switch. Though it is very low on what I would call "features", it has quite a bit of flexibility from a tonal perspective.

This amp is by far my favorite el84 amp and I've tried a bunch (Dr.Z, Matchless, Alessandro, etc...). It will flat do it all from jangley clean tones to "throw away your fuzz face" distorted/overdriven tones. I am able to accomplish all of this with the guitars volume knob. When really cranked, it can get a little too fuzzy for my use, but I'm convinced that there is not a bad sound in these Hodgee Ba Ba amps. I have played 3 different models/versions of this amp and love them all. If I could afford it, I'd probably have every possible combination.

Reliability is tough to rate because it has only been 6 months or so, but I would be very surprised if it failed. These are hand built/point to point wired, and seem to be very solid. I would expect it to be very dependable. Additionally, there is a 3 year parts and service warranty on these amps.

There are very few people that I have ever worked with, if any, that I would rate at Gar Sukup's level regarding friendliness, knowledge, willingness to help, etc... He has spent an incredible amount of time with me on building and helping me understand his amps. I continue to stay in contact with him and hope that I always will.

I've been playing for over 15 years now and have been through a bunch of amps over that time. I'm an amp junkie, actually, who can't stop looking around, but I think these Tamerlane amps are going to change all of that for me. There are several things I look for in an amp and the Hodgee Ba Ba does all of them for me: First and foremost is flexibility or the ability roll off on the guitar volume, cleanup, and have the tones be equally amazing throughout the spectrum (heavy overdrive to slightly overdriven to clean). This amp is great at that. Secondly, it is very helpful to be able to get wonderful clean and overdriven tones at volume levels that won't get me kicked out of a club or my house. The Hodgee allows you to do all of it at club friendly output levels. And then, of course, there's the absolutely wonderful complexity in the tone and the fact that there's not a bad sound in the amp. It's very hard to put the guitar down once you get started. I play mostly fender style guitars with vintage single coil pickups, but have also played P90s through this amp and while I'm always partial to the Fenders, they were all very good and the pedals I've tried with the amp match up nicely. I really don't know what more I can say about it. The amp sounds amazing. I'd be glad to answer any questions you might have. Just let me know.

It has very few features really so I give this a five although I DON'T want an amp with features (just great tone) so it's absolutely perfect for me. It's a single channel point to point handwired amp with a volume and a tone control. That's it. It's got a speaker impedance selector on the back and a line out as well as a switch to change from a solid state rectifier to a tube if so desired. Also has a three way power switch for off/standby/and on. What really stands out about this amp in the features category is that Gar (who handbuilt this amp) will voice it for you. I chose two el84 (you can also get 6v6's) power tubes and a special octal preamp tube called a 6sn7 (other choices include ef86 or your standard 12ax7 variety).

Really does sound great. Sounds like a old school tweed amp in my opinion. It's got el84's but it's more fender than vox although it does have that silky high end of a vox with a nice smooth midrange and bass of a fender tweed. Really doen't sound like any other amp I've ever played through...it's got its own thing going on which is articulate, sensitve, and smooth. The great thing is my hodgee is unique. Normally the hodgee is voiced for a overdriven resonse but talking with Gar he helped me in getting a more clean sound out of the amp by using different premap tubes and also changing the tone conrol so that it couln't be bypassed (which adds gain). BTW the tone control is excellent...it's very subtle, less pronounced than a guitars tone control even. But I love this becuase the amp sounds great no matter where you set the tone. I've been leaving it pretty much straight up at 12 o'clock and it gives me a warm balanced sound that is not too trebely or bassy...just right. The amp's gain can also be esaily changed by replacing the 2nd preamp tube (which is the normal 12ax7 type) with a 12au7, 5751, 12at7...whatever you want. Same with the tube rectifier...although I haven't messed with that yet it can be changed from various tube types to a soild state. I have used this amp with my two electric guitars: a prs hollowbody spruce and a gibson L-5. This amp really helps to bring out that fat hollowbody sound. I would really like to try it with some single coil guitars too although I haven't yet. I use a variety of pedals and this amp sounds great with all of them. Especailly my analogman NKT sunface (a vintage fuzz face clone). The inherent smoothness of this amp makes for a lovely, creamy sound with the sunface that just sounds awesome! It also responds well to my vox wah and my moogerfooger pedals. I plugged into a solid state echoplex and the hodgee made it sound so smooth many could be fooled into thinking they're hearing a tube echoplex. It's really that great!

I just got the amp recently so I won't comment although it comes with a several year warranty and seems very well built and solid. I'd say it's very reliable but it's just too early to tell.

Absolute ten out of ten. I'd give an 11 in this area if it were possible. This is where Tamerlane amplifiers really shines. Gar Sukup does all the building himself and he is incredibly helpful. We pretty much redid the hodgee from the ground up with numerous emails. He answered all my stupid and uninformed questions quickly and nicely. The advantage of buying from a small operation like Tmaerlane amps is that you can really pinpoint exactly what you want from the amp and Gar will change the amp to help you get the sound you're looking for. I can't say enough just how great the cutomer service is at Tamerlane. The BEST!!!!

Great amp, great price, great to deal with. I don't think anyone has better customer serivce or better amps for the money. If, like me, you've checked out all the big production amps (fender, marshall, etc.) out there and been dissatisifed then look no further. At Tamerlane Gar will really take the time and effort to fully customize his amps to suit your needs. I can't say enough what a great value the Hodgee Ba Ba is. I superb sounding head that I'm sure I'll have for many years to come. Check out www.tamerlaneamps.com and listen to the soundclips for yourself.