New amp decisions - do i really need a hellborg?

[RealDeal]

HOME is your answer. I recommend the PUMA series.

Having recently acquired and currently lovin' the PUMA 500, I can validate that it IS the bomb of Micro-amps, really...

But...It is no Hellborg!
Nothing really is; the technology and design are in a class by themselves on that baby.

There are so many good systems and ways to go regarding bass amplification, all-tube, SMPS (like the PUMA) and all the rest...

But the Hellborg System!! **MN them for making it! I WANT one, and I already have far too many great rigs! ...

NOT!

:twisted:

Oh, and to th OP....Like I SAID!

You got the money- You want it-
buy it.

 

[Callum]

No tecamp dealers in the UK, and the distrubuter doesn't know what its doing about them.

So back to the hellborg it is!

 

[flipper_gv]

Pedro whilst you have some valid points, my situation isn't how you described. I'm going to end up with a lot of debt actaully more than you stated - £32,000 is more realistic, i'm in my 3rd year of a 4 years MEng in electronics and music technology course. I pretty much still live at home out side of uni atm, and will do for 2 more years so its really not a problem. And i need and amp and i'll probably only be saving about £500 - but yeh thats still a deposit on a room.!

WHAT!??!?! 32 000 pounds in debt and you still think it's a normal situation???? I'm in my second year at university and I'm still far from starting to ask for credit. Man, if I were you, I'd work my ass off during summer to get some money and pay back this because it'll get ugly in no time and I'd never would consider affording a 1700 USD preamp to mostly practice and record "some stuff" at home.

I got tech21 bassdriver DI and while it's surely not the most pro setup I've ever seen, well it does very very well at mostly practicing and recording "some stuff" at home. Want something high end to fit with your course without being as absurdly relatively expensive as the Hellborg, look at Read Purity, Summit audio TD-100, PreSonus, A-Design, Avalon U5.

Honestly, I don't know what notion of money vs being a student you got there in Europe, but here, when you get out of school with over 60 000 CAD, the equivalent of 32 000 pounds (even for me and I'm going to try to get a Ph. D in neuropsychology, between 7 and 9 years of university) in debt you're considered an uncontrollable spending machine. That's a lot of money, and it's not the kind of thing you can or will pay in a single year after.

I know buying very top of the line gear might be appealing (can't imagine how much I'd love to get a Dolphin Pro I 5 strings), but at the end, you are not (for now) a very top bassist in the world and neither am I. Look at it this way, the only guys on the forum that got the Hellborg are Flo who's been in one of Romania biggest bands (if I'm right) and that guy from UK (Ray?) who's also endorsed by Warwick and seems to play in pro bands.

Another point of view would be Will Lee who use a lot the Radial Bassbone to record. He's one of the top session bassist in the world and use a 300$ preamp. How much does that tell you? Other users of the bassbone include: victor wooten, Steve Bailey, Roscoe Beck, Nathan East, John Patitucci, Chuck Rainey. Is that enough to convince ANYONE that a small cheap box can do wonders?

 

[Callum]

Ok i must admit i made a large error, The debt is more likely to be £24,000 after leaving. the £30,000 is if i carry on for a MA in Post production and Sound Design. The £32,00 was very bad maths on my part its been corrected - sorry for the misleading information. Its still a lot though, compared to others though this is the accepted cost of university, especially if i continue with a post graduate MA. I know many leaving uni £30,000 in debt with only a BA in english. The debt here is justified to give me the best advantage in what is becoming a hugely competitive area.

Also noting the money for the hellborg is not out of my student loans, its from the sale of gear from money i had outside of my student loan. If i'm completely honest its money i've have put away for gear and its a set amount i use when buying and then selling stuff so it won't get me into trouble, and keeps a cap on my GAS! If i forgo the hellborg i will no doubt spend the money on other gear in the future.

Your main concern Philippe was mine originally, Philippe. And i guess the answer is that i do need an amp/preamp or something but not necessarily a hellborg. Thanks for your insight into other preamps and DI. I am going to check them all out, in particular the avalon U5 due to the rep is has.

The Hellborg Preamp will make you noticed in a band more, live or studio this is something I am 99.99% sure. It will bring you more gigs too.

Is the most persuasive point, i heard. I'm semi well known in music circles in the uni through the bands i've been in and my playing, but thats it atm. Having a professional attitude, playing style will give me an advantage over other bassists. I've got the attitude and working on the playing style the gear will just be the icing on the cake imo.

 

[flipper_gv]

If having around 20 000 - 30 000 pounds in debt is normal there in UK (like I said, I don't know how much is school over there), well I guess you're right, it is still a lot of money to me, but anyway.

It's like my mom always told me. I'm GASsing for very high end stuff and man I'd like to buy it but she always tell me this:"If you buy the very top of line stuff that you dream of when you're 20 and a student, what will you dream of having when you'll have your courses completed and a real job?" And that was a very good point of her. We cannot have everything we want while being young. It's like that guy I know who bought a Cadillac Escalade (and no, he wasn't selling dope) who is now dreaming of a Ferrari, at 22. My father is now 54 and finally bought last year the telecaster he always dreamed when he was young. His financial situation is very good (middle class but with no debts at all) but it was only recently that he bought it. And I look at myself now, feeling totally spoiled with my warwick, my fender and my markbass stuff and still being a student. But, you won't see me buy anymore basses or amps before I end University, I'll just GAS for stuff for the next 7 years. I know it sucks, but when I'll finally buy something, I know I'll be a thousand times more excited.

 

[RealDeal]

I'll go with the old addage regarding whether or not its a good move to buy something, concerning the price:

"If you have to ask how much something costs, you really can't afford it".

There's no question whatsoever about how awesome the Hellborg system is.
There's no question that it does not come cheap.

So the only question is whether buying it is a personal financial stress.

There are players who could buy one (or a $50,000 Alessandro gold-plated chassis amp!) but don't like to spend that kind of $$ on gear.

Then there are others that do! I'm one of 'em, tho I don't have a Hellborg, I have some other VERY costly gear.
I can afford it, and I totally dig owning and mostly using it!

Finally- one of the BEST funkiest, skilled bassists I EVER saw-

Was playing a Teisco Del Ray Bass thru a Silvertone Guitar amp.
The guy played and sounded like Jamerson- He did a Church gig in Mississippi, and thank goodness he didn't want to come to the big city and play!
He was awesome.


That's how much gear matters, if you really get down to it.

Him playing thru a Hellborg and a Warwick bass???

O
M
G!!

:twisted:

 

[Pedro]

The Hellborg Preamp will make you noticed in a band more, live or studio this is something I am 99.99% sure. It will bring you more gigs too.

Put bluntly, (and not aiming this at anyone in particular!!) if your band stinks, it don't matter what your playing.

I've not once met a promoter who raced up to our geetard player and said 'hell, is that a LP standard? I'm gonna get you guys down here more often!'

What he actually said was 'maybe we'll find you some more gigs when you can bring in more than 2 ppl.'

I honestly believe that the Hellborg stuff is the 'big boys toys', the stuff that really is for the professional players. The way it is marketed and the looks of the thing (not to mention the price!!) suggests that to me.

And on a side note, if you get the amp you then want the cabs as well? How much are they??

And yeh, i forgot about them f***in top up fees, my year was the last who had the old style loans - thank God!!

 

[Florin]

I am going to check them all out, in particular the avalon U5 due to the rep is has.

The Bass Player Magazine review said that the Hellborg's DI out has a quality similar with Avalon U5.

I might tell you this again, 99% of the time, the reaction of the guys that had to deal with my Hellborg pre was not like "Yeah.. that's a good pre!"
Was more like "OMFG!!!!!! This ♣♣♣♣ is incredible!!!!"

It is weird, because it is not doing (almost) anything to the sound

 

[Callum]

Pedro, your a luck man. Topup fees are crazy this year my tuition fees have gone up £200 more and its really annoyed me! - probalby due to the building work thats started at york building a huge expansion, the plus side is they are building a state of the art postproduction and video suite for the postproduction MA, which is good for me!

Uni is pretty damn expensive in the UK, but its made more affordable by the way the loan repayment works, you only pay it back when you earn more than £15,000 and even then it starts at about £5 a week atm i think. - anyway enough about uni costs its getting me a little depressed thinking about it all and what happens when i leave uni!

Honestly bands impress promoters, but tone, playing and gear impresses the musicians, through them you get known, and then say someone is looking for a bassist they'll be like 'oh this guys a great player and sounds amazing'.

Like i mentioned the cabs and power amp are extra and i can assure you i wouldn't be getting them for a while. Cabs compared to the preamp and power amps are actually pretty reasonable at around £650 for the Low cab and the club cab with the big cab being around £1200. The club cab (2x12) is on par with the aguilar 2x12 and mark bass, and is cheaper than epifani. so its actually the power amp that i'd probably get last if i was to go this route!

Florin, cheers for the input once again, i swear your on a mission to get everyone to own one of these things!

I've still got to finish selling my stuff off, my amps are gone but my thumb has not sold yet! Until that does i won't be getting anything! - still gives more more thinking time about all this!

Once again thanks for all the input guys its really appreciated.

 

[mart]

There's a lot of interesting arguments in this thread - plenty of food for thought for all of us, whatever point in the food-chain we're at. But trying to draw a conclusion from all the contributions, it strikes me that Callum is simply not going to be happy without a Hellborg. I've no experience of the amp (though I trust Flo's word a lot on its amazing quality), but just reading what Callum writes it strikes me that if he buys it, he'll get a lot of pleasure out of it, and if he buys anything else, he'll always be wondering "what if I bought the Hellborg instead". The only point that gives me a moment of doubt about this is Pedro's point about how you'd feel leaving such an expensive amp on a stage and risking someone else nicking it or breaking it. If you can live with those issues, then I'd say there's no choice: you've got to go for it. Like RealDeal said, money is just money - from my experience you're far more likely to regret *not* spending it, than to regret spending it.

Edited 17/09/09 to attribute quotes correctly!

 

[Callum]

mart i think you have managed to sum up my point of view very elegantly. I was honeslty going to leave the issue with gigs, and gear borrowing.

As with gear and gigs. I do not leave any gear on stage, the gigs i've played i move my gear on, and then off again, be it amps, basses, drum machines etc. This is not problem for me, and most of the time it is a necessity due to the small stage space in the venues i tend to play, any our bands setup being pretty large for a trio of guitarists - well 2 guitars 1 bassist!

As for lending out gear at gigs, well that involves my judgment. I am happy to let people try gear, and even borrow gear if they are a decent person, and i trust them. I would not get into the habit of lending it out every gig though as well though, i would not want people to feel like anyone can use my gear at any gig. I feel that it is the players responsibility to bring their own gear and if someone turns up expecting to use otherpeoples stuff i tell them where to go. Letting people test out my gear back stage or outside of gigs i have no issue with this if i'm with it, unless they are clearly someone who doesn't know what they are doing, and the i wouldn't let them touch anything. It all comes down really to common sense. I take this attitude with all my gear and having the hellborg wouldn't change that. Even if i had a cheap amp, or something just because its more affordable to fix doesn't mean i'd want some muppet bassist breaking it.

Anyone that rest drinks on gear as well just needs a slap as well imo! - so i've got no issues saying no to who ask to use my gear people with that regard and if they don't like my reasons then well its their issue i guess.

I'm still not quite 100% sure about it, as i had a go with the genz benz shuttle again and well i'm severely tempted by it and the £500 saving over the hellborg. I think i need to try a hellborg pre as seeing is believing - after i've done that i'm sure the decision will come a lot more easily!

Any more input? suggestions, questions, comments and what no please go ahead as like i mentioned i've still not made up my mind 100% - i'll only get something when i have!

 

[RealDeal]

Like someone else said, money is just money

I beleive I said that earlier, and someone "snapped back" at it. Yeh, right.

Money is our friend! Figure out a way to earn some, then earn some more, and make it work for you! Don't just put it in the bank and let it rot, earning a meager interest percentage (well do what you want!); don't lose it all in the Stock Market like some poor saps, don't be a greedy sod and try and use it in a scheme then lose it.

Earn it, enjoy it, and dont' exceed your abilities with it, whether it's about Gambling in Vegas, or buying a Hellborg system.. Get it?
End of lecture....:lol:

About the Hellborg system- So simple!
If you dig the specs and tone and design concept, it's one of the top Bass Amplification systems in the World. Period.

There would (or should) not be a moment of regret in owning it; Frankly now you mokes got ME thinking about buying one.

I haven't spent that much for a system...close but no cigar, and I do NOT regret for a hot second what I've spent large on- I love working them, it's as good as the S-E-X word! (in it's own way of course!8

The power, pre, and a stack of cabs, all Hellborg-

JEESH!

Why WOULDN'T you buy it??

Can't think of a reason, unless money is an issue. That happens to be a condition of much of the World right now, unfortunately.

The existence of the Hellborg Bass system counter-balances much of the ******-up stuff on our Planet!

Deep, huh?

Now quit grousing and buy it if you want it and can afford it! (Didn't I already say that>>>?

 

[Pedro]

TBH not sure y i'm being so damn stubborn on this one, i usually love seeing pics of ppl's new gear.

Maybe its cause this situation is something i can relate to (i bought almost all my 'wick gear at uni, although the whole lot cost a lot less than £1000!!) and i always thought that I would be walking out of uni and in to an £18K+ job. Maybe I swallowed the uni pill a little too easily, but it aint as easy as it seems.

For a student it just seems too much money to be spending on something like that.

Anyways think i've said enough on the topic, just one last thing:

DEFO GO AND TRY THE BLOODY THING OUT FIRST!!! WERE YOU SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING SPENDING A £1000 ON SOMETHING YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE??!!

Peace out :d :d

 

[Callum]

And so the task begins finding one on the UK to try (i really wonder why i took me so long!), anyone know anywhere?

 

[Florin]

You know what Callum?
Hans Peter Wilfer just read this topic, and he decided to send you one to test. At your home! You pay the shipping though...
Is this ok enough for you my Warwick Brotha?

Then if... let's say Real Deal wants to test it, you send it to him.

Hellborg in Tour 2009/ 2010
Can I hear an

WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! ?

 

[nizzrooster]

WooooooooHooooooooo!!!!!!

 

[Grgzilla]

This is unbeleivably generous.
Thanks Hans-Peter.

 

[mart]

Like someone else said, money is just money

I beleive I said that earlier, and someone "snapped back" at it. Yeh, right.

....

Whoops, my bad. I was writing the post quickly without properly looking through the thread to see who said what. I've now corrected my post to give you full credit for that point.

 

[mart]

You know what Callum?
Hans Peter Wilfer just read this topic, and he decided to send you one to test. At your home! You pay the shipping though...
Is this ok enough for you my Warwick Brotha?

Then if... let's say Real Deal wants to test it, you send it to him.

Hellborg in Tour 2009/ 2010
Can I hear an

WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! ?

Wow!! I knew Mr Wilfer was generous and that he cares about his customer base, but this is just an amazing offer!

 

[mart]

And so the task begins finding one on the UK to try (i really wonder why i took me so long!), anyone know anywhere?

A quick search turns up gak.co.uk and basscentre.com, but thomann.de will also ship to the UK and are often competitive. I'm sure google will find you many more vendors.