On June 14, 2013, I had a lengthy exchange of e-mails with Nelson Checkoway, a highly-accomplished musician and aficionado of vintage tube amps. He's got some great old Fender and Gibson amps, but still has fallen in love with the Model 2522 Victor he recently accomplished. He's a Hilgenite, all right.
On the page on this website concerning the 1966 Hilgen catalog, I insisted that no Hilgen amps ever had both the badge in the upper left corner of the grille and the coat of arms in the lower right corner. Yet in the photo furthest to the left above, you'll see Nelson's Victor amp brazenly displaying both insignia. The nerve of that amp. I'm the expert around here.
But seriously, that's exactly what this site is for: to follow the evidentiary trail wherever it leads, and to abandon hypotheses when contradicted by the electro-archaeological facts.
Nelson's amp also upset an assumption that I had not expressed yet on the site: that Hilgen used only one type of control knob throughout its history. It is still true that the overwhelming majority of Hilgens, regardless of when they were built, have the type of knobs shown in my pictures of the Swing Away and the Champion. However, Nelson's Victor has a different style of knob, that is very similar to those used on certain Ampeg amps. See the second photo from the left, above.
Nelson and I discussed the Victor owned by Rob Roberge and shown at http://www.myrareguitars.com/hilgen-victor-model-r2522-amplifier. I thought I'd already learned all I could from those pictures, but when I looked back at the photos, I saw that Rob's Victor has the same knobs as does Nelson's amp. See the third photo from the left, above.
That I was wrong in my thinking that Hilgen amp knobs came in only one style actually came as good news for me. I have a B2501 Basso that has exactly the same knobs. I was mildly disappointed that the amp had replacement knobs, but now it turns out that they are (presumably) original. Much obliged, Nelson and Rob!
However, we have a new conundrum: why are the Ampeg-syle knobs so unusual? Could there have been a time when Jack Gentul lost his supply of the standard knobs? Was he experimenting with new cosmetics? If so, why did he terminate his experiment?
And we're on to an even greater mystery: is Rob's Victor in a Hilgen-built cabinet? The cabinet is shown in the photo furthest to the right, above. Before yesterday, I would have felt entirely confident in concluding that someone had modified the original cabinet. I have never seen a Hilgen with that style of grille cloth, and the cabinet is almost 50% smaller than the standard Victor cabinet. Indeed, no production Hilgen amp resembles that cabinet. Was this a user modification? Or did Jack Gentul make custom cabinets as special orders? Why does Rob's Victor have a toggle power switch rather than a rotary switch? (Hilgen used both types of power switches, but not on the same models -- as far as I know.) Tf it's a user modification, I'm impressed that they retained the white piping and that the cabinet was so neatly recovered in appropriate black tolex. I'm going to contact Rob to see what he can tell us.
Whenever I think I've seen everything, an anomaly is sure to follow.
On the page on this website concerning the 1966 Hilgen catalog, I insisted that no Hilgen amps ever had both the badge in the upper left corner of the grille and the coat of arms in the lower right corner. Yet in the photo furthest to the left above, you'll see Nelson's Victor amp brazenly displaying both insignia. The nerve of that amp. I'm the expert around here.
But seriously, that's exactly what this site is for: to follow the evidentiary trail wherever it leads, and to abandon hypotheses when contradicted by the electro-archaeological facts.
Nelson's amp also upset an assumption that I had not expressed yet on the site: that Hilgen used only one type of control knob throughout its history. It is still true that the overwhelming majority of Hilgens, regardless of when they were built, have the type of knobs shown in my pictures of the Swing Away and the Champion. However, Nelson's Victor has a different style of knob, that is very similar to those used on certain Ampeg amps. See the second photo from the left, above.
Nelson and I discussed the Victor owned by Rob Roberge and shown at http://www.myrareguitars.com/hilgen-victor-model-r2522-amplifier. I thought I'd already learned all I could from those pictures, but when I looked back at the photos, I saw that Rob's Victor has the same knobs as does Nelson's amp. See the third photo from the left, above.
That I was wrong in my thinking that Hilgen amp knobs came in only one style actually came as good news for me. I have a B2501 Basso that has exactly the same knobs. I was mildly disappointed that the amp had replacement knobs, but now it turns out that they are (presumably) original. Much obliged, Nelson and Rob!
However, we have a new conundrum: why are the Ampeg-syle knobs so unusual? Could there have been a time when Jack Gentul lost his supply of the standard knobs? Was he experimenting with new cosmetics? If so, why did he terminate his experiment?
And we're on to an even greater mystery: is Rob's Victor in a Hilgen-built cabinet? The cabinet is shown in the photo furthest to the right, above. Before yesterday, I would have felt entirely confident in concluding that someone had modified the original cabinet. I have never seen a Hilgen with that style of grille cloth, and the cabinet is almost 50% smaller than the standard Victor cabinet. Indeed, no production Hilgen amp resembles that cabinet. Was this a user modification? Or did Jack Gentul make custom cabinets as special orders? Why does Rob's Victor have a toggle power switch rather than a rotary switch? (Hilgen used both types of power switches, but not on the same models -- as far as I know.) Tf it's a user modification, I'm impressed that they retained the white piping and that the cabinet was so neatly recovered in appropriate black tolex. I'm going to contact Rob to see what he can tell us.
Whenever I think I've seen everything, an anomaly is sure to follow.
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