Helmsley

The Helmsley is based on the Fender Blackface Princeton Reverb (AA764) of the early 1960s. With lush tube driven spring reverb and tube driven bias vary tremolo the Helmsley offers great tone, dynamics and touch sensitivity.

The Helmsley is available in standard (12W) or high power (20W and 35W) outputs. Controls include volume, bass, treble, reverb, speed and intensity. The cabinet is crafted from finger jointed pine and can be finished in tolex or shellacked Fender tweed (see options).

The standard circuit comes with switchable negative feedback which provides extra amp voicings: The normal setting is the default for this circuit; Off results in more gain, earlier breakup and extra dynamics; Light is a happy medium between Normal and Off.

Optional extras include mid control and reactive attenuator. The wide-range mid control provides the typical Blackface scooped mids at 0 and will fatten up the tone, add gain and extra punch as the control is increased. A reactive attenuator is available for the 12W and 20W versions of the Helmsley and this allows you to reduce the output from 12W to 0.5W and 1W respectively. The reactive component of the attenuator helps retain the impedance curve presented by the speaker to the amp and as a result the amp feels, sounds and responds similarly to when it is connected directly to the speaker.

The Helmsley comes with a 2-button footswitch for reverb and tremolo.

Hand Built
P2P Wiring
Ultimate Tone


Specification



Finish

Finger jointed solid pine cabinet
Leather handle
View available finishes

Tubes

1 x GZ34 Rectifier
3 x 12AX7 Preamp
1 x 12AT7 Reverb
2 x 6V6 Output (12W & 20W)
2 x 6L6 Output (35W)

Controls

Volume, Bass, Treble, Reverb
Optional middle EQ control
Tremolo Speed & Intensity
Switchable negative feedback
Optional 15W/0.5W Reactive Attenuator

Components & Features

High quality F&T filter capacitors
Mallory 150 coupling capacitors
Adjustable Bias

Speaker

10" Jupiter 10SC
10" WGS G10C
12" WGS G12C
12" WGS ET65
12" Eminence Cannabis Rex
12" Eminence GA-SC64
12" Celestion Creamback
12" Jupiter 12LC

Dimensions & Weight

Height: 16.4" (416mm), Width: 20.0" (508mm), Depth: 9.4" (238mm), 13.3kg

Accessories

Reverb & Tremolo Pedal

Example Finishes Available



Helmsley Black

Black
Helmsley Snakeskin

Snakeskin
Helmsley Blue Baby

Blue Baby
Helmsley Brown

Brown Levant Custom Build

Watch



With thanks to Manchester's Mighty Revelators for the following footage of the Helmsley in action.











Listen

Clean - Telecaster Neck Pickup


Clean Track - Telecaster Neck Pickup


Tremolo - Telecaster Bridge Pickup


Mid Gain - Stratocaster Bridge Pickup


0.5W - Stratocaster Bridge Pickup