Now NAD: Suhr Hedgehog 50 - (initial thoughts added)

Nerine · December 2023

Looking for opinions on the Suhr Hedgehog 50.

It's always been kinda on my radar, but never got round to checking them out.

Any owners on here, or anyone that's played one?

Would like to hear your thoughts.

Cheers!

DartmoorHedgehog · December 2023

Fantastic name. Apart from that I can't help, sorry

Kebabkid · December 2023

Only played one in a shop on 2 separate occasions.
Stunning clean, crunch and lead sounds that cover a good range of stuff and definitely leans on the smoother side of stuff but whilst retaining an nice aggressive side, too, and if you want it.

IMHO, probably the most complete amp under one hood that I've come across but I haven't tried the Suhr PT-15

You can hear Ian Thornley from Big Wreck with one here in this Anderton's interview

Nerine · December 2023

Ah well, fugg it, I've bought one.

Will see how it stacks up against the Two Rock and winner will stay on.

ryanverbena · December 2023

Nerine said:

Ah well, fugg it, I've bought one.

Will see how it stacks up against the Two Rock and winner will stay on.

Which Two Rock are you putting it up against?

I had a TS1 which was a similar. Haven’t played a Bloomfield before but I imagine that would be a close match.

Nerine · December 2023

ryanverbena said:

Nerine said:

Ah well, fugg it, I've bought one.

Will see how it stacks up against the Two Rock and winner will stay on.

Which Two Rock are you putting it up against?

I had a TS1 which was a similar. Haven’t played a Bloomfield before but I imagine that would be a close match.

Gonna see how it stacks up against the Classic Reverb Signature. I want something in that vein but with more gain on tap, I’m hoping this will get me there. If so, the Two Rock will be sold.

Kebabkid · December 2023

Nerine said:

ryanverbena said:

Nerine said:

Ah well, fugg it, I've bought one.

Will see how it stacks up against the Two Rock and winner will stay on.

Which Two Rock are you putting it up against?

I had a TS1 which was a similar. Haven’t played a Bloomfield before but I imagine that would be a close match.

Gonna see how it stacks up against the Classic Reverb Signature. I want something in that vein but with more gain on tap, I’m hoping this will get me there. If so, the Two Rock will be sold.

Nice one and please keep us posted on how it works out and your opinion/conclusion

Nerine · December 2023

Kebabkid said:

Nice one and please keep us posted on how it works out and your opinion/conclusion

Absolutely will do. Amp arrives today, so hopefully will have some time to give it a work over.

Nerine · December 2023

Kebabkid said:
Nice one and please keep us posted on how it works out and your opinion/conclusion

Initial impressions are very good.

It's a different amp to the CRS, but you can definitely hear the lineage they share.

I've not fully A/B'd them yet, and I've still to give the clean sounds a thorough going over.

That said, the Hedgehog:

Build is impeccable. Runs very cool. Looks sharp in the blacked out headshell.

The thing that strikes me the most I think, is the feel under the fingers. It's chewy and squashy. The Two-Rock seems a bit more strident until you add a drive pedal with some squish/compression, and then you're in the same ballpark-ish. It comes more naturally to the Hedgehog.

The amp has a lot of gain, but due to the feel and compression (with the boost enabled), you don't need to wrap the dial around too much to get a satisfying sustain out of it.

It's got a bit more of that upper mid-range Marshally krang to it, which for me is excellent, and crucially, it seems comfortable doing that. The Two-Rock is less happy doing that bright crunch that you'd associate more with British sounding amps. Understandable, I guess.
On the overdrive mode (no boost), with the drive at 3/4's, all EQ controls at noon and the bright switch in, you get a nice fat dirty rhythm tone that's really nice to play. Seems to have a nice top end.

It produces a ton of low end, the two stage deep switch only emphasises this.

You can really "brown out" the preamp. Run the boost control high, and the amp does that kind of fuzzy, compressy, neck pickup thing where the notes kind of blur into each other. The pick attack is reduced. When you get higher into the register, the notes pop more.

This could be the settings and the cascading nature of the EQ circuit - I.e. the bass control wrapped round feeds more into the preamp. It's not quite as interactive as what you'd find in a Two Rock, but it's probably less finicky and slightly easier to use at the same time.

I find myself hardly using the boosts on my pedalboard with this amp. The amp just doesn't really seem to need them. The footswitching is really nice, too. Easy to store presets and you can get a variety of sounds from the amp's fairly simple set of controls.

Make no mistake, it's not a Marshall, and it's definitely based around that smoother Dumble drive sound with a really thick and vocal midrange should you desire it, but I think it covers more ground than just that. I've been finding some real nice classic rock rhythm tones, absolutely singing lead sounds, squeaky cleans, Edge of break up, glassy Strat sounds, etc. Seems a bit of a swiss army knife. Don't want to call it a Jack of all trades, because I think that's a bit unfair. It does everything better than merely "Jack" level.

Crucially:

The Hedgehog seems to me to be the amp that provides the sound people search for in the Two-Rock but can't find until they add the FET gain and some drive pedals/boosts etc.
The Hedgehog just seems to be that right out of the gate, with the addition of a great clean channel.

With the Classic Reverb Sig, I find myself tweaking knobs and wondering whether my sound is "boutique" or "Two-Rock" or "befitting of the name on the front panel" enough or whether I can get more juice out of it, or find that special setting. The Hedgehog, I've been jamming, playing riffs, writing a few things.

I think that may speak volumes...

I also have a couple of shows this weekend so I may do a gig with each and see how I feel afterwards.

Either way, one (or both should another crazy idea strike me in the meantime) will be going. I cannot keep both.

More to come....

Nerine · December 2023

An addendum:

I've just done more A/B-ing.

The Hedgehog can sound really quite close to a JCM 800. The low end is in a slightly different place - The 800 seems to have some shove in the lower 80-100 Hz, nearly subby frequencies, and the HH has probably more push in the 150Hz ish region but the mids and highs can get eerily similar. Like, really close. Nice and present and crunchy.

Where you stand in the room can massively change your perception of the low end between the two amps, though.

Impressive.

The Two-Rock will be going up for sale in the near future, I believe, although I've not assessed the cleans yet. The 2 mins I've spent on the clean on the HH has yielded what you would expect, really. Great clean sounds. Like, clean is clean is clean to me, really. Scoop it a bit and most clean sounds sound pretty similar i.e. "boring" to me. Fortunately the HH seems to enjoy gain.

Winny_Pooh · December 2023

Interesting read cheers

Nerine · December 2023

Some more findings.

Probably the best lead sounds I’ve had from an amplifier. Very high praise.

The switching is a work of genius.

Here’s why:

I often find myself playing feature parts of songs that don’t necessarily need a full on solo volume boost, because it’s too much, but they do require a bit of a bump, so being able to create “variations on a theme” with your switching is a godsend.

Having an alternate preset that bumps the low end and midrange helps parts pop and sound a bit more authoritative without adding more volume. The gain and whatnot stays the same. It’s a really flexible switching setup that is an absolute cinch to use.

Very cool.

It also takes pedals really well.

Have to mention the feel of the amp again. It’s sublime.

I originally bought it with the intention of trying it out and returning it if I didn’t like it. I’m fairly certain it won’t be going back. It’s bloody ace!

I’m playing tonight with my Lizzy tribute band in Norwich (Maids Head, Old Catton if anyone’s about) so I’m gonna use the amp and see how I get on.

Nerine · December 2023

I’ve also just read that there are three internal trim pots that can adjust the overall system EQ post gain, too.

That’s awesome.

Moe_Zambeek · December 2023

Sounds very compelling. Not what I wanted to hear, I’ve wanted one for a while!

Nerine · December 2023

Moe_Zambeek said:

Sounds very compelling. Not what I wanted to hear, I’ve wanted one for a while!

It’s a very complete amp.

Not sure how easy they are to get a hold of. They don’t seem to come up often. I got mine from Gear4Music and it was a really decent price. Blacked out aesthetics too which looks a lot cooler than the wooden fronted version.

Kebabkid · December 2023

Thanks for the updates and it's a very complete amp and I'm glad you like it

Nerine · December 2023

Kebabkid said:

Thanks for the updates and it's a very complete amp and I'm glad you like it

I do like it a lot, although I’m not keeping it.

I used my JCM 800 at last nights gig and it just decimates everything.

I like decimating everything, sonically at least.

The list of amps I have owned is on the lengthy side and I’ve always been searching for something like a JCM 800. I may as well just use my 800 even though logistically it’s a bit of an aggravation at times.

It’s an absolute weapon and makes pretty much any other amp sound like a wimpy toy in comparison.

In summation the Two Rock will be getting sold and the Hedgehog will be returned.

Then I think I’m gonna sit on the funds for a bit and properly decide what to do. Or maybe look at something completely different. I do need a Captor X or similar for my direct solution, and I haven’t decided whether to keep my Two Rock cab yet and that will definitely need replacing if it goes.

donbot · December 2023

Have you ever tried a Brunetti Pleximan?

Onpar · December 2023

Nerine said:

Kebabkid said:

Thanks for the updates and it's a very complete amp and I'm glad you like it

I do like it a lot, although I’m not keeping it.

I used my JCM 800 at last nights gig and it just decimates everything.

I like decimating everything, sonically at least.

The list of amps I have owned is on the lengthy side and I’ve always been searching for something like a JCM 800. I may as well just use my 800 even though logistically it’s a bit of an aggravation at times.

It’s an absolute weapon and makes pretty much any other amp sound like a wimpy toy in comparison.

In summation the Two Rock will be getting sold and the Hedgehog will be returned.

Then I think I’m gonna sit on the funds for a bit and properly decide what to do. Or maybe look at something completely different. I do need a Captor X or similar for my direct solution, and I haven’t decided whether to keep my Two Rock cab yet and that will definitely need replacing if it goes.

Do you use the JCM800 with pedals?

How loud does it need to be cranked?

mark_jwedge · December 2023

Might be worth checking out a the Aynsley Lister Signature amp from Rift. I think it is based on Aynsley’s Marshall combo which in itself had some very unique circuitry. It’s sounds phenomenal

Nerine · December 2023

donbot said:

Have you ever tried a Brunetti Pleximan?

I haven’t, no. But on that suggestion I shall do the obligatory YouTube research. Hehe.

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Now NAD: Suhr Hedgehog 50 - (initial thoughts added)

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