Suhr Hombre

One Tough Hombre

Back in the 1950s and '60s, an amplifier company in California made some really special amps--one might say they were the top-of-the-line, deluxe even--that were foundational parts of the sound of rock and roll. Between the years 1961 and 1963, these deluxe amplifiers had brown tolex and a circuit that guitar players fell in love with. These "brownface" amps sounded like a mixture of the tweed amps of the fifties and the "blackface" amps that came later in the mid-sixties, and they came to be renowned for their crunchy, punchy overdrive and sweet, sparkling cleans.

But, once guitar players realized that these brownface amps were gems, their value skyrocketed, and anyway, vintage amps are notoriously finicky. That's why we're so excited to showcase Suhr's interpretation of that vaunted circuit, the Hombre. The Hombre is a twenty-watt combo with a twelve-inch speaker that can sing sweetly, then take your lunch money. Though the design team at Suhr took inspiration from the classic brownfaces of yore, this new amp melds their vintage vibe with a few modern tweaks to enhance reliability and tone. It all adds up to a simple, elegant amp that evokes the sounds of the past while pushing the circuit into fresh, exciting territory. Most importantly, it’s incredibly easy to get a great sound because the signal path is pure and clear, resulting in a very natural, organic tone.

A Perfect Pair

Basically, the secret behind this particular hombre’s toughness is the alchemy between the tweed-like preamp section and the distinctly British, almost Marshall-esque power section. Three 12ax7 tubes drive the tweedy preamp, which gives the attack plenty of attitude with lots of dynamic range. But, the two 6v6s in the power section keep everything sounding quite well-sculpted and muscular. There’s no flub to be found here, even at high volumes.

And you will want to play at high volumes, because the Hombre sounds incredible once you coax it into natural overdrive (this happens at noonish on the volume dial depending on your pickups). It sounds quite full, and it has a pleasing rawness to it, but the circuit rounds off all the edges of the sound with sweet tube compression. So, it sounds aggressive, but never harsh. If you close your eyes when you hit a big open E chord, it’s easy to pretend that you have ascended to rock and roll Valhalla.

Killer Cleans

But, to focus only on overdrive would do this marvelous amplifier a disservice, because it is much more than a raging beast. At lower volumes, it has tight, round low-end to go with warm, woody midrange response and sweet sparkling high-end. It’s the sort of clean sound that works beautifully in a wide array of musical contexts. Also, because of the Hombre’s relatively simple circuit, it loves drive pedals the way Michael Jordan loves winning. So, you can use it as a clean pedal platform, or you can get natural drive--either way, it will excel.

The Beauty of the Bias

Speaking of effects, we would be remiss not to mention the real tube bias tremolo circuit, which is about as inspiring as it gets. Unlike amps that use the more-common optical tremolo, the Hombre modulates the actual bias of the power tubes by feeding them different voltages. This results in a wonderfully lush, pulsing tremolo that sounds like it came straight off a record from the fifties or sixties.

Tube bias-based tremolo systems like the one in the Hombre are also remarkably dynamic. When you dig in with your right hand, the effect sounds quite subtle. When you play with a softer touch, the tremolo is much more noticeable. So, if you hit a big screaming unison bend at the fifteenth fret like the guitar owes you money and let it ring out, you’ll get more tremolo as your signal decays. Because the tremolo is so touch-sensitive, it’s almost like the effect is an extension of your hands, and utilizing it feels as natural as breathing. Also, because the Hombre uses its power tubes to create tremolo and not a separate tremolo circuit, the signal path stays pure and clear with no superfluous detours that rob the signal of its power.

Pure and Simple

Though the Hombre’s signal path is quite simple, simple doesn’t mean easy, and the design team at Suhr pulled out all the stops in engineering it. They beefed up the chassis to make it supremely sturdy so that players can depend on it night in and night out, and they made use of high-quality components on the interior like military-grade circuit boards, carbon-film resistors, Mallory signal capacitors, and a Heyboer transformer. All together, they make for a bulletproof amp with a pure, inspiring voice.

We’re proud to showcase the Suhr Hombre, a combo amp as pure and simple as driven snow. It’s the sort of amp that invites you to plug in and have a blast without much of a fuss, and it makes it easy to tap into the elemental, visceral joys of making music. We invite you to take one for a spin and experience the joys a pure signal path can bring.

VOLTAGE: Available in 100V, 120V, 230V, and 240V configurations
CONTROLS: Volume, Tone (Normal). Volume, Tone (Bright). Speed, Intensity (Tremolo)
EFFECTS: Foot-switchable Tube-Biased Tremolo (Active In Normal & Bright Inputs)
INPUTS: 2x Normal, 2x Bright
WATTAGE: 20 watts
SPEAKER OUTPUTS: 2
OPERATING IMPEDANCE: 8Ω (safe to operate at 4Ω or 16Ω - see user guide)
CABINET MATERIAL: Box Jointed Pine
TOLEX: Vintage Palomino Nubtex
GRILL CLOTH: Tan/Brown Wheat
SPEAKER: 12" Celestion V-Type
PREAMP TUBES: 3x 12AX7
POWER TUBES: 2x 6V6
RECTIFIER TUBE: 1x 5AR4
FOOT-SWITCH: Includes single button foot-switch for tremolo activation
DIMENSIONS: 20.84" W x 18.1" H x 9.52" D
WEIGHT: 33 lbs.