Hayden Mofo Amps... anyone try them?

[Kid_A]

From here...

 

 

The MoFo by Hayden is an all-valve guitar amp with a whole lot of attitude. But unlike other mini guitar amp heads, the MoFo is definitely not a one trick pony. From stunning bell like clean tones with real depth to plexi-esque classic rock crunch, right up to full on metal mayhem, the 30 watt MoFo head does it all.

 

With four cascaded gain stages and a footswitchable MoFo mode for even more gain, the MoFo does it all from classic clean tones through plexi-esque classic rock crunch to full metal mayhem.

 

And the versatility doesn't stop with the sounds.

 

There's 30 Watts of power, courtesy of 4 x EL84 valves. And with both 8 and 16 Ohm speaker outputs, the MoFo can drive a wide range of cabinets from a boutique 1x12 in the studio right up to a 4x12 on the concert stage.

 

Separate UK and US-voiced instrument inputs shape the signal for classic British or thinner, higher-gain US tones respectively, and a simple series FX loop allows you connect your favourite stomp boxes.

 

And when you're rehearsing, you'll love the Stealth switch underneath the amp which lets your MoFo scream, without the neighbours screaming at you. The Stealth switch reduces the master output to 2 Watts, making the Hayden MoFo extremely versatile: loud enough for gigs, but also quiet enough for home practice or recordings when you need it to be!

 

30-Watts power.

4 x EL84 valves.

Class-A all-valve circuitry.

8 and 16 ohm speaker outputs.

4 Cascaded gain stages.

Bass, Middle, Treble and Presence EQ controls.

Single channel.

Separate US and UK voiced guitar inputs.

Series effects loop.

Stealth switch reduces output volume for practice.

Rugged steel chassis.

Ships with padded gigbag with shoulder strap and FREE footswitch.

 

 

[NetStar]

I expect the FX loop to appeal to many

[Kid_A]

 

I expect the FX loop to appeal to many

 

 

Oh, i thought the shoulder strap was the deal breaker...

[NetStar]

Haha, yeah this is probably the amp Joncyberboy needs, old man and his back!

 

 

No, what I mean is that a lot of people dick on these small amps for not having loops - Dual Terror... um, Tiny Terror.. does the Night Train have one?

[Dr. Goldenglove]

I'm interested in this too, but it depends on what cleans it can get, and how much power-amp crunch it can get with the "Stealth" switch.

[Kid_A]

 

Haha, yeah this is probably the amp Joncyberboy needs, old man and his back! No, what I mean is that a lot of people dick on these small amps for not having loops - Dual Terror... um, Tiny Terror.. does the Night Train have one?

 

 

Actually, good point... he was mentioning getting a vox, but weight and costs were an issue and this amp goes all the way upto METALROOLZBRO...

[HeartfeltDawn]

I wouldn't touch a Hayden amp with a 12 foot cattle prod. When they launched the Essex Blonde amp, Matamp built the first few. When Ashdown then took over the building of the same amp (Hayden is a subsidiary of Ashdown), the quality went right down and faults were commonplace. The Harmony Central reviews don't lie and I've had a few emails with people who bought these amps, had them fail dismally, and then asked me about amps I've been selling. A really {censored}ty picture builds up of poor standards within the Hayden range. Maybe they've changed now but I'd be wary.

[Kid_A]

 

I wouldn't touch a Hayden amp with a 12 foot cattle prod. When they launched the Essex Blonde amp, Matamp built the first few. When Ashdown then took over the building of the same amp (Hayden is a subsidiary of Ashdown), the quality went right down and faults were commonplace. The Harmony Central reviews don't lie and I've had a few emails with people who bought these amps, had them fail dismally, and then asked me about amps I've been selling. A really {censored}ty picture builds up of poor standards within the Hayden range. Maybe they've changed now but I'd be wary.

 

 

Cheers for the input Andy...

 

I know they do have a budget range of amps, which did looks pretty {censored}ty. I thought this was a brand new model?

 

I seen UNKLE a while back and the guitarists were both using Hayden combos which sounded mega, but these are the

[NetStar]

They do have a huge new range out.

They re-launched the website and everything.

[Dr. Goldenglove]

The demos sound pretty cool.

[JMR]

looks cool, but isn't available in U.S.

[girevik]

 

No, what I mean is that a lot of people dick on these small amps for not having loops

 

 

I sorta don't get that myself, especially if the effects loop is sitting between the preamp and power tubes and you want power tube saturation as part of your overall tone.

 

Maybe some people like the sound of delay/reverb in front of power tube distortion.

[mean_old_firema]

 

I wouldn't touch a Hayden amp with a 12 foot cattle prod. When they launched the Essex Blonde amp, Matamp built the first few. When Ashdown then took over the building of the same amp (Hayden is a subsidiary of Ashdown), the quality went right down and faults were commonplace. The Harmony Central reviews don't lie and I've had a few emails with people who bought these amps, had them fail dismally, and then asked me about amps I've been selling. A really {censored}ty picture builds up of poor standards within the Hayden range. Maybe they've changed now but I'd be wary.

 

 

The first 100 MoFo's were handmade by Dave Green (ex-MatAmp boffin). I got a certificate signed by him (in gold ink!) with my amp.

 

I think it's a great amp so would recommend anyone who is thinking of getting one to make sure they get one of those first 100.

[HeartfeltDawn]

 

The first 100 MoFo's were handmade by Dave Green (ex-MatAmp boffin). I got a certificate signed by him (in gold ink!) with my amp. I think it's a great amp so would recommend anyone who is thinking of getting one to make sure they get one of those first 100.

 

 

Ah, so Dave is building the first 100, build up the Hayden name, and then after that we'll be seeing the {censored}ty builds coming on? Having heard some of the comments coming from Matamp after the Essex Blonde farce, I still would be wary.

 

A review from one site by the chap above:

 

http://simnettguitars.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=printpage;topic=1520.0

 

 

Well I had my first proper try of my Mofo (which wasn't in stock until the end of July!!!) so I thought I'd post a bit of a review to give my opinion on it. Firstly, I was impressed witht the soft carry case, hand signed cerificate and manually written serial number written on the amp (all in gold ink too!), less impressed with the accompanying instruction manual which was for Hayden's earlier hand-wired range of amps where the MoFo is not mentioned at all. When examining the amp I heard a dreaded rattle coming from inside the chassis, sounding like something was loose and rolling around inside. After opening it up I found the culprit - one of the bolts securing the transformer to the chassis was lying completely loose - no trace of the nut though. I had a quick look in the carry case and found it so secured both nut and bolt onto the amp. I have no idea how the nut and bolt were loose but it was NOT a good start and something that doesn't inspire confidence in the quality control at Hayden! I also noticed that the power switch was back to front in that the "I" setting is off and the "O" setting is on - a minor quibble but something that should have been spotted before it was sent out of the factory. Also, there's no Standby switch. Anyway onto the sound of the amp! At my band rehearsal I tried it through both my Marshall 2 x 12" 1936 cab and my 1 x 12" cab containing a Celestion G12H, using my SD Pearly Gates equipped Epi LP Custom. I was very impressed with the tone through both cabs, especially the 2 x 12" - a very nice natural sounding overdrive with plenty of low end that cleaned up well when rolling back the volume pot on my guitar, I had the gain up to around 70% and the tone was still fairly clear, I don't think this amp can get anywhere near metal-sounding unless distortion pedals are put in front of it. The "MoFo" channel does exactly as expected - adds more saturated distortion that sounds really good. To be honest I can see me using the MoFo channel for the majority of the stuff I play (classic blues/rock a la Skynyrd & ZZ Top) with my Seymour Duncan Pick-Up Booster pedal for solos but the channel still ain't heavy enough for Metallica etc. The "stealth" switch on the amp which reduces the power and volume will be a God-send if you want to use the amp at low volumes but unsurprisingly it does affect the tone by removing some of the harmonics etc. Overall I'm impressed with the sound but some of the construction was a bit disappointing.

 

[Tone_Master]

I have posted up the first review for them on harmony central however it has not been added yet it should be up within the next few days... But Here it is below anyway:

 

 

Hand made in the UK in early to mid 2009 by Dave Green (ex matamp and orange amp maker). Hayden is a now a sister company and shed from Ashdown which is one of the biggest names in Bass Amps. Hayden have several guitar amps out, but today we talking about the hayden Mofo.

 

Now the mofo is a single channel amp that has a footswitchable boost with its own threshold knob on the amp. It can still get very dirty enough for new metal but you have to change the setting you can not switch from clean to dirty by pressing a button or footswitch. It is a real 30 watts of class A tube circuitry and it has a stealth mode switch on the bottom which apparently drops it down to around 2 watts so you can get a nice cranked sound out of it without getting cranky neighbours! This is a great feature!

 

It has an Fx loop though just one port not 1 for send and 1 for return. I still dont know how this works but i will end up using it. Seperate inputs for both UK and US voicing. There is not a lot of difference between the 2 but it is noticable. The US input is a bit fatter with a tiny bit more ballsy gain where as the UK is a bit brighter and the gain seems more a little more crunchier than ballsy.

 

Here are the features I found online:

 

30-Watts power.

4 x EL84 valves.

Class-A all-valve circuitry.

8 and 16 ohm speaker outputs.

4 Cascaded gain stages.

Bass, Middle, Treble and Presence EQ controls.

Single channel.

Separate US and UK voiced guitar inputs.

Series effects loop.

Stealth switch reduces output volume for practice.

Rugged steel chassis.

Ships with padded gigbag with shoulder strap and FREE footswitch

 

For more info go to: http://haydenamps.com/amps-mofo.php

 

Featues it lacks include only single channel - Can not be changed from clean to dirty via footswitch as stated above. It does not have a stand by switch. It does not have a headphones jack. Other than that I have no complaints at all!

 

I bought the Hayden Mofo based on looks alone and had reasonably high expectations of the sound but this thing just exceeded and blew my expectations away soon as i plugged it in! I have been searching for the ultimate mini lower wattage tube amp head and now i have found it!

 

 

 

I own no. 72 out of the first 100 that were hand made by Dave Green (ex matamp and orange amp maker) Here is a list of other mini tube amp or lower wattage heads i have owned:

 

Vox Night Train

Orange Tiny Terror

Egnater Rebel 20

Bogner Alchemhist

Mesa Express

Krank Rev Jr

Matamp Minimat

 

Not only does it smoke all these for metal but believe it or not it smokes them all for clean tone as well. The only mini tube head and only amp under 50 watts that would probably smoke the Hayden Mofo for metal would be the Koch Studiotone but it is over twice the price and certainly does not look as sexy as this little beast!

 

I have used it with both passive and active pickups. It sounds best with EMG's to me but that is just what i prefer. I play mostly prog metal and brutal metal. Im into mostly new metal such as Nevermore, Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God but also old metal such as Megadeth, Slayer Metallica etc. This amp does most of the heavy stuff i need straight of the bat beleive it or not it comes close to being brutal! It can easily do the Mesa Boogie Metallica and the Marshall Megadeth heavy and comes close to the Peavey 5150 Killswitch Engage heavy.

 

The amp I would say it sounds most like would honestly be the ENGL Ritchie Blackmore as it has that same Hifi sound that is very tight and clear with the right amount of crunch. This thing can also really handle 7 strings and drop tunings really well... Im yet to try my 8 strings on it though :-)

 

I dont tend to play clean often at all usually never but this is just one of those amps you get stuck on the clean tone even if your a full on metal head! I have ownded Fenders, Mesa, Rivera, Vox, Hughes and Kettner etc and this smokes them for clean in my opinion! The only amp i would say i liked the clean tone of more would be the Jo Satriani model Peavey JSX as it was a bit more sparkly and rounder though still not as tight as the Mofo.

 

I currently have my Mofo running through a mesa 2x12 vertical cab with vintage 30's in it and it sounds killer! Heavy enough for new metal almost gets into the brutal sound a little! I love the mofo so much I have ordered the matching Hayden 1x12 cab to use with it cause this amp is definitely going to be a keeper for me which is a big call considering how fast i usually go through amps! I will try many speakers in the cab and may even follow up on this review to let you know what speakers it works best with.

 

This thing smokes many 50 and 100 watt tube amps i have owned including the Egnater TOL 100, every Marshall and Randall I have owned, the Krank Rev (yes i have owned the 100watt head as well as the 20 watt Rev Jr) the Crate Blue Voodoo, the Peavey Valve King and many more! Obviously it does not have the same volume but tone is way more important than head room! Remember your rig is miced up at most gigs anyway...

 

 

 

I have not had any issues with mine what so ever though i have only owned it for a few weeks and have never gigged with it. I have heard cases of people having a few issues with them which is very strange considering they are hand made in the UK. Perhaps they were just unlucky or something simply rattled loose in transit. Eventhough i have not had any issues either mechanically or physically with mine im only giving an 8 cause i have not owned it that long and other people have had a few small issues.

 

 

I have not had to deal with the company at all but i as mentioned i have not owned it that long... Hopefully more people post reviews who can answer these questions that i can not... I am not sure of warranty either. I never concern myself with these things as nothing has ever broke on me bar my xbox 360 but that is a given LOL

 

 

 

I have been playing for just over 9 years now and i have owned too much gear to list! Especially amps! So i will just mention the smaller tube amps i have owned as stated above i either currently own or have owned the following

 

Vox Night Train

Orange Tiny Terror

Egnater Rebel 20

Bogner Alchemhist

Mesa Express

Krank Rev Jr

Matamp Minimat

 

I was only mentioning head units before though so in combos i have also own the Marshall DSL401. The hayden smokes all amps listed for clean and distortion but if you want something very brutal i would recommend you get an ENGL - Any of their current models produced (bar the ENGL thunder) will be perfect for the brootals! But to be honest the Mofo has a better clean tone than any engl i have heard which is all bar the ENGL SE.

 

If it were lost or stolen i would definitely replace it in half of a heart beat! I only hope i could get another one from the first 100 handmade batch...

 

As mentioned somewhere above i wish it had 2 footswitchable channels rather than just the boost. A stanby switch and a headphones socket.

I would just like to add that i do not work for Hayden amps at all i know the review may seem biassed but this is the happiest i have been with a purchase of any kind for a long time! If you get the chance to buy one do it! Purple Turtle music still have some on ebay and in their online store... Get one of the first 100 handmade versions while you can!!

 

Thank you for reading my review, if you have any questions regarding this amp or any others i have owned feel free to email me at joseph_shreds@yahoo.com

[HeartfeltDawn]

So you put up a review on HC, you join here on the 6th and put up your review, and you also joined Musicradar on the 10th of October to also waffle about the amp...

 

http://www.musicradar.com/forum/showpost.php?p=583654&postcount=104

 

 

I'm still dubious about it. It sounds like Green makes the first 100, Hayden get some good press, and then we'll see if they continue with the handwired stuff.

[petejt]

cool story, bro

[RoboPimp]

amponfire

[eiolenii]

I played a gig with one of the bigger heads they have in their line and it was awesome. Easy to dial in and great sound.