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The great Hughes & Kettner Grandmeister Deluxe 40!
Hey guys!
Until a while ago I wasn't really aware of what Hughes & Kettner was doing. I don't really know why because now that I'm aware of how awesome their amps are I feel like I've been living under a rock! I think it has to do with the rehearsal spaces I used to play in back in the day. I guess I always looked at H&K amps as 'cheap rehearsal amps' which is completely unjustified probably. Or did H&K perhaps get a lot better in recent years?
Anyhow, so a bunch of guys on this forum and my YT channel recommended this amp to me. It happened so often that I started getting really interested in this amp. When I found one used in great shape for about 700 euros I just had to bite the bullet. The previous owner had put in some Tung Sol EL84's but everything else is stock. No idea what kind of power tubes these normally come with but the Tung Sols sound great!
This amp has a lot of very impressive features, like the midi and preset capabilities as well as the attenuator and red box DI. The onboard boost is also a very welcome addition as it makes the tonal range even bigger, so impressive! It's also pretty portable and not heavy so I imagine it will do just fine on stage. 40 watts seems like it should be enough! The effects are also pretty decent! The only thing I would do differently is put the modulation effects before the preamp but that's just a personal preference. At least the option to place the FX before or after the preamp would be great...
The clean channel is absolutely beautiful. It sounds full, pristine and rich, just how I like my clean tones. I love how this channel can be broken up by raising the gain and adding the boost gives this channel some serious crunch mojo. The crunch channel takes over quite nicely and I just love that channel for Marshall-y tones, especially with the boost. This amp can certainly sound Marshall-like but I'd say it sounds a bit more refined, which imho is a good thing!
The lead channel is just amazing for high gain riffs and leads and I love how the boost adds a bit more bite to the tone. The ultra channel has a LOT of gain, especially with the boost on but with low gain settings it's actually a very useable channel.
Obviously I had to make a demo of this amp. Since this thing is so versatile I wanted to make sure that a lot of ground was covered. So I did a lot of styles, from clean to very heavy 8-string and everything in between. Also used some of the effects:
(note: I'm not in any way affiliated with H&K)
Since this amp is so awesome I'm now very interested in the Tri-Amp as it looks incredible! Does anyone else here have a H&K amp? I'd love to know more about these amps and how you guys like to use them etc. Let's talk H&K!
Until a while ago I wasn't really aware of what Hughes & Kettner was doing. I don't really know why because now that I'm aware of how awesome their amps are I feel like I've been living under a rock! I think it has to do with the rehearsal spaces I used to play in back in the day. I guess I always looked at H&K amps as 'cheap rehearsal amps' which is completely unjustified probably. Or did H&K perhaps get a lot better in recent years?
Anyhow, so a bunch of guys on this forum and my YT channel recommended this amp to me. It happened so often that I started getting really interested in this amp. When I found one used in great shape for about 700 euros I just had to bite the bullet. The previous owner had put in some Tung Sol EL84's but everything else is stock. No idea what kind of power tubes these normally come with but the Tung Sols sound great!
This amp has a lot of very impressive features, like the midi and preset capabilities as well as the attenuator and red box DI. The onboard boost is also a very welcome addition as it makes the tonal range even bigger, so impressive! It's also pretty portable and not heavy so I imagine it will do just fine on stage. 40 watts seems like it should be enough! The effects are also pretty decent! The only thing I would do differently is put the modulation effects before the preamp but that's just a personal preference. At least the option to place the FX before or after the preamp would be great...
The clean channel is absolutely beautiful. It sounds full, pristine and rich, just how I like my clean tones. I love how this channel can be broken up by raising the gain and adding the boost gives this channel some serious crunch mojo. The crunch channel takes over quite nicely and I just love that channel for Marshall-y tones, especially with the boost. This amp can certainly sound Marshall-like but I'd say it sounds a bit more refined, which imho is a good thing!
The lead channel is just amazing for high gain riffs and leads and I love how the boost adds a bit more bite to the tone. The ultra channel has a LOT of gain, especially with the boost on but with low gain settings it's actually a very useable channel.
Obviously I had to make a demo of this amp. Since this thing is so versatile I wanted to make sure that a lot of ground was covered. So I did a lot of styles, from clean to very heavy 8-string and everything in between. Also used some of the effects:
Since this amp is so awesome I'm now very interested in the Tri-Amp as it looks incredible! Does anyone else here have a H&K amp? I'd love to know more about these amps and how you guys like to use them etc. Let's talk H&K!
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