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H&K Grandmeister Deluxe 40 vs Black Spirit 200 (tubes vs solid state)

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  • H&K Grandmeister Deluxe 40 vs Black Spirit 200 (tubes vs solid state)

    Hey everyone,

    I made a comparison of the Hughes & Kettner Grandmeister Deluxe 40 tube amplifier and the Black Spirit 200 solid state amplifier. I thought this would be quite interesting since these two amps are very similar in some ways (the effects, the midi, the tonal options and all the other extra features) but the core of the amps is quite different since the GMD40 is a tube amp and the BS200 is a solid state amp.

    I don't think they were intended to be exactly the same sound-wise and they indeed have their own voice, which to me is a good thing. The black spirit 200 does give you an extra control in the form of the 'sagging' control, which is a very nice feature to have btw. It emulated the power tube sag/compression/saturation that you get with some amps when you crank them up high.

    The effects are basically the same and the amp channels are similarly voiced. The clean channels can go from pristine clean to crunchy clean, the crunch channels have a nice british crunch with plenty of gain-range, the lead channels have a nice and solid high-gain tone with plenty of mids and the ultra channels take care of the scooped rectifier-ish sound. The boost control gives more control over the character of the channels. This is also a very cool feature!

    The BS200 is bit smaller and it weighs quite a bit less than the GMD40 so that one wins in terms of portability but can you miss the tubes when it comes to tone? I'd love to know what your thoughts are and which one you would pick...

    So here's the comparison. There are clean, crunch, rock and metal segments both in full band and isolated context. Check it out:

    Owner and founder of Sonic Drive Studio & social media manager for OwnHammer.

    Facebook.com/sonicdrivestudio
    OwnHammer.com

  • #2
    Re: H&K Grandmeister Deluxe 40 vs Black Spirit 200 (tubes vs solid state)

    Since I own a GM40D, will definitely be checking out your video during the weekend. All BS200 tones I've heard on the web seem lacking when compared to mine, so I'm curious about the tones you got out of it.

    Keeo up the good work, Jon!
    Guitars:Gibson LP Trad ('57 Classics); Ibanez SEW761FM (TB-16/STK-S7 m&n); Charvel DK24 (TB10/SSL-6/A2Pn), DK22 (HRb/SSL-6 m&n), SoCal Style1 (Distortion set) & SoCal Style2 24 2PT (Fluence OCC); ESP LTD MH-1000HS (TB-14/Lil59n); Effects: Line 6 Helix Floor, Digitech Drop & FreqOut, ME EP-1L6,Shure GLXD16, Headrush MX5;

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    • #3
      Re: H&K Grandmeister Deluxe 40 vs Black Spirit 200 (tubes vs solid state)

      Interesting comparison. The GM has more chime on the cleans, leaving the BS feeling a bit dull. It's a very full bodied clean, but just not as sparkly. Close resemblance, but the BS just doesn't feel as lively as the GM. On all three dirt channels, the BS has an inherent high-end hiss that makes it feel more synthetic. I'm not basing that on tubes vs no tubes, but actual tone. For crunch & lead, it removes some bottom-end and adds high-mids. The GM feels like it blooms in the low-end with more low-mids while the BS tightens up the low-end with a little less thump and moved to a more crunching high-mids. Now all of that can become a positive when switching to the ultra channel. Comparing the two high-gain channels, the GM feels looser with a little more sludge while the BS has sag with a bit more crunch. The BS sounds like you're getting a more Dimebag-esque tone while the GM feels a bit more scooped in the mids with big bottom and a cutting top-end. Both good, but I would take a Meister over the Spirit. That said, the Spirit is pretty good for solid state and could be improved in future versions, so they have a good foundation to build-off of.

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