cool gear...what is it?

groupiegirl

groupiegirl

New member
Can any of you guys tell me what this amp/head is in the picture? I was at a little gig Saturday night and saw this. I have never seen anything like it before, unfortunately I didn't get real clear pics of it. I thought if anyone would know you all would :D It looks really cool, and the guy using it sounded pretty damn good. So I was wondering. Thanks :wink:

newstuff023.jpg



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Re: cool gear...what is it?

That most definitely appears to be a Hughes & Kettner Triamp. I've heard they sound really kickass, I only wish my neighbourhood guitar store had one to try out :dunno:
 
Re: cool gear...what is it?

here it is thanks to 9finger too...
Now anyone know anything about the sound or quality etc. etc.? Looks aren't everything BUT they do count some. That is simply bad@ss IMO.
 
Re: cool gear...what is it?

That is most certainly a HK Triamp MKII, I've got one in my shop to be repaired right now. They are most definitely cool!...... maybe I should start posting clips of some the ultra high end gear.....since I get to hear killer amps all day long. (Cool job, huh!)

Jeff Seal
 
Re: cool gear...what is it?

Hughes & Kettner are german I believe. Make some of the best sounding amps in the world. I really want a duotone, the 2 channel model. They are simply amazing, and have quite a hefty price tag to match, way out of my price range.
 
Re: cool gear...what is it?

Yeah that would be awesome....I was serious they sounded good - technically they are a way better band than their material lets on. They are a cover band....
 
Re: cool gear...what is it?

I played a Mk. 1 Triamp for a while. Loved the amp, but 100w tube was waaaayyyyy too much power for me. I love H&K's products!

The Mk. 2 Triamp looks like a cool beast. It can be turned down to 50w, has all the cool blue lights for dark stages (like in the picture ;) ). They also did some revoicings for the Mk. 2: no reverb (the Mk.1 had an Accutronics reverb tank), tweaked channel 2, channel 1a isn't master controlled anymore (allows easier balancing between 1a and 1b) and the 1/2 power switch I mentioned earlier.

They are killer amps, just bear in mind that they are heavy, they are cumbersome, they can get a little noisy and they are loud! I love my Fargen Epic 30 DC, but I do regret selling my Triamp.
 
Re: cool gear...what is it?

hmmm no expert here but anything hughes & kettner tube is going to be minimum $1,000 (i could be wrong)

i like the alex lifeson head and well it is like $2500 or something
 
Re: cool gear...what is it?

aaronl said:
hmmm no expert here but anything hughes & kettner tube is going to be minimum $1,000 (i could be wrong)

i like the alex lifeson head and well it is like $2500 or something
Click to expand...

Yep. A few years ago I got a used Mk. 1 Triamp for $1050. Nowadays, I'm pretty sure they sell for about the same used (with the Mk. 2 routinely selling for around $1500 used)

I should also mention that the Mk. 1 Triamp came in two versions: the EL-34 and 6l6. I had an EL-34 one and the new Mk. 2 amps are all EL-34.

The Alex Lifeson sig. Triamp is exactly the same as the Mk. 2 except with purple lights instead of blue.
 
Re: cool gear...what is it?

So tell me this guys....is that an amp or a head? It is sitting on two Marshall amps in the pics, so I was thinking (I know that gets me in trouble sometimes ;)) that it is a head. Everything I am reading on their website and from y'all it sounds like it's an amp.
 
Re: cool gear...what is it?

It's a head... which is an amp as far as I understand it...

but yes, it's a head and it's powering those Marshall speaker cabinets.

Rock On!
 
Re: cool gear...what is it?

Allright so Brian was explaining to me that the head powers the speakers, like you said...I am going to have to do some reading obviously....he tried to explain it all to me but I am confused, to say the least. The terminology throws me off...I thought it had to have speakers to be an amp....but I will learn it, oh yes I will. ;)
 
Re: cool gear...what is it?

'Amp' is short for amplifier, which can be either as a combo (an amp in a box with atleast 1 speaker) or as a head (just the amp). If it's a head, then it needs to be plugged into external speaker cabinets (like the marshall one's in the pic).

I don't mean this to sound like I'm talking 'down' to you in anyway, just tried to explain it very simply :)
 
Re: cool gear...what is it?

Thoes "triamps" have like 6 handwired channels.

$3,200 last time I checked, killer amps tho. Clean on channel 1, insanity on channel 6, as far as i remember.
 
Re: cool gear...what is it?

hi steph

here's a rundown on the lingo
so you too can be 'in the know'

in order to make sound out of an electric guitar you need three things ... a preamp .. a power amp ... and speakers .... the preamp takes the teeny tiny signal out of the guitar and boosts it to a level big enough to do some tone shaping ... this is where you tweak the bass, midrange, and treble and make the first steps at creating distortion (overdrive) if desired .... the power amp takes the output of the preamp and makes it really big enough to go to the speakers ... in a tube power amp, you can get a component of the distortion here as well (but you wouldnt want to do that in a solid state power amp) .... then the speakers convert electrical signals to moving air

now, when you put all three of these into one box, it is called a 'combo' amp .... if you put the preamp and power amp together in one box without speakers, it is called a 'head' ... you would use a 'head' with a 'cabinet' holding the speaker(s) ... and some of us guys who came up in the 80's still have midi controlled racks with seperate little chasis each for preamps, poweramps, effects, etc that feed cabinets ...

hope this helps

cheers
t4d

ps - that H & K melts faces!! :D
 
Re: cool gear...what is it?

Xeromus said:
Hughes & Kettner are german I believe. Make some of the best sounding amps in the world. I really want a duotone, the 2 channel model. They are simply amazing, and have quite a hefty price tag to match, way out of my price range.
Click to expand...

Heck yeah that make the best, Seraphim are proud exclusive users of Hughes and Kettner Attax amps and cabs. Freakin monsters and with H and K, your not paying for the name, your paying for quality.
 
Re: cool gear...what is it?

I tried one a couple years ago when looking for a high gain channel switching head. Amp 1 does some very nice Fendery and Voxy cleans. Amp 2 does crunch and more crunch. Amp 3 is for scooped over the top high-gain.

Amp 3 was a deal-breaker for me. I would've been willing to break out the credit card then and there if I could dial out the mid-scoop and get a smoother tone. OTOH, if you like the Mesa Recto tone, you'll probably love Amp 3.

I ended up buying a Soldano Decatone instead.
 
Re: cool gear...what is it?

Sune, you kick @ss for including the sound clip, but I think I blew one of my computer speakers hee hee....seriously ;)

Brow, I asked so you explained, no "talking down" taken, thanks.

T4D, you did an awesome job of clarifying for me what Brian was trying to explain. I for whatever reason just always thought that to be classified as an amplifier it had to have the speakers included i.e. the 'combo'. I didn't realize how much influence the head had over the actual tone, I was thinking of a head as more external, more like a tuner for a stereo rather than the receiver and equalizer to make a confusing analogy...:D.

As far as the tone of the thing I may not know how it gets there, or what the component that produces it actually is, but at least I DO have an ear for quality :biglaugh:. What I do know is that it sounded AWESOME Saturday night.
I would have asked Eddie Z., the player pictured there....but it was his birthday and after taking a bunch of pics of his gear....which I think he thought I was taking pics of HIM, I really didn't want to chat with him if you see what I am trying not to say.

You guys always come thru for me, y'all are way cool :10:
 
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