Hughes and Kettner Triamp?

[coachc55]

I've heard great things about this amp,very pricey, but there is also the "Switchbade ," and for budget minded people, there is the "Matrix", which is solid state. I just heard Thomas Blug, an awesome player from Germany, and I love his tone, has anyone tried any of these amps?

Thanks,
CoachC

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Hughes and Kettner Triamp?

I owned the Mk 1 Triamp for a year. It's a great amp, but at 100w it's loud. Very versatile amp. Solid tones all the way around.

Here's what I remember about it:

1A: Fender inspired cleans... listen to Fuel's "Sunburn"
1B: dark Vox-ish channel... I liked pushing this one a bit for some lightly overdriven cleans
2A: very plexi-ish... think Joe Walsh type stuff
2B: dark medium high gain channel... a bit muffled - uninspiring
3A: medium high gain channel... better than 2B, good straight rock tones.
3B: the high gain channel... not as much gain as say a Mesa Recto, but a good amount to pull off hard rock stuff like Three Days Grace (I'm pretty sure they use them actually). Also doubles as a pretty good lead channel (used to have fun playing Steve Vai's "Die to Live" with it).

If you really want an idea of what it does, just listen to Fuel's entire first mainstream album "Sunburn". That's pretty much all Carl Bell used and he got some great tone with his.

Used, a Mk 1. Triamp can be had for around $1100. It's a lot of amp for the money, believe me on that. Cons for me was the size of the head, the weight and the sheer amount of tubes in it. If I could pick up one on the cheap I probably would do it.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: Hughes and Kettner Triamp?

I totally echo the_Chris's comments. I also had a MkI for about a year. I loved that head. The only reason I sold it is that I thought my band was going to stop playing-out and I didn't need a 100watt head sitting around my basement. That amp has the spankingest cleans I've ever heard in an amp. I have a pair Traynor tube amps right now that get close (YCS-100 and Custom Blue 50), but the Triamp did better. And I think the Triamp's plexi sounds were better too. This new Traynor head does the hi-gain thing better IMO, but for all but that sound the H&K was better. I sure didn't like hauling it around to gigs though. In its road case, my Triamp weighed in at 96lbs. It was not cheap to ship when I sold it on Ebay.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Hughes and Kettner Triamp?

Like Chris and Red_Label, I also owned a Triamp mk. I, but only for about six months. I ended up selling it to finance moving and because I wasn't entirely happy with it. In addition to being insanely loud and heavy, I couldn't get a usable sound out of 3B.

Here's a run down of the channels as i saw them.

1A: Very clean and Fender like. Absolutely no breakup and TONS of volume.
1B: Darker and smoother than 1A with a little breakup available at high volume.
2A: Definitely a plexi. Didn't use this much as it is VERY bright.
2B: My favorite; I used to call it God's JCM800. Similar to the blue (2nd) channel of a Bogner Ecstasy, though less smooth due to active EQ.
3A: Reminded me of a Recto. Lots of bottom, lots of gain. Also extremely loud.
3B: The deal breaker. Try as I might, I couldn't get a sound I didn't hate out of this channel. Unmanageably loud, bassy, and bright. I used this as a 'solo / lead' channel for a while but everything sounded scooped due to the harsh highs and overly huge bass.

I know it sounds strange... Gave a mostly positive review but i still dumped it. Why?

First of all, it was extremely heavy. Far heavier than any other head I've ever had the pleasure / displeasure to lift. Second, my JCM 2555 does a far better classic Marshall tone. Last, because I NEEDED the money and I just couldn't part with my 2555. These days I A/B the Marshall with an H&K Edition Tube 20 and I have the best of both worlds.