NAD: H&K Tubemeister 18

Dr. Vegetable

Dr. Vegetable

New member
I've been looking for an amp that can go from clean to nasty in a way that my small Fenders don't. So I've been doing a lot of research online and finally pulled the trigger on a Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister 18. I've been having fun with it so far, had it for about a week now.

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It is a pretty straightforward little 2-channel head with simple controls. And when I say "little" I mean it's about the size of a loaf of bread. The two channels share a common set of bass/mid/treble controls, and the lead has a boost switch that adds a lot of drive. It has a built-in attenuator that can switch between 18W, 5W, 1W, and silent operation. The direct output is a little hot when the amp is being driven. Apparently it is self-biasing, too. It's in a lightweight, compact package that looks pretty frickin' cool if you are into that blue LED thang. No trouble reading the labels in the dark, but not so easy to see where the dials are set though.

I'm still resetting my pedal board to work with it and trying to decide what to put in the effects loop vs. out front, but it already sounds great dry into a 4x12 even on the 1W setting. A lot of different tones are possible with this thing. It's been giving up everything from Beatles to Sabbath to Jimi to EVH to Alice Cooper to The Guess Who. I do believe this will be getting a lot of play time and making my other amps jealous.

Love that new amp smell!
 
Re: NAD: H&K Tubemeister 18

Yes! I picked up one of these about two months ago and it's been my main amp ever since. I freakin' love it.

Congrats, man!

:beerchug:
 
Re: NAD: H&K Tubemeister 18

I did a thread on these the first time I saw one. I still want one, but I may opt for the 36, so I can use it as a practice amp on lower power settings, but have all the features and headroom of the louder version.

I still think it's one of the most versatile and good sounding amps out there, at a price that's on par with what amps SHOULD cost these days. It seems like good amps have skyrocketed in price in the last 10 years. The Tube Meister series should be a huge seller for H&K.
 
Re: NAD: H&K Tubemeister 18

Gearjoneser said:
I did a thread on these the first time I saw one. I still want one, but I may opt for the 36, so I can use it as a practice amp on lower power settings, but have all the features and headroom of the louder version.

I still think it's one of the most versatile and good sounding amps out there, at a price that's on par with what amps SHOULD cost these days. It seems like good amps have skyrocketed in price in the last 10 years. The Tube Meister series should be a huge seller for H&K.
Click to expand...

Do it, man! This amp sounds great, and gets pretty consistent 5-star ratings online - no small feat. I will say the 1W setting is a good volume for practice, but is still a bit loud for bedroom use. I actually think it could keep up with my band for rehearsal at 1W. I am looking for a 2x12 or 1x12 cab to go with it that should make it a little quieter. I haven't had it on 5W very much, and only had it on 18 for a few minutes, but it doesn't seem to compromise on tone when it is heavily attenuated.

I considered getting the 36 just to have (digital) reverb on tap, and the third channel is a great bonus too. But I know I would never use all the MIDI control features that one has. I'm a big fan of reducing complexity in my gear these days, so I opted for the no-nonsense 18-watt version. I don't see how you could go wrong either way.

JCM900MkIII said:
Happy NAD!!!

I love mine.
Still need a cheap but good way to use the D.I.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I hear you. It has XLR balanced output that needs to go into a small mixer or something. My friend's old Mackie 1604 couldn't pad this thing down into submission, which really surprised me. But of course, I insisted on having the master and gain both cranked at the time. I haven't tried it through my mixer yet to see if I can use it for headphone practice or direct recording. If I can get it to level out, I don't think I would have any qualms about using it DI into the PA for gigging.

EDIT: Just noticed that this was my post #666. :firedevil
 
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Re: NAD: H&K Tubemeister 18

Dr. Vegetable said:
It has XLR balanced output that needs to go into a small mixer or something. My friend's old Mackie 1604 couldn't pad this thing down into submission, which really surprised me. But of course, I insisted on having the master and gain both cranked at the time. I haven't tried it through my mixer yet to see if I can use it for headphone practice or direct recording. If I can get it to level out, I don't think I would have any qualms about using it DI into the PA for gigging.
Click to expand...
That's surprising, considering that XLR is already 6dB down from unbalanced output.
 
Re: NAD: H&K Tubemeister 18

TwilightOdyssey said:
That's surprising, considering that XLR is already 6dB down from unbalanced output.
Click to expand...

I know. It was strange. My friend did just get the board recently, and I didn't get close enough to double-check his settings, but he does generally know WTF he's doing. It was a first-generation 1604 and I think he had it trimmed all the way down and had the slider barely up. It was dominating the mix through the board and he kept asking me if there was any way I could turn it down. I just smiled and dimed that mofo!

I have to try it through my own board to see if I can get it to behave any better. I do wish it had a level control for the direct out, though. I hate to be "that guy..."
 
Re: NAD: H&K Tubemeister 18

HA! You should see if H&K have a user forum; I'm sure you're not the first person to have this issue.
 
Re: NAD: H&K Tubemeister 18

TwilightOdyssey said:
This may solve your DI issue; a quick search showed this is a common problem. And only $20!
Click to expand...

Cool... I hadn't gotten as far as doing a quick gurgle search. This discussion ends with a suggestion to get a -10dB pad for it.

I know the Mackie preamps are legendary sensitive, but for some reason I thought they could be trimmed for a line level signal. Looks like the Master does affect the DI send level (no surprise there) but I'm not going to sacrifice that awesome driven tone for the "convenience" of going direct. I guess the first mod most people will be doing is to add a pad control into the amp. If I do crack the warranty, I'd be tempted to put a headphone circuit in there while the iron is hot.
 
Re: NAD: H&K Tubemeister 18

I did a small bit of archaeology on the forum and found a few related threads that I'll link here for posterity. These were part of my research and definitely helped steer me toward this amp. Thanks for all the great info and discussion, guys!

GearJoneser: The Hughes and Kettner Tube Meister 18 awesome!
Kam: NAD NCD and Some Rig Pictures
BloodRose: Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister questions

I'm going to spend some time this afternoon playing it through the speakers in some of my combos. I'm planning to buy/build a 2x12 to go with this. Which reminds me...

Big Kurka: My project that I've been working on
Big Kurka: The twins are finally done and they are sexy!
 
Re: NAD: H&K Tubemeister 18

Ha! Thanks for digging up my old thread. That just reminded me that I promised to put up a review of it and never got around to it. I'll try to do that soon, if I get a chance.
 
Re: NAD: H&K Tubemeister 18

Dr. Vegetable said:
...I will say the 1W setting is a good volume for practice, but is still a bit loud for bedroom use. I actually think it could keep up with my band for rehearsal at 1W...
Click to expand...

I took it to rehearsal last night, and 1W was definitely *not* enough to keep up with the band. (I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that!) But 5W almost cut it, and cranked at 18W wasn't as overpoweringly loud in the band room as it was in my practice space, either. It definitely needs to be mic'ed or DI'ed into the PA for gigging. This thing sounds awesome and gets a lot of comments from the band, but I've got to change those knobs out for something that I can read in the dark. I wonder how it would look with chicken heads?
 
Re: NAD: H&K Tubemeister 18

For the DI volume problem, try running into a 1/4" input on the board, perhaps using an adapter from XLR. 1/4" mixer inputs are typically padded for line level, while XLR preamps are designed for mics and expect much quieter inputs.
 
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