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Hughes and Kettner Switchblade 50 Watt TSC Combo Tweek recomendation..


Tiki Love God

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I kept the head for about a month. Great amp very versatile, but like most of the H&K stuff the distortion is a bit too polite/hi-fi sounding. Not a bad thing, just my personal taste. I tried it with a bunch of different speakers and my choice would be either the Eminence Texas Heats or the Celestion CL80. The V30's colored the tone too much and made the amp sound too bright for my taste. The THs added a lot of low end and sounded great overall. The CL80 was pretty much neutral and made the difference between the amp models voicing more apparent. In retrospect, I'd have gone with CL80s if I kept the amp.
Changing preamp tubes did not make any difference, to my ears. Changing the power tubes to JJ EL34's did and they tightened the amp quite a bit.

That's what I learned from owning it for a month. It was not the right amp for my current project, but I would have no hesitations in getting another if I was playing in a cover band or a band that did not need a raw distortion tone. The flexibility is amazing.

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I have one, run it with Greenbacks, and I wouldn't trade it or sell it for any other amp out there. It does everything I want and then some.

I have used it live with great results aswell. I have no complaints with the amp at all. Not to say it will work for everyone of course.

I also have a Laney AOR, just for a little more raw flavour, but the Blade gets 90% of the play time.

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I still use my Switchblade amp all the time...in fact, I may have to retube it soon..thats alot of hours!!!!! But it has been good to me. I would say the Footswitch allows its LED to break easily..but otherwise...both amp and footswitch have handle all kinds of use REALLY well.
GtrGeorge

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Quote Originally Posted by thefyn View Post
I hated that amp. Best tweak I ever did was sell it.
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have to concur - I had the head & matching cab ... only impetuous amp purchase ever made based on hype and recommendations when it came out (my bad) ... had it for the shortest duration of any amp I ever bought new & took a bath selling it. But hey, it had some potential & if it works for you, have at it ...
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My local and very hated GC store had a switchblade combo the other day in the used room. Me and a jazz guy put it through it's paces and I have to admit, I kinda like that amp. The effects were okay, and the base tones were pleasant. Not much to complain about. Keep in mind I didn't use it in a full band setting either.

I've had several H&K amps and the only one I've kept is the Statesment. But if I find a SW cheap used, I'd do it.

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Hey guys thanks for the comments..I read everyone and taken em' seriously. For me, it was down to practicality...and tones. I play a healthy amount of gigs and I have to be able to play a pretty wide variety of styles. So I needed an amp that I could set up in 5 minutes and get many,many good usable tones out of (with effects, as well as various amounts of distortion). It also needed to be a friendly weight. I'm not a wimp..but the Peavey JSX Combo was nearly 90 lbs!!!! It sounded good, but would be impossible to lug everywhere. And PS: The Peavey JSX combo offers no on-board effects, except Reverb. I looked at other amps,as well..many just sounded like crap at a robust stage Volume.
I own some Randall MTS gear and while it is very good...NO EFFECTS and to boot, it takes a while to set up..multiple wires etc etc So while that sounds good it takes up lots of space in the Van, and it takes 20 mins to get it ready for the gig. Sometimes I don't have 20mins!! So I bought a used H/K switchblade...and its been very faithful. H/K arent kidding when they say "The Technology of Tone". I sincerely feel they are at the forefront of USABLE guitar amp technology. Others say they can compete, but I have owned Marshall,Fenders etc etc..and played thru Mesas and on and on.....in the real world, all thing considered..this is THE best amp I have found for my needs. -from the gig trenches -GtrGeorge

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I own the 50W combo and it sounds great. I used to own a Peavey JSX combo and it was the best sounding amp I've ever owned (and the list is very, very long) but, as you stated, it weighed close to 90 pounds and I AM getting too old to cart heavy stuff around anymore. I loved that amp, though. I even pulled the head out of the 2x12 cabinet and put it in a head cabinet but it was STILL too heavy for me. Now I play through the Switchblade and a 1977 50W Marshall JMP through a Marshall 4x10 cabinet (no more 4x12's)... Very nice combination.

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