Members Spike Li Posted December 12, 2010 Members Share Posted December 12, 2010 Hey has anyone owned/tried/know anything about these amps? Came across one the other day and quite liked it, although it seemed a bit complicated to use... Im a totaly amp n00b so any info would be appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bish0p34 Posted December 13, 2010 Members Share Posted December 13, 2010 They're real easy to use after a few minutes. I own the head and 50w combo. Having the right speaker is very important to getting a full sound. You can get a lot of really good tones out of the amp. The delay is good...the other fx are ok. Some people give this amps bum rap, but it's a really good amp. Large variety of sounds available, but not a real good "pushed clean" bluesy breakup. The old footswitches thathave the hardwired midi cable can be problematic, the newer ones have a removable cable and the TSC have auto tube management for you. Definitely a good deal if you can get one for under a grand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spike Li Posted December 14, 2010 Author Members Share Posted December 14, 2010 They're real easy to use after a few minutes. I own the head and 50w combo. Having the right speaker is very important to getting a full sound. You can get a lot of really good tones out of the amp. The delay is good...the other fx are ok. Some people give this amps bum rap, but it's a really good amp. Large variety of sounds available, but not a real good "pushed clean" bluesy breakup. The old footswitches thathave the hardwired midi cable can be problematic, the newer ones have a removable cable and the TSC have auto tube management for you. Definitely a good deal if you can get one for under a grand. Cool thanks man Anymore opinions? Even on the brand itself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bish0p34 Posted December 14, 2010 Members Share Posted December 14, 2010 I'm a fan of H&K amps. I love the sounds I get out of them. I have the 2 Switchblades, and a Triamp MKII. The Switchblade can be a bit noisy on some high gain settings, a noise gate is nice to have. I really like the sounds I've gotten recording it. The lead channel's my favorite as you can dial back the gain for some nice punchy sounds, or crank it up for a liquidy lead tone. Crunch channel is probably the least used one for me. Needs to be a little beefier IMO. Ultra is nice and chunky, although not like the Triamp. It does need to be turned up a bit, and I find I use more presence and back the treble off on a lot of sounds. I've gotten a lot of compliments on my tone from using it, and I still enjoy playing it. How much is the one you found? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spike Li Posted December 14, 2010 Author Members Share Posted December 14, 2010 Its about $1500 AUD 2nd hand, and theyre about $2700 new here so its not bad Im not gonna lie, what im really looking for is a mesa rectifier sound without having to splash out for one... although i guess I could sacrifice some br00tz for versatility as this amp sounded great clean, and pretty nice pushed too - i couldnt figured out the foot switch but have since looked it up and have an idea of how it works so im really to rock next time i try it out Does it take pedals well btw? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tiltsta Posted December 14, 2010 Members Share Posted December 14, 2010 I've never played one, but I looked into them on the web when they first came out, because I liked the concept. I recall reading a lot about footswitch problems with these, and very slow repair/replacement times. Apparently the controller switch is fairly sophisticated, and if it dies, much of the amp's features are not accessible via the knobs, at least not easily. Again, this is just what I read, I have no experience with the amp in question. Nonetheless, worth googling to find out if this is still a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jkelter Posted December 14, 2010 Members Share Posted December 14, 2010 Hey bish0p34 What type of speaker did you but in your combo? I am considering putting in Eminence Wizard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bdhn Posted December 14, 2010 Members Share Posted December 14, 2010 Hey bish0p34What type of speaker did you but in your combo?I am considering putting in Eminence Wizard. thats what i was thinking of putting in mine as i had them in a carvin cab i owned before i got the switchblade and liked them alot. a freind has a mesa 2x12 cab with black shadow's in it that sounds great with the switchblade also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bish0p34 Posted December 15, 2010 Members Share Posted December 15, 2010 Hey bish0p34What type of speaker did you but in your combo?I am considering putting in Eminence Wizard. Oddly enough, that's exactly what I put in. Much better than the stock speaker, but when I plug in my Recto 2x12...It's a whole new beast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bdhn Posted December 15, 2010 Members Share Posted December 15, 2010 what speakers are in your recto cab. as i noted my buddies mesa cab with black shadow's is awesome with the H& K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bish0p34 Posted December 15, 2010 Members Share Posted December 15, 2010 If the footswitch goes, you can use any MIDI switch to change the channels. They were fine replacing them for me, and the new ones don't have the same problems and have a detachable cable on them now. You can still dp everything except tap tempo and change channels without the switch...you have to use the channel knob. You can't access all your presets, just the last sound dialed into each channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bish0p34 Posted December 15, 2010 Members Share Posted December 15, 2010 V30s in mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spike Li Posted December 16, 2010 Author Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 If the footswitch goes, you can use any MIDI switch to change the channels. What exactly does this mean? Say if the footswitch broke, what other MIDI switches could i use instead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bish0p34 Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 What exactly does this mean? Say if the footswitch broke, what other MIDI switches could i use instead? I've used my old ART midi switch, and that's from the 80's. From what I've read you can even use a Line 6 Pod XTLive to switch presets. Pretty much any MIDI pedal should work, athough theirs is phantom powered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members craigny Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 H&K's have good heavy tones too...no?? Never played one but ive seen clips...sounds pretty brutal to me!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spike Li Posted December 16, 2010 Author Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 H&K's have good heavy tones too...no?? Never played one but ive seen clips...sounds pretty brutal to me!! Well, tried it out extensively today and knowing how to use the footswitch and presets makes a world of difference! Loved it, can go from uber clean with shimmering chorus straight to balls to the wall br00tz with the flick of one switch Plus it also seems to do everything in between, too awesome, so i pulled the trigger and put a deposit on it Little short of cash atm but its only a matter of time now! Thanks a ton for your input Bishop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members craigny Posted December 16, 2010 Members Share Posted December 16, 2010 Kewl..full testing and review with your Explorer expected when you get it!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bdhn Posted December 17, 2010 Members Share Posted December 17, 2010 Well, tried it out extensively today and knowing how to use the footswitch and presets makes a world of difference! Loved it, can go from uber clean with shimmering chorus straight to balls to the wall br00tz with the flick of one switch Plus it also seems to do everything in between, too awesome, so i pulled the trigger and put a deposit on it Little short of cash atm but its only a matter of time now! Thanks a ton for your input Bishop i dont think you will be disappiontmed....i love mine,the versatility is awsome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spike Li Posted December 17, 2010 Author Members Share Posted December 17, 2010 Kewl..full testing and review with your Explorer expected when you get it!!! Oh you know it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SenorSpanky Posted December 17, 2010 Members Share Posted December 17, 2010 Had/Gigged with one for 3 years. Tones are very good. The versatility/programmability was the biggest selling point for me. Delay is good, but the mod effects are just okay. I played it through an older Mesa metal grill 4x12 w/ Black Shadows. Good amount of low end thump. Noise gate is an absolute must. This amp is REALLY loud. I never turned it above 2, and even then, the sound guy always wanted me to dial it back. It didn't even get any balls until a bit above 1, so it was a always a battle to make everyone happy. Footswitched died a year in, but they replaced it free and quickly. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bish0p34 Posted December 17, 2010 Members Share Posted December 17, 2010 Well, tried it out extensively today and knowing how to use the footswitch and presets makes a world of difference! Loved it, can go from uber clean with shimmering chorus straight to balls to the wall br00tz with the flick of one switch Plus it also seems to do everything in between, too awesome, so i pulled the trigger and put a deposit on it Little short of cash atm but its only a matter of time now! Thanks a ton for your input Bishop You're welcome. If for some reason your footswitch goes, 99% of the problems lie in the tip of the MIDI jack that goes into the back of them amp. Take the cover off and look to see if there are any wires grounding each other out. The new switches just have a detachable cable so you can replace it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Spike Li Posted December 23, 2010 Author Members Share Posted December 23, 2010 UPDATE: Okay, so ive been mucking around with it for a few days, practicing at home and whatnot so heres a micro review: Versatility is what this amp is all about! Not only does it have 4 different channels - ie clean (fender), crunch (vox), lead (high gain marshall) and ultra (mesa), it also has effects - flanger, chorus, delay, reverb - and 128 fully customisable presets via the midi switch! Its pretty much a modelling valve amp - in a good way For example, I can cover Metallicas Fade to Black by playing the intro on a clean channel with chorus, then with the press of 1 button switch straight to teh brootz As far as metal goes, I have yet to get a really tight distortion sound out of it (i guess im too used to SS amps), although this is definitely not for a lack of gain - even the lead channel has bucket loads of saturation, the ultra seems to be a tad darker and have just a tiny bit more gain for palm muting or "chugga chuggas". The ultra channel being darker is more suited to rhythm while the lead is great for... well lead. This amp has a lot of punch which is exactly what i was looking for (just couldnt get it out of the JC-120). The clean channel has an enormous amount of headroom which makes me curious as to how they achieve this My only complaint so far is that the distortion gets a bit fizzy, although its less noticable at higher volumes (i guess like all valve amps?) but i havent jammed with it yet so it hasnt really been pushed too hard. Speaking of being fizzy, considering it has such a great clean channel, I expected it to take pedals well.... nuh uh. My Boss Metalcore is unusably fizzy (angry swarm of bees in empty oil tanker), and my T-rex Dr Swamp is almost as bad (and thats a very dark pedal for begin with). This was pretty disappointing but not a big deal as I didnt plan to use the pedals with it anyway. The fizziness issues make me wonder if i would benefit from changing the speaker.. although im not sure what it has in, and what i should change to This is probably the definitive "tweaker" amp so ive got a hell of a lot more playing around ahead of me My verdict so far- :thu: Kick ass, so versatile, so glad I discovered this thing as I was planning on getting a rectoverb and pairing it with my JC-120 cause it was a 1 trick pony, but this was a 3rd of the price and can do it all. I have to add, im in a hard rock band atm, and this is perfect for that, but if i was in a metal band im pretty sure id just stick with my JC and pedals.. but we'll see. Oh and I did test this with my explorer - it ROARS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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