Hughes & Kettner Triamp: Holy Shit!

[zimbloth]

My buddy just brought over his H&K Triamp MK1 head to my store so I could bias it for him and I was absolutely blown away. I can't believe this amp isn't more popular. It's one of the best amps I've ever heard, and it was sitting in a room next to Diezels, Fryettes, and Riveras. It had incredible cleans, crunch, and high-gain tones and a bad tone could not be dialed in. Ballsy, thick and complex, aggressive yet really smooth. Much more organic sounding than most other German amps I've used. This thing sounds fucking huge! Incredible note definition even with mountains of gain and mega volumes.

I need to get in with this company ASAP! What do you guys think of this amp? Or their other all-tube amps? I can't imagine how good the MKII must be. I biased the amp for him with some new JJ 6L6s and we ran it through the Diezel 4x12 Front-Loaded cab with G12K100 speakers, and man...

I love discovering new gear that blows my mind. It's been a long time until I played a new amp that really made my jaw drop. This amp is definitely in my top 3 of all time. H&K needs to get better marketing, as something is off for there not to be way more artists using these. They smoke 99.9% of amps I've ever played.

I hear the 'Duo Tone' model is channels 1 and 3 from this amp, if thats the case, I might have to get one of those soon. Regardless, I really need to try to be a dealer for these guys. Killer!

 

[Empryrean]

That's exciting news, how much do those go for?

 

[zimbloth]

That's exciting news, how much do those go for?

The Triamp MK1 is old, discontinued. The new MK2 one goes for around $3400 US I think. They have more affordable models however like the DuoTone and the Switchblade. The MK1's go for pretty cheap, which is just crazy. I'd gladly pay $3000 for this amp if I was in the market for one (as much as I love these, I could not be happier w/ my VHT/Fryette stuff).

Granted, the Diezel cab w/ G12K100s can't be hurting the situation, but my friend says it sounds amazing through his Marshall cabinet as well.

 

[Empryrean]

Oh My word, that would be one hell of a first tube amp to have then

 

[Samer]

My other guitar player has a switchblade (along with a bunch of other high end amps) it sounds great, and has alot of built in FX.

 

[WarriorOfMetal]

They're pretty cool...I've tried the DuoTone in a store before, and a friend of mine from Berklee had the TriAmp Mk1, and I remember that being pretty cool, too...but I think I only ever played through that when I was too drunk to hold the pick!

 

[MaxOfMetal]

I think one of the reasons H&K aren't as popular is the price, combined with marketing, or for the most part the lack of marketing.

Most guitarists looking for a high-gain amp with a $3400 price tag tend to go with the more revered (and far better marketed) amps such as the upper echelon Soldano, ENGL, Bogner, Diezel, Fryette, etc.

I played through a MKII, and while I wasn't as blown away as Nick, I can honestly say it was a FANTASTIC amp. It's certainly a well kept secret for high-gain lead. I think a lot of people tend to focus more on their cheaper "Blade" series of amps. While they're pretty nice as well, they don't hold a candle to the MKII or Duo in my opinion.

 

[Randy]

My friend had one of these and returned it, going back to his 6505+. But he's also a dipshit, so you can take that with a grain of salt.

The perception I got from it was that it was a really well rounded amp that did all three channels well. For the price, there's other amps I'd consider first but it'd hover in my top 5.

But, personally, I don't think there's a better looking amp out there. They look pretty good in pictures, but it's significantly classier in person (and that's saying a lot).

 

[signalgrey]

i was really into them a while ago, but the price tag turned me off after playing a few of them. sounded really good, but i dont think its worth the price. the used MK1s are worth it though.

the Diezel i played blew my mind though.

 

[Edroz]

the only experience i have first hand with H&K is the Triamp Mk1. it's a beast of an amp alright .

i was seriously contemplating buying Matt's (HighGain510) Triamp Mk2 Lifeson awhile back because of how much i liked the Mk 1. but a Brunetti XLII R-EVO popped up for the right price and it went that route as it just suits me much more than the H&K.

the Mk1 also had some reliability issues as well that were fixed with the Mk2... nothing major, just the amp catching on fire, etc... .

 

[poopyalligator]

I tried the mk2 and i thought it was a great amp when i played it. For a while i was thinking about buying one, but i could never find one that was a decent price, and then i heard the engl fireball.

 

[zimbloth]

I think one of the reasons H&K aren't as popular is the price, combined with marketing, or for the most part the lack of marketing.

Most guitarists looking for a high-gain amp with a $3400 price tag tend to go with the more revered (and far better marketed) amps such as the upper echelon Soldano, ENGL, Bogner, Diezel, Fryette, etc.

I played through a MKII, and while I wasn't as blown away as Nick, I can honestly say it was a FANTASTIC amp. It's certainly a well kept secret for high-gain lead. I think a lot of people tend to focus more on their cheaper "Blade" series of amps. While they're pretty nice as well, they don't hold a candle to the MKII or Duo in my opinion.

Well that's definitely a shame because I think they're easily as good if not better than almost anything I've ever played. They're definitely up there with the Diezels. IMO they're on a tier above some of their German counter-parts like ENGL and Framus.

i was really into them a while ago, but the price tag turned me off after playing a few of them. sounded really good, but i dont think its worth the price. the used MK1s are worth it though.

the Diezel i played blew my mind though.

I hear what you're saying, the pricetag on the MKII is high, but it's really not that different than what many other high-end/boutique heads cost. For me I think it sounds every bit as good as the price tag suggests it should. Whether I could afford one is another issue, but I'd definitely buy one. Also, the DuoTone which apparently is the same amp but with 2 channels instead of 3 is a lot less money. It costs less than many (IMO) inferior contemporaries so I think it's fair. Sometimes you DO get what you pay for.

That said, the purple lights on the Alex Lifeson model are so fucking badass, it makes me want to blow extra money on it just for that.

the only experience i have first hand with H&K is the Triamp Mk1. it's a beast of an amp alright .

i was seriously contemplating buying Matt's (HighGain510) Triamp Mk2 Lifeson awhile back because of how much i liked the Mk 1. but a Brunetti XLII R-EVO popped up for the right price and it went that route as it just suits me much more than the H&K.

the Mk1 also had some reliability issues as well that were fixed with the Mk2... nothing major, just the amp catching on fire, etc... .

Yeah Ed, the MK1 is killer I can't wait to try the MK2 at NAMM (or hopefully sooner). It's hard to imagine the MK2 sounds better than the amp I heard earlier tonight, but we'll see!

 

[signalgrey]

MKII has been out for a little while now right?
i agree with the Lifeson lights...definitely cool.

i wonder if an MKIII is in the works?

 

[christpuncher66]

duotone for $1600 obo. fair deal?

i think my guitarist recorded with this exact amp on our newest record. i didnt get to play it though, and the sound he was going for is way different than mine. i got a tsl and a 5150 im thinking about trading with cash for it. is it that much more awesome then these amps? and how versatile is it?

 

[zimbloth]

duotone for $1600 obo. fair deal?

i think my guitarist recorded with this exact amp on our newest record. i didnt get to play it though, and the sound he was going for is way different than mine. i got a tsl and a 5150 im thinking about trading with cash for it. is it that much more awesome then these amps? and how versatile is it?

Definitely sounds fair. I'd do it. I haven't played the DuoTone, but supposedly it's like channel 1 and 3 from the Triamp. If thats the case, hell yes its versatile. I was able to get insanely good cleans even with the gain set at MASSIVE levels just by rolling the guitar volume knob down. There's a ton of 'in-between' sounds available that all sound great, and of course the cleans and heavies are top notch.

Go for it man. It's subjective I know, but for me I'd take that over a TSL/5150 any day.

 

[Sonicboom]

I got my TriAmp MK1 with matching greenback loaded cab few months ago for R9000($1200) Still got the original preamp tubes in as well!

Recorded last night and felt a bit dissapointed.(I was a bit drunk trying to dial in some death metal tones) Listened back this morning and boy was i surprised Awesome tones! Liquid gain and sounds sick with a boost on 2B, 3A and 3b. Very organic!

She is a beast! Now i just need money for some new speakers

Any suggestions?

 

[ShadyDavey]

Check out the Coreblade as well - it's around £1700 in the UK but apparently kicks even more booty:

Guitar amps by Hughes & Kettner - Products

 

[Mattmc74]

I played a MII with a Mesa cab and was very impressed with the sound I got! It was not hard at all to get a wide range of tones for different styles of music. Very versatile amp.
I have played the Warp X and I liked that as well but I only got about 15 minutes of play time on it.

 

[Ionei]

Triamp mkII is the ONLY high endish amp i've played that really deserved its high price tag, in no area did it fail, everything else just wasnt quite right for me.
Such a beautiful amp.

Definitely my next amp for sure!

 

[Scar Symmetry]

German innit

H&K really should be more popular. Peavey and ENGL dominate where I'm from

I'm not sure about the MKI but the MKII has 9 preamp tubes