Hughes & Kettner Attax pre-amp

it"s a 3 channel pre amp 1 solid state (THE CLEAN)
2 crunch and 3 lead use 1 12ax7 tube


It is easy real easy it's like any amp you turn the knobs and listen and turn until you,like the sound very easy

i have multiple guitars and effect modules they all sound good with it
i don't use channel 1 (solid state it sounds good though)
i use the crunch channel i just put the crunch gain at 2 and the post gain at 10 and it's clean but through the tube it's sounds amazing and then i use lead channel for crunch or for full blown metal distortion
(just a little tip replace the tube with a tung sol you get an amazing sound and an even more amazing distortion sound)
i play for clean ballad types to really hard down tuned brutal metal and this pre amp covers it all

very reliable english made that says it all

never had to deal with them

like i said i play every style of guitar i want to with this i run it through a peavey classic 50/50 power amp and a rocktron 1x12 cab
i have a peavey rockmaster preamp to and i wont part with either of them
this is an amazing piece of gear very simple and it does the job very well if it were stolen i'd kick some ass to get it back

It takes a bit of tweaking your rig but you eventually find a sweet spot with this unit. I absolutely love the sound of the crunch channel, it's perfect.

I mostly play rock/punk/metal/hardcore stuff anywhere from earlier Thrice to Underoath to stuff like Spitalfield. I have touched on some jazz and pop as well. This amp sounds perfect, especially on the crunch channel. The Lead channel is too much for me and sounds too smooth. The clean is pretty decent and clear. I play a Gibson Les Paul Standard which then runs throught this unit and then into a Peavey Classic 60/60 power amp which powers my Marshall jcm900 cabinet that has two 75's and two v30's.

So far so good, i've replaced the tube in it.

I did have to order the footswitch for it. There aren't any or many H&K dealers out here in Canada. It took a few months to track down a place to get this footswitch ordered.

Once again this amp is perfect for my style of playing and definitely good for most types of rock music. I've been playing for 6 years now and I don't plan on getting rid of this unit. I might upgrade to a Soldano preamp or something more high end, but for now this unit does it's job and does it good!

I do alot of different styles & this pre-amp covers them all. I use a Strat with Bartolini electronics Also an Ibanez Artwood Artist w/ Bartolini electronics and it loves them both the right way. I'm afan of the old Twin Reverb and this pre-amp covered in that area.

With the midi option this thing kills.Great usable tone from rock to jazz .

I have only had one problem with this pre-amp and that was that the tube board had a bunch of cold solder joints. Once I fixed that no problems at all.

Customer service is great. A little slow but great.(Only one guy doing service in U.S.)

I own 2 of them one I use w/ a VS 250 the other I use w/ a TubeWorks R-4250 ProValve power amp both are killer. I've been playing over 30 years & the Attax pre-amps are my favorite of all my rigs.

This unit has 2 "real" channels. One solid state clean and one tube. The tube one is devided into crunch and lead. Each real channel has one eq, one for clean and one for tube. The the eq section is bass, middle, treble and gain (cruch and lead). The midi device is easy to use too, there only is a lack of an LED for MIDI-programming.

My set-up is as follows: self build guitar (w. ironbird body, tune-o-matic, tele-copy neck (bolt on) and Bill Lawrence L-500 Lead pickup) =>Attax=>Rocktron Intellifex=>Peavy Cl. 60/60 Power amp =>Marshall 4x12 and Mesa/Boogie 1x12 cabs. The sounding is great. I can get super clean, creamy rock-overdrive up to super-brutal-distortion. If you want, you can get the sounds of any Triamp-user (e.g. V. Smolski) but you can get very unique sounds too. Cleand sounds excellent with a chorus and reverb. I like the cruch-channel without any fx. On lead there is a decent chorus in my setting (one you only hear when it's missing :-)) The D.I. out sounds a bit thin, but I fix it by playing a POD at the same time when recording at home (gives a KILLER sounding!!). By the way, I think my rig sounds better than an Attax 100 head!

Never had any problems. Gigged with it w.o. any backup.

never delt with them.

Great value for the money! Gives you a sound you cannot immitate with POD!

Clean channel is just that with a tone unlike most pre amps I've ever owned ( I own a few ). Crunch is anywhere between Bluesy to chordal rock distortion with good high end definition. Lead, well what you want.....it's in there! Be it single coil or humbucker, my Strat or Ibanez Artwood Atrist this thing delivers.

To the best of my knowledge it was made in the early to mid 90's.This very usable features especially when used with the MSM1 Midi Module. It is a very straight forward pre-amp with tones that can usually be found only n the studio. I use it on club & concert dates when I play anywhere detween jazz to Rock and everything in between. I especially like the stereo effect returns as well as mono.

I've had a few problems cold solder joints particularly with the tube board which is my only gripe with this piece.

Hughes Kettner are little hard to reach. I believe they have a service center in my area somewhere.

I've been 35+ years & from a 68 Twin reverb, Galien Kruger 112SC. 2 Yamaha PG-1 Pre-amp, 2 Tube works 982 & 942 Power amps, Mesa Boogie Tri Axis w/ 50/50 power amp. This pre amp Power amp combination sets in a class of it's own. Oh by the way I use it w/ Hughes Kettner VS 250 Power Amp & Bag End Cabinets(2 S12C or 1 D12B w/ Gauss speakers.

I use mainly a Yamaha Pacifica 912 (similar to a strat). The clean channel is solid state but sounds like a Carvin tube head on clean, glassy but not as warm. The distortion sounds rich and creamy for rock and blues, and the lead channel gets lots o' sustain without getting muddy, and cleans up when the guitar's volume knob is backed off. It is also a "clean" disortion (not fuzzy like stomp boxes) and lets your guitar tones come through. The EQ section sounds best at the 12 o'clock position, but does not have a wide enough range of sound variation. Can't get that scooped metal tone, but that's why I use the graphic EQ through the serial effects loop to get the sounds I want. Used it for recording the the Red Box outputs and it sounded good but I prefer a miked cabinet.

3 channels- clean, crunch and lead. The clean has a separate EQ section from the crunch and lead (which share the same EQ). The crunch and lead channels are tube driven through a 12AX7. It has Red Box cabinet simulated stereo outputs and headphone jack. Also has series and parallel send/returns for effects and comes with a 3 button footswitch (clean/tube, crunch/lead, effects on/off). Very versatile for what I play which is mainly modern rock. I wish it had different EQ for crunch and lead like the TriAmp. I use it in a 4-space rack (fuzzy blue from H&K) with a ADA MicroTube 200 power amp, ART Quadra-FX, and ART 341 dual graphic EQ.

Never broken down yet and I've had it for 4 years of regular gigs and rehersals. Built tough. No scratchy pots etc.

Never had to call.

I'm happy with my rack setup through my Marshall 212 cab and it sounds killer when cranked. Great distortion!

A simple analogue unit with straight forward knobs without a display and all sorts of digital pull down frenzy so even I can get a good sound out of it without taking a tranquillizer. Because of it's simplicity (clean/crunch/lead with the corresponding volume and gain controls, 2 sets of tone controls for clean and for crunch/lead, master and fx mix - that's it!)it's a pre-amp, nothing more and nothing less. It has no fx features apart from the serial and parallel loops. Even the MIDI interface (a must have option) has proven to be a walk in the park for me and believe me, that sais something.

This unit definetely has a sound of its own. I'm not the guitarist who wants to sound like his idols so I combine it with the way I want my sound to be. I play PRS, Blade R4 and Gibson SG guitars on the Attax in combination with Roland GB16 and Peavey tube power amps (Classic 120 and 50/50, he latter steering 4 Celestion Vintage 30 cabinets in all. From fusion to metal, from totally clean to soaked saturated and everything in between and for me, it sounds great. I do have my doubts though if it's a suitable unit for those who want to sound like say Eddie Van Halen or Steve Lukather etc. - which I don't so it's ok for me with an exclamation mark. Full blast distortion does bring some noise about but who knows a unit that doesn't under those circumstances! Nothing a noise gate (I use the Behringer Intelligate for that purpose) can't fix. Especially the tube distortion is perfect for me. I gave it an 8 for it's suspected lack of sound versatility which isn't a drawback for me personally coz for me it's a 10.

I've been abusing this unit for 6 years now, rehearsals, gigs, everything and it never let me down, not even once. I only replaced the tube after 3 years coz it got microphonic. And I don't use any backup unit either. Touch wood!

No opinion coz I never had to deal with them. I fixed the MIDI extension and tube replacement myself.

This is a very good pre amp but by getting it, you're choosing a specific sound. I've been playing guitar for more than 30 years now but since I have the Attax pre-amp, which is about 6 years by now, I've never felt any urge to have it replaced coz it works perfectly for me. The sound in itself beats the much more expensive and featured H&K Access for instance but in itself it's features are limited. If it fits within your application realms it's perfect and excellent value for money - check it out before you buy though.

The original tube sucked...as soon as I put an ECC83 in it, it rocked. 12AX7 sound pretty bad in it...it got real muddy..the controls are real simple.

I use a les paul with a .65 on top tuned to A. The sound is incredible. Heavy as all hell. I wish the crunch had its own EQ. I don't reall like the clean at all..but over all it's a great unit..for heavier types of music...

It has been quite reliable...no problems at all..but then again i've only had it for 4 months

It , the attax preamp, is great for the styles of music i play. Metal, hardcore. The effects loop and the recording out are godsend for direct recording. If some wants to hear what it can do on my shitty four track (tascam porta 03) give me an email and i'll send you a real audio or a .wav file of some recordings of done (with direct recording)...by the way, it sounds great for recording distorted vocals..