Hughes & Kettner Cream Machine

I use all ART amps and love them.........BUT, I needed a little more warmth for blues. I tried a Boss Blues Driver, way too thin! I started reading about the Cream Machine and picked one up on ebay. It was okay.......better than the Boss but still thin! I started switching out tubes until I loaded it with a pair of Telefunken 12au7 vacuum tubes......WOW!! Warm and clean with just enough dirt for blues! The harder you play the more dirt you get! I love this thing! Buy one! Real tube tone, cheap! Good luck!

Fewer controls should ease your work but unfortunately it's difficult to obtain what you want.

I have to say that a big misunderstanding is that this unit is not an effect, actually it is a very low power (1/2 watt) single-ended tube amp and it should be used in such a way if you want to be satisfied with the results. I am using it at home with lots of different guitars (PRSs, Fenders,...) and pickups, connected to different cabinets all loaded with Celestion speakers. My preferred combination now is a "living room setup" consisting of an Epiphone Riviera and a small wonderful "living room" cabinet loaded with a Celestion Vintage 10". Although I have owned this unit for more that 15 years, only recently I decided that I was no longer satistified with its huge gain and high freq response (my tastes turning from rock-metal to blues-jazz) and I modded it a little. Basically I just bypassed the solid-state section in front of the tubes and went directly into the first tube (a 1 hour and 1 resistor modification) obtaining an "all tube" path from guitar to speaker. Now it has a wonderful sound with improved bass response and incredible dynamics that let's you control your tone with the guitar controls without muddyness or changes in loudness.

There's one way to use this unit: don't put it into your effect chain, connect it to a speaker and crank it up! Mike the resulting sound or use a device such as a Palmer Speaker Emulator (the internal red-box circuit it's not up to the task) and then add effects and final amplification. This way you can go from metal to blues with terrific results. Considering the cost if you can find one around buy it immediately.

one control for gain, one control for master and one to get the mix bypass vs. tube-amp right. so, quite simple. then a lot of outputs: two mixed (tube-amp and by-pass) with one of them upgraded with cabinetsimulation. Then two separated outputs. with a switch one can change outputsignal from linelevel to instrumentlevel. (pointlost: the location of the switch makes you think the two outputs on the right are the 'line' outputs and the two on the left are the 'instruments'outputs. further a footswitch connection and an output for a little speaker. very handy is the scheme of the different connections on top of the unit.

I use it with a pattrick eggle, several analoug distortions and a randall solid state amplifier. makes my other distorions sing very nicely, that's what i wanted it for.
problem is that the tube-amp sound as really a lot of treble compared to the by-pass sound. Don't use this thing if you don't have the possibillity to put the two sounds through two different channel-amps so you can lower the trebles on the tube-amp-channel with your eq.
really a pity.....

don't have it to long yet, but looks reliable to me. made of iron, steady knobs. make a nice box for it though

enough information on the net with manuals for example

I play poprock. it makes my distortions sing and makes my overdrives much more dynamic. can go from little bit to a lot only by the way I strike the strings. So that's really fine for about 90 dollars. I use it with a footswitch and that works fine, no audible clicks in the sound. if it were stolen I would go looking for its brother, the crunch-machine, for that unit has got an eq. on it, and as said before...that's what really misses!

This thing is about as self explanatory as it could be. There's a diagram on the top, 3 knobs, and all ins and outs clearly marked. I couldn't give it a 10, because I feel it needs to be opened and the tubes changed to perform well.

The sound of the cream machine was, at first, appaling. It comes with two tubes. One 12ax7 for the preamp and one 12at7 for the power amp. The factory tubes are mediocre quality at best, and must be replaced. I found that with new tubes, the sound became somewhat palateable, but was still a bid harsh or tinny and sometimes blurry, for lack of a better term. I also didn't like the extreme nature of the overdrive. No subtlety. THIS ALL CHANGED, however, when I got the notion to replace each tube with a 12au7. The 12au7 has higher output and more headroom. Now this box sounds outstanding. It's loud and warm, and very intelligible. The gain now ranges from an almost too-clean warm jazzy sound to wailing harmonics and massive crunch. If you like to play with a little feedback, crank up the gain and max out the master and tube amp knobs, and lean into the speaker. I played this way with an aria pro II les paul copy with 2 EMG 81s into the cream machine and that into an old Gibson Atlas 50w head (similar to Fender Bassman) at about 1/4 volume pushing a beat up Ampeg 1x18 reflex cabinet. This setup just sang. With the pickups set to humbuckers, both neck and bridge had a delicious, full crunch for chords, which would hit with a grinding, bassy attack and then swell into a well balanced purr in the upper-mids. Single notes had a sort of hot, visceral feel at first and then melted smoothly into a tasty harmonic wail. When set to single coils, I found the tone was still a little harsh, but nothing the tone knob on the guitar couldn't tame. Each note had an nice edgy quality to it, while remaining clear and full in character. All in all, I like this thing alot. You know that feeling when it's up loud and sounds really sweet and your senses get sort of blurred and confused? You can get that out of this box if you use the 12au7's I wish it had a tone knob on it somewhere to trim the highs a bit, but it's a minor issue. Combined with a tube power amp and a good cabinet, the machine would be very creamy indeed.

Got it used, haven't had it long. Second instrument jack on the rear seems to have a problem, but overall it seems very well built. I would trust it for a gig.

Never tried to contact the company. I do my own repairs, so I probably won't ever contact the company if I do have a problem.

I play anything and everything. The cream machine could definitely serve multiple purposes. Jazz to metal and all in between. I've been playing about 9 years. If I lost it, I might get another if I could find it on the cheap (<$45). If you find one at a good price, grab it, invest in some tubes, and see what it can do.

Well,really easy to use.Two knobs in front and one at the back.
A kind of stombox usage,but it isn't !

The wonder happens,when it gets connected.There are so many options
how to use the Cream machine.
Also as Stand alonne amp with 1 Watt.But this one Watt will make your
neighbour scream.

Easy to use.

Well it is a distroted Tube Amp in pocket version.
Of course it gets noisy the more gain we use.That's a matter of fact
in Tubes.No noise gate.
This device goes hard to work ! And its difficult to find a weaker
distortion sound.Raise both up,Input and Output knob.Then there is no
need for a compressor.

For that,what the Cream Machine was designed for,it does an excellent
job.But it is not an all in one machine.
For smoother minds,HK brought out the Crunch Master,with EQ and lower
tube distortion.Both together got a niftly little amp plus the
1 Rack Unit power amp.

Remember these devices came out before Virtual ! So they are still
good.

The Cream Machine does 10% what it was developed for ! Brutal
tube distortion is a small box.

A good solution for specialists.

Tubes get weak by time.Hiwatt once recommended to exchange Tubes
every year.
But it doesn't matter if you keep them for longer.

Tube is Tube

Never needed,but H&K is busy for you.

The Cream machine does it job perfectly.
It is not an alternative for a big Tube Setup,but it is much more
flexible.Sound is OK.
For recording a fine tool of the pre Virtual time.And it is totally
analog.
A good and usefull tool after all this time.

To bring more life to the Roland GP8 I use the Cream Machine.
And how it creams.Hmmmmmmmm......

Dead easy to use - a gain knob, a master knob and an output knob. The first pot changes the front-end gain - a bit like over-cooking the first few stages of your amp; the second pot controls how much the power tubes are driven, and the last pot varies the output volume.

I use this with a '62 reissue strat (HS-2 in the bridge) and a Gordon Smith (lovely guitars...) into an old Park 50W valve combo, or my hifi.

This unit is designed to sound like a high-power amp on full volume. They have cleverly build a real valve amp in here - it's got preamp valves, power valves (ok, so it's only a couple of watts) and an output transformer, with the line out taken indirectly from a power soak resistor. There's a lot of circuitry in there - I expected it to be pure valve, but there are a few solid state gain stages before and after the valves. The 'cabinetulator' or filtered line out is supposed to sound like a miked-up 4X12 cabinet. It doesn't, but it does sound an awful lot better than the standard line out when you put it through your hifi - in fact it's not bad at all. If you've ever plugged a guitar into your hifi before, you'll know just how bad guitars normally sound, but this does a good job. Just don't think it will sound *exactly* like a 4X12 marshall cab.

I'm still undecided about the sound when plugged into a guitar amp. It's not as clear or well defined as plugging directly into my amp's own high gain input, but it does offer a lot more distortion. The sound reacts very well to the guitar's volume control - something that valve amps seem to do very well. There's a fair bit of hum as well, which is made worse when plugged into a high gain channel. I would recommend only using it in the clean channel of your amp.

While I'm unsure about its use as a distortion pedal, this thing is absolutely fantastic as a guitar amplifier. I plugged the speaker output into a marshall cabinet and got about 2W of pure valve sound. Believe me, this unit can be too loud for bedroom use. Set the master to 10, so that the output valves are cooking, set the gain control to your preferred level, and use the guitar volume to control the amount of distortion. It sounds unbelievable. If you are looking for a low power amp to use for practice and recording, this is the baby. It just goes to prove that you *need* to have valves driving a speaker to get a decent guitar sound. This is why valvestates are missing at least 50% of the tone.

It's well built using thick steel plate, but it does contain valves which are not as reliable as transistors. I had to replace the fuse holder on mine as the old one fell apart.

I have no idea.

I mainly play rock, so this should be an ideal fit. But it still doesn't seem to sound as good as my Park for the low gain stuff. I would prefer to get a 1X12 cab and use it as a practice amp.

There are only 3 knobs. Gain. Volume. Master Volume.
There is a shitload of outputs & inputs which looks scary at first, but they are clearly labled.

I use a '75 strat into an old MXR phase 100, fuzz face, an old cry baby, DOD chorus (can't afford a TC Electronic), and a MRX micro-amp all into a A/B box which a signal to the vibrato side of my '70 Fender Pro Reverb and a signal to the Cream Machine into a DOD Attacker (to tame it), into a late '80s digitech effects box (for reverb/delay) into the normal side of the Pro Reverb. Set up with the Attacker, the Cream Machine rocks! I also replaced the crappy tubes it came with 12AX7 and 12AT7 RCA's. Very nice overdrive. VERY nice lead sound. It's almost like a Marshall Plexi. But be warned you will NOT get a mesa sound from this!! Without the Attacker it is WAY tinny and midrangey and just unusable. I do plan on replacing the shitty Attacker with a MXR 6 or 10 band EQ when i can find one. I use it in a cover band that does a lot of classic rock and the Cream Machine has got that classic rock tone DOWN!

I give it an 8 simply because it has tubes, and tubes can blow out. I always bring a backup overdrive stompbox, just to be safe (i don't have extra RCA tubes lying around.) Otherwise, this thing is built like a tank!

Don't know. But they do have a manual on their web page.

For $80 you can't beat it. Kicks any solid state distortion's ass. Been playing for 9 years or so, play through a lot of different amps and effects, a lot of guitars, and i'm pretty happy with this set up, although a graphic EQ would be better suited to tame the midrange on this badboy.

First I must say I am not usually a big fan of Direct Recording for guitar. My favorite sound is my Peavey 5150 or Mesa Boogie Mk III cranked up with an SM 57 mic or two (however I live in an apartment). I have a Peavey EVH Wolfgang standard guitar, all stock (the pickups are the best ones I have heard). I am mostly into hard rock/metal, I heard the H & K Metal Shredder probably would have been better suited for me but nevertheless...

I loved the Cream machine when I first got it a decade ago (after I got sick of the Rockman sound for recording), however I grew tired of it quickly because it didnt have any EQ, it was too mid rangy and never really got the Van Halen sound I was looking for. Over the years I picked it up again and again, coming back to the same conclusion. Well the millenium came around and I decided to try it again after it was packed away (for whatever reason I could never really get rid of it).

I have a Sans Amp GT2 that replaced it in my studio setup, which sounds great listening back to the recording, but just didnt have the "tube" feel when playing as I would have liked, too thin especially for leads.

So I plugged in the Cream machine set the gain at 7 believe me this is plenty), Master at 10, and the tube amp knob (on the back) at around 8-10 into my Mackie 1202 VLZ which then goes to my computer (I use cakewalk Pro Audio 9 , and a Turtle Beach Montego II sound card and JBL Northridge speakers). Un EQ'd it was just to midrangy and well beyond the help of the Mackies 3 band eq.

So I patched in my ALesis Quadraverb II, put on the Delay and Reverb and then EQ'd it (spent a LONG TIME) I found the mid range frequency of 680 Hz that was annoying me and I cut it. Also boosted the high EQ feq of 6600Hz for some presence/treble. Played some vintage Van Halen Riffs, and I almost forgot I wasnt playing through a hot rodded Marshall w/ a 4x12! Most importantly I also recorded some stuff, played it back and it sounded great! Cool spongey tube feel and sound because of the 2 12AX7 tubes, no digital here. So right out of the box I gave it a 5 for sound, with a good EQ, close to a 10!!!!

Not alot of features, but superb routing capabilities.
Two 12AX7 pre amp tubes make it feel like you are playing through a real amp even when going direct into the board. The cabinet simulator is great, before the Sans Amp, H & K was king. Anyone remember the Red Box?
There are no EQ or presence controls, which is a MAJOR drawback unless you like a really midrangy sound. Three knobs: Gain, Master and Tube Amp Volume.

You can actually use this pre-amp as a low power practice amp and plug it right into your fav 4x12!. I am SERIOUSLY thinking about getting a POD (I have a Sans Amp now for Direct Recording).

Oh yeah there is a footswitchable bypass! Not even the POD has that!

I have had this thing since it came out originally (late 80s I think).
It works as good as the day I bought it!

Never had to talk with them

I have been playing for about 13 years, (had just about every amp in the 80s- Marshalls, Randalls, Carvins, Mesas( tried alot of the cabinet simulators (even the one built into the old ADA MP-1 pre amp which had tubes also). I still may buy a POD from Line 6 because its more versitile, but I am not getting rid of the Cream machine.
If you can still find one of these pick it up, especially if its cheap. However also pick up a good EQ! On its own a rating of 6, with an EQ a 10!

Just an update here (at last). My fave tube combination (after trying many) is a GE 6072A for the input followed by a GE 5751 for the output. Mullard 12AX7s sound quite good too but cost a fair bit more and are really best for monster distortion. Perhaps others will also post their tube choices here.

Very simple to operate but limited to being a single channel amp simulator.
But it does what it can do very well. The friend who brought his unit to my home studio plugs it into an old Marshall JTM-45. He loves it, and I can hear why.

The built in cabinulator is a bit basic and needs some help (roll off treble to remove "bird noise" and +3dB boost at 125 Hertz for 4 x 12".
TIP for cutting the high frequency buzz or sizzling noise.
Taking careful precautions, open the casing, remove the PCB and solder a 100nF capacitor between the wiper of the OUTPUT LEVEL pot and earth.
My friend loved his Cream Machine even more after this mod. But be careful - HT is very dangerous.
It does sound like a Marshall valve amp and it worked a treat on our recording. I thought about building a Cream Machine but then I bought a Line 6 POD - oh, baby!
It's a super stomp box or a rather nice sounding studio pre-amp but the great sound is offset by the absence of presets.

These things are SOLID and inside you see the quality of the engineering.
H&K stopped making them five years ago. If you find one that still works, the chances are it'll last years. Watch out for capacitor failure, especially on the HT side - any input signal gives a horrible undamped noise, and the unit may smell.

Don't know. Would be second hand now. NB you can get the schematic from the Internet but don't mess with valves and HT unless you really know what you're doing.

I liked it a lot. My friend gigs it and takes it into the studio with his JTM-45, it's on audible on quite a few of his band's recordings and I think he's pretty attached to it!
I would say to anyone who's thinking about valve preamps, audition a POD. Ignore the POD's presets and select Brit blues (JTM-45) or Brit Classic (Plexi), set gain on 5 - 10, bass/mid/top on 4, 10, and 10, master on 10, turn the Effects knob to bypass. Play and listen. Yes you will need an amp as well but it's only a monitor so any reasonable solid state head will do.
Very good at one thing.