Hughes & Kettner Replex

The unit isn't that hard to figure out as far as setting the gain, reverb, and single-head delay. The unit wouldn't be that difficult to figure out regarding the Dual Head delay if the manual wasn't incorrect. The manual leads you to believe that delay time of both heads are completely and independently adjustable. They are not. The manual is extremely short and incorrect.

Strat or Les Paul with hotter than stock pickups into way too many pedals then into a 50 watt Plexi (no effects loop). It's not noisy but it does effect your basic tone when any of three effect modes are engaged. The difference between the Bypass mode and the other three is too much of a change to make the bypass useable (in the way I'm using it). A simple tone control for either the bypass or the effected modes would make that much easier to deal with. The Vintage Factor control makes some noise when turned but I was told that is normal. The Vintage Factor control adds (among other things) some emulation of tape flutter that Echoplexes had. If you turn the Vintage Factor knob up too high, you'll get these modulating in-and-out-of-tune echoes that don't sound right to me, but when on lower settings the Vintage Factor knob adds that "something" that Echoplexes have that most analog or digital delays don't. The reverb is OK I guess but I'm not much into reverb. I use the reverb channel for bypass. Both delays (single-head and dual-head) are damn good. I've had delays that were easier to dial in but this one isn't that bad once you are accustomed to it. BTW, when I give something an 8, that's damn good. A little rant: These reviews lose all their credibility and usefulness if everyone gives everything a 10. Especially if you've only had the item for a day (or even a week). End rant.

I've had it for a couple of months and have played many rehearsals and several gigs with it. No problems yet. Looks to be built well enough.

I e-mailed them about the manual and to find out if mine was working properly since the manual led me to believe it wasn't. They did not respond so after about a month, I tried again and added "2nd attempt" in the subject field. They responded and while the person I spoke to did not seem very knowledgeable he did put forth the effort.

I bought mine NEW in the box for the price above ($318 US after shipping). You don't have to pay $450 US for these things. I've been playing for about 26 years. I play all kinds of rock from Cream and Hendrix to Creed and Staind and about everything in between. My favorite guitar player is Eric Johnson and you gotta have a really good echo to get anywhere close to his tone. I have an Echoplex and it sits in the closet, too much of a pain but they sound awesome IF they have good tape (a big IF). This is the closest I've heard to emulating an Echoplex. In the delay/echo department other then the Echoplex (EP-4), I also have a Deluxe Memory Man re-issue, an Ibanez AD-9, a DanEcho, and an Alesis Q20 (rackmount effects processor with pretty good digital delay). This thing does the Echoplex thing better than any of them. Never have I purchased a guitar-related product and loved the sound so much yet somehow still been disappointed. And that is ALL due to the horrible manual. It irritates me that they would put so LITTLE effort into the manual on this thing. So I give it an 8 on sound but -2 for the crappy manual. I'm almost reluctant to give number ratings just because relative to many reviews, a 6 or even an 8 is bad. Take the number rating with a grain (or two) of salt.

manual is pretty vague and incorrect regarding the operation of the echo time control for the "first" head in the dual head mode,this control is inoperative and the ratio between the two heads is fixed with an overall time adjustment for the pair of heads with the second time control- very confusing!!!

pretty good,however maximum echo effect isn't much above unity and it's necessary to have the echo volume virtually on full all the time,but the effect is enough for "normal" usage.

no problems so far.

never used them

this unit is about all that's available to get a true tape echo sound without all the mechanical hassle,way better than most digital rack units and pedals,no matter how well programmed,very musical sound than enhances your playing,not cheap though for a one sound box.

This unit is pretty easy to understand, although the manual offers no help at all. Plug in, set the saturation level, the output level, and the degree of "vintage" coloring you want to add. The single head delay is easy to figure out. It is the double head option that causes some confusion. I'm still working it out.

The quality of the sound is fantastic. As mentioned in other reviews, without the vintage knob, the delay is totally digital. The vintage knob really gives it a warm, fat, tape delay sound. I did compare this unit to the new Replex Echoplex reissue and I was amazed at how accurately the Replex duplicates that type of sound. I'm sure there are differences (inserted to appease the purists) but when I considered the tone of the Replex, as well as the task of cleaning tape heads and hassling with tape loops, I decided to go with the Replex. It really offers a great tone.

One suggestion I would make (suggested by Alpha Music)concerns the true bypass. Due to the fact that H&K have done such a great job of replicating the tone of a vintage tape delay, you might notice a substantial change in sound when switching from the true bypass mode to the tape delay. With my rig, the difference was very noticeable. The bypass was not as warm as the "effected" modes (the 12AX7 really adds some warmth). Alpha suggested dialing the reverb volume to zero, and using that "channel" as my bypass. Now I am able to switch from the warm delay tone to the reverb "bypass" without any change in tone. This may seem obvious to some, but it was a great revelation for me.

I can't really speak about the reverb sound, as I am not very familiar with reverb in general.

Built very well. Smooth working knobs. I would be comfortable without having a backup on hand. I will probably carry a spare tube.

The only thing I would change is the adapter. The way it fits into the unit is not very secure.

This pedal is a great match for me. My current set up is as follows:

Boss TU2 tuner, Fryer Treble Booster (built by the guy who helped Brian May restore his guitar), Fryer Mayhem Distortion, Boss CE 1 chorus, H & K Replex, into a Vox AC 30 TBX amp. My tone was quite nice before the addition of the Replex, but the additional 12AX7 tube gave me a bit more warmth.

I wouldn't hesitate to replace it if it were lost or stolen.

Simple and easy to understand.

I use this in combination with an MXR Phase 90 and a Fender Hot Rod amp. I have to agree with other comments here that the reverb isn't the greatest (the Hot Rod has killer reverb) but the tape echo emulation is fantastic and the stuff you can do with the dual head channel is cool. I love the "Vintage" knob. Without it, you get crystal-clear digital sounding delay. The more "Vintage" you give it the more analog tape sound you get. I wouldn't trade the "invisible" bypass for the world.

I've only had it a month but I don't see anything happening to this tank besides maybe the tube breaking!

I play in a power pop/rock & roll band and this pedal is a great match for some of the vintage tunes my band plays.

Fairly easy to use, the manual is crap, but made like a Nazis tank.

The reverb is fine, but that's not why I bought the Replex. Primarily use the Ibanez SDR 1000+ digital reverb(a rack unit that is as good as a Lexicon PCM 70) for reverb and the Replex for Analog Delay. As soon as I use it, I fell in with love it. The delay is warm, responive and meld's very well with the cords being played unlike the crapy fake sounding DL-4. The Replex is very professional sounding Delay period.

Like I said, made like a Nazis tank. If you want to drop it off a roof, frist take the tube out!

If it was stolen, I would' nt think twice about bying a another. If you ever wanted a Echo Plex you can get the real deal for about $800 or you can get the next best thing to it, the REPLEX. The best Echo Plex Clone out there in my opinon.

Crappy manual, but then, what do you expect from the Nazis?
Knobs turn OK, but very sensitive to movement.

Reverb mediocre, but OK if you need to get laid and you don't want to do your amp.
Single stage delay--super.
Double stage delay--super if you understand it.
Best to use reverb channel as a distortion channel dry

don't know--too new

don't know yet

Sounds good right out of the box. Easy-to-read Manual in several languages. Could have been a bit clearer on the two-head versus one-head delays. Still haven't figured out how they relate to each other. Not a big problem, though.

Ibanez Artist and Aria M650T into Budda Verbmaster 30. No noise from this box at all. Really does a good job of simulating tape-delay. Only exception would be the oscillations, but I seldom do that, anyway. The reverb is decent also, but nowhere near as great as on the amp. The best spring-like digital reverb I've heard.

Wouldn't drop it from a three-story building, or drive over it, like some reviewers here seems to do, but for normal use, no problem. Haven't had it long enough to really know, though.

The local distributor sent me one as soon as it came in the door. Even paid the shipping for me!

Have been playing all kinds of rock for 10 years. This box really is the best bet, except maybe for the echoplex reissue (but at twice the price, way out of my leage). Sounds absolutely non-digital. It sounds fat and warm, and I never have to change tapes (ok, a tube swap is probably necessary in a few years, but so what?)! This box rox!

Quite easy to use.. You've got 4 options: Bypass- > A true bypass so no loss of signal, Reverb -> no great to be honest, Single head delay -> The gem of this unit, and Dual-head delay -> Interesting and cool.

I play fender strats. My guitar hero is Eric Johnson. I run my strat into this unit, through a TC Electronics Chorus/Flange pedal into a 65 bassman, and lemme tell you. You'd swear it was Eric's rig. This sounds so much like an echoplex (better in my opinion)without the tape cartridge burden!!!

Well, it's never cratered on me yet.. of course I've only had it a month...

None needed

Amazing.. simply put... you must try it!