Hughes & Kettner ATS 120

Tube Preamp, 100 Watts solid state power amp.
3 channels, reverb, celestion vintage 30 speaker.
well you know the features by looking at the other reviews.

I have a strat, a V and two Ibanez super strat style guitars.
I mainly use it with my Ibanez S-series which has some hi-putput humbuckers. So you can get quite a crunchy sound out of the crunch channel, very good for blues and that kinda thing.
The lead channel gives you some 80's hard rock and metal sound. very cold. to be honest I don't like it that much because I'm more into modern hi-gain sounds that this amp can't do. But if you like 80's rock this might be the right amp for you.
the best thing about this amp is the clean channel. I really didnt expect such a brilliant clean sound. But it's really awesome when u use your neck pickup no matter if single coil or humbucker. Great for jazz, blues or funk.
this amp provides good sound quality at both lo and hi volume. and it can be very very loud.
I give it a 9 cause the clean channel provides some of the best clean sounds I ever heard. love it!

this amp has two input jacks. if I plug into the hi-input the output level sometimes isn't really constant. maybe it's only the jack, I'll have to take a look at it some time. oh yeah and the reverb was once broken. but I could fix it myself.
well this amp is probably more than 15 years old and I didn't have any other problems with it.
So I give it a 7.

Never had to deal with them.

I've been playing for almost 10 years now and I know what I can expect from an amp like this. It's very versatile. Only you can't play modern style metal on it. But it's great for any other kind of music. The vintage 30 sounds fantastic, very powerful and well balanced. Clean and crunch channels are fantastic. loud enough for any occasion.
If it were stolen or lost I'd probably try and get one of these again since it's very versatile.

Tube pre amp, master volume 120 watts
Most of the features have already been described so I won't go in to it.

Nice clean, decent crunch channel, awesome lead channel
chunky/brutal distortion (old school, like Slayer, Metallica)
Using a USA Jackson DK-1 w/Seymour Duncan JB and two single coils

no issues

never had to contact them, they have product downloads on the site though

Very good amp. Well built, and sounds awesome

Front: Tube preamp-not sure how many tubes (must be at least a couple bcz there is gobs of pure tube sounding gain) 120 watts
3 channels (clean, crunch , lead) Lead has a "fat" boost switch. Bright switch for clean channel. Each channel has it's own volume + there is a master volume (very nice) Reverb + Presence controls
Reverb + FX mix controls. Two inputs: high + low gain
High/Mid/Low controls for clean. Lead & Crunch share a separate EQ

Rear: Headphone output!! Very nice feature for a big amp. Line in/out + -10db pad switch for FX loop.

First of all, when you're not playing, this amp is quiet! And, it can actually be used for a bedroom practice amp bcz the volume is very controllable...being that it's tube/hybrid you don't have to crank it to get maximum crunch.
I haven't experimented a lot with it bcz I don't really use a clean channel, but it sounded nice and clean like it's supposed to.
The crunch channel has a gnarly old Marshall (think AC/DC) type roar to it, and the Lead channel is pure metal.
Not sure what year this amp is, but I have a new Peavey XXX and it has very comparable distortion. I just wish my XXX could be played quietly like the H&K!
I have 3 electric guitars: ESP LTD 1000 H w/JB & 59 HBs...a Schecter PT Custom w/dual humbuckers and a Schecter C-1 Elite with EMG 81/60 humbuckers. Very versatile amp, with glorious, controllable, eeeeevil distortion.
Can be played quietly, but this thing will get super LOUD! I have 4x12 cab and you'll feel your pants blowing in the breeze.
Makes all the squeals I like, and the chunky palm muting too. It's really an awesome amp.

It's German engineered, built in West Germany so it's built to last.

It's a tube pre-amp/solid state power amp so it's really got the best of both worlds when it comes to tone/reliability. Pre amp tubes last much longer than power tubes and don't create near as much heat...so I have no worries about touching it for years.
Well, now that I'm lucky enough to own two amps at the same time I guess I COULD use it as a backup...but if it were my only amp I'd use it soley (plus, who am I? Van Halen? a "backup"? ha ha)

n/a

Been playing about 9 years. I've been through tons of amps. I really love my XXX for it's looks/tone...this is the only other amp that I've played that comes close to it in terms of the distortion that I prefer for palm muting and just being terrorizing sounding.
I've had several Blue Voodoos,a couple of solid state Crates, a Fender Roc Pro, a Peavey VTM, Fender Hot Rod DeVille w/a Keeley Metalzone in front of it...none of them really had what I wanted.

3 channels - clean-crunch-lead comes with stage board

never let me down - use it with both a strat and SG std excellent for reliability only problems i've had are
1 replaced pushbutton on stage board
2 replaced the ecc83 valves (turned microphonic) found replacement valves in the UK which are the same as H&K originals (chinese made)
nb
worn valves caused a squeal with the strat when trying to get controlled feedback

Emailed them a query and they responded within 2 days

Been playing pro a long time - this amp is miles better than the marshall, peavey, fender equivalants.
No longer carry a spare amp - never let me down
Would replace it if necessary

The other reviews sum up the features sufficiently. It's great, all the features I need, none I don't. The only feature it has that I don't use at all is the speaker-simulated direct out... it's not that great anyway.

Here's the main reason I wanted to contribute a review. The crunch and lead channels on this thing are glorious, it gives a good variety of tones, and other guitarists of bands I've been in have tried to get me to sell them this amp. HOWEVER, I have to disagree with my fellow reviewers on the clean channel. It's not really that clean, I turn the volume up much past 7 or 8 and it's got some unwanted crunch. I must reiterate that the crunch and lead channels are superb. I do wish they'd included separate tone controls for the crunch and lead channels though.

The amp's had a few problems, but it's old and it's been knocked around a lot, and I got it used over 10 years ago, and who knows what the previous owner(s) might've done to it. I just recently got it all fixed up and it works great now. I'd be OK gigging with this thing without a backup, and I've done so many times!

Never dealt with 'em.

I'd be very, very upset if this amp were lost or stolen, as it would be very hard to come by another. I'd definitely try to track one down though.

A hybrid amplifier. Has two 12AX7 valves in the pre-amp and a solid state power amp - giving the best of both sounds and reliability too, as it is usually the power amp valves which let you down. Very loud -as loud as my (very unreliable) Marshall JTM60. A very versatile and underrated amp - can cover all styles. 3 channels, foot switchable. Has effects loop and headphone jack too - unusual on an amp this powerful and loud - speaker emulated too. Loud enough for medium sized gigs - has line out for larger venues. Effects are crunch, gain and reverb. Has effects loop for pedals.This is a very heavy amp - heavy as a 60 watt Marshall valve combo. Very, very robust. Has a 3 spring, long tank Accutronics reverb. Has treble boost for extra brightness and cut. Has a speaker extension socket to.

A good amp for single, twin or active pickups - has high and low inputs. No hums or hisses. Clean channel bypasses the valve section and remains clean right up to the top. Distortion channels can be adjusted from just a bit to brutal - you choose. The speaker is a Celestion Vintage 30. The can is made of very heavy ply and is ported. It is covered in a carpet-like material - seems hardwearing.

It was made in Germany, the land of Mercs, BMW Audi etc - so very, very reliable. This is a very well put together piece of kit, much better than Fender, Marshall, Mesa et al.

Never contacted them. The amp's circuit boards are particularly well laid out and easily accessible - Fender, Marshall, Mesa take note!!! so should be easier to work on. Electrical components are all good quality.

I have been playing 30+ years. At hte moment I also own a Strat, Les Paul Studio and several others. My other amps are a 2003 Fender Twin, a 70s Fender Silverface Champ, a Marshal JTM 60 and a Marshall MG15R. I have used lots of different kit over the years. I am really impressed with this amp and now plan to sell my Marshall JTM 60 (which is a very similar sounding amp). A very versatile and underrated bit of kit. Well done H + K!

this is a very versatile amp. i play grunge and alternative rock.
there are tons of controls, pre-amp channel volume, seperate gain channels level and master volume with seperate eq per channel. it has 3 channels all up, there is an effects loop, and it is foot switchable. at 120 watts there is plenty of power.

godin radiator into a mdx1400-ns2-ph1r-ls2-(1)>fz2-hm3-(2)>ds1-sd1-H&K ats120 valve head-fxloop-mdx1400-hf2-smallclone-pds1002 into a 2/vintage30 cab. the clean channel sounds great with gibsons and can find nice blues tones. very clean and bassey (tubes emulation). the crunch channel (tube pre-amp) is clean and warm. the lead channel (tube pre-amp) is a very tasty distortion but tends to get noisey at higher volume. i use this channel for punk. it has a sweet overall distortion tone. i compared this amp to a roland chorus 60 a music man 120 watt tube head and an orange 30watt tube head. for features it wins hands down. the music man (1960) has a better sound overall and the orange has a nicer distortion channel. but they all don't have any of the features the H&K amp has. for the price this is an amp that i would use at home and on stage. it sounds great tonally and can be dialled in to a variety of sounds. it only comes second to the above mentioned amps by a small amount. i will never sell this amp.

no problemas at all.

not needed support

i have been playing about 8 years. if it were lost or stolen i would find another. its versatility and feature are superb. if i had 10 times the money then i would probably buy an orange head. the twin channel version.

Three channel 120 watt, clean and lead have shared eq, clean is seperate, not sure of the year, but played it at this little music shop and i fell in love with the clean sound, distortion had a lot to be desired, though this could have been because of the broken knobs and stuffed wiring. After fixing these problems all three channels work great, the clean channel is fully solid state, but dont let that deter as it sounds better than alot of vintage amps i have played. The crunch and lead have a two valve preamp into a solid state power amp. CAme with a special stage board which just seemed to me like a normal channel switching device but once i got the manual, turns out you can program your effects loop into different channels, like if you want some very effecty clean into just straight distortion. The lead distortion channel has a button labelled 'lead fat', not sure what it means but it adds a bass boost to your sound. Clean has a bright button, adding uh brightness also onboard reverb. seperate volumes and gain for each channel and also a master. Extremely versatile though i would rather the lead and crunch eqs to be seperate

originally i was using an ibanez RG 570, playing that down tuned nu metal sound, and it sufficed but didn't really shine. Maybe this was because the quad i was using was almost near death i dont know. Now i play a 1971 original fender mustang,into a laney 4x10 quad though its really like two twins as two speakers are enclosed and the other open back. The tens keeps the sound nice and tight. Perfect for funk rock ie chilli peppers, early incubus. Clean and crunch channels are almost always silent and the lead distortion is a litle noisy but only what can be expected. The clean channel being all solid state, stays clean all the time, yet i dont need it too loud as i can easily fill a bar with sound on 5. I was suprised at how metal like my mustang can sound if pushed, though i must say the best sounds given are either really clean funk or that slightly distorted blues sound and maybe a little more distortion for solos.

had it for about 5 years, and after fixing the broken knobs and wiring never had a problem. definitely gig without a backup. i was suprised at how well made it is when i opened her up

second hand so no warranty, they aren't made anymore so i dont know about parts either. hughes and kettner site have downloadable maunals, but never had to contace them

i've been playing for seven years, owned an old laney combo, and despite what people may say i think this as good if not beter than some of those praised vintage marshalls and fender twins, you just have to know how to play it

this is a 120 watt solid state from H & K. it has 3 channels, clean, crunch, and lead, and has reverb, fx loops, headphone jack, channel switching, etc. it pretty much has everything you need. I would like to have different eq's for clean/crunch, but oh well. im in a band and this amp has plenty enough power to suit my needs.

Im using a MexiStrat with stock pickups. It suits my style (rock) great even though my pickups suck. It gives some brutal distortion, and the clean channel is good too. This amp isn't very noisy. the only problem is when i put the master and lead volume both above 8 , the distortion gets a bit muffed, but its not too much of a problem since i can shake my house with the volume on 3 :). lots of variety in this amp.

i would definitley depend on it without a backup. one reason is because i have no money for a backup, another reason is because this thing is a monster!

never delt with them.

Overall, i really really dig this amp. It gives me the versatility i need, and the power i need.