Hughes & Kettner ATS Sixty

Bought this second hand, it's old, from the good old days when H&K still built amps, instead of having them put together. Amp is heavier than it looks, solidly built, but still fairly easy to take apart for whoever wants to take a look inside or wants to change the tube.
Two Channels, clean is all solid state, Overdrive has a tube in the gain chain. Was a 12 AX 7 according to the book (it said "hughes and kettner" on the tube. Suppose it was the original tube still. Sounded a bit worn out anyhow. A lot of gain but nothing much in the tone department. I changed it for an Electroharmonix 12 AU 7.
You could consider it a transistor amp with a build in Tubeman.

There is a real spring reverb, with quite long springs i suppose. Sounds really deep and long.
Three band eq on the clean channel. Two mysterious tone knobs on the gain channels labeled Voice and Bite. They don't really seem to be toneknobs in the traditional sense, more like total tone characters you can dial in more or less. Gives nice results still. I like Voice more then Bite.
Volume on clean, gain and volume on overdrive channel. Finally a Master and Reverb control.
Channels are footswitchable, effects loop, headphone out and line out. All of those inputs on the back.
For me the features are perfect and I don't need any more.
Both channels can be dialed to lots of different sounds.

I use an arch top (Crafter FEG 700) and a Les Paul (Copy, it says Pearl on the pre lawsuit headstock, great guitar though, wouldn't exchange it for a gibson)
Amp does nice classic Jazz tones and great classic Rock or blues. Suppose it does whatever you want, but well, Jazz and Rock is all i need.
The sound of the clean channel is amazing, like with most Hughes and Kettner transistor amps (I owned a Thirty, a Metroverb and an Edition Blue 60R before) Te ATS sixty sounds the best of them all though, maybe because of its heavy build quality.
I owned a Polytone MB III in the past. This ATS 60 is better for Jazz. Less loud perhaps, but still loud enough, and with nicer tone (and it keeps working!)
The Overdrive channel changed it's character entirely when I put in the 12 AU 7. I suppose AU has less gain then AX. With the gain on 2, really low, I have a brilliant CLEAN tube amp sound from that channel now. Reminds me of the clean of an old silver face Champ I once had.
By turning up the gain you get crunch, or roaring Marshall. No metal I gues, but then, who want metal?

I bought and sold lots of amps. Gonna hang on to this one.

I think it is reliable.
The edition blue was definitely built cheaply.
Metroverb was indestructible, so was the thirty. Owned two tubemans and a Warp factor pedal as well. Everything was kinda OK.

I trust it well enough, but didn't own it long enough to make a statement.

They answered a mail once. Didn't answer another one.
Their website is quite informative.
Suppose the are nice guys trying to make a living.

Play for a while now, guitar, saxophone, clarinet, double bass. Owned lots of gear, traded a lot for a while but am settling down now.
Bought and sold: a little Park amp, a Marshall JCM 900, Polytone MB III, Fender Champ, above mentioned four H&K amps, Roland Cube, Marhall Lead 20, Dynacord Jazz, Pignose, Session Sessionette 75, numerous stompboxes and guitars.
The ATS 60 is the most versatile and best sounding of them all for Jazz or Rock. I am very happy with it.
It won't get stolen as it's old and moth eaten. When I see another one i might buy it though, just in case and to have a stereo set up and perhaps when i need to play really loud.
Maybe when it comes along another H&K wit a tube in the pre, but most don't have that anymore. Maybe not economical in the eyes of H&K management. Stupid imho!

Made in Germany. 12" combo with 65-watt solid-state power section. Two channels: clean and tube (12AX7) overdrive. Spring reverb. Front panel features: 1/4" input, clean volume/bass/mid/treble, rocker switch for channel selection, tube overdrive gain/voice/bite/volume, master reverb/volume, rocker main power switch. Rear panel: footswitch jack, effects send/return jacks, line out, headphone out, IEC mains jack. Includes round rubber footswitch that toggles between clean and overdrive channels. Eminence driver. Open-back cabinet is covered in a coarse, velvety material similar to an indoor-outdoor carpet; its color is mottled black with blotches of silver. Overall dimensions: 20"W x 18-1/2"H x 10"D at base. Height includes carry handle.

As far as features go, I wish it had footswitchable reverb and independent reverb levels for each channel. Aside from that, the feature set is just about perfect for a combo amp. I really appreciate all the ins and outs, and I love that each channel has a volume knob in addition to the master volume. The voice and bite knobs for the overdrive channel are well done. I'm not sure what they do from an EQ standpoint, but subjectively they work together to let you change the alticulation of the channel to suit your tastes. If you can't get what you want out of them, patch an EQ into the effects loop.

My guitar and pickup selection is beyond the scope of this review, but I am mainly using rock and metal guitars with humbuckers through the ATS Sixty. I was looking for an inexpensive combo amp with a solid-state power section, that could give me "my sound" in my living room without pedals, and this is the best thing I've found for cheap. It's right between a Marshall and a Mesa/Boogie, with plenty of crunch for old-school metal riffs and a nice smooth, liquid sound on lead work -- kind of like Vinnie Moore. It has enough gain that I can play legato and tapping lines easily, and the sustain is great. It's also easy to dial in the raunchy, mid-rangey, lo-fi blues tone that I like. The clean tone is nice and spanky; I can scoop it and get a Fender sound. It works well with pedals, but I rarely use them with it because it sounds so good on its own. It's surprisingly quiet at high-gain settings. The only odd sound it makes is when I turn it off. I don't play it at high volumes.

I bought this used, three months ago. So far so good, but I'm not betting my life on it.

I haven't needed to contact H&K about this amp. I was able to download the manual from their website, though.

I've been playing for eighteen years. I own more gear than you want to read about right now. You know what? For what I wanted this amp for, and for what I paid, I love it. It sounds good enough that I can just play and not worry about the equipment, which is something that I desperately need. If something happened to it, I'd look for another one, or at least something else that had a similar sound. I almost bought a used Epiphone Slingshot 25R; it has a nice Marshall sound and almost fooled me into thinking it was tube. Actually, I wanted both, but I got the H&K because I thought it would be harder to find another one than to find another Epiphone.

I think the other guys have covered this section. Can't really figure out the colour/voice knob. got this as a back-up amp for my Peavey Encore 60 watt valve amp. It is loud enough for the pubs we play in. Headphone socket is useful for practicing at home. Reverb is also decent

A short while ago, I would have marked this quite low. Trying to get a slight overdrive out of the distortion channel was almost impossible. With a strat it was harsh and metallic - useless for blues. Now I control overdrive with my Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal and use the overdrive channel for lead. Cranked up and with my Gibson Melodymaker going through it, I have to say that the sound was awesome!
I think the dynamics of the amp compliment the richer, darker sound of the P90 much better than the alnicos on my strat. I do not have anything with a humbucker on it at the moment, but I reckon the same should apply.
I think that as long as I am in love with the P90, this could be my main amp - the Peavey does not have enough treble to bring out the P90's tone, in my opinion. If I fall out of love with the P90, think I may find this amp too harsh again.
Clean channel is a good all-rounder and when cranked up, you get a bit of Mosfet-style distortion, which is quite useful.

My example seems a bit noisy, especially when I have to stand right over it in small pubs, but it has not let me down yet. You also get a bit of a "whump" when switching on and off - as there is only one valve, there is no stand-by switch.

No idea - found the manual on the website, though

I would certainly consider another Hughes and Kettner amp, although probably an all tube one. As I said, as long as I have the Melodymaker, this amp will have a place in my arsenal, because the combination is devastating. If the Gibbo goes, then this amp will probably go too.

65W solid state, tube in the second channel. Spring reverb, sounds fine. I use it for practice and keep it for backup for my Engl Thunder Combo.

I use a Strat and an Epiphone Les Paul. Likes the Paula more... Me I prefer playing my 83 Strat. The clean channel is ok for the price. Good enough to practice. I hardly use the distortion of the second channel. Feels very cold, odd 80s tone. Since I have an GT8 I only use the distortions and overdrives of that thing so it dont bother me! I dont like the EQ too much, its not that efficient!

no problems so far!

dunno

For the price paid and using a GT8 in front of it, it does the job well. Use it to practice at home, produces nice clean tones. Dist. sux. Good as backup, etc. I like it and got used to it over the years. As mentioned below, get it cheap and itll suit u fine!

60 watt tube preamp solid state power amp 1X12 combo. Mid to late 80's model. Two footswitchable channels, effects loop, line out, preamp shares EQ between channels but the overdrive channel has a gain, "bite" and "voice" control. I use this amp for practice, teaching, and backup for gigs.

I'm using the amp with a Parker Nitefly. The amp sounds fine for blues, rock, country, even metal. Not surprisingly, the low end is sorely lacking, not a great choice for jazz. Clean channel does distort at higher volume settings. The distortion is capable of being very thick. The amp does not have much clean headroom. For the $100 I paid for it, the amp sounds great. I had to use it on a gig once (my Mesa Boogie Mark ii started smoking when I turned it on), and it sounded like shit through the sound system, perhaps because I was not accustomed to having to play through it live and thus was not familiar with how to get a decent sound EQ wise.

Not my gigging amp, I use as an emergency backup and it seems to hold up fine.

I've been playing since 1987, professionally since 1997 or so. For the purpose I bought it for (practice/small rehearsal/ backup/teaching lessons) the amp sounds perfectly good. If you see it for $100 or less, buy it. Any more than that, skip it and buy something else.

Manual is sharp and very readable. You can play and all sound combinations are ready to use without any problems.

I play mainly jazz, blues and rock. This machine is best suitable for rock, blues or funky. When I wanted to obtain good jazzy sound, I had some problems because combo produces nice bright tone with good basses but midle is not so strong. And combo plays different silently and loudly. But when you spend time with your guitar and sound processor, it's possible to use this combo for jazz playing to.
Tube overdrive is suitable only for rocka and blues. I tried to use low gain overdrive for massive jazz sound, but the result was not optimal.

Very good mechanical work, simply construction, no smashing tones when I play very loud, but when u want to replace Tube (original Tube from H&K, that's no very good) u have demount speaker than many screws. Despite the fact that is super combo assembling of the electrical parts inside looks like amateur radio kit.

I don't need this, because the electrical and mechanical construction is so simple, I make all works, that I'm electrical engineer.

I play manly, electrical jazz rock and this combo I use some month, I bought it like second hand malfunctional for !!! 100 $ and all problem was one dry joint and insufficient power tranzistor cooling.
It's practical and cheap amplifier for club musician and produce bright quality sound.
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