Hughes & Kettner Attax 40

I acquire this amp in 1996, i do not remember the month. This amp is very versatile to play any music styles in my oppinion. I play hard rock, heavy metal, trash metal, blues, reggae, MPB, Bossa Nova, pop and fusion. This is amp have a very clean and warm sound, very same a valve sound, but it is a solid state amplifier. It have two channels acessing by footswitch, loop effects input and output, line out and headphone jack. I use to jam sessions, studio and home records and live performance (bars and small places, just 40 watts this amp).

I have five (5) guitars, Fender Squier Stratocaster Japan 1990, Charvel/Jackson CXM-DLX, Ibanez RG 350 DX, Ibanez AFS75T semi acoustic and a Tagima Memphis (strato guitar, like a Fender. The clean and distortion sounds is very good for me. In the first when i hear this amp with a Gibson Les Paul Standard plug in drive channel, the sound remembers me to the sound of the Mathias Jabs of Scorpions, very briht and rich harmonics. I enjoeyd this amp!

Never broken. Very strong.

I never need to use the warranty or repair this amp. Very good to me.

I love this amp. Very charming, your sound, desing. I love to life this amp. Thank's to Hugues & Kettner and his enginnerings.

I bought this amp in, I think, '96., and have used it ever since. I tried out some Marshall combos, didn't come even near the Attax. You can get a nice warm but bright tone. Pretty easy to use, doesn't require too much knob twiddling. Love the reverb.

I use just a Fender Strat and the amp. It gives me a nice clean sound (good for funky stuff) and with a little bit of knob twiddling a descent SRV clean tone (Tin Pan Alley typed). Personaly I'm very pleased with the distortion channel. It works great with my single coils (but there is some buzz, often more than just "some"), but I borrowed the amp to a friend who uses humbuckers (PRS guitar) and he even used it for studio work. The amp can be used for a smaller gig (hey, it's 40W - if you wanna play a stadion get a bigger amp). Works fine with effects (f.ex. Guvnor). When cranking up the clean channel, the sound doesn't get as much distorted as it gets twangy. Sounds nice if you like playing with your fingers, should do good with a Tele.

The amp didn't fail me yet, exept for the buzzing. I think it's well built, easy to transport.

The only reason I gave a 9, is that for a 10 I expect something trully marvellous, and to be honest, something like that I have yet to see (hear). I think that the comment, that this amp is not good enough even for a beginner thoesn't stand. This isn't really a beginners amp. I believe that the Attax 40 is an amp that can be apreciated by someone who is looking for his own sound (and who doesn't play too loud). I play mostly blues or blues rock based music (with some jazzy or funky stuff), and I play it brutally. The Attax works fine for me, but I can deffinately agree that it isn't a heavy metal or punk amp.

Baujahr '94, 2 Channel, 1 Klangregelung, Effektloop, Headphone Jack, 12" Celestion Rockdriver, hat genugend Power um auch gegen einen Drummer zu bestehen.

Ich spiele hauptsachlich Strats (HSS, SSS) und von Blues bis Hardrock alles. Der Cleansound klingt sehr Fender-like, voll ausgefahren klingt er schon angezerrt und hat eine Dynamik, das man unweigerlich nach der Rohre sucht, aber hier ist alles Transistor - erstaunlich! Der verzerrte Kanal ist nicht ganz so rohrentypisch, klingt aber trotzdem vernunftig und ziemlich abwechslungsreich, d.h. vom Crunch bis zur Hardrockkelle ist alles vertreten in ziemlich guter Qualitat. Erstaunlich ist die zu erzielende Lautstarke fur einen 40 Watt Solid State Amp! Absolut Gigtauglich! ImVerhaltnis zum Preis ist der Amp der Hammer!!

Der Combo ist wie ein Panzer gebaut. Made in Germany = was furs ganze Leben!

H & K sind sehr Kundenfreundlich und Fragen werden stets zur Zufriedenheit beantwortet.

Ich spiele seit 24 Jahren und finde das dieser Amp ein idealer Ubungsamp, Zweitamp und Beginner-Amp ist mit vernunftiger Dynamik und Sound. Da kann man eigentlich nicht verkehrt machen.

his amp was made in germany like all hughes and kettner. the amp has two chanels ! great but an awful distortion thats really not worth bothering with (so run a pedal through it for best results) the power of the amp is rather goos its loud and a good all round ound

well i play it with a bc rich warlock (the greatest guitar eva) but what brings the amp down is really the distortion is is awfull , the controls are simple and easy , unfortunatly for the music that i play i need something more brutal

second to none amazing built like a tank (heavy as one!)

i have never had to use them

this is a reliable amp but its not for a budding metal head

Bought new 1996, paid equivelant of $300 US
You know the features...
Solid State 40W
Automatic level of reverb switching between channels is a WAY COOL feature!

Eeesh, what do want for 300 bucks!!! Give it a break, it's not an all tube Fender or Marshall and if you want those tones, start saving fer Chrissakes! It's almost worth the money just for the Celestion Vintage Rockdriver anyway. I'm about to swap the bloody awful Eminence in my Fender HRD with this.
It is a great amp if you want to use effects or for rehearsing with. True, it's almost useless for soloing and the clean channel needs all the reverb it's got, so gigging is almost out. But I use it to rehearse with cos the power chords are lovely.
I play classic Rock, Blues and ballads and it handles them all passably. Certainly fine for Rehearsing and it's easy to carry! I compared this amp against several other brands in the store and for the price it was way better. I HATE Marshall Valvestates and don't think my friends Marshall DSL is all that better than the Attax.

Built like a tank. Reliable as Hell. My all valve Fender is way too sensitive to use effects (but it's so damn good it doesn't need them) but the Attax will take ANYTHING as input without frying. Very, very dependable and it has seen a fair few knocks over the last 6 years.

N/A. Never had a problem and don't believe I ever will.

Been playing for about 15 years. Use a Westone Prestige 250, a Hamer Special and a PRS CE 22. I also have a Fender HRD, which is a way better amp, but at twice the price it should be! If lost or stolen, I'd shop around, because amps have changed so much since I bought this. But I would not be surprised if I bought another one. It's a cheap, flexible and very dependable little amp. Good work H&K!

Attax 40, what a fucking shit. I have a Boss MT-2 Metal Zone and a Zoom 707. This Equipment is not too bad, I always wondered why only a non-professional, dirty sound came out of that shitty amp. You can forget the disortion, it's dirty. You just have to use an extra pedal or something to get an acceptable sound. whan I heard my friend play on his marshal amp, I couldn't believe. I brougt along my pedals and the sound was fascinating. Marshall equipment Rulez, without any effect-pedal or something it sounds clean and warm, with my Metal Zone a hard metal sound came out. Forget Attax 40

really shitty, even not good enough for bloody beginners

it will never break down, its undestroyable, but that's not on what ot depends on !!!

never used

what a shit

One Input, Phones Output, Line Out, Line In, Footswitch Input. 40 powerful watts to rock on, and a 3-part equalizer to get a perfect sound. Including a reverb!

WITH an EFFECTBOARD the sound is great!! You get the best results and and the sound get as loud, heavy and brutal as you want! Although you put the volume very, VERY high, it sounds killer and and rocks on like an 80W amp, I think. Only disadvantage: I already said IF you use an effectboard. The distortion sound of the amp is really aweful, you cannot play cristallized riffs and with palm muting it also sounds like a crow... There's not much noise in background, especially in clean mode (which is much better than the distortion) you nearly cannot hear ANY noise.

The Thing is built like a tank! I've been using it for more than 5 years and I NEVER had ANY problems with it! Very solid and robust built, DEFINITELY able to survive a gig --> not only one of course! I'd never go on a gig without having a backup you know, everything can happen, but I'm quite sure, you will not need a backup.

N/A

All in all, I love it! Ya know, when I'm playing I'm HELL on guitar, and normal ears would'nt survive half an hour of my playing, you know, so, I put the volume near to the limit and the sound is perfect everytime! I think you can put a monstertruck on it and the thing would work still perfectly! I love it!

1993 Transistor 40w 1X12 Combo. One input. Celestion sounding "Vintage series" Rockriver equipped (it IS a Celestion, or made by them). Not exactly two channel, but a sort of switchable boost does the same kinda thing. One set of tone controls common to both modes. In "lead" mode the highs are boosted. A bit too much actually. Pretty loud 40 watts! I've used it in a variety of venues, including outdoor (mic'd) concerts with two drummers. Sounds killer but you have to cut some tone back on the guitar from wide open, or it's too bright!

All around bright tone. Bouyant clean sound. Can sound like tube amp, but not too "touch sensitive." It's definitely a transistor amp trying to sound like a tube amp. Not too bad at it either, though not as good at it as the current generation of tube amp emulating transistor amps. Kind of not-quite-there yet period, circa mid 1990's. Good for lively clean tones, and gets bluesy in the clean mode when pushed a little. Switching into fuzz mode requires guitar tone adjustment (brightness boosted too much, but at least that's better than too muddy). Takes practise to get the levels dialed in. Hard to hear until playing. I'm always making adjustments at the amp, even after extensive pre-job soundchecks. Sounds good with single coil Fender Teles and Strats, it's not for heavy metal though. Humbuckers aren't too remarkable. I have a Lindert with Schaller looking humbuckers on it. The sound with that doesn't turn me on too much. I have an archtop with a Schaller humbucker that works real well with it at low to medium volumes for quiet jazz sounds. Good general all around low power amp.

Much more reliable than a tube amp! I've never had ANY trouble. No spare. No worries. 5+ years. Not babied either!

N/A
I keep a copy of the schematic with it just in case (which I got by xeroxing a copy of the store's manual). I've never needed it.

38+ years experience. I also have a EL84 based tube amp (Ampeg Jet), a Lab5 (sucks), and have had Crates, Fender Showman, various Ampeg tube amps, etc. This is a decent amp. I think 100 watts would be better. I like it quite a bit for so-called "jazz" tones with an archtop. Works good with a Telecaster too. Sounds like it's straining a bit at moderate to pushed volumes, but that's transistor amps for ya. Like I said, 100 watts would be better, but then, this IS only a forty watter! I'd be OK with another Hughs&Kettner I suppose, if it was a deal, but I'm planning to try a Marshall Valvestate in the future. This amp demonstrated to me that Transistor amps are really getting better at tube type sounds. But even Crate can do it well now too, so why get one of these? It's just not that special nowadays. However, I could recommend it as a good used amp if someone found one for cheap.

As far as the onboard feaures of this amp go, its pretty bare. There is a headphone jack, line in/line out, footswitch, and 2 channels (Clean and Lead) For the clean channel, a gain control is all that is offered, and for the lead channel, gain and lead master volume are the only controls (there is a master volume for everything). The lead channel is about the most pathetic thing I have ever heard (solid state). It sounds like some $50 solid state 'thing' with the gain on 5 and the mids/highs turned all the way down.

I use this amp with an epephone les paul with P-90's (single coil), although i have tried it with almost every kind og guitar and surprisingly the sound doesn't change much. The clean channel can give some good lightly distorted sounds if you crank the gain, and a (sorta) nice clean tone (nice with a little reverb), but the distortion channel is worthless. I used it once and havn't touched the channel change switch once again. I use a DOD Grunge distortion pedal through the clean channel and it gets some very good tones (as far as the sound with this pedal, the rating should be an 8) If you throw the grunge in there, you can get tones from everywhere from a classic rockish tone to alternative to full out METAL. Surprisingly, with the pedal and my single coil pickups, the amp DOES NOT MAKE A SOUND AT ALL. Half the time I think that I unplugged myself accidentally.

This amp has taken a beating like no other. I have dropped it, kicked it, fell on it, tipped it over, and the only thing it does is make a reverberated 'sproing' noise and nothing at all on it is damaged. I bought it used, and the controls are a little loose because some guy screwed with them, but that was intentional.

I have never dealt with the company, but the store I bought it from has been really helpful if I had any questions or repairs etc.

I would definately not but this amp again. If the lead channel was descent, that would be a different story but as it is now, no. I bought it when I didn't know much about guitars and the like, but it sounded good to me then. After buying it, I compared it to some marshall combo's which BLOW IT OUT OF THE WATER!!!!

Solid state amp. 2 channels, channel switching (footswitch in option). Effect loop. Headphone jack. I just use the clean channel. I use it in practising and in gigs (Clubs, bars). A bit too powerfull to be pushed without being over the front speakers of the scene.

Forget the drive channel, the sound is too solid-state like. I prefer using the clean channel with a Boss Blues Driver for crunch sounds and an Ibanez Power Lead (PL5) for high gain sounds (I use a Stratocaster 60' reissue). The clean sound is Fender-like, glassy and warm (yes, it is) until 7, then after it becomes crunchy if you play your pick hard enough. The drive channel is very cold, with a cranking sound. Run for the clean channel ; a Fender Tweed without paying the price.

No problem with it. I just made rollers, because of the weight of this amp (18 kg - 36 lb)

Never had to call them.

If I'd buy a new amp, I would buy a single channel tube amp, because the drive channel of the Attax has no use for me. Nice little tanks can replace a drive channel