Product: Hughes & Kettner Blues Master
Price Paid: US $200 used
Submitted
01/08/2000
at
05:16pm
by
Anonymous
Features
:
10
gain, master volume, 3 band eq, cabinetulator, bypass. an ECC83 and an EL84 for preamp and output. basically it's a mini amp that can be used as a preamp or drive a cabinet at low volume.
Sound Quality
:
10
very cool sound at low volume. my rig: gibson les paul ---> fender reverb unit ---> blues master ---> fender vibro champ. for me this is the ideal setup for home use. I can get a good rumble out of the gain on blues master without shaking the walls and the clean is nice and warm. I tried several distortion/overdrive units including the tube driver. the biggest problem with them is that they are either on or off. the blues master goes from a clean to a full blown growl. this is not really a good piece of gear for the pointy guitar crowd. no screaming banshees inside of this box. plenty of fat tube crunch though.
Reliability
:
No Opinion
works fine so far.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
who knows?
Overall Rating
:
10
I am very pleased with this unit. my only real beef is the master volume and gain thing. if you crank the gain, you have to lower the master volume to retain the same approximate volume. I would like to have an extra channel to be able to switch between different settings without cranking knobs back and forth. oh well, if I see another one for sale I'll pick it up.
Product: Hughes & Kettner Blues Master
Price Paid: US $200 used
Submitted
08/05/1999
at
08:37pm
by
Ben Furman
Email: furman<at>uthscsa dot edu
Features
:
No Opinion
This half-rack amplifier was made in the early '90s, probably about '92. It is simple to operate, having only two tubes, with a single preamp gain, master volume, and three-knob EG. There is also a "tube amp" voicing for direct recording.
Sound Quality
:
6
I haven't recorded anything with this device. I was looking for a low-volume amplifier with great EL-84 style distortion. Unfortunately it does not distort at all in this way. Oh yes, the preamp tube distorts quite nicely - not bad at all considering the quality of the preamp tube I'm using (Telefunken). Nevertheless, it's not what I was after. I don't know if H&K might have changed anything since making the "Crunch Master" model, but there is no crunch here.
Fortunately, the clean sounds are really great, and I don't regret buying the unit because of that. It has a really full range, and even though the EQ isn't all that sensitive it makes a nice little slave amp.
Reliability
:
No Opinion
It's made in the typical German fashion - not that you couldn't break it, but why try?
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
n/a - too old already
Overall Rating
:
5
I'm a novice guitarist. This amplifier sounds a lot nicer than the MOSFET unit I replaced with it, and the volume level is down-to-earth for playing at home. Nobody would want to gig the thing anyway. That would be beside the point. Anyway, no power tube saturation here. Nice Fendery clean. Take it or leave it.
