Hughes & Kettner Duotone 1x12

Made in 2004. This is the H&K Duotone 1x12 combo amp. 50 El34 watts (plenty loud for ANY situation), 2 channels, reverb, Effects Loop, 2 master volumes, footswitchable boost (overdrive side only). Nothing extremely fancy. I wish the reverb was footswitchable (minor gripe)

I use this amp with a Fender Fat Strat w/ a PAF Pro in the bridge and kinman AVn 69's in the neck/mid positions. That goes into a pedalboard: 535q Crybaby, Boss TU2, Keeley Compressor, Guyatone MD3, and then right into the amp.

Let me say right now, This is the best sounding tube amp I've EVER played and I've played a few good ones (Bogner, Mesa Boogie, Marshall, Soldano, bla bla..). Let me say that in another way... It's not so much it completely destroys the other amps, its just a different flavour tone. As you all know tone is very subjective, So to ME, this is as good as it gets! right then, lets move on...

Clean Channel. This is as clean as clean gets baby. So pure, lucious, responsive, glassy, punchy, articulate. Im serious! any word you would use to describe a great "clean", its all right here. There's also plenty of headroom.

Overdrive Channel. Crank this baby up and get ready to ROCK!! The distortion is.... damn, I dont really know how to describe it. Its very crunchy, very british? Harmonic overtones galore. Its very aggressive sounding, if that helps. Sustain is incredible. At first I wasnt sure if there was enough gain on tap for my bands style (alternative rock, punk, borderline heavy stuff) but after band practice I was completely convinced that this amp was practically MADE for me! It cut right through the band w/ ease. It sounded so sweet I didnt want to stop playing! The distortion doesnt hide poor technique, so if you suck, It'll show ;)

A major plus for me was the 2 master volumes. This is absolutely genious, I dont know why ALL amps dont have such a thing! This means I can set 2 different levels. When I do a sound check, I use level 1. I turn level 2 up about a notch higher, when it comes time for the wicked guitar solo I switch on master 2 (via footswitch) so everyone can here me do my thang.

Bought it second hand off ebay, original owner had not used it much at all. I haven't owned it very long, so no comment here.

Never had to deal w/.

Overall... to me, this is as good as pure guitar tube amplification gets. Yeah, It doesnt have EVERYTHING I could possibly want in an amp, but it has the most important thing: kickass tone (that deserves 10 pts). If your still in search for YOUR tone, then I urge you to try and find one of these gems and test it out. Again, this aint no Mesa or Marshall, it has a tone all its own. If anything the player and the guitar shine through the most, and will determine the tone. And another thing... the blue light-up front panel has got to be the freakin coolest thing I've ever seen on an amp. It looks totally cool in a dark room! anyway...

Duotone = tonal bliss

Any questions, feel free to email me.

This is an update to my original review.....I had some probs w/ the amp after about a year.
-One of the lights burnt out. So I called Hughes & Kettner, the guy on the phone said the lights were easy to replace and that he would give me a part # from another company to get the replacement lights. SO I got those...come to find out, 1) U pretty much have to remove the chassis cause the lights dont snap into a connector, they are soldered to a wire thats connected to another power supply, . BUT the baffle board is connected to the chassis w/ the way the front glass panel is. Basicaly I wasnt gonna mess w/ it. So I just took the one light out and called H&K back. They sent me to a shop (which was a disaster but I wont get into that) for warranty.
2)Turns out the lights were too long and the shop broke them trying to put them in. When they called H&K they said the person who gave me the info about the lights was a fill-in person. So they sent out the lights and replaced them for free.
-I also had a strange noise which they found was a pre-amp tube, which they replaced, and because of the mess w/ the lights and cause it was taking almost 2 weeks, they sent out the tube free. (the shop was trying to charge 20$ on all warranty work. warranty means NO OUT OF POCKET EXPENSES!! I called hughes about it. the customer service guy originally said they would take that cost but then later the guy at the shop said the H&K guy said they wouldnt, that it was the shops discretion, but w/ all the probs w/ the lights they waved it.)
So I get it home, plug it in and another noise start, when I would play a loud note or hit a note hard there would be static. The shop should have found it, all they would have to do is play it. So I called H&K, and said I didnt want to take it back to that shop. unfortunatly its the only authorized H&K repair shop for warranty work in St. Louis Mo, and Germany wouldnt like seein the same amp servied 2 different places . ? So he says "ship it back and we will send U a new one!!!"WOW, so I send mine back, 40$ to ship it. and the new one comes...The FX loops input boost switch is broken. Called back, (I guess someone found out about the new amp) and he said they would fix my amp and I could keep that one since it was playable until they fixed my original one. So the static turned out to be a bad speaker. They repalced the speaker, put ALL new tubes in and sent it back. Free of charge!! Works GREAT!!!
Other than that the amp has still been a work horse. The probs I had, the 1st noise -preamp tube, 2nd noise-speaker, are user replaceable/fixable. if they would have spent some time w/ me I could have changed them.
(not sure I like the tubes they put in as replacements. the originals were RUBY EL34B-STR Selected power tubes and Ruby Ecc83-CZ preamp tubes, New ones are TAD EL34B-STR Selected and ruby Ecc83-CZ selected, and since i had the two amps I did a side by side comparison but thats another review :) If I dont like the tubes I will replace them, dont mind doing that since I ve never had to retube.

So although it was a bit rough in the beginning, they made it right, (which they should on a 1600$ amp!!!)I'm not upset that the amp had probs. I use it pretty much every weekend, it runs for 4 hours per show, plus practicing every now and then. Things happen. parts go out. it just was all the hassle and even though it was only 40$ was kinda a pain to deal w/, plus having to borrow another amp. I could have replaced the tube but no one at H&K wanted to trouble shoot w/ me.
So Im not mad at the amp, and now that they worked w/ me cant say I'm mad at the company.
Good customer support AFTER the shop had screwed me over. So they get an 8.
ATTN ALL MUSICIAN COMPANIES!!!! Musicians dont so much mind if things break after regular use. thats life. its being w/ out our tools of the trade for weeks. Some of us NEED the $ we make from playing. Quick repair is essential!!

All listed before !!! Best thing is 2 master volume controls for boosting solos.

This thing sounds amazing. Sounds great with my American made Fender and unbelievable with my Hamer (highly under-rated guitar). Quiet as a mouse even when pushed. The clean sparkles but the overdrive is SWEET !!!!!!!!!!. Can cover THIN LIZZY, LED ZEPPELIN, RUSH, even early 70's STONES if set right.

Have owned it for about a year now and used it without a backup amp on many gigs without any problems.

Never had to deal with them (and hopefully never will).

What a steal - got it on E-bay. The most versatile amp I've ever owned including Carvin, Marshal 2554, Hiwatt, Soldano, Peavey Bandit, etc. I bought the Hiwatt and Soldano on my quest for "THE SOUND". Then on a whim I decided to try the DUOTONE. Needless to say I've sold the Hiwatt and Soldano. Youe deserve one so GO GET ONE.

Bought it used, but it looks like a 2001 model.
Same features as others mention. 1x12 @ channels. great clean side, and a wonderful overdrive channel with boost. Features reverb, mid, bass, and treble controls.

The footswitch controls channel switching and boost...footswitch overrides the panel controls

I used this with a variety of guitars....Strats, PRS, LP's etc. I have several guitars. The clean channel is really crisp and has lots of headroom...Strats sound ringy and quack. The OD side is very modern and hot sounding....my PRS Custom HFS bridge p/u sounds dark and mean on the OD..

The clean side is glassy and punchy. The dirty side is very crunchy. What more do you need?

Plenty loud too for a little combo!

I am not sure what problems Lance had with his Duotone (in the earlier review) but this thing has plenty of low-end....oh well

Looks like it is built well.....looks great too!

I have not had any problems, but I had a question....

Lousy response through email/web link.

Very friendly on the phone and very helpful...once I got their number

Love it. I have owned many amps. This thing is great and the two channels nail it for most of my needs.

2002 model. 2 channels. effects loop. Reverb. boost. 2 master volumes. 50 watts. tube amp. 2 el34..5 12ax7's LOOKS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL

Very clean and articulate. Although I find it rather weak considering it has 5 preamp tubes! I play rock/metal from Journey/whitesnake/disturbed..etc This amp has next to no lowend even through my 4x12 cab! The boost feature is almost worthless. The clean channel sounds fine.

Built very nicely..It's hard to put in the preamp tubes(access). I had a triamp(no lowend either) It almost blew up after a year!

Never talked to them

I've been playing for 16 years..I own soldano's, egnaters, mesa's, jcm 800, bf fender. It looks good thats about it..I played it for about 2 hours ..then I found a buyer! I even experimented with other tubes..still overall lame. If you are playing a Blue voodoo...neglect all my comments. If you have a SLO 100 don't even think about this mistake.

Footswitchable clean + dirty channels with a 'boost' feature, which is fairly subtle. Reverb, which is not footswitchable. There is also a footswitchable vol.1/vol.2, which sort of gives you 4 options--vol.1 clean or OD, + vol.2 clean or OD. Very versatile in this regard.

I play Telecasters through tons of pedals. What I want from an amp is lots + lots of clean headroom with a musical sweetness. I like Low, Mogwai, Joy Division, GoGoGo Airheart, 90 Day Men, + of course Radiohead. This is the only amp I've had that can do it all, as well as garage stuff [faces, seeds] + can stay clean at high enough volume to keep up with my drummer, who is ridiculously loud. I get overdrive + distortion from pedals, so I'm not that concerned about that circuit in the amp itself. I will say, though, that the overdrive on this amp is very nice--soft + fuzzy, but with enough crunch. This amp maintains attack + articulation at high volumes + high levels of gain as well. The tone controls are very responsive, + since each channel has its own tone controls, you are able to set a wide variety of sounds. The reverb on this amp is head + shoulders above any other I've had, it's just gorgeous. It's as quiet an amp as any other tube amp I've owned. This amp sounds absolutely beautiful--it sounds like it looks--clean, pure, + sweet. This amp sparkles.

I got it in the mail, +, as is the case about 30% of the time in my experience, one of the tubes had gone microphonic. I took it into my tech, who was impressed by the overall quality of construction. I've had no problems since.

My only contact with the company is by e-mail through their website. It seems to take awhile to get a response.

I've been playing 13 years. In search of a really nice tone I've owned the following amps:
'65 Twin reverb Reissue: sounds like a solid-state amp, + is not in any sense a reissue. Piece of crap.

Blackfaced Twin Reverb [hand-wired, AB763 circuit]: Sounds decent, but breaks up too early for me. Lacks the sweetness of the Duotone.

Vibroclone [AB768 circuit]: sounds bigger + better than the Blackfaced twin, but also breaks up too early + lacks the sweetness of the Duotone.

Laney LC-30: Cheaply constructed, but does sound great, especially for the price, but not as much volume as the Duotone, + not quite as sweet sounding. Also, the OD is too soft, not enough strumming crunch.

Holland Gibb 4x10: Sounds nice, but not nearly enough volume, clean or otherwise, plus no reverb [on mine anyway].

Acoustic 1x12: Clean + loud, but a little plain sounding. The reverb is too flat on this one, whereas on the Duotone it's very rich + sort of harmonic sounding.

Traynor Mark III: Good for a certain type of music--it's loud, + a little muddy. Not in a bad way, but the Duotone is the opposite--very sparkling clean.

Matchless Chieftain 2x12: almost ZERO clean headroom, plus no articulation at the point of heavy breakup--i.e., you can't hear the individual notes from the high strings with any significant amount of OD. The Duotone doesn't have this problem [+ it costs half as much]. Plus, once again, just not quite as sweet as the Duotone. Save your money.

As you can see, I've tried a wide variety of amps at a wide variety of prices. I tried Matchless [a "real" one, a '96], + I got rid of it + kept the Duotone. You can't beat it, in my opinion, at any price. The only amps I'm interested in at this point are Soldano's Reverb-O-Sonic + Orange's AD-30R. If those don't measure up, I'm getting a Duotone head + a cabinet, just to have a backup [+ for even more volume].

I play a variety of stuff (Jazz, Rock, Blues, etc.) and this amp handles them all - especially now that I've replaced the pre-amp valves (see below). Having two switchable master volumes is excellent and the fx loop is great too. I use a TC G-Force and the two work really well together. I had to have castors fitted and think that it should come with these as standard. It'd help to have slight indentations on the knobs so you know where you're at!

Even though H&K strongly advise not changing the EL34's to 6L6's, it'd be nice to include an auto bias feature so that players like me could experiment a little, even if we end up agreeing with H&K in the end! Ashdown amps have this feature which is useful.

It is a beautiful thing to look at though and wherever I play/rehearse, people just can't help but stare.

I find that my PRS Custom 22, my effects and amp produce rich, deep and clear sounds which most people I play with rave about. However, even though I loved the clean channel right from the start, I was always a little unhappy with the O/D channel. It always sounded really metalic, gritty and messy. So I started to look at replacing the Ruby pre-amp valves with Groove Tubes. I swapped the entire 5 over to GT12AX7-C's and the difference was amazing. I still had clear, crisp, shimmering clean sounds but the distortion/overdrive was sweeter and more defined. this might not suit everyone but for the kind of music I play, it is much better. Now I know that there might be people who say that one 12AX7 is the same as another 12AX7/ECC83 but not in my experience. I will probably try a pair of GT power valves as well at some stage - just to see what difference there is.

I had some problems with the first one I had. The EL 34 power valve sockets must have had dry joints on the circuit board causing total loss of sound and then one of the blue lamps failed. I didn't expect this kind of fault on an amp this price. Ok it's not a Dumble but even so! However, the replacement was and still is fine and the shop (Machine Head) were great.

Direct via the web-site they were very helpfull as were the shop where I bought it. Martin at H&K in Germany even helped me with my quetions on valves and how they serve different parts of the amp - useful when deciding which replacements you want.

However, if you need to get the thing repaired, make sure that the distribution/service centre know how to dismantle it properly. With my first one (see above) when I got it back the perspex front panel was scatched and two of the hex bolts were sheared off and loose. I was mad a hell. The truth is that you don't need to mess around with the panel to get to the circuit board - whoever attempted to repair mine had not seen one before.

I've been playing for 30 years and can't ever remember playing an amp that sounded this good - I'd definately replace it with the same model if damaged or stolen. I guess that the only other amps I've ever liked are vintage fender twins. I would like to try a Matchless though they reatilk for about #3K over here. Cornford amps are big over here at the moment too.

50W all tube, 2 EL34's, 5 12ax7's, 2 channels, clean and distortion; bass, mid and treble for each channel, volume for clean, volume and gain for dist. shared reverb, shared Presence; shared FX loop, 2 master volumes. boost channel for the overdrive channel,(hence the extra 12AX7) 12in. Clestion VInatge 30, comes w/ full amp cover thats really thick and could protect it if a mic stand (or a beer) falls on it. reason I give it a 9 is the shared presence and reverb, both are nice but its pretty much impossible to find a setting that works well for both channels, so if you switch from clean to distortion one will be too bright or not bright enough, too much reverb or not enough, I make up for the presence by keeping it at about 3 and using the treble to make up the high end. Personally I dont think amps need presence anymore since they are a left over feature from when guitars had really bassy pickups but never the less, its there and it sounds good it just doesnt transfer well from one channel to the other. Also the only other small gripe I have is the knobs have dents in them to show the positions instead of black tick marks like most, makes it a little hard to tell where U are w/o looking closely, But man that light up front panel makes it worth it!

I run an American double fat strat, stock > dunlop crybaby (modded for true bypass) straight in. I use a boss DD5 and boss chorus ensemble through the effects loop.
Let me say that this amp is PURE ROCK POWER, combined with the Glassiest clean tone. Ive been trying to make it sound bad and I cant. Its got "fender clean", that stays clean up to 10 if U can stand it, and the distortion channel gets everything from fender blues, to classic marshall to almost mesa boogie. average noise for tube amp. the boost function is subtle but effective, it adds a little more fuzz/growl and tightness. The VIntage 30 is a big reason for the sound also. Most people (including myself until I got this) dont realize the value of good speakers or at least the right speakers for the sound U are looking for. I plugged it into a 25 year old Heil Sound 4X12 cab (w/ only 2 speakers, which are orginal) and it sounded crappy. I play rock and funk covers mainly and I like to match the orginal sounds best I can and w/ my double fat strat and this amp I am able to match nearly any sound I want w/ only adjusting the gain on the amp, switching channels or guitar volume. The only thing missing from the sound that I hear in my head is the lack of a 4X12 cab, which I plan to add later.
I just sold my Marshall TSL122 to get this amp. the TSL was versital but it had too many knobs and buttons, mid shifts, bass boosts, power reductions, all of which made for good sounds but who has time to turn around on stage and re-adjust? Ive tried boogies and cant get past some of their trademark controls like the "if you turn up the mid control it has and affect on the bass and treble" what is that?! (check out the DC5 manual if U dont believe me) if I just want mids I wanna turn up the the mids. not have to turn the other 2 knobs cause I turned one. I have spent alot of time (and $) trying to find my sound. I looked at this amp in the store and though "aw may as well try it" most of these high end amps that everyone else loves I dont like cause U gotta turn them up to 10, (ie. matchless, fender bassman,)its just not practical. but 5 riffs through this and I was like Oh HELL YA!! and it sounds good at low volumes, even my girlfriend commented on how clear it is (and considering she doenst play and instrument thats a pretty noteworthy)if you find a good deal like I did its about the same price as the Marshall TSL122. I kept coming back and loved it every time. The price was the only thing that held me off, but, As w/ all my instruments, I found a way to afford it :)
The Duotone reacts to the pressure of your picking as well as the pick up volume. Im a big fan of Slash's tone as well as Eric Johnson's and SRV's , this amp (combine w/ my guitars) comes about as close as I can get w/ my playing to matching those tones and thats a pretty big gap.
the clean channel is so smooth. Play SRV's Riveara Paradise on clean w/ the reverb on about 7 and youll think its the recording. the reverb is best Ive ever hear, crank it and its all the "wet" signal, perfect for Dick Dale sound. you get funk, power ballad, anything your guitar can do. this amp even makes my 24 fret, floyd rose double locking tremelo guitars sound full.
The only thing i havnt tried is the FX loop but my old Marshall's would muddy up when using the Effects loop on distortion so to test for that I ran a patch cable through it and it acted like another volume controll and didnt change the sound.
only had it a week so havent memorized the settings, but turn the gain to like 2 and crank the volume and its pure classic blues, crank the distortion and its GNR, metallica all the way, all from a 45lbs 1X12 COMBO, you dont miss it not being 2X12

only had it a week but seems solid, hopefully will be road worthy

web site is pretty informative give them a 9 , otherwise havnt dealt w/ them

Bottom line: this amp sounds good even on 2. Turn it up and it gets brighter and fuller. Best amp Ive ever heard. Not one person Ive played it for hasnt loved it. Would definatley replace if stolen or lost. The tweaker in me wants to at least try different preamp tubes but its so perfect I dont wanna screw it up. if U got the cash and your looking for a top line amp w/ a signature sound that not many people have check it out!!

I just trated my Fender Pro Reverb 112 tube combo (that had constant reliability problems) for this H&K. Compared to Fender the only thing that is missing is tube driven tremolo but I can live without. Two switchable master levels are great! Also FX loop seems to work really nicely. And woooohhh that blue glow of the front panel...

I've been using this just for a few days. This has the clean channel which is at least as good as in any Fender. I can say that after owning Fender Pro Reverb and while still having Blues Junior. Maybe it is not as punchy as in Pro Reverb but actually I like that more. So at the moment I'm ranking clean channel better than at least in Pro Reverb.
Again compared to Pro Reverb (or just any amp) the gain channel is from different planet. It is simply GREAT. Very versatile from light bluesy distortion to heavier distortion levels. Overall tone is really nice. This amp brings out the different characteristics of all my guitars and it seems to suit well for both single coils and humbuckers. 10 is reserved for something that I believe never comes so I give a 9

I have had this just a few days so I can't say yet. Seems like a quality gear. Well build, no extra noises from chassis and amp is very quiet to be a tube amp.

I tried them with one question and they answered immediately with some extra tips included as well.

I would say that this is the best amp I've so far owned. I started with Laney TF200 -> Laney VC50 -> Laney TF800 + 412 cabinet -> Boss GT6 + Marshall EL34 50/50 + 2 x 212 cabinets -> Fender Pro Reverb and now this. I also have Fender Blues Junior for home practising.
At the moment I would say there is nothing to complain about. Two switchable master levels is a great feature. I have also never had a tube amp that is so quiet. Good work done at H&K!

No complaints here, includes effects loop, drive boost, decent foot switch. Should include some casters, it's heavy!

Clean sound is good, stays clean as much as you and your neighbors want to hear it. Drive channel takes a little tweaking to find the sounds you are looking for though. This requires some volume, so if you are in a situation where you can't drive the amp a bit (apartment, etc.) then you might not be satisfied with the drive channel at lower volumes. High marks for the reverb.

The input jack has been a constant irritant since about day 3. The nut holding the jack in place comes loose all the time. If it comes off, the jack can fall inside of the amp. Trust me, you don't want this to happen, taking the amp apart is not a lot of fun. I took a wire coat hanger and bent one end into a small hook to hold the jack, then put some lock-tight on the threads and put the nut back on. Other than this, the amp is solid, though details like this separate the good amps from the great ones.

I tried on several occasions to contact them about the aforementioned input jack problems, never had a phone call or email returned. As far as I can tell, customer support either doesn't exist or doesn't want to be bothered.

It's a fairly versatile little amp, plenty loud, sounds really good if you plug it into an external cabinet. I compared it to many boutique amps in this price range, the Duotone seemed to have the widest range of sounds, at least to me. If you play a wide variety of styles and types of music, you wouldn't go wrong with this amp, it does a fair job of covering a lot of territory, with quite a bit of volume. Not sure if I would replace it, my taste in tones seems to constantly change, so would probably get something else. The loose input jack still bugs me though, recently bought a THD Univalve, first thing I did was check the input jack!