Hughes & Kettner Edition Blue 15R Combo

3 band eq, 15w rms, celstion speaker, two chanels clean and drive , rever (the spring one,)closed back, cd in and a phone out, meda in veatnam everythin you want from a practice, home studio amp and this is all i wanted i dont need digital fx

im using a cheap epiphone les paul whit original humbukers, i mostly play rock, and some blues, the amp is very impresive for what it is the clean sound is soo good it is like a tube, the sound you can dial fro eq is impreasive , from jazzy to rock to ska, some times it sound like fender other like marshall. when i was buing an amp i also tryed a orange crush 30r but it was so flat and dead at this amps was outstanding compered to it inspite people rated the crush avereng of a 8.9, i think the blue 15 is a very good amp even the drive chanel is versitall you ca ndial from a bluesy sounding overdrive to a harder 70-80s rock, the amp can get some big sounds from a 8 inch celestion speaker and is you dont have a choise you can mic it up for a gig

well the construction seems to be solid i then for a bedroom practise and recordint it will last a long time

i only have this amp for 5 hours soo nothing to say there

i think this amp is one of the best in this price range and a bit more, you can get so many good sounds from it also it only weights 7 kilos so you can cary it easily

Mine is about five years old, don't really recall...
What does it have?
1-8" speaker (Celestion)
2-Dual channel (no footswitch or jack for footswitching though)
3-Internal spring reverb
4-RCA input for CD/MP3 player, headphone jack
What does it NOT have?
1-Footswitch capability is the biggest gripe here, would be nice to float between clean and dirty without having to hit the panel button.

Overall, for its size and price range, this little guy has plenty of loud, particularly for practice environments. Holds its own pretty well for idea/demo recording if it's done right. There are those which have compared this little practice amp to FAR more costly amplifiers, and a bit unfairly; I mean, let's be honest, this is NOT a gigging amp, nor was it intended to be. Practice with it to keep yourself up, and it's great for songwriting and similar things.

1-Best clean from an amp of this cost, no questions asked. Warm and big, especially for an 8" speaker. Lacks a little bit of bottom end, but not too much to be a major concern. Bright, sharp high and a great deal of midrange to work with. Never breaks up. Excellent.
2-Distorted: Far better than expected, but not without a few minor faults. The pre-gain can be dialed up pretty high, and this little fella can really growl; but it is a bit muddy. One can pull the gain down and bring out a bit more clarity though, and it works well. I've
been able to get a decent midrange scoop, as well as a big, nasal brit-inspired grind as the occasion calls for it. Not the best at either one, but surprisingly adequate for either. Can be very bluesy, clean, rock and roll, or high gain madness under the right circumstances. Again, this is a PRACTICE amp we're talking about here. It is not expected or intended to be a "be all, end all" of an amp.
3-Reverb. A bit on the anemic side. However, the bit that is there has good presence, decay, tone, and is a GOOD sound. Like one other review said, 'tis far better to be good and quiet, than be loud and bad.

All my guitars are Deans with one exception. All are equipped with Jason Lollar and/or Lawrence L500XLs. The ESP is equipped with EMGs, but I never use it...too overrated a combination, in my opinion. My style is comprised of many, though my heart is and always shall be progressive and old thrash metal.

Like every Hughes I have, built well. Again, this is a low-priced entry, so it is not as rugged as the big boys. After about five years or so, no failures, no malfunctions, no problems of ANY sort.

Wouldn't gig with this one. Not built for the rigors of the road, methinks. However, as a wise man once said, "only he who is a total dink will gig without an extra...well....everything you can carry."

Dealt with Hughes for other things, particularly getting some specs and schematics for a hot-rod modification to the Tri-Amp (yeah, I know, a bit superfluous). Fantastic people, eager to help, and they get things done ASAP. Granted, I've bought a couple amps from them in the $1500-$3000 price range from them too...

Not sure about the warranty...somebody here said 12 mos., which sounds about right, though. Also not sure about "authorized service centers." I've dealt directly with our German brethren for any assistance I've needed. As a side note, I should say that I've NEVER had a Hughes that broke or had ANY problems.

My exp: about 17 years in all styles of music. As stated above, all my guitars (the ones that matter to me, anyway) are Deans with Lollar/Lawrence pickups. Fantastic combination for me, really. As far as amps, I use Hughes amps exclusively. My favorite is the zenTera I just acquired. Absolutely INSANE sound from this thing. This Blue 15R is the only practice amp I own.

It would probably benefit Hughes to scrap the small 8" design and put this amplifier's guts in a slightly larger frame with a Celestion 12". Might help the muddiness at the highest of gain settings. Overall, though, it really doesn't need much change. Great amp, great price, just don't expect it to work miracles...spend a little more money for miracle amplifiers.

15 watt practice amp. 8" Celestion speaker. And yeah, its a Celestion. Most brand-name speakers in an amp aren't a retail model. Has two channels but no footswitch jack. You have to use the swicth on the panel. Built in reverb. No reverb footswitch or line out. Pretty basic.
This amp's value and best feature is in its tone.

Unbelievably great little practice amp. A friend's kid is just starting guitar so I went with them to check out amps. I tried every sub-$200 amp there is and this was the best by far. I was so impressed I couldn't get it out of my head. Less than a week later I went back and bought one too.

It has a warmer, more tubey clean sound than a lot of amps in the $300 range. The distortion is good too, about the best I've heard for the price. The reverb is good but more subtle than some other amps. Better that, though, than bold and crappy. I play it with a strat, a Les Paul, and a hollowbody and it handles all of them just fine.
The only other amp I tried that I liked more was the Vox Pathfinder, but that sounds like a Vox, nothing else (and I already have a Cambridge). The Edition Blu15 is more versatile.

It's a practice amp so I won't be taking it out. It seems tough enough for home use. Plus it's a Hughes & Kettner. I doubt this was made in their German factory, but still, they have a reputation to maintain.

Never dealt with them before and I doubt I'll have to.

Very impressed. I can't understand why this amp isn't more popular. It probably got lost behind the whole digital modeling fad that's in the spotlight right now. Also, being H&K may actually hurt it a little too. People who know how great their all-tube stuff is might expect this to be the same thing. It's not. It's a very good $140 solid state practice amp.

That said if/when it breaks I'd probably get something else rather than get it fixed or find another. Not that theres anything wrong, just that by then there would probably be something new that was even better.

2004, Great cleans, Better distortions, 2 channels but no foot switch.

I use this with strats, PRS's and BC Riches. This is the best small amp I have ever heard, most people think I am playing my old Marshall JCM 900 half stack. I bought this just to use in my apartment so I can not tell you how loud it goes , but it can get the sound I am looking fo for in house recording. There is not a sound I can not dial up.

So Far so good,

I have been playing for 25 years and must say that this is the best amp that did not have a 12 inch celestion( it has a smaller Celestion in it) I ever heard, I would buy another and was going to buy a Badcat Hotcat 30R but will listen to the Hughes and Kettner Edition tube 20 first and may save a lot of money.

Solid State, 2 Channels, Volume control for each channel, plus master, same EQ for both channels, RCA in for tape deck/CD player, headphone out.

Using a Charvel 375 DLX with Duncan humbucker (awesome guitar), mostly playing metal. This amp sounds good but is a little raw. Muddy at low volumes, which is odd for a 15 watt amp. Decent tone over-all. Saving grace is the RCA inputs on the back so you can put a CD player or MP3 player through it and jam along with your favorite band, right through the amps speaker or headphones.

Seems reliable enough. Won't take much abuse since it's too small to play out with

Never had to use it.

Compared with other products, it's better and has more features than a 15 watt Fender or Crate. I'm kind of a tube amp man, but you can't beat it for $170.00

A 1x8 solid state combo, made in Korea - not Germany as some other H&K products are, but still wearing the big H&K script logo. Lead & Clean channels, Reverb, Bass/Mid/Treble EQ, Headphone output, CD input. Do not believe the manual you can download from the H&K web site, the 15-R has NO EFFECTS LOOP.
I bought it intending to have it as a quick amp for when I have 5 minutes, no tube warmup and it won't get in the way like the big amp does when it is out in the middle of the room. It has plenty of power for practise in a small to medium room.

Surprisingly good for an 8" speaker but very weak compared to just about any 12" as you would expect. Plenty of bark but not much bottom end. As for it being a Celestion I don't know, there is nothing on the speaker but a bar code, no makers name. If it is made by Celestion it must be made to a price rather than being one of their existing lines.
I'm comparing it to a Cornford Harlequin which is kind of unfair - the Harlequin is a 6W tube 1x12" combo with pine cabinet and is acknowledged as being up there with the best. But I also have an old Roland 405, 4x4" (weird) and it's much better than this H&K! Pickups in the guitar I'm using it with are Lindy Fralin humbuckers (in a Heritage Class of '59 korina wood Les Paul style).
Sound variety just isn't there. Clean is clean, and Lead goes straight into some fairly muddy distortion - I guess it covers the kind of mistakes most buyers at this level will be making.

Inside the unit is OK I suppose. Cabinet construction is 5/8" chipboard, glued and stapled, not screwed (so you can't get in without breaking the glued seam), and it doesn't get much cheaper than that. As mentioned the speaker wears no labels. The chassis is attached to the cabinet with 8 screws, quite sturdy, but it is not fully enclosed, the electronics sits in a light-gauge C-shaped metal frame open at the front. The reverb "tank" is tiny, a couple of springs bundled up with the main electronics rather than attached to the cabinet base as in most amps. Unsurprisingly the reverb is very weak even turned up to maximum. It does not look like it is about to fall apart but don't take it out of your house, one good drop would probably kill it!
This is the first disposable guitar amp I have seen.

12 month warranty. The store ordered this in for me. The first one out of the box had the input jack falling off and whey they had fixed that there was a bad pot so they had to order another one. As mentioned the manual available on H&K web site is wrong, there is no effects loop.

Playing for 8 years. Own Cornford Harlequin, Roland 405, Maton & Heritage guitars.
Products like this can only damage the H&K name. Too bad they decided to go cheap - I expected just a little more, but I suppose got what I paid for.
Do not bother with junk like this - and that goes for a lot of amps at this price level. You would be better off buying a headphone amp or a smokey or similar and saving your money to buy something decent. This is definitely a product you will get frustrated with just as soon as you know about something better.
I wish the cabinet was better built, the electronics came in a better steel enclosure, the reverb more effective, the speaker sounded better, that it had an effects loop as the manufacturer shows in the manual and that I hadn't taken a risk on this amp. For what it is, it is overpriced.

This is a new 2002 model (the first non-german model of Hugues and Kettner) who has 15 Watts and features 2 channels. One clean, and other named Lead, who is the distorted channel.
It also has a reverb, a CD input, a phone input, EQ (high, bass, mids) an a celestion speaker.
Quite good for a practice amp.

I'm using a epi LP standard, and it is great for me. The clean sounds are the best i've heard in a solid-state amp. THey are warm an defined. And it is clean even if you crank the volume .
The distortion can range from a little crunchy classic overdriven sound, to a considerable distortion. It's not a hi-gain amp, but it suits perfectly for rock, punk and some metal. I used to play with my Metal Zone on, but i think i will not need it with this amp.
I have to say that the amp EQ affects the sound a lot, so you have a wide variety of sounds to play with.

Well, my amp is new, but i trust H&K. It seems solid.

Well, i sent them a mail asking some questions about the product, and they answered me in less than an hour, so i think they are careful about the people.

I used to practice at home with a shitty 10 W Sonora amp (horrible sound, but you can throw it against a wall and it wouldn't be affected) and the difference is just brutal.
I also own a Laney TF300 for rehearsals and gigs with my band.
I can't compare this 2 amps since they are very different, but the Edition Blue is just great for the price. It's not also relatively cheap : it sounds great.
If you want a good practice amp, with a good distortion, and a great (believe me) clean buy this Edition Blue.