Hughes & Kettner Edition Blue 30R Combo

30 watts. Don't know the year of manufacture, picked it up used for 99 beans at GC. Got a nice little Jensen speaker in it that gives it a nice thump. Alot of people rag on it, but I kinda like the backlit panel, doesn't add any real usefulness unless you're playing in the dark alot, but it's not offensive, being a cool blue. Solid state power, so it lacks that nice tubey warmth, but I've heard some tube amps that sound worse than this thing(Epi Valve Jr.)(Blackheart Handsome Devil Head, but that's just my opinion, so don't freak. H&K seemed to focus on a Marshall-esque high gain attitude instead of a warmer TS9 type tone, and it does it pretty well. the 10" Jensen gets a touch flabby when wound out, so I made a speaker out jack on the back since it lacks one and run it into my left over Epi Valve Jr. extension cab loaded with a Celestion G12M Greenback. Now it's got some honk. This is a great apartment amp in its stock form, delivering serious gain at reasonable levels. Although I own a home, I use it in conjunction with my MBox mini and Pro Tools, so it is usable as a recording amp or you can line out it into a more powerful amp. CD input, headphone jack, optional footswitch input, FX loop and real spring reverb round out this little package. I give it an 8 because it doesn't drive my wife crazy like my tube monsters. Wouldn't use it for gigging, 30 solid state watts isn't like 30 tube watts. My Peavey Delta Blues 30 watt 1x15 Tweed mops the floor with this little fellow, but I don't keep any amp that doesn't pull it's weight, and as a practice/recordinding amp, it has a use.

Nice Marshall type edge on the Gain side, grainy if you add to much gain, I found the sweet spot with the gain about ten o'clock and the master about noon to one o'clock, anymore and it'll fatigue the ear pretty quick. Clean lacks warmth, so I add just a bit of analog delay to sweeten up my Tele. I have line outed it into my Fender '94 100 watt blackface Twin Amp using the clean channel on the Fender and gain on the Edition Blue. Whoa boy. It's like Gary Moore winding out one of his Marshalls. It's not excessively noisy being solid state. Was made for rocking and more modern type Blues, doesn't really deliver a softer clipping.

I bought it used, have had it cranked and used an extension cab with it. Haven't blown it up yet. No rattles from its cabinet, I may vent its cab, it's a sealed cab, Just to see, and keep the original back just in case it kills the sound. It'll never need tubes, so I'll just use it til it dies, if the power transistors are easy enough to find I'll fix it. It's a short Accutronics reverb tank, they're cheap enough. Gotta think green, man, recycle, reuse. Personally, I don't think it has enough steam for gigging

It's used but still shows up at H&K's website, so they may still offer support for it.

Playing 26 years, Rock, Classic Rock and Blues. If it were lost or stolen, Adios Muchacho, I would not replace it with the same unless I ran across another, I would just shop another good used practice amp with similar sound and features. Could use a speaker out jack for extension speakers. Not a bad little amp.

As you could probably find out online, this amp has a 10" Jensen speaker, 30 watt solid state amplifier, two channels (clean/distorted), a master volume, reverb, 3 band equalizer, footswitch jack, headphone jack, CD/tape input and and effects loop. An effects loop is nice if you want to put an effect after the amp's distortion. For example, if you are using a flanger and the amp's distortion channel, you will most likely want to put the flanger on the effects loop (instead of between your guitar and the amp's input jack) because flanging a distorted signal and distorting a flanged signal sounds very different.

This amp also has what they describe as a "cool blue backlit panel" which is actually just a tacky piece of plexiglass with blue light that shines in from the side. I guess it is kind of nice to have the controls lit up though if you are playing in a dark place.

I also own a (very heavy) Epiphone Blues Custom tube amp that has two 12" speakers. It weighs about 75 pounds and is a real ordeal to lug around, especially since I live on the 2nd floor of my apartment building. I bought this Hughes & Kettner amp so I could bring it to friends' places more easily. It is a great addition for "jamming" with friends. I play with a drummer and this amp does just fine volume-wise.

Playing a Les Paul with some pretty hot Seymour Duncan pickups, this amp sounds great. It sounds clear and, as others have mentioned, it is surprisingly bassy in a good way. I play a mix of rock including 70's and earlier classic rock and have been able to get the tones I want out of this amp. The distortion on this amp won't blow you away with incredible "tone" but it gets the job done and it does provide a lot of gain for other styles. With the gain up and the equalizer set right, this amp puts out some decent metal tones too.

The distorted channel isn't too noisy for a distorted channel but I have had trouble with noise in other areas. First, the reverb seems to add more noise than I have noticed with my all-tube Epiphone amp or other solid state Marshall amps I have used. Second, this amp seems more susceptible to noise in general. It buzzes a fair amount when I use lower quality cables that don't seem to cause trouble for other amps. And finally, if you ever have the urge to use this amp with instruments other than guitars (like keyboards,) you might also run into some noise problems that I haven't seem to run into with other amps.

But overall, I'd have to say that with a guitar and a decent cable, this amp is fairly solid in the sound quality category. It's just those little snags and the less-than-stellar distortion that keeps it from getting a better rating in my book.

I couldn't say but I've heard mixed things. I'll be interested to see how it hold up. So far so good though.

I've never needed to deal with them.

After lugging my main amp to a friend's house a time or two, I decided I needed a second amp that was more portable. It needed to be small enough to carry around easily but loud enough to play with a drummer. I also wanted a name brand without spending too much. About the only amp I saw that matched all that was a 25 watt Fender Frontman 25R. They got mixed reviews and were still a little more than I wanted to spend. Then I stumbled across the Edition Blue 30R on clearance for about 2/3 the price of the Fender - exactly what I wanted to spend! I am so glad I found this amp! On clearance, it was a real bargain and it doesn't have any of the same problems that seem to plague comparable Fenders. It's been my experience that the Hughes and Kettner's clean channel doesn't distort much when turned up, it doesn't have problems with rattles/buzzes and it comes with a great sounding speaker. If you are looking for an amp in this range of power and speaker size, I highly recommend picking one up, even if you have to pay a little more.

Seems like a versatile little amp. Not sure why an effects loop needed on a SS amp though. 2 channels, and 30 w is good enough for bedroom practicing.

I can't honestly rate this amp, in this category. When I recieved it, the volume was barely audible. Unfortunately, I had to send it back to Musician's Friend.

Well, it could be a fluke, but recieving it defective does not speak highly of reliability.

Never dealt with H&K, but did deal with Musician's Friend. They were quite supportive. I've sent the amp back today, and ordered a different H&K. I'm a little gun shy now after reading some of the other reviews.

MF was having a great deal on H&K amps. Being a huge Rush fan, I decided to try them out. I hope I won't be dissapointed when the next one arrives. Still have my Marshall, and it's pretty durable.

Solid state, two channels, 3band active eq, effects loop, reverb.

Is it versatile? I think using a good guitar you can get a lot of different sounds out of it. I mainly play rock (pre-grunge aera) and blues and I'm quite pleased with the sounds I get out of this amp. Compared to its price I'd give it a 10 for features, but there are modelers out there that have tons of features, so there has to be some headroom - let's make it 8.

I use this amp for small jams (easier to transport than my big one) and for fiddling at home. Jamming with a loud drummer you really have to crank this baby up...

The clean sound is simply amazing. Ballsy low-end, crisp high-end. If you think that's not true, use a different guitar.
The clean channel gets quite some distortion when set to anything above 12 o'clock (depending on the guitar and pickup, of course) which is cool for blues and country stuff.
The distortion channel delivers anything from slight crunch to metal-like distortion. I always leave it at 9 o'clock which gives me a good rock sound with the bridge-humbucker and dirty blues with the neck pickup... oh yeah, I play a Jackson Dinky. It's even possible to get a beautiful clean sound by rolling down the guitars gain. Can't really do this with my "big" amp.
I think due to the amp's size, the sound gets a bit itchy at very high volumes... but hey, it's a 10" - what do you expect?

At moderate volumes, this sound is worth a 9... leave the 10 for tube amps. (Again: you have to use a decent guitar - this amp won't disguise sh*tty guitars like some line6 might)

I don't really know. It makes a solid impression but I experienced this phenomena that was mentioned before: use the effects loop once and there will be some volume problem afterwards. fix this by connection line out to line in. very strange. in my case it could be fixed (so far) by removing this "bridge" while the power was on.
Would I use it on a gig without a backup? Shure, if it was a some small blues gig and the amp was mic'ed.

I've been playing for twelve years now and have played a lot of amps and guitars. At the moment my main amp is a Peavey Transfex 212, main axe is a Jackson Dinky.
My Peavey weighs probably half a ton and it's a hassle only to heave it into my car. That's why I wanted something small and light that has a nice sound.
I wouldn't have bought it if it wasn't light, relatively loud, small and good sounding. There's simply no other product in this price-range and slightly above (I compared it to a vox, a roland and a spider among others).
Yes, I would get another one if it was stolen or lost. I think it's THE small combo for the bucks.

one eq for clean and overdrive, seperate volumen + master, one reverb for both chanels, nice.

This is only a littel, small practise bedroom amp, if you want play gigs with it or go in studios...you must be very stupid...
Maybe when you begin to play guitar with your kindergarden school Band the ed 60 ( bigger version ) can help you for a small, littel time...
Let all of the eq knops at 12 o??clock and you have the best sound, this litte amp can make...with the reverb at 2 o??clock !!
The clean is quite good for a trany, the distortin
is also good for kitchen sessions, i have the gain always at 9 o clock, everything else is muddy - slayer - metal. When you have the volumen knops over 10 o clock, its sound like a fishcan tank exploing in your basement and you hear the scream from a diing rat, so if you like it ?? ....
I buy this amp for silent practise training sessions in the night
and its ok for that, so 8 points for that.
So I will never compare this against my studio live equipment !!
Engl souveraign and screamer amps + 1x12 or 4x12 boogie cabs.....
TC electronics, Maxon, Roger Mayer, Dunlop effects........
Fender, Gibson, Prs Guitars......

But if you need a cheap, practise amp for youre toilet...this is the best for the job.....serious.

have it 1 - 2 years, play it not very often, but it works than !!

???

Again, this is a cheap, but good littel practise amp for beginners, or kitchen, middnight sessions...not more !!

See my previous review 15/02/06

Ditto....when it works

Ok..heres the interesting bit. A previous reviewer gave this amp the big thumbs down because it started fading or not working at all. 6 months down the track and guess what. Same problem. Sometime it does, sometime it doesn't...if you are playing direct in and have nothing hooked up to the effects loop. If running a pedal board or multi FX unit through the effects loop it works fine. Disconnect the loop and its intermittent at best. Did find a simple soultion though if you don'e want to run effect but just straight input from guitar plug a short cable ( I used a 6inch ) into the line in / line out inputs and away it goes........my knowledge of electronics could be written on the back of a postage stamp so someone else may work that out.

And it gets better. Customer support........( ie a simple response to an e-mail ) has been thus far lacking ( after 3 days ).

Its coming down. When it works it's great......and the obvious conclusion when it doesn't work........

Wanted a tiny amp I could carry which would be powerful enough to play small gigs with and I could get on and off the stage very quickly as we play some venues that have 4 other bands on the bill,
I wanted 2 channels and reverb non of that modelling stuff
also I wanted a solid state amp,
The only thing I?m disappointed in is the handle it should be more padded than the nasty thin bit of plastic but hey I think the carrying handle is the last thing people think about when they build an amp
I wouldnt use this amp at a gig with out it being mic'ed up and we do play small venues so the power being at 30watts is just right for me
the blue panel is great for quickly checking what settings you have on stage

I use a Tokai Love Rock gold top fitted with P90 pick ups and a B7 Bigsby as well as a Black Mexican Tele fitted with Kent Armstrong pickups.
I use a little bit of crunch from channel 2 for solos as I?ve stopped using pedals but I mostly use the clean channel which is very rich in tone for such a tiny amp also the reverb is very good
I tried this amp in the shop with an American Tele which would not stay in tune the amp sat under a neon sign which caused a terrible earth hum so I wasn?t sure if it was the amp or the guitar,
Once I got it home and plugged in the amp sounded brilliant and 20 times better than my old fender Deluxe 90

So far so good this little amp gets turned off and on alot as i use it for practice at home as well as lugging it on trains and tubes
it gets a few knocks but always fires up when needed
the control knobs are very solid in there turning and fitting very good German engineering

havent dealt with them
The Shop i brought it from have given me a one year full warranty

I?ve been playing guitar for many many years and front my own original band I have a Gretsch Nashville 6120/Burns steer/Jap paisley telecaster/black Mexican telecaster/Tokai Love Rock Gold top
I looked at alot of other amps in the #150 price brackett from Crate/Vox and fender which came a close second choice to this amp
I am very happy with this amp and it sounds really good to me
so much so that I am going to get rid of my old Fender Deluxe 90 and buy the 60 watt verson of this amp to replace it
if you need a good solid amp thats easy to transport and get a good sound out of this is the amp for you

2 Channel ( clean and lead ), 30w combo with reverb, 3 band eq, CD input, footswitch, effects loop, master volume. Solid state and certainly loud enough for small venue or garage practice.

I have a vintage Greco LP copy and a s/s/s strat with vintage noiseless pups. I also run a Behringer X-Vamp and Vintage Dist pedal. Mainly into blues and classic rock and strictly a play at home type ( the world doesn't need to be subjected to my playing ). Great AMP for what I want. Very little if any noise on clean. DOn't use the lead much as even at low settings the gain is substantial. At high volumes the clean just starts to break up in a bluesy sort of way. I find the best way is to have the clean setting right up and the master down with bass at around 10o'clock, mid at 12 and lead around 3 or 4o'clock. the 3 band eq allows a lot of variation.

Only had it a couple of weeks but have played it a lot. No probs at all.

Haven't had to use.

This is a great little AMP with plenty of flexibility. I recently parted with a Behringer GM110 Vintager which was also a terrific amp ( I see plenty of good reviews for it here as well ) but it just lacked a little depth and warmth ( but then was also $200AUD cheaper then the H&K ). The H&K is definitely a step up in overall sound quality. I'll give it 6 months to test reliability before I comment on whether I'd get another but if it keeps sounding like it does now then that will be a definite yes. I tried a bunch of amps when looking around including the Marshall MG30DFX, Fender 25R, Cube 30, VoxAD15VT, Behringer GMX210, Peavey Studio-Pro, Line 6 Spider. All were noisier then the H&K and none had the depth of sound ( well at least within the time I had with them ).

Clean + Lead. EQ + Spring reverb. 30 watts. CD input. NO footswitch connector.

CLEAN
I like the clean sound very much, it is very detailled, precise and natural.

LEAD
The lead sound is nice. Distortion is enough for metal. Crunch sounds good too. The EQs are powerfull. You can easily get good metal sounds. I am surprised by the low end of this amp, and also by the overall sound volume!

OVERALL
Typical H&K sound character. Overall sound is very good, very low noise. The reverb, if set to 10, is quite long for a spring reverb.
It is a very nice practise amp. With 30 watts it has a very dynamic behaviour at practising volume. This makes the sound lively.

For the money spent, its a 9.

The first one came out of the box with the input jack broken. I got a new one that works fine so far.

Good Quality practising amp. The handling is a bit bothersome. I like to play clean with reverb, lead without reverb but bass and treble boosted. So everytime I want to switch channels I have to turn three knobs! I would prefer separate EQ and reverb settings for clean and lead. And a footswitch would be nice.

I bought this new in '04 from a local dealer that just got a new shipment in. I tried it in the store because I already own a few other Hughes & Kettner and I love them. I was basicly looking for a great sounding practice amp for my home that didnt cost more than $500. I tried the amp out using several kinds of guitars, including an electric acoustic, a Heritage Les Paul copy, and my own LTD explorer. The amp had everything I was looking for, 2 chanels - clean and lead, 3 band very versitile EQ, effects loop, headphone jack, CD in... It was a no-brainer to buy it.

One thing I immeadiatly noticed about this amp is that it sounds like my H&K half stack with a little more gain and the ability to scoop more mid from the tone. I had no problems getting a variety of sounds out of my guitars. I own a custom shop Ibanez S-Series with Ibanez stock humbuckers, an LTD explorer with Duncan Designed 'buckers, and a Washburn Dime32 EC with stock 'buckers. The amp lets the three guitars sound distinct and highlights their individual tones while keeping them somewhat similar in overall sound. I mostly play metal, but i dabble in some blues as well and I had no problem pulling up my angry metal sound that I'm used to from my half stack. The distortion this thing creates goes anywhere from very mild overdrive to metal crunch. However, with the gain cranked and the mid scooped out the amp becomes a little too sterile for my tastes, however when some mid is reintroduced into the tone the amp warms up and sounds very mean. Playing with the amps controls I was able to recreate the sounds of bands such as Black Sabbath, Rush, Metallica, Slayer, Dimmu Borgir, AC/DC, Eric Clapton... basicly anything I wanted. The majority of the sound is very tube-like, which is no surprise from an H&K solid state, but its not without its flaws. The clean chanel is amaizing but the "tube like clipping" that happens around 12 o'clock on the clean volume sounds rather fake. The reverb on this amp is fake sounding and useless, but I didnt buy this amp for reverb or a dirtied clean sound so it doesnt matter to me. All in all the amp sound amaizing for what it really is and to me it sounds a lot if not exactly like a tube amp.

I've taken this amp out to some band writing sessions, ive had it up pretty loud and no problems so far. I've only had it for a few months now but if something breaks on it I wouldn't expect it to be anything major. If I knew the PA in a venue was great I would just take this thing to a gig a mic it so I dont have to haul my half stack around. It's solid state so it won't need anything except a backup fuse just in case.

The deal here is that if it breaks, take it to your dealer and they'll take care of it for you. I've had to do this to replace a foot swich for my H&K half stack and it took a couple weeks to get the FS in but it wasn't all that bad. If it can be repaired the dealer will probably fix it or have it sent to someplace that can fix it.

In 6 years of playing I havent seen another amp quite like this one. So much sound for so little money, its trueley in its own league. If it was lost I would most definateley buy a new one. In my oppinion there is no beter personal practice amp than this one.