Hughes & Kettner Triamp MKII Alex Lifeson Signature Edition Head

This is simply the best amp I have ever played.
I run it through a mesa boogie cab.
It has 6 channels, fx loop, additional pre-amp output, optional midi control. It is so versatile and powerful. You can customise the channels so that they do exactly what you want them to do.

I use it for large scale rock gigs with my band OUTLIER (www.myspace.com/outlier)


The ONE tiny thing that bugs me, which pisses me off about alot of effects pedals and amps.... is the slight delay on channel switching... It's only slight, (like a few miliseconds) but enough to bug me.

The sound is like I said, better than any amp on the market.

I shopped around for about 6 months before choosing an amp, I tried several Duel Rectifiers, Marshalls, Randalls, Soldanos....
All of them sound great, but my Hughes has just got so much character, you can feel it, the tube warmth is body shaking.
The clean channel will not go dirty.
The distortion goes from british to brutal.

For the kind of versatile, progressive rock that I play with my band, it is the perfect choice.

Blew a fuse on day 1 because I didn't have the power set correctly,
replaced it, and have not had a problem since.

Havn't had to deal with yet.

I have been playing 4 years, in a touring band (OUTLIER)
you can get a look at my full rig, including the Hughes, plus my mesa cab and effects on my website www.outlier.net.au in the GEAR section.
The amp looks beautiful on stage obviously, If I lost it, I'd buy another.
Simply the best most versatile tube amp on the market.

This is the Alex Lifeson Signature Edition of The MKII. Was made in July 05. The Triamp is very versitile. You have 3 channels each with A/B. So, essentially you have 6 channels. It has switching between channels that can be done via the included floorboard or with the optional MSM-1 Midi Card. I have the MSM-1 installed on this one. The switching is quiet and seamless. There is a parallell and series effects loop, and the effects loop is programmable for off or on via MIDI or you can program it series or parallel. Very nice. I use this amp mostly for live work and recording. It is a very powerful amp. It has a half power switch that can knock it down to 50 watts. This is actually good for most situations. It uses stock Ruby tubes. The Alex Lifeson Signature Model is biased a bit hotter, so the heavier channels really kick. I give a 10 here, because as far as traditional tube amps go, this is the most versatile I've seen, with the option of switching channels and effects loops through MIDI.

I use this amp with Gibson Custom guitars. One with 57's and the other with 57's and a 500T. I also use an old Strat style Ibanez RG440. I play in an original Progressive Rock band, so this amp suits my needs fine in that I can sculpt my own sound very easily. Channel 1A is a very pristine full clean sound. 1B is an overdriven version of 1A with the Lifeson Model, this gets dirty pretty quick, like a rolled off Marshall or a hot AC30. I had played the traditional Triamp and 1b Took a bit longer to overdrive. These two channels have a tight button to tighten up the bottom end for 4x12 users in order to get that open-back 2x12 feel.. and it works great. 2A is classic Marshall tone. Very crisp and thin. Very AC/DC'ish. 2B is a hot rodded Marshall tone same as 2A but thicker and more punchy. I could camp here all night, that is for sure. 3A is for me the lead channel. Sounds a lot like a Soldan Solo. Great tone here and a lot of sustain (this is a noisy channel so gate is useful here, but overall for a high gain tube amp, the Triamp is the quietest I have heard). 3B is awesome. It is a very thick modern sound. It is heavy and fat tone, but clear. Some say this is Mesa like. But, I disagree. It is Mesa like in the sense that it is thick and full, but not muddy and over spoungey. Great tone on this channel. It will set you apart form the rest of the crowd, that is for sure. It is funny, this section asks...How brutal is the distortion? It is brutal in the sense that if you turn it up, it will send you flying through the wall and into the next room. But, it is still clear and doesn't get all mushed up. Oh yeah, it will show your weaknesses for sure. This is a true extension of you and your guitar. But, I like the challenge to play better through this thing. I give a ten here because the Alex Lifeson Edition took an already awesome amp and made it even better with a overall hotter and warmer tone. Hell, it lights up purple. How cool is that?? It comes with a hand signed certificate of authenticity by the master himself, a 30 Year Tour Book, Alex Lifeson guitar pick form the 30 Year Tour, and the Feedback CD, also Alex donates $50.00 to Unicef for each amp sold. Hey, Alex can I get a receipt for that as a tax right off????

Dependable? As about dependable as any tube amp. It has 11 tubes mind you (6 preamp tubes, 4 power tubes and a driver tube in the effects loop section). I would not use without a back up of some sort because tubes can blow at any time.

Customer Service is awesome. I dealt with Dennis Sheppard at the H&K division of Pearl Drums. He knows what he is talking about and will make things right. The original amp I got was the traditional MKII, it had a 12AX7 tube blow for who knows what reason (you sometimes get a bad tube, nothing anyone can do about that). He said he would send me a new amp right away. I thought that since one was coming direct from H&K, he might as well make it the Alex Lifeson version. So, I payed a couple hundred more for the difference in price. I got a call back from Dennis that same day, he told me he personally installed the MSM-1 MIDI module and shipped out the amp Fed Ex. I had it in a couple of days. I simply returned the other amp to the store where I purchased it and picked up my new amp. That is how good H&K is. They care about their customers. Where else can you call and speak directly to a rep who knows you by name and knows what he is talking about. I have not found many like this in my experience. Try talking to Line 6. You have to hope you get someone with a brain on the other line. Or make several calls until you actually speak to someone who has one. I give them a 10 here because they went out of their way to make things right. With the new amp, no problems at all.

I have been playing for over 25 years. I have played mostly progressive rock and metal during this time. I have played some great amps out there. Bogner Ecstacy (awesome amp, but not heavy enough for me), Diezel (awesome, but I can't afford 4K for an amp)Marshall JCM's, Mesa Boogie Tripple Rectum, I have owned a Mesa Boogie Triaxis, Rocktron Voodu Valve, Rocktron Prophesy, VHT GP3 Valvulator, (all through a Mesa Boogie 50/50), Marshall JCM 800, Alesis Quadraverb, Line 6 Vetta. And none of these have done it for me in the way this amp does. It has the full spectrum of tone I like. And it is very easy to use. I run this Head with a Marshall 1960A Lead. The Lifeson Edition has a matching cab with Vintage 30's which sounds great if you have the extra 1K to spend. But, I have found that this Head is really spectacular with the Celestion G12T-75's. The reason being is that the G12T-75's have more relaxed mids and a very nice clean high range with tight punchy bottom. Because the mids are more relaxed on this cabinet, bit actually gives the Triamp more dynamic range in the mid EQ section. So, you can easily dial in a more modern sound on 3B with some scooped mids and then have a channel like 3A or 2B with more mid range and the EQ really brings that out of the speakers. I am using a Rocktron Xpression with this amp and trying it in the series and parallel loops at this point to find what works best. I was going to use a G-major, but have no need for the channel switching that the G-major does since I am using MIDI and I am familiar with the Rocktron gear and know it is reliable and sounds great. Overall, I am very pleased with this amp and would recommend it to any one looking for great tone, great versatility, and great customer support. Yes, it is pricey, but you get a lot of amp for the money.