Hughes & Kettner Triamp MkII Head

made in 2007. An extremely versatile ass kicking sounding amp. Half power switch (to 50 from 100 watts, very useful) There are 6 channels, or 3 channels with 2 modes, each sharing eq's. Nice sounding effects loop series OR parallel.

This amp sounds wonderful, from the sweetest clean to the hardest metal and all in between. The weakest is amp 2 but even that sounds good and is useful. It is very quite at all volumes, for a high gain amp, that is!

This is where my fear lies. I've had it for a week and all of a sudden amp 3 has a HUGE volume difference between the two modes. It'd be good for a solo boost if it were SUPPOSE to do that. It is suppose to be balanced, maybe a slight volume difference with the different gain stages but not an extreme one. Also the clean started making this slight hiss at all volumes. It was DEAD QUIET before. Maybe a faulty transformer?? It is one of the sweetest sounding amp I've played, and I've played alot (I'm currently seeking out a Bogner ecstacy, one of my last options) I mean ALOT of amps. This amp is also beautiful to look at with it's blue glow and the hughes and kettner logo reflecting in the tubes, it's sweet, but if after a week, it's already acting up, I'll be returning it to musicians friend and looking for something with a lifetime warranty not just a 2 year, like the triamp mk II.

I'm not keeping it because I don't believe it to be trust-worthy. It's a bummer because it does sound glorious and has looks to match, but if it breaks, it isn't worth much. What a bummer....

I had one of these ordered for me at Guitar Center....I was less than impressed to say the least.

The clean channel sounds nice but the distortion is so sterile and dry. It really just sounds like a modded JCM 800. I was going to trade in my dual rectifier towards this amp, but this thing sadly can't even touch my dual rectifier.

It's heavy , but it's made of alot of glass. I wouldn't trust it without a road case.

For what this amp is priced at and with all the hype that goes with it, it vastly under performs. I'm a metal guy and reading alot of the reveiws here I was tricked into thinking that this was going to be my sound. It definitely wasn't. Now I have to go and look at ENGL , Bogner , and Diezel. I'm also taking a look at the Peavey 5150 III . The clips I've heard of it were incredible. Costs much less than the triamp and does much more.

The only thing that keeps this amp from getting a 10 is the lack of a Master 2 (which the Duotone has). Otherwise, this is one of the most versitle heads on the market. It has at least one channel that will appease a player of any style of music. I play heavy rock (post-hardcore to be exact) and indie and I find every channel of this amp useful. The effects loop is also very versitle, having an option between series and parallel is not very common in amplifiers. The half power switch on the amp is very useful since not everyone spends every playing session in an amphitheatre. The footswitch also has everything on it that the user would need.

I play my Triamp with a array of Gibsons: a Les Paul Standard, a SG Standard, and a SG Special. All have stock pickups. I also have my Triamp hooked up to a Marshall 1960AV 4x12 and a Mesa Rectifier 2x12.

Channel 1A: 9/10
This channel does a great job at recreating the american clean tone, yet does not out do it. The clean sounds amazing and doesnt breakup.
Channel 1B: 10/10
This channel is amazing, when I first bought the amp I wasn't to thrilled with the channel, but the more I play it the more I love it. It goes over the top in recreating the british clean tone.

Channel 2A: 9/10
Great crunch channel, it has a nice response and good overall tone.
Channel 2B: 8.10
This is my least favorite channel on the amp, no matter how I tweak it, I feel it is lacking something. My JCM800 has an all around better sound than this channel, but I would still use this channel at a gig instead of head switching.

Channel 3A: 10/10
Definately my favorite channel on the amp, probably the best sounding british toned overdrive I have heard. It has a nice tight response and is incredibly smooth; It has just the right amount of lowend. Overall, it produces and incredibly well balanced sound.

Channel 3B: 9/10
I like using this channel as just an overall boost up from channel 3A, it sounds unbelievable. Its that channel that catches the audiance off-gaurd during an intense part of a performance. Has lots of lowend, produces great harmonics, and sounds incredibly heavy.

I have never had a problem with my Triamp MKII over the one and a half years I have owned it. It is very consistent, and I wouldn't hesitate to gig with it alone. The tubes that come stock in the amp are great and reliable.

If you email Hughes and Kettner at the right time they will for sure get back to you; the best to email them is late at night since they check customer emails in the morning. Make sure you don't email at the start of the weekend or you will never get a response since their mailboxes get flooded during the weekends and the read only so many emails. The only problem is they only address a couple of the issues of the email; if you email them a multiparagraph letter, they will probably only answer the first question. Some times it is hard to get a hold of them through telephone.

Compared to the other amps on the market, this amp phenominal. The only down is how expensive it is, I lucked out and got mine for $2000 new. This is definately the best sounding "do it all" amp on the market.

Features are abundant, and have already been discussed. How can you give >10 here when it has a great footswitch, midi, and so much tone shaping possibility?

I've been playing 30 years, and with a rather healthy income for the last 15 have bought and sold more amps than I care to think about. So many amps sound great doing one thing, but lack on the other channel(s). There are many single channel master vol (MV) amps out there that sound great- both inexpensive (cough...Laney), and $2k+ boutique jobs that might give you a good range of crunch but mediocre cleans, or give great clean but you still need pedals to get into high gain territory. And non-MV amps, sure they sound great, but who can gig at that kind of sound level anymore? Then all the 3+ channel amps that I've tried one of the channels will be a dog, or the whole amp just lacks clarity and punch.
Well... having owned or auditioned Decatone, TSL, Vendetta, Ecstasy, 100CL, Herbert, several Mesas, a couple of Randall headbanger amps, and several rack setups, this is the first amp that makes me smile more everytime I play it. It just keeps getting better as I get to know how to use it. As someone pointed out lower, it will let you hear different guitars, not make them all sound the same (sorry Mesa). I find that with a Marshall cab and channel 2A, I am nailing British invasion tunes, would be totally convincing in tribute bands. With a Bogner cab I can set up channel 3B for tight pounding riffs, even with B or C tuning (big fan of Dream Theater, Andromeda, Lemur Voice) and channel 2B for singing leads; get nice light breakup with 1B, no need for pedals thank you. I don't think there is a weak channel on this amp, which was my point to the long-winded discussion above. Also the tone controls are usable throughout their range, it's not like some amps where the amp sounds like a$$ when the contol is outside of half it's usable range. Channel 1B and 2A will clean up very nicely for you guys who ride the vol control all night.

No problems in about 9 months of use now, some days it's been on for 5 hrs. I always move it myself,cover it when I do, and not while the tubes are still hot! Just don't let your fool bandmate or worse yet some drunk lunkhead set their beer on it.

N/A

I threw the midi module in this head the day I got it, which enabled me to make a successful transition from huge-rack addict to head+cab guy. I only use a single processor in the loop (the loop is very good by the way) and a wah in front. Because I play prog rock and cover a huge range of sounds wouldn't have done without my rack and midi, but now, using the same midi controller, to be honest this amp sounds as good as my 50kg rack did. So rich and organic, yet can just punch you in the guts with palm muted riffing. What I especially like is the fact that it has it's own unique voice. Others have said "duh, if you want a Mesa buy a Mesa", then in the next breath says "on the Mesa channel...". Wrong, it's not the Mesa channel, it's the fantastic H&K channel 3. Awesome amp.

3 amps in one, every amp has 2 channels (A & B Gain)

On Amp1, the master volume does not effect Gain A (by design)

"Tight" function on the clean channel. This function cuts out the
"flubbery" Lows that tend come with clean sound with head-cabinet combination.

2 effect loops :
one serial/parallel,
one serial ("dedicated" to volume pedal)
50 W / 100 W switchable

The amp suits my needs really good. I play rock, pop, funk, reggea. I use mostly amps 1a and 2b. Nice Clean and nice-sounding distortion. I have not yet been able to hear the clean channel (1a) distort. I believe I would have to turn it up so loud that not only my ears but also the windows in the rehearsal-room would blow.

This amp sound really good!! But it wants to go fast. If I play it with volume down it feels like a ferrari easing down some boulevard.
I play it at 50 W mostly.
Generally, the only draw-back is that is LOUD

My guitar is a Fender Strat with standard Pick Ups.
I run the the amp through a Bogner Halp open 2x12
Celestion Vintage Cabinet

My effects :
Boss Volume pedal,
Boss Chorus,
Cry Baby Wah,
Holy Grail Reverb.

I bought this amp second hand in a dedicated AMp-store in Brabant Holland. The man said it was one-and-a-half yrs old and I have it for 6 months. Still no problems.
However, it seems to me that the amp runs pretty hot judging from the hot air coming out of the vents.

I have never had to contact them yet.

I love this amp!! It has a nice, sharp distortion and a warm clean sound. Overall, the sound is razor-sharp. It definetely goes loud enough!!!

It's got everything I could want, and more..

x 100 watts, with a 50 watt setting.
x An amazing clean channel.
x A unique hi-gain channel that really sets me apart from the rest. I've never heard anything like it. Beautiful.
x It fuckin' lights up blue!
x A million more things..

I mainly play a '99 Gibson LP Studio through a bunch of effects, and then into the amp, with a Marshall 1960.
The style of music I play is weird, it's really heavy, but also really melodic with some weird chords and fast riffs. Think of Unearth meets Thrice meets I dunno you get the idea. I mainly play in drop C tuning and this thing absolutely OWNS!

Here's the breakdown on the channels: There are 3 of them with 2 modes each.

Channel 1a: Excellent clean channel, especially with the neck pickup on and the "tight" switch selected, wow wow wow I love it. It's very.... musical? It's great, even at high volumes.

Channel 1b: A little grittier, more for blues type music maybe, I don't really use this channel much.

Channel 2a/b: I mainly use these channels for when the song slows down, I have 2b set to fairly hi-gain, but distinctly different than my main hi-gain sound. It's works nice for little breakdown type parts that I like to incorporate into songs, and then switch back to 3b to annihilate and melt faces and kick balls, pretty much.

Channel 3a: I don't use it!

Channel 3b: This is what it's all about! Definitely the MOST unique overdriven sound I've ever heard. I've played them all, Bogners, Diezel, Marshall, Rectifiers, Soldano,(Never played a Framus :P ), But yeah, this amp... good god, it's incredible. The best way I can think to describe this channel is, like, organic? It's fucking baddass, I swear you will most likely love it, alot.
Here's how I set it: All knobs at 12 o'clock, there ya have it. Boom, rip your head off, kick your balls into your stomach, excellent sound.

Well... I leaned on it while it was on my floor and broke the light bulbs, haha. It just seems pretty fragile, I mean, it's like 50% glass. I'm definitely investing in an ATA case for it.

As far as breaking down, I haven't owned it that long, only about 4 months, but absolutely no problems so far.

I'll give it a 6 for durability and a 10 for dependability, so 8.

Well, like I said before, I broke the lightbulbs. But no worries, I contacted H&K to see about getting some new ones, and they shipped them to me free of charge. Great, friendly dudes.

I've been playing guitar since I was 11 years old, and now I'm 18. So 7 years of non-stop everyday playing, completely self taught. In terms of amps, I've owned Marshall, Peavey, Mesa, Fender, and this H&K. I honestly love everything about this amp, EXCEPT...........

The fuckin' footswitch scares me. Dude it costs $200+ for a USED one on Ebay.. I hope I don't break it, I mean it's made for stepping on.. The quaility of it seems good, it's pretty heavy.. Maybe I'll get an ATA case for it as well, haha.

The reason I bought this amp is because of one of my favorite bands, Saosin. These dudes used it and got me interested, so I started researching. The Saosin dudes were really helpful to me, so thanks Beau and Justin for talking to me on AIM/Message Board about this thing alot, haha.

Okay, now all of you who read this should run out and buy a Triamp MKII. Enjoy the 35 day wait from Musicians Friend. :)

It has it all, except for effects(but you can add any thing you like to make it your own sound).This amp is exactly what its called a "triamp".Its three differnt amps in one box .Something i,ve always dreamed of.If you can,t get a decent sound or sounds from this amp go play a keyboard ,cause your not a guitarist

Now ,this is a quality boutique amp.That means using quality equipment,leads ,speakers,pickups and guitars.I,ve had this baby for a about 9 months now and love it.Before this i had a 25th anniversary siver jubilee marshall head.(said to be the best marshalls ever made !Just ask slash)But a month after having this amp i sold it!thats how good this baby is.I'm writing this review cause im sick of some of the reviews saying"it dosen,t sound like a mesa or marshall"If you want that sound then buy a mesa or marshall.The mesa cost as much, but with none of the versatility.For me this amp sounds better or as good as any of these amps with just one bonus!It still has its own sound.The clean channel is the best ive heard .LOVE IT! the british channel gives me a very cool plexi hendrixie tone.LOVE IT!The mesa channel has grunt and balls to die for. LOVE IT!Its sweet to brutal in just one stomp.I use a charvel 750 xl with active emg pickups,running through a couple of boss analog pedals(DM-2,Ce-2,PH-R ).Im amazed that you dont see more of these amps out there being used by the big bands, but H&k dont give these babys away.Another thing ,its one damn good looking amp with its clear perspex and pretty valves shining with a beautiful blue glow.

had a small hick up, one of the power cables disloged inside cutting the power to the pre amp but the amp was repaired quickly and the offending wire was soldered on so thats the end of that.

great the seller helped me immediatly with my problem.

If it was stolen ,Id get another in a heart beat after castrating the offender.I wish it was lighter but i guess thats quality for ya.

7
I wanted to wait and give this amp some time. Unfortunatly we all find our own personal faults with every amp. What I don't like about this amp is the fact that you have 6 channels. 1 A&B are awsom. 2 B and 3 B are a waist of time. The secon channel is suppose to be brittish. It kind of lacks the brittish voicing. The third channel B is awsom. Which leaves 3 A needing work. I would have liked to see them make channel 2 more like a Marshall voicing. 2A plexi and 2B rivera. 3A like the channel 3B and 3B like a recto. Read on in my sound section. I have a way to make this thing sing. But still needs mods.

I have to say this is one of/ if not the quietest amp I have ever played. I was having troubles fings the defind sound I was looking for. Then one day I decided to hook up a new (red style) BBE in the pre-out and main-in. WOW Since then I have had so many people comment on my sound. The other day I went out and played a Diezel Herbert. I thought this was the answer. But after getting home and playing the H&K again. The warmth . This is my sound. channels 1A and 1B might sound better without the BBE. But thats all up to each individuals ear. But the 2nd and 3rd channels suck without it and sing with in in the loop. I have had no problems with this. And customer support is awsom with H&K. But again. Channel 2-A and 2-B and channel 3-B needs to be in 3-A and 3-B needs a mod. But with this I would not have any other amp. 1 problem with H&K. They will not do any mods to thier own amp. I guess I have to dock them a point for this. I play a cutom guitar and les paul ETC. Tone is everything to me. But as I said . We all find faults with every amp we own. It would be nice if the maker would do mods as needed to make the fine adjustments as the people buying their amps needed.

It came with ruby tubes. I guess their okay. But I found I put mesa tubes in the front (12ax7) and seimens in the rear. The seimens tube really made a difference. The mesa tubes seemd to tighten the front end up. But I am very happy with the soung. Reliability. No problems here. H&K has been ther for support in a first class manner.

Customer support is awsom. Just call the and they will take the time to anser any questions. Not make you feel like a dumb ass and try and hurry you off the phone. A++++++

Needs work. I have to go outside to get it. But overall I like the amp and with a BBE it's my sound!!!

I play guitar full-time for a living (studio & live) so hopefully I'll give you an accurate idea of what this amp is like. It would get a '10' here if it had two master volumes (like duo-tone) so the same sound could be boosted when that function was needed. Other than that I don't know what else you should expect an amp to do. It pretty much covers everything. I would just be repeating what everyone else has already said so I'll keep this section short and sweet.

I suppose I should give it a '9.5' but since I can't I'm rounding it up to '10'. It's true, there's not an amp out there that this head can't match (no not perfectly but what do you want???). On stage or in a studio you can pull any sound you want. The clean ch (A) is a little too clean for me - but that's what they purposely designed it to be. It's perfect shimmering chord jangles and jazz guitar - and I mean perfect!!! Hollow body jazz axes sound killer through this channel. The clean ch (B) is more like a vox/fender which can be driven hard. This is the most versatile ch on the amp. When I drive it just to the brink of distortion then back it off a little it has an awesome country sound (think Brad Paisley and Dr Z) and with some pedals you could camp on this one ch all night. Amp2 ch A & B are Marshall type sounds and they do this well. I guess 'straight-ahead' rock would apply here and possibly blues and country. Amp3 ch A & B are awesome. High-gain and a cross between Soldano/Mesa/Bogner/Marshall. With gain down low on chA I've come across a real nice 'Dr Z' sound that works well with single & dble coils - no kidding. ChB simply cannot be beaten for that modern metal sound.

Overall, the amp has it's own sound as well. Producing a nice bell like tone over all the channels. If you set the master vol on full and adjust the other channels to suit then this bell like 'toppy' sound becomes really apparent. If you set the ch masters up high then adjust the 'Master Vol' so that it hovers around the 2 or 3 mark you won't notice this sound at all!!! I think that's awesome. This may be something that some won't like. My Tele with emg's loves amp1 chB, Amp2 chB and amp3 ch A & B. I've played too many guitars through to mention. Each guitar sounds like what it's supposed to, it's like a whole new amp with each different guitar that you plug in. I hate amps that make every axe sound the same or only sound good with a few types of guitars.

I'm currently running a Corford 2x12 (vintage 30) with the head. The box is a very dynamic sounding box (solid pine not ply) and so is the head so all I do is keep the presence around 3 or 4 and adjust the ch trebles to suit. It's a no-brainer really. If you have a Marshall box etc the triamp would be perfect with settings around 12 O'clock. Open back boxes make the head sound cleaner, not as good for the heavier tones. But, closed boxes can do it all especially with the clean ch having an (open-back) simulater -it's a 'tight' button which cuts some of the low-end mushiness out of closed-back boxes.

The bottom line is that this amp is a 'One amp can do all' amp providing you spend alot of time getting to know it.

Mine is two yrs old and the whole back end has failed. The Red Box DI, the effects loops and the pre out and pwr amp in. Just farts at ya. Sounds like a relay problem within the amp, will get it looked at next service. This is a technolically advanced amp so I guess things like this are going to happen. It's been gigged 4 to 5 nights a week plus studio for two yrs and the amp itself is doing fine. The 'Master' volume is really scratchy but as long as it doesn't fail that's no big deal.

They are good with their local support systems. H&K make sure whoever distribute their products do the support. That's a good idea. I tried to chat with their tech's in Germany once though and they just refered me back to my local guys. Oh well.

I was going to buy a Sherlock Fathead (fantastic amp also) but this was a killer buy that I couldn't resist. I've been back into gtr for about 2 yrs but was a session player from way back who got caught up in a day job and got lazy on guitar. This head makes me want to play - can you say that about most amps? I'd only replace it if I could get a similar deal otherwise it's the Fathead for me. I thoroughly recommend this head to anyone.

This amp has more features than i could list, But this is a ballsy amp, the other ones ive played wernt all that Great.

This amp can re-create any Tone Ive come across, Plus I have a Rack full of effects so that helps

I know the amp Can Withstand Alot, and isnt your average throw around amp you lay on the floor and connect to some cheap cab, If you take care of it I think It will last a long time

Hughes & kettner's Tech support is Good, My first MKII had a problem with the front panel clicking, I called them and they sent me a brand new one with in 24 Hrs so thats good, Plus any questions you may have they know what there talking about, Unlike some companies,

"I dont know if that will work it seems to me it might but theres always a chance it wont" lol, thats what the guy at T.C. Electronic!
All i asked him was If the G-Major will work in an effects loop, just because i seen a few reviews that said otherwise...

I think this amp is one to get, I use just as many effects as any pro and this amp always cuts through mix,the only thing i dont really like is the front panel seems to attract, fingerprints and dust and the stuff they send you to clean it isnt all that great... but thats nothing to complain to much about. Plus i got it for a great deal Brand new with alot of appreciation from the employes at the store