Hughes & Kettner Triamp

1997. First in the Tri Amp series. From clean to heavy, everything is of the most pristine of sounds. There's not much better. Bogner, Engl and Matchless are in the same category. The clean internal and external design was unreal for its time. I've owned this thing for 10+ years and never experienced a major problem.

Oh, one complaint. The "B" channel will give you that crappy AC/DC Back in Black sound. Sorry, my opinion, that sound sucks ***. Some call it vintage British, I call it vintage ****ish. That sound is over. However, if you want to relive 1982 then HK will timewarp you back.

LPs, Strats, Schecters, ESPs, 7 strings, hollow body... everything sounds great. If you have solid pickups, the Tri Amp is silent at all volumes. I know there's plenty of pro-marshall users out there who'll argue, but please don't waste your time. Marshall has nothing on HK. Believe me, I own a '74 Marshall. It's great but in no way does it complete with the air the HK pushes.

HK also kicks out a signature distortion. It's just huge! Again, it depends on your guitar. Duncan pickups seem to have a sweet spot with mine. Also, Bill Lawrence and EMGs are equally evil.

Had a fuse problem once. HK sent me new fuses... free! Not a single problem since. Had it serviced once for basic cleaning. The architecture and design of the amp is like no other. It's very simple and easy to self service. No need to rebias if you're darkening up the sound with different tubes.

fantastic! I've talked with several techs there and they're always willing to talk gear.

They are expensive. You do pay to play with HK. However, it's worth the investment. Used, the HKs are broken in and worth every penny.

This is one of the best amps I have ever played or owned eversince! It's a 6-channel 100W all tube amp with dry/wet settings on the fx loop. All 6 channels and fx-loops are switchable with one single floorboard... Yeah! It also has a spring reverb which sounds amazing! Power? 100W all tube, thats all I have to say...
I only wish the reverb was switchable too... THAT IS THE ONLY REASON why I give it a 9. I also have the midi-module installed, but I haven't really used it yet. Mine is the EL34-version.

This amp is really versatile. that was the main reason I bought it for. It ALWAYS stays articulate even at high distortion and/or high volumes. It really makes you practice and concentrate more, since every little mistake can be heard.
It doesn't have a noise gate installed, but still is real quiet. even if set to the highest distortion it doesn't give a hiss or anything. Great! The amp responds to the wood and pickups very well. You can really feel the difference between the instruments!

There are 3 amps (2ch each) built in one.
The Plexi
1A is for the clean sounds. Well everyone is thrilled here because of this channel. I'm not :) It is nice and, yeah clean for a high gain amp, but when using hubuckers my Engl preamp and custom made head together sound cleaner. Sorry folks... BUT! Using it with single coils it really comes alive! The channel has a nice breakup and a real nice twang when pushed so it gives a PERFECT country sound when picked hard and almost acoustic-like clean sounds when picked with care.

1B is my secret love :) It gives an astonishing plexi-distortion sound it just teases me... Together with the spring reverb and cranked a bit it gives you THE SOUND of classic rock and blues. WOW!

The classic 80's rock
2A and 2B aren't really my style. They're hard to be dialed in and are pretty muddy too. I don't really like the sound either. I just use 2A for crunch. 2B would be a nice solo/lead channel with the sound, but it feeds back easily and misses defeinition. What a pity!

Modern Rock/metal
3A is "nice" but that's all. For the extreme style of music that I mostly play it's not enough even with gain maxed, so I don't really use this channel, it must be enough for some, not for me.

3B YEAH! That's more like it! What can I say? This channel is one of the heaviest ones I've heard. It has it's own unique sound that really cuts through. Gain here is more than enough even for me. Not as much as in my engl but at loud volumes it even strikes better, so I don't care. Very defined and hard, but still articulate. AWESOME!

As most H&K amps this amp as well has a very rich bass-lage so bass-fanatic nu-metallers don't have to crank out bass on this one. Neighter do I. The sounds are well balanced and VERY ORGANIC! It just pleases your ears and it is fun to play!

I have bought this amp used but noone would tell. It was in perfect condition and everything is so solid and sturdy on it, that I hardly could believe my eyes. All the knobs are made of metal and fixed well. Everything looks great. I haven't gigged with it that much yet, but it seems I'm not going to have problems with it. Still it wouldn't be fair to rate it so. To this day I'd give it a 10.

Never had to deal with them. Their homepage is ok. You can download the manuals etc...

I have played and owned a lot of amps and guitars. I always held ENGL amps supreme. I was going to buy a powerball, but I have found this amp at ebay and the price/value of this amp looked better; AND IT IS BETTER! This is a very versatile, great and organic sounding all valve-amp. Selected tubes give great power and a nice new flavour to the unique sounds. As I see european amps are superior to any and this amp is a nother pearl in the great sea of the available equipment. One of the best!

The features and technical specs have been explained to death on this amp, so I'll pass-on my personal experiences and impressions as a gigging musician who needs reliable, versatile gear.

This amp is a very early model (I believe '97). A friend has had it for the past 7 years or so (he owns the store and bought it for himself after it sat on the floor for a while). I remember being BLOWN-AWAY by the clean channel back then and never forgot about that sound. So he tells me that he's looking to sell it to me in June of '05 because he has too many other amps (Bogner Ecxtasy and others). I had always wanted it, but couldn't afford it. He finally came down to $1000 and I made it happen. I am SO glad I finally did it! BTW... this one had the Midi-module installed later and had the tubes switched over from 6L6's to EL-34's and then rebiased for that.

*** I only play the Triamp live at gigs because like most tube amps, the sounds are truly their best when the power tubes are driven hard. With the master volume below 3 or 4, it's just not that great. Kind of like when you feel sick and aren't 100% that day. My Behringer V-Amp2 or Vampire amps sound as good as any boutique tube amp at low volume (seriously!). So the quality of a tube amp's tone CANNOT be determied at bedroom volumes. Even if you crank it in there, it's not the same. Your ears become assaulted and don't know what sounds great. I know because I set the Triamp up in my studio and it wasn't until tweaking over the course of the next few gigs that I got it dialed-in and sounding awesome.

FWIW... I use G&L Tribute Legacy and ASAT guitars for the country stuff. The ASAT with the big, P90-style is a great guitar and the only Tele that I've had that I liked. They're both Swamp Ash Premium models. And for rock/metal, I use a pair of ESP Ltd EC-1000 LP-style guitars. One has Duncan JB/59 pickups, and the other has EMG 80/81's in it. This amp responds VERY WELL to all of these combinations of wood and electronics. In fact, I am even able to get a snappy, tight country sound out of the ESP with EMG's.


The seller suggested that this amp might be the perfect fit for me because I play pro every weekend in a Country/Classic Rock band. I had always wanted the amp because of it's unmatched sparkling/chimey clean tone, but had always thought of it as a rock/metal amp. Which is fine because I love and play those styles as well. So I wasn't sure how this thing would do in the Country genre. It RIPS! In the past, I have always used digial amps (Yamaha DG-80, Line 6 Duoverb) in an effort to acheive the level of versatility that I need for the night. But the Triamp does all of that, with tubes. When A/B'ed with the Duoverb, the Triamp just had much more quality of tone and is of course, much louder. Speaking of that, I was always afraid that I wouldn't be able to use this amp live because it's 100 watts. I tried to use a friend's Fender Hot Rod Deville 4X10 for a few years and couldn't because it just was WAY too loud (at only 60 watts). But that's ALL the Fender was, it's sounds were LAME. Anyways... the H&K's volume control is linear (unlike the Fender), so if you turn it down to 2, then it sounds like it's on 2. What a concept! Granted, the dirty channels on the amp don't sound great at "2", but gigging volume is usually anywhere from "3" to "7". I run the 3 individual channel master volumes as high as I can, so I am getting the tone out of those power tubes. Mine are EL-34's. It was converted from the 6L6's that came in the amp. Much better dirt tones.

Channel 1A is PERFECT for high head-room perfectly clean country tones. In fact, I plug in my electric-acoustic into that channel instead of using a special acoustic preamp. This channel was the real selling point of this amp for me. I'd never heard a tube amp with a clean sound this bright, sparkling, and chimey. VERY nice!

Channel 1B is a bit more compressed and "hairy". It's perfect for the boosted clean country leads that I play, and could be dialed in for anything from that to AC/DC type stuff. The breakup is just perfect and is all power-tube breakup. Master for channel 1 is on "8".

Channel 2A is a perfect AC/DC "Highway to Hell" tone. Keep the treble and mids around "5", along with the gain and it's awesome. Run the gain up any more and it gets too muddy to be perfect for that.

Channel 2B is just a fatter version of 2A. I'm not really thrilled with it and rarely use it. Wish it had something different to offer, or at least a lot more volume so I use use it as a boost of 2A. Master for channel 2 is around 5 or so (to match volumes with channel 1).

Channel 3A is the lead/metal channel. It's very sustainful and "nice".

Channel 3B is the all-out lead channel and I prefer it over channel 3A because it's fatter, fuller, and louder -- but still with clean headroom. This amp is not a muddy amp when cranked, very clean. It is muddy when at low volumes only. Master on channel 3 is about "5ish".

So the really good channels are 1A,1B,2A,and 3B. I also use an overdrive pedal to boost channel 2A for some leads, and some rythems. No boost or overdrive is neccesary for channel 3 for the kinds of things I do.

I gigged it all summer and never had a problem. The only reason I am giving it a 9 for the rating is that one of the tubes supposedly blew-up a while before I got it and had to be replaced. It's been a perfect "10" for me personally so far. But as you can see, I don't give 10's out that easily because there's always at least one thing that could be better. I still tote around my Line 6 Duoverb in it's flight case for a spare. But it's never been out since gigging with the Triamp. German stuff seems to be built well.

Haven't had to deal with them. Hope I never do.

I should give this thing a "10". But it's not perfect. But is ANYTHING perfect? I don't think so. I've played Bogners (YUMMAY!), Matchless, Soldano, Engle, Top Hat, Dr. Z, VHT, Mesa, Marshall, Laney, etc. over the years at this friend's store. And the Triamp has stood above nearly all of these other amps to my ears. The only other ones of note were the Engle Ritchie Blackmore (can you say Plexi? I haven't heard a better AC/DC sound), the Bogner Ecxtasy 101B (just an awesome all-around amp, but the Triamp's cleans are way better), and my favorite was the Bogner Shiva EL-34 head (ear candy -- I WILL have one of these babies someday, but will keep the Triamp as well). It's hard to beat the Triamp. There are VERY FEW amps that are better, probably NONE that are more versatile, and definitely NONE that are a better value. They are going for around $1K used at the present and I don't see ANY other amps in that price range that can even hold a candle to the Triamp.

not sure of the year,

mine is the mk1, el34 loaded, and midi module installed.

the amp is very versitile. because it's designed to be 3 separate 2 channel preamps. all running through one 100w el34 power source.

6 channels total, over 3 eq's. an fx loop. midi control. reverb. the works.

plenty of power(no acoustic drummer is going to be able to compete with 100w of tube power and a 4x12 unless he's mic'd, and if that's the case there is no reason why you can't be too)

my wish list:
6 separate eq's... or at least 6 separate volume controls for each channel.

the midi module is the way to go... not only is running it with midi easier and cheaper than getting the stageboard, but you can do more with it that way. it's very easy to use.

amp1a- loved it... nice smooth cleans with lots of headroom comparable to a fender hotrod.

amp1b- liked it... good pushed cleans, likea classic 30 meets vox ac-30

amp1 overall- good range of clean tones.

amp2a- like it... nice zingy jtm 45 tones. but lacks in bass a bit.

amp2b- like it... sounds like a bass heavy version of amp2a, but also with slightly more gain.

amp-2 overall - not digging it... sure the sounds are great, but with a shared eq it's impossible to get good tones from both channels.

amp3a - hate it... just sounds like the same amount of gain as amp2b, but with more mud and no harmonic definition... i found it unusable for anything i do.

amp3b - makes up for amp3a's shortcommings. tons of gain, like enough to make a 5150 sweat. does the tight dying fetus fizz really well, but it's not a one trick pony. you can actually have tone in there too.

amp3 overall- sure why not... really dissapointed in amp3a, but with how amazing amp3b is and the range of tones acheiveable with the other 4 channels. it's not a huge deal.

reverb, sucks, noisey as hell, not switchable, the knob is on the back of the head. i can see why they took it off in the mkII's...

redbox DI, made some clips with it... nice. an amp you can run direct into the PA and still have it sound good.

never had any problems.

never had to contact them.

in the end. not my kind of amp.

basically it has to much to offer, that went to waste for reason's h&k could have avoided. they pretty much turned a 6 channel amp into a 3-4 channel amp. which in the end was still more than i needed.

i have a splawn pro mod 100 right now. as far as distortion goes, it spins circles around the triamp. but the cleans are just kinda there for show.

if you're looking for a good tube head with alot of variety in it. the triamp deserves a look.

I'm not sure what year mine was made, but I'm following up from last June. It only has one power amp and has 6l6's in it. This amp is, however, the most versatile tube amp existing (I can't think of any others that have all that this one does).

After gigging with it for over a year and on just about a weekly basis, I still absolutely love this amp!!! It still is fitting my needs perfectly!! I have, however, now gone to a MIDI setup (and, yes, the MIDI module is freaking expensive... I got mine for $210 shipped...) and this thing is great with MIDI! I only wish it would accept CC's to turn the fx loop on and off, but it won't. You have to tell it how to respond to different PC's, so I programmed it like this: Program Change 1 = Amp 1 Chan. A, PC 2 = Amp 1 Chan. A w/loop, PC3 = A1 CB, PC4 = A1 CB w/FX, etc. This works well for easy programming.

Overall, I'm satisfied with it, but I do wish it was more programmable (especially for $210!!!). I sold the Alesis Q20 and bought a TC Electronic G-Major and Roland GP-8 (GREAT processor for the money... I only paid something like $60 shipped! :), although I don't use the GP-8. The G-Major and this amp together sound GREAT, but I do wish the G-major was more transparent... that's a different review, though. ;)

I don't foresee me EVER getting rid of this amp! It is simply too versatile to not have in my future studio, even if I'm gigging with another amp (which is unlikely, but possible because I've started building my own tube amps, which means I can tweak them EXACTLY the way that I want them ;).

Also, this thing is very sensitive and dynamic. I LOVE that about this amp! I can clean up just about any of the channels by simply rolling back on my volume, but more importantly, I can hear and feel it respond to my playing, especially with a good guitar with good pickups. That's sort of a tube thing, but some amps are much better at this than others. I would imagine a lot of it depends on how it's biased (both the preamp and poweramp), but I've not done a whole lot of research on it yet. Regardless, this thing sounds awesome and is SUPER versatile! I love the flexibility of tones and, not only that, but I have yet to get a bad sound out of this amp! To me and for me, it's perfect!

Never had a problem, and don't forsee one as long as I do my part to take care of this thing.

They're German, which ultimately means hard to deal with simply because of the distance both physically and socially. That's nothing race related, it's just difficult to communicate. They have one major support center in the US, and I've talked to their tech Larry before, and he's been a help when I've needed him.

This thing is great. I LOVE mine and the only way I'd sell it is if I was selling it for enough to buy another one, but really I'm not sure I'd do that considering the personal attatchment to this specific amp. :) It's perfect for me and I'll continue to use it for as long as I can! I think I need to consider a tube change, soon, though. These have been in there a little over a year, probably, and I'm sure it's getting close to time to change. In fact, I've noticed that I'm not quite as happy with the sound after I took the tubes out and put them back in... it changed... so I'm sure that's a sign. :) These things are VERY expensive new (but if I had it, I'd buy an MKII to have along with my MKI... maybe some other day ;), but find a good used one and you'll be set! I personally think this would be perfect for guys in cover bands who just don't want the digital stuff anymore but need the flexibility.

custom built Stageboard Footswitch available for Triamp !!!!

Hello, my name is Steve, I am the same guy who made the footswitches for the Randall RG-100ES (read the user reviews to see comments about my work from other customers).

I work for a local music store, we have a Triamp which has been sitting there for years, and nobody will buy it because it doesn't have a footswitch. I know firsthand that these are nearly impossible to come by, as we searched all possible channels, as well as the internet (including Ebay). So I decided I would come to the rescue and build one.

This footswitch has 7 buttons, 6 buttons for each of the 6 channels channel, plus one to turn the FX loop on and off. And each button has an indicator light (LED) directly above it to show what channel is selected and whether or nto the FX loop is on or off. And further, the colors of the lights (LEDs) directly match the colors on the head(i.e. channels 1A and 1B have green lights, channels 2A and 2B have yellow lights, and channels 3A and 3B have green lights)

It works great, but the store owner doesn't want to pay me a fair price for it, so I decided to offer it on here instead to anyone that needs one. Here are some pictures of it.

http://easybestdating.com/triamp_footswitch1.jpg

http://easybestdating.com/triamp_footswitch2.jpg

My email address is rebel_rich@hotmail.com - please be sure to put either the word "footswitch" or "triamp" in the subject line, or else your message will be automatically blocked.

Hughes & Kettner Triamp (6L6 version), I'm sure you all know. This amp has plenty of features. Six footswitchable channels spread over 3 independent preamp sections all of which have their own 3-band EQ and a volume pot. A parallel and serial FX-loop, the parallel one is footswitchable and adjustable via a wet/dry mix knob. It also has a reverb, the knob for which is in the back. That's the only annoying thing about this amp so I'll stick to a fixed amount of reverb and use an extra rack-mount effect to add more. Furthermore, this amp can be MIDI-controlled as an option, you have to spend about 150 extra bucks to get a MIDI-module installed and it'll work fine with all your rack effects. The overall volume is controlled by a master volume, also the presence control gives you "control" over the high frequencies overall.

My main guitar is a Gibson Les Paul equipped with an EMG 81 in the bridge and a Gibson 490T in the neck position. So that's not too bad to begin with. The guitar goes through a Boss wah and an Ibanez digital chorus into the amp, which is connected to an Orange 4x12 cab loaded with Celection Vintage 30's. I'll shortly break down the channels:

AMP 1, channel A:
As clean as it gets, not even my active EMG pickup will distort it. It's by far the best clean sound I've ever heard from an amp. I guess it would sound a bit fenderish if not run through a 4x12 cab. It has way more low end than any Fender this way. This channel can also be driven hard if you turn the gain past 12 o'clock and actually produce a nice overdrive, too. Seriously, this channel makes my saliva flow within seconds!

AMP 1, channel B:
This clean sound has some more gain and sounds a little darker than channel A, I use it to play slightly overdriven country licks, if you crank the gain you can also get a decent dirty distortion you might use well for punk rock.

AMP 2, channel A:
Classic overdrive, very sweet, doesn't have too much low end. Many people here claim it can sound like a marshall jcm 800, my 6L6 version doesn't sound like a marshall at all. I have an AC/DC cover band rehearsing next door and the guy was not able to dial in the distinct AC/DC tone, not even close. But it still sounds great, has a lot of character. I'd still compare the sound to a vintage marshall.

AMP 2, channel B:
Has some more gain than channel A and a lot more bottom end response as well as less treble. I used to dislike this channel but now I prefer it over channel A. The reason is that it starts to sound good at high volumes. I figured that out when I started fiddling around with the channel's main volume and gain. Once you turn both up it sounds rich and vivid, also just as channel A it cleans out nicely when you roll back the volume of your guitar. Nice!

AMP 3, channel A:
Here's where my main rhythm work's happening. Sounds like polished channel B of AMP 2. Great distortion, even heavier and more modern. Responds greatly to palm mutes and delivers enough distortion for the most of us. Every note is well defined, very important if you play lots of power chords and do plenty rhythm work in general.

AMP 3, channel B:
I use this one with the gain cranked for soloing. It's amazing for all the heavy stuff, if you roll back the mids and boost bass and treble it gives you this scooped nu-metal sound. Boost the mids and roll back the gain for a good 90's metal or even grunge sound. It has about as much gain as a mesa rectifier and can sound pretty close to it - that's if you want it to. Even with the gain cranked every note you play is well-defined with a tight bottom end and screaming highs.

I bought it used so I had to replace the power tubes after about a year. It's now loaded with original Svetlanas! Haven't had a problem since. I never play with a backup. Maybe I should. This is still tube gear and you never know.

Had to deal with them once. Email them once, they never replied. I got the problem solved without their help so I don't mind after all.

I've been playing for about 8 years. This is the first professional amp I ever owned. I've heard a lot though. The other guy in my band plays a triple rectum fryer and his clean just plain sucks. Also the gain is not worth the money you have to pay for it. This amp gives you 6 completely different, almost perfect sounds.

This amp has a TON of features... they're very well documented in the review below this one. The versatility of this amp is DEFINITELY what sold me on it. I play in a Christian Metal band, as well as at church, and also in a Praise and Worship band that's kind of alternative musically. I sold my Mesa 20/20 and POD setup to get this and I'm not looking back! This thing is perfect for my needs. If I need a little bit more sound, I've got an Alesis Q20 in the loop. :) This thing has MORE than enough power with my Marshall 1960BV. I have NEVER used more than about 3/4's of the power in this thing. It's nuts!

Man! This thing has sounds galore! I'll break it up into the channels so it's easier to read.

Amp 1
Channel A: This channel is a freaking AWESOME clean! It's very bright without hurting the ears and has a nice solid bottom end. This channel rocks for putting a modified SD-1 in front of it and just getting an awesome cranked-AC-30 type sound. I love it!

Channel B: As most everyone has mentioned, there's a significant difference in volume as the gain goes up. I don't have a problem with the volumes because I just use the lower gain of Channel B and raise A a bit. B sounds extremely good and... lightly-crunchy, I guess would be the way to put it.

Amp 2
Channel A: This channel I don't use much. I think this amp overall reminds me of a Marshall cranked, but I've never played through a good tube Marshall, so I can't say for sure... lol. Sorry. Anyways, I find this channel to be too... not bassy enough. There's a lack of bass in this one. It could probably be great for some crunchy-power chords, I just don't have a use for it currently.

Channel B: This one I actually use at lower gain settings for a smooth crunch, kind of like crunchy peanut butter... heh. I really like the sound of this channel at high gain settings as an alternative sound to 3B (which is my main "heavy" channel). Very versatile.

Amp 3:
Channel A: For me, I can basically get Channel A to sound like B with a little bit of tweaking. The main difference is that B has an INSANE amount of gain, where as A has a good amount, but not as much.

Channel B: This channel blows me away! This channel can rip your face off!! It is honestly very brutal, but still holds a very musical sound and is very useful, even at insane amounts of gain. Let me put it this way, I play in a very heavy band and I NEVER turn the gain past 3/4! In fact, it's usually somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3's. It's nuts! And sounds awesome! I love it because it's heavy, but still offers me a different sound than the current fad (that I like... I'm not bashing nu-metal ;).

The only downside to this beast? The noise. :-/ This thing is VERY noisy! I'm looking at trying to get it to calm down a bit with a noise gate or two (one after the guitar and one in the loop).

Right now I'm using a Charvel CSM-1G (AWESOME guitars for the price... sometimes they can be found for $100 or $150... and play great!) and I've used an Ibanez lawsuit Les Paul from the 70's that sounded AWESOME through this amp! I've got an Ibanez SZ520QM on it's way that should be here by next Tuesday... I can't wait! Anyways, I am very pleased with this amp. It meets all of my needs, and those are diverse! I was *slightly* worried coming from a POD with 2000002907502908735 sounds in it to a "Triamp", but I am VERY glad that I did.

I give it a 9 for the noise, which is typical of tube amps, but I don't think this much noise should be! :)

I haven't had a problem yet in about 3 months of constant gigging and playing (it's honestly used probably about 10 hours a week or more). I am satisfied!

Well, I take back the last part... I did have one problem... the footswitch cable had a short in it (took me forever to figure out where), but I thought it was screwed because Channel A on Amp 1 wouldn't switch, and that's probably the channel I use the most. I shipped it to H&K USA and Larry tried it out with no problems, etc. Then I figured it out. Regardless, Larry was extremely helpful and patient with me and even did his best to get it back to me before a gig! I was very impressed with their service and am definitely relieved to know they have good customer service, something that seems to lack for a lot of companies.

I love this amp. I've been playing around 7 years and have had several amps and this one takes the cake! It's versatile and allows me to do what I need to do, all the while sounding awesome! One gripe is that the price is very high, especially for the new MKII's (even though they look freaking SWEET!). Another gripe is that the reverb is on the back, and that's VERY annoying when I need to make a slight adjustment and can't just do it from the front. BUT, there are 3 different amps on this thing and I'm positive knob real estate is at a premium... heh. Despite the aforementioned noise, I still have to give it a 10. It doesn't everything I need it to, and does it with almost perfect sound with the only reason it's being almost is because of my guitars!!!! :D Give this amp a spin if you get a chance! You shall not regret it! Also, I'm Godsguitarist73 on the boards if you need to contact me to ask a question or what not. www.uncondemned.com

I don't know what year the amp was made.. I bought it used from a friend. This amp has incredible features.. i'll give you the shortened version.. 8 preamp tubes, 5 poweramp tubes (4 EL34s and one 12AX7 to buffer) six incredible footswitchable channels (it's split up into 3 2-channel amps, each having two gain controls, one for each channel, and one EQ section) midi capability, red box direct out, 4 different impedance options, tight boost, like i said.. amazing features. the only things that make me sad are.. there's a master presence control instead of one for each 2 channels... the volume difference between amp 1 channel A and amp 1 channel B is significant.. making it difficult to set channel A for crystal clean and channel B for a nice bluesy breakup without dealing with a huge volume shift.. i wish it was 6 amps in one instead of three... none of these complaints are justified.. but the amp already has soooooo many incredible features that i start using my imagination and tend to go hog-wild.. but the amp offers more features than ANYthing in its category and certainly for the price i paid.. i got the head for 1000 used..

I am using this amp with several guitars.. mainly a gibson '60 RI les paul classic, a fender '89 floyd rose fat strat and a fender '97 american tele. all wonderful guitars.. the gibson has the stock gibson 496R and 500T buckers.. the strat's got 2 fender custom shop single coils and a DiMarzio PAF pro bucker.. the tele's got fender deltatone single coils. the triamp sounds great with anything i throw at it.. with different settings of course.. since i play the gibson more than the fenders in the band i'm in right now.. i'll give you a short breakdown of each channel with the gibson:
1A:
AWESOME clean channel. i like it as much as any fender i've ever played. chimey, bright, clear, beautiful clean tone. will break up a little at higher settings on the gain knob/higher volume. but this is a wonderful breakup. however, you can get a crystal clean tone at high volume by cranking the amps master master volume but leaving amp1's master volume and gain at moderate to low settings..
1B:
the definitive blues channel. sounds a lot darker than 1A.. this channel can also go from very clean to hotrod blues gain levels.. i use it with my neck pickup all the time. amazing blues tone. don't limit it to the blues, but that's what I use it for. Phenomenal.
2A:
This channel is the best deal i've ever gotten on a vintage marshall.. sounds cheesy but I mean it.. everything from plexi to mkII superleads.. it's all in there in spades.. sounds better than a lot of marshalls i've heard as well. maybe a little thin for some.. it's definitely not bass-heavy tone. it's vintage tone.. sounds like a marshall thru a greenback-loaded cab.. wonderful.
2B:
Now this sounds about like one of the newer JCM2000 hi-gain marshalls, only better.... warning, it CAN get bassy/muddy.. careful with your EQs.. except that this channel shares an EQ with 2A... which doesn't have much bass at all.. I just go ahead and EQ for 2A and then use 3A for my crunch.. speaking of 3A..
3A:
This channel kicks so much ass it's not funny. I think it's the most versatile channel on the whole amp. At it's highest gain settings, it's an AWESOME, smooth, full. singing, rich, detailed, just TONEful hi-gain sound.. it cleans up wonderfully as well. All the channels do this, but i like this one's the best. This channel also gets amazing lower-gain crunch sounds. i still use it for a hi gain channel, but it's like the cleanest hi-gain you've ever heard if that makes sense.. it's so detailed and clear..
3B:
this is the highest gain channel on the amp and oh my gosh. huge bass and over-the-top-gain, but it's SO musical.. as in it DOESNT sound like a triple rectifier.. it's downright evil. but so clear. Full open chords with extensions on top sound full and rich and CLEAR. you can hear every note! harmonics abound, pinch harmonics are easy to pop anywhere on the neck, HIGHLY musical feedback is plentiful and this channel is brutal. I am not kidding, I have been playing over 15 years and have gotten to try out most amps on the planet (with the exception of Diezel) and I am amazed. This channel does hum quite a bit at certain settings, i.e. high preamp gain AND high master volume.. but it's worth it for the tone. stand a little farther away from your cabinet. buy a noise gate. it's worth it. amazing channel.

overall, the amount of different tones this amp can produce, and the overall QUALITY of each tone are downright amazing. I have never heard such a versatile AND toneful amp. and it is DETAILED. and CLEAR. and WONDERFUL.

this amp has a separate fuse for each power tube. props to H&K for this. I have gigged withoug a backup before, but I wouldn't advise it. It's a tube amp. As far as construction adn roadworthiness, it's a brick. But just because of the fact that it's a tube amp, it can't be 100% reliable... but as tube amps go, she's a 10.

never dealt with them, got the thing used.

i've been playing for 11 years, i own too much other gear to list =) if stolen or lost, I would hunt for another amazing deal on this amp. I love the features, the tone, the solidness, the tone, the look, the vibe, and the tone. and the TONE. I hate the fact that I don't have two, to run in stereo. There's just a couple things I wish it had.. a better volume balance between 1A and 1B, a presence control for each individual amp, hey while we're wishing, why not 6 different eqs, one for each channel. not really. This is an amazing amp. HIGHLY recommended.

1997, the amp is one of my best buys,3 chanells with ab sounds,from fender to mesa sound i can get it all,1 fx loop,all souns + fx loop can be foot switch(with very weak cable),i wish that it would have midi support when you buy it

sounds are perfect, but i have 6 years old preamp tubes and i think that the ampis loosin its punch and its becomin muddy, i play modern rock with one band,and when i jam i play classic rock+vai... and some jazz..
In high gain its a litle noisy and feedback occours very fast but othervise is ok. Most of the time i use ch1a for clean,ch2a for crunch,
ch3 b for heavy stuff and solo. cLEAn is a litle bit distorted vhen yu pick hard

fotswitch cable is bad

I ve been playin for 10 years,nov im in semi pro rock band any-1 in slovenia, i owned a lot of other gear from marshal to digitech,pod...
but this head is real thing,I WOULD ONLY LIKE TO KNOW IF IT IS POSIBLE TO SWITCH THE CHANELS 1A,2A,3B, (WITH ROCKTRON REPLIFEX OR TC G-MAJOR-WICH HAVE CHANNEL SWITCHING OPTION) WIDHOUT USING HUGES MIDI SUPPORT PLEASE EMAIL ME if you got the answer: urosany1@email.si