Hughes & Kettner Triplex 112 Combo

Not sure wen this was made, but its now out of production.
its a 112 50w solid state combo, with 2 switchable channels (clean/overdrive)with gain controle for the overdive and one 3 band eq for both channels, independant channel volumes and one marster head phone jack, line in and out, and 3 amazing built in effects, reverbe/delay/chorus. each with its own contole settings eg volume/speed etc... think thats about it for features, as u can tell its an singing and dancing kinda amp!

i have several electric guitars, a jackson dinky, esp explorer, washburn dime custom, parker fly and a 70's epiphone les paul custom, i usualy use my dime or esp with this cos it has a wickedly bass heavey in ur face metal tone wen u crank up the gain and drop the midds! u can get a pretty soild pantera sound or metallica if thats wot ur into, but dont b tricked into thinkin this is purly a metal machine, i play all sorts of stuff, u can get pretty much anythin u want out of this with the exception of that classic marshall raw! but remember this is a solid state 50 combo n not a tube loaded head!
rite! channel wise! the clean channel can b anoyingly clean! as it dosent have its own eq! but if it goes past 12 o'clock (which is 0 on this?? it goes -5 to +5 no idea y?? dodgy german design for ya) u can get a litte kick out of the clean. this channel aslo sounds great with the addition of the built in effects, chorus is my fave by far.
as for the overdrive! wow! this can get any kind of distorted gainy goodness u can think off, but b wornd this amp has a large amount of natural bass, so dont just chuck in ur normal settings n expect the same results, this is a VERY sensative eq so take time finding ur sound.
the effects are also fantastic, these are extreamly high quality effects, these are not ur substandard muti effects pedal type, thse are compaireable to boss or even mxr effects! only problem with them is!! u can only use one at a time!!! and no foot controle of effects!
strange thing about this is it dosent really loose it at high volume as most solid states do! how ever if ur realy crankin this up stand well back cos u will get no end of feed back if ur facing ur amp!
but all in all a fatastic amp, wicked value, if u find one bye it then and there with out a thought cos i am lookin for everyone i can find i want a wall of these little monsters! fantastic! the only reason it hasnt got a 10 is because it dosent have the raw power of tubes or the power volume to gig anywer larger than a bar. but make no mistake it is a loud amp built like a tank.

no probelms at all, little dust in one of the pots wen i got it but easly cleaned out! had it for a good 4 years not a single lil hick-up

never dealt with them, no need! there website has manuals btw!

best thing i ever got! if sum1 took it they wud become totaly def like me!
this is a solid well made amp!
dont mess about with peavy etc.. this is classes above! u want better than this then u need a big marshall/messa/randall

Amp is ok for a practice solid state. Made in Germany, about 2001. Unlike other reviews, it is no comparison to ANY tube amp period. It has a clean channel, overdrive with an OD boost, and 3 effects. Delay (up to 1 sec), reverb (a little weak, but works) or chorus (with one adjustment for rate) for each of the 2 channels. Only one of the 3 effecfs can be used at a time. It's great for a bedroom setting or apartment/dorm. 12in speaker, 50W (solid state) and very light in comparison to it's size. Headphone jack, input and output jacks, and closed off back. Kind of bassey. Better than a Line6 Spider, but not as nice as the new Peavey Transtube Bandit 120 (all solid state amps in same price range of $300-400) Still no comparison to the Fender Blues Jr. (tube) in that price range. You can always get cheap effects out of a Digitech thingy for $50. It can get loud, but sounds terrible at high volume (as in most solid states) My point is that I'm not a tube snob, but this doesn't cut it in comparison at all.

Sounds good at conversational levels, bassey (good or bad?) Just don't gig with it. Not noisey. Distortion sounds are fairly decent, but not so much in a light overtone sense.

Seems dependable, but I certainly would not gig with it! Just lacking the quality in sound if cranked. It muddies out into a really bland blah

Bought used, no need to contact Mfg.

For a hundred bucks, you cant go wrong. If you plan on spending $400, buy a 15-30 watt tube amp. Even used, you can get a good deal on a Fender or Boogie that is totally gigable in the lowest of wattage. If it were lost of stolen, I wouldn't seek another one, but I would seek out another $100 amp of any mfg that deemed somewhat decent.

I think the model year was 2001. Refer to other reviews below for details or go to H&K's website. The face plate was black on mine, not chrome like the pictures indicate. Pretty versatile for an amp like this, I suppose.

Clean channel--fairly responsive, better than most.
Dirty channel--blues to 80s metal, not very smooth or fat.

My problems with amp: the soft clip, which makes a nice Fender-like overdrive, only kicks in when this amp is loud. Both the clean volume and the master have to be turned up before I really noticed it. The gain channel wasn't very smooth or fat, which I found strange because the Edition Silver I tried awhile back was very smooth and thick. As far as eq goes, I could not dial out the annoying treble. Admittedly, my guitar tends to be bright but I can usually tone it down some. My biggest complaint? The effects are a pain to deal with. The delay and reverb volume are the same control. Thus, there really is no way of turning off the effect on only one channel.
I tried to keep reverb on the clean and delay on the gain but adjusting volume for the reverb made the delay disappear. I tried using delay for both channels but I could not balance the two; the proper amount for the gain channel was too much on the clean.

BTW-I use a Mex Strat with neck ('59) and bridge (Anderson HN2+) humbuckers.

Didn't own it long enough to know. Seemed sturdy.

Wouldn't know.

I wanted a pick-up-and-go gig/small amp solution. No deal. The amp is loud and actually improves with volume, that isn't the problem. I just couldn't balance the two and the tone wasn't good enough to justify messing with it. Like I said earlier, the gain on most Attax and Editions are very good. I didn't care for this gain, it was on the buzz saw side.

1999 German made solid state amp; 1x12 Celestion speaker; headhones out; line out; line in, footswitch (not included); 2 channels, 1 clean,1 overdrive; 1 EQ (for both channels); 3 'Pureton Effects', 1 chorus, 1 Reverb, 1 delay;

The amp is very loud and has the best sound i ever heard from a solid state amp! The EQ is very sensitive, small turnes influence your sound alot. The effects are good. They can be turned on/off by footswitch and there can be a different effect for each channel but effects cannot be combined. Reverb is good (standard reverb), chorus is good but you can't make it run really fast (e.g. like Korn). The clean channel is very loud and you can get those tube like clip sounds if you put the master vol. low and the clean volume very high. The overdrive is the best solid state overdrive in the world! Never heard so smooth sounds! Its suitable for (hard)rock, blues but not for real heavy metal like Blind Guardian. There is a 'mode switch' which lets you choose between a very hard AC/DC like overdrive or a smooth sound. The Triplex is build like a tank. I carry it around a lot and believe me, if you threw it out of the window it wouldn't get a scratch. The footswitch is not that good. Got broken a few months ago...

The amp is very loud and has the best sound i ever heard from a solid state amp! The EQ is very sensitive, small turnes influence your sound alot. The effects are good. They can be turned on/off by footswitch and there can be a different effect for each channel but effects cannot be combined. Reverb is good (standard reverb). Chorus is good but you can't make it run really fast (e.g. like Korn). The Delay is nice too, has a delay vol., a delay feedback, and a delay time knob.

The clean channel is very loud and you can get those tube like clip sounds if you put the master vol. low and the clean volume very high. The overdrive is the best solid state overdrive in the world! Never heard so smooth sounds! Its suitable for (hard)rock, blues but not for real heavy metal like Blind Guardian. There is a 'mode switch' which lets you choose between a very hard AC/DC like overdrive or a smooth sound.

I play a Epi Les Paul and a Telecaster. My style is rock, early heavy metal like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and the Triplex is the right amp for those style of music. It's a little bit bassy (especially with the LP) but i love that. Besides that it can be very aggressive for solos and lead guitar. With a little experience the amp has a very big variety of sounds. The smooth overdrive is a little bit noisy when i play live on high volumes but that could be because of the crap pickups in the Epi-LP ;). There are no other sounds like swinging or rattling.

You can totally depend on it! THIS AMP IS A TANK!! I use it as a live amp and gigged with it alot. It never broke or got damaged

I never dealt with H&K but you get a customer card which provides you with 2 years varanty. Never had to use it....

Since i live in Germany its not very hard to find an authorized H&K dealer :).

But watch out for the footswitch. Its crap. Mine broke after 3 years, a friend's one broke earlier and he didn't even gig with this amp. Right now i'm trying to get a spare part from H&K that i can repair it myself.

I've been playing for 8 or 9 years now and played some 2 Fender solid state amps and a Roland tube amp before. The Triplex is a lot better than the Fenders. Well, the Roland was a tube amp, nothing more to say...
I love the Trilex for its variety of sounds, its ability to sound like a tube amp and that it can be so damn loud. But remember, ITS NOT GOOD FOR HEAVY METAL!!
The effects are standard, good for the low price if the amp. But if you want real good effects buy them extra. Nevertheless I only use a Dunlop CryBaby, nothing else.

If this amp was stolen I would cry, beat the hell out of someone and buy me a new one.
I only whised the footswitch was included....

2001 German made 1X12 solid state combo. To all you Line 6 people out there, this is not a modeling amp. It is a great sounding amp with a great variety of sounds, nice clean chorus, loud hard distortion. Very loud amp!! The knobs adjust the sound very well with only slight turns. I wish it came with the footswitch.

I have used several of my guitars through this amp and I am amazed at how much bass this thing produces. Too much actually. The overdrive channel is NOT distorted enough to play Pantera,Slayer metal, but it is plenty enough for most hard rock applications. Go to the website and get an idea of which artists use them. I am only using this amp as an in home practice amp, so it is perfect for me. However, I would not select this amp to use in a band practice setting. I am a firm believer in tube heads with a 4X12 cabinet,I don't just mean a Marshall stack. This combo has a hell of a lot better sounds than my Marshall ever had, but it just wouldn't work in a setting where loudness and clarity are needed. But Hughes and Kettner use the term "technology of tone" in their slogans, and they are right. This is the best sounding solid state amp EVER! Forget about all those cyber-twins,line 6's, johnson's. For the price, the sound is AWESOME!

I have only had it for 3 months and have had no problems. I will re-post in the future if there are any problems

Not used them

I have been playing for over 17 years. I have owned nothing but tube amps and combos. I listened to many different combos before I bought the Triplex. The price is right. The quality is excellent. The sounds are great. The features are great. The speaker sounds awesome. For a solid state amp, I was surprised. What a tube-like sound this thing has. After having the Marshall sound for so many years, it sure is nice to have the different tones the Triplex offers. Go and listen to it and you too will be convinced.

Sounds excellent for a solid-state and is very easy to transport. There is no Speaker out which may be a problem for those of you who like to jam loud. For shows, just mic it. The effects work great for the money and you get a pretty good selection of distortion for the price. I know, I know it's not tube, but for a third of the cost of the same sized amps, what more can you ask for?

I use a fender usa strat with a stacked seymore duncan pick-up in the bridge setting, which allows me to get loads of sustain out of this little 50w. The amp tends to get a bit noisy if you stand in the path of 5feet of it (this could also be due to the crappy wiring that i have in my apartment building. The clean sounds on this puppy are nice and bright. With a little bit of toying you can get pretty much any distortion out of it as you desire. Although at low levels it sounds much like a tube, a little kick back of fuzz to deal with. I traded an old Marshall Valvestate 80 (first edition) for it. I love the versitility of this amp, considering my Marshall had: Distortion and Off.
(All you Marshall fiends quit whining, i owned a few and thier clean channel has always licked, get over it)

I've only owned it for 2 months, let's hope it's great.
Has a good reputation in Europe (let's remember that Europe is a pretty large place although we might not be able to see it from here *l*) German built.

Damn. I live in Canada and have been trying to order a foot switch for the past two months. I know this is not H&K fault and that it is a problem with the distributer, but its been a royal pain in the ass to get a footswitch. They need more than 1 distributer in Canada. We're not all eskimos, Toronto and Surrounding areas population is around 4-5million.

I've been playing for 10 years, own A fender USA strat, A Gibson Standard SG, my H&K amp, Yamaha P.A.
If this Amp got Stolen I would buy it again for an amp in this price range (can't be beat). Has cleans like Fender, Distortion like just about anything and it smokes about any amp in the same price range. If you live in Canada (unless you live in Montreal) ask your dealer about the possibilities of owning a footswitch. Other than that, BUY IT!

Bought recently so it's probably a 2001. 50w tranny amp with 2 channels and 2 overdrive modes on the 2nd channel. Onboard digital effects. The effects can be assigned to each channel but only 1 at a time. The reverb and delay are conventionally adjustable but the chorus can only be adjusted for rate...not depth. Still, they are good quality effects. The speaker is a celestion. The whole thing is very lightweight. There's an effects loop and a headphone input. The footswitch (channel and effects on/off) isn't included. Stingy buggers.

I use telecasters thru it (American series and a JD) and I'm amazed by how good it sounds. It's louder than I expected too so I brought it along to a gig and tried it out. 3 songs in I switched back to my Fender Hotrod Deluxe tube amp. It just didn't compare to the tube amp in a live situation. At least not with a 'real' drums and bass band. It didn't have the same depth and response. The next week I was out with a different outfit which uses keyboards and backing tracks and the Triplex fit in better than the tube amp. So, as a home, practice or recording amp or in a 'digital' situation it's fantastic but in a live band situation it's like all the other tranny/digital gear....not as good as a tube amp in my opinion. The response just isn't the same.
As a tranny amp with excellent clean and overdriven tones I'd give it a 10, but since since the adverts imply that it's as good as a tube amp I'll take off a point because it isn't. I'd prefer if ALL the amp manufacturers stopped all the 'tube emulation' sort of hype and just said that they were selling good quality solid state amps. I'd respect them more for it.

It's German and seems well engineered so I feel confident about its reliability.

?

I've played since 1969 and I've used lots of stuff. I currently do wedding/pub fare in the west of Ireland which means abit of everything. I only use teles now since I like the versatility and response and the Fender HR Deluxe tube amp for the same reason. I got the Triplex as a lightweight practice and backup amp. I'm happy with it overall. I sit at home playing with it everyday and I love the sound and the effects. It's well worth buying. It won't replace a good tube amp in a band but for what it is it's great.

i like the amp and the features it has.
i play a am.strat and a tele. got screwed out
of the footswitch. play blues,rock ect. the ONLY
bitch i have is that you can't get anything on a
trade in or outright sale. this is a killer combo.
and i don't understand. i just a bigger amp and don't
need another practice amp.

clean is extremely clean, delay could be longer
reverb is sweet as hell as with the chorus.
distortion kinda fizzles at high volume.

i would take it anywhere. never failed me yet.
(i said not yet)

never had to use it yet, but when i do i hope they
are there. not too worried about it.

i've been playing 12 yrs. i aheve 3 am.fender guitars
i might get another one-unsure
love the sounds-hate the re-sale value, if you can get anything!
compared to fender 112, peavey bandit.the hughes had more features.
the recognition it truly deserves and maybe the damn footswitch!

Everything in this category has pretty much been covered. I'll add that the effects are great sounding & easily adjustable. I bought this amp for it's clean channel which to my ears sounds wonderfull & very player-dynamic. I've never used an amps dirty channel for distortion anyway. I think it's a great deal and I only wish that it had an extension speaker jack. Otherwise, it's perfect. If you're looking for a smaller/lightweight amp that sounds terrific & is pretty damn inexpensive...this is it. Oh yeah, It sould come with the FS-2 footswitch. Make sure it's included.

I play an early nineties American Telecaster that's been modded w/ a 73' Gibson mini in the neck and an American made Hamer Duotone. As I said, I bought it for the clean channel which is great. The effects sound great & are very easily adjustable. I have a small arsenal of effects that use so I'm not sure how often I'll use the amp's efx in a live setting but they are great to have. I intend to use this amp as a stand-alone amp when playing at home etc... and then using it as part of a stereo set-up live.

Well, I bought it new & have not had it long but it sounds/works perferct and I don't forsee any problems.

I've been playing a long time. Mostly playing a melancholy textural/psych/spacerock style involving delays, verbs, loops etc... I'm into gybe, Sigor Ros as well as Spain, Tindersticks, Nick Cave etc.. (note: secretly, I love playing clean-tone blues as well!). If this amp were lost or stolen, I'd like to have another one. Actually, I'd like to have two of them now. What I love about it is the tone, the weight, the features & the value. I did try out some other combos and this one came out on top.

I am fairly sure this amp was made sometime in 1999 or 2000; I bought mine from Musicians Friend as a blem, but I cant find anything wrong with it internally or even cosmetically. I play mostly rock and I need sounds that range from clean to drop D heavy distortion type stuff and this amp covers the ground perfectly. This amp is a 1X12 closed back combo(rare for combos but becoming more common) whoch gives great bass response. All of the controls you need are on the front panel but who doesnt want the footswitch? The footswitch should have come with the amp but what are you gonna do? It has an effects loop, but I dont use it because I cant afford an effects processor, nor do I want one because of this amp's effects. Its got reverb, delay and chorus. Each effect is assingnable to one channel and only one can be used at a time. I would have rather had tremelo instead of delay or chorus because i dont use them much but what can you do? This amp also has a headphone jack...pretty standard on most amps. I play in a band setting but we arent playing big places yet (new band). We did do an outdoor concert and the amp's 50 watts were plenty loud. Obviously for bigger places you will need more power or to mike it through the PA. This amp is solid state, but is a really good solid state. There is also a Mode switch that changes the distortion to a higher gain option. This mode also has a lot of bottom end added to it. Big gripe here...the mode needs to be footswichable. Dont get me wrong, the channels are, but if the Mode setting were made footswichable this amp would basically be a 3-channel amp and that would REALLY set this amp apart and that would be really really good. EQ is bass, mid, and treble...shared by both channels. Beautiful amp...my girlfriend even likes the way it looks.

I play through this bad boy with a Godin LGX with the Tetrad humbucking pickups. This are more warm sounding than the new Seymour Duncans they use, and in my humble opinion I like the Tetrads better, which is good for me because that what I have. To the amp...Since this beasty is a closed back combo it puts out a ton of bass. Great for some, not so great for others. I happen to like it and it really gets the tone out there. This amp suits my rock style perfectly...clean channel goes everywhere from twangy to warm and thick. Turn up the clean channel volume and overdrive snaeks in...they call is "Soft-Click." I absolutely love this sound. I set the clean volume right at 12 so when I strum softly, it warm and thick and clean but when i punch it it sounds slightly overdriven...Just Fantastic. responds much unlike a solid state, more like a tube amp. It can sound cold at the wrong setting for the guitar, but use the EQ and you can fix it no prob. Which leads me to another point...this amp respondes really well to the type of guitar you use. My godin sound is much different than my friends Tele. This should be expected but a lot of solid state amps tend to make all guitars sound the same. A definite plus for the amp. The only noise problems are at high gain high volume settings...most amps do this...no problem. My guitar isnt grounded right at this time anyway, so its quieter than I actually hear. Ok, now to the distortion. With the mode button NOT pressed in, Mode 1 we will call it, the amp gives a nice ragged distortion. vintage maybe? I dunno I'm not old and hung up on stuff from the 60s that breaks downand blows up all the time. This Mode runs from almost clean to a nice angry distortion...oove it. In Mode 2, with the Mode button pressed in, the sound gets thick and smooth. A little noisy on this channel but NOT A BIG DEAL. This channel has more gain than I use so this amp fits perfectly for me. Not for heavy metal though...but does work well for hard rock fringing on heavy metal (Metallica, Tool, Godsmack). The distortion goes from nice and purring to brutal. Great sounds all the way through. There is one flaw with this amp I cant stand...the line out and headphone jacks are absolutely horrible. I think this is because the Celestion speaker is a big part of the preamp load and the overall tone of the amp...without it it sound just nasty, cold, and just flat out unusable. I know most line outs sound bad though so I guess its not that big of a deal. Too bad the headphone jack sounds just as bad...a lot of electronic hiss and noise. BUT THIS IS NOT WHY I BOUGHT THE AMP. I bought it for the sound out of the speaker (Duh). I mike the amp for recordings and larger places and it sounds AWESOME. For smaller places you dont need the mike though because this amp will make your ears bleed no problem...its mean and wants to hurt ears. But it sound awesome! doing it.

Well, I have had this amp about 4 or 5 months and it hasnt given me any probems. I will let you know if it does. The input jack sounds a bit hollow and I would prefer more of a thick click when the cord goes it it but I dont think that the reliability will be compromised...just personal opinion. I would be careful with the knobs...they really arent protected..they stick out from the amp at a 45 degree angle, so if you are clumsy and drop it on those knobs you are stupid and dont know how to use the very sturdy handle on the top of the amp and shouldn't be handling good equipment anyway...secondly, this amp it light...so you should never have a problem with the amp dropping.

Havent really dealt with them but they have a really nice website with manuals and lots of other cool things. They dont seem to be in many stores though, but authorized dealers are fairly close at hand. Warranty is one or three years...dont remember...should be longer. Crates have a 5-year warranty. For the money, this amp should have a longer warranty, but again you wont need it...its sturdy and dependable.

I have been playing about 2 and a half years now. Thats not long, but I am a huge gear fan and I play different stuff as often as I can, so I feel I can give a fairly good review. If it were stolen God help whoever did it if I found them...nuff said...i love this amp. If I had to get another amp, I couldnt because I dont have much money...what can you do right? But for the price this thing is awesome. I would look at maybe a Line6 Spider but they cost a lot more and the footswitch is like 70 dollars on top of that. So I would most likely get it again. Love the tone, versatility, feel, response, look, weight...everything except the Mode button not being footswitchable and I absolutlely cant stand the line out and headphone jack. Overall, I bought this amp for the sound out of the speaker and that what I love...and I will mike it until the mike falls apart, because this amp will be around for a while.