Koch Studiotone 112 Combo

It's amazing what the people at koch put into this little package! Read the koch website for the exact specs; very versatile!

I play the studiotone in church, have the koch classictone at home. The studiotone has the typical koch sound, but sounds more like the classictone than the multi and twintone; less compressed. It reminds me of the classictone through a vintage 30 cabinet, but with less punch even though there's much more gain available. In my opinion the classictone sounds more refined and sweeter, but it's twice the price! (and wattage) There are no bad sounds from this amp, all the switches really make a difference in sound. It's loud enough for medium gigs and if not, bring an extra 212 cab and you're set. It's vintage and modern at the same time. What more can you ask for in a small tube combo? My new favorite small amp!

A description soundwise: fender blackface clean to pushed clean (bassman like but not as raw) Overdrive: a crossover between an older mesa and a jcm marshall. Not as gritty as the marshall, not as stiff as a mesa, but nicely inbetween. It's a classy 'neat' sound, it's not a barking old vox or plexi or fender tweed type sound. This amp is good for funk, jazz, blues, latin (like santana) 80's rock, 90's rock. Not raw enough for classic '60 or '70 rock for my taste (take one of the new hiwatts or marshall plexi clones or 65amps) and metal is possible but I think if you want a good metal amp; take the koch powerone or an engl.

feels really solid like all koch amps. I heard amp techs rave about the pcb quality of koch amps, and that if something goes wrong repair is easy. My koch classictone works fine since I bought it and I gigged with it once a week for a year: three stairs down, in the car, out the car, two stairs up, one stair down and the same thing reversed at the end of the night for a year. I guess the studiotone is no different?

Not all of my mails I sent were returned, but they seem to be very busy lately. Besides that: very friendly people!

I recommend this amp for anyone who's looking for a small amp that covers a lot of ground in sound. The extra features you're getting are a big bonus.

Bought this amp a couple of weeks ago. Dealer threw in footswitch and original Koch amp cover. Awesome features on this amp that was build in 2005 in The Netherlands :
- 2x EL84s in class A
- 20 Watts
- 3 Channels: Clean, Overdrive, Overdrive-Boost
- Passive Bass-Mid-Treble tone controls
- Two Voicing switches: Mid shift (2-way) + Bright (3-way)
- Single 12", newly designed VG12-60 Koch speaker
- 4, 8 and 16 ohm speaker outputs
- Speaker on/off switch
- Power Soak
- Line output,
- "To Clean Channel" output
- Recording output with speaker simulation filter
- headphones output
- Effects loop
- Accutronics spring reverb
- Footswitch input jack
Size: 44W x 23D x 42H cm
Weight: 15 kg

The amp sounds great through the Jensen built speaker, and also when using headphones. There is a powersoak which enables you to rock hard without disturbing the neighbourhood.

When I bought a Gibson Les Paul Standard in addition to my Fender USA Standard Strat I could not find the warmth and the depth in the tone I was expecting, so I decided to sell my Line 6 Flextone II to get a real tube amp. I mainly play at home, so I don't need too much power. I was totally hooked on the Hughes & Kettner 20th Aniversary Edition until my dealer suggested to test the Studiotone. Wow! Amazing tone. The clean channel provides the best tone I have ever found on any amp. Chords sound sparkling and bass tones rock! The Gibson sound is warm, and the Stratocaster really delivers the authentic Fender tone I thought I had with my Flextone. The clean channel starts to clip at 5, but the overdrive channel delivers a nice bluesy crunch, even at low volumes. The Overdrive + Channel is good for hard rock, nice distortion, never muddy. There is no noise, and don't expect a "pop" at switching; this monster is really silent when it has to. If youre style is trash metal this is probably not your amp, but I mostly play blues, classic rock and eighties hair rock and this amp really suits me well.

It is built like a tank. The valves are protected by a little cage so it is safe for us amateurs. I do believe it is save to gig without backup.

No need to deal with CS yet. The Koch website is very to-the-point. Try the FAQ to get an answer on The most burning questions about TUBES AND TUBE AMPLIFIERS, even if you are not considering to buy a Koch (hey, I was not considering to buy one until I took it for a testdrive).

I play for 20 years now. In addition to the LP and Strat, I still have my first axe, a 1985 Westone Spectrum, great guitar! I own a 15W Fender Champion solid state amp that I hardly ever use, but when my son grows up he can use it while practicing with the Westone. I use a Line 6 Guitarport for fun. I play a Simon & Patrick acoustic guitar and a beautiful Cort Artisan A4 bass through a Behringer BX1200 Amp. The Studiotone is a little dwarf with a big sound. If it gets stolen I will admire the thief for his good taste (and I'll pray that he will be arrested by a very violent cop). I'll bet that I will have it replaced even before the insurance money gets in! This is the best Amp I have ever heard. There are less expensive tube amps, but I do believe that price/quality is unrivalled. Congratulations to Dolf Koch, Holland rocks!

Features already listed by others.

VERY versatile features especially for a low power combo amp.

Use a 73 Strat and a newer US Fat Tele.

Amp is quiet. Clean Channel is very full sounding.

Distortion Channels are thick and unbelievable.

Intense tonal variation available.

Only complaint is the internal speaker. I was not very satisfied at first. Internal speaker was a little "cardboardy" sounding. Maybe that's why the guy who owned it before me sold it. Not very good.

Not bad for very quiet practicing, and actually used it with the internal speaker the first day in a very small club.

Sounded OK at lower volumes. Farts out at higher volumes using internal speaker.

So then I got home and plugged it into a 2-12 cabinet with a G12H30 and a Vintage 30.

HOLY CRAP! Like playing through a totally different amplifier.

This is an amazing little amp. VERY loud with those speakers. Amazing headroom on clean channel. Amazing articulation on the drive channel. The overdrive is nicer than a MESA. Not as much buzzy distortion. Very chunky. Palm mutes are focused but crushing.

You could play the average size club with this easily.

With the 2-12 cab, this amp can do Fender, Can do Vox, Can fkeep up with a rectified MESA in terms of sound (volume may be a prob, only 20 watts). I never use the mid heavy '80s Marshall sound, but it can do that too.

Jazz to Blues to Rock to Metal. Can do it all.

What's not to like. My new favorite amp.

Unknown. Just bought.

Unknown. Bought used.

Paying 40 years. Have had many Fenders, Tophat, Vox, Custom Handwired.

I have to say this right up there with the best of them.

A little better maybe because it is more flexible.

Bought it because a friend has a twintone. Heard that and thought it was pretty amazing after only a short listen.

Prefer lower power amps. So this is a better fit for me.

Wish it had a true extension speaker jack. As is I have to disconnect the internal speaker to connect cabinet. Not a big deal. Just pulling a jack out and putting one in.

Would buy again.

The Studiotone is aptly named as it has some great features for recording and can cover all music styles and do it right. The back panel is the feature rich area so let's start there. It has several inputs and is very unique in a couple of them. For instance you can jack in to the recording out (this is diff than the line outs) and select a switch that simulates a mic directed at the cone or directed off axis. You can also select if you want the recording out to simulate a 1x12 or 4x12. Another very neat feature is the 2 line outs. One is a standard line out while the second is for connecting to the clean channel of a second amplifier (mmmm the possibilites). But wait, there's more! What would you say if I told you they throw in a speaker on off switch? That's not all if you order today they will give you a headphone jack at no extra charge. This is all in addition to the standard FX loop and 4,8, 16 ohm outs. The front is easy to use- Channel switching with OverDrive plus it also has clean channel volume, OD volume with a drive knob, also Low Mid and Treble Dial. ButtWait that's not all It also has a Mid Boost switch, a treble boost switch and Accutronics reverb dial.... whew I am tired of typing. The best part is all of these features work and work well. I personally do not like the spring reverb but besides that this thing ROCKS. It has EL84's and when you kick in the OD plus, crank up the drive knob a little- wham, holy amplification Batman! I love the midboost in the clean channel to give that just breaking at the edge thick sound. Power? You want a kick in the pants? This little guy will do it! Very good for Blues, Rock and a thick jazz sound.

I play it with a PRS singlecut. It is the quietest amp I own. I have compared it with my Mesa and Blue Voodoo Crate as well as a Victorian and Fender. The distortion is what you make it. There are too many possibilities to go into but at it's dirtiest it's like a Mesa and it also has a cleaner, much gentler distortion I guess the best thing to say here is the drive knob really works.

I don't know that yet. I do know it has an extra fuse on board and the tubes do not have to be re-biased if you have to slap a new pair of tubes in.

No idea. I judge things alot on the quality of workmanship. Everything is tight and well manufactured

I am very excited about this amp. I cannot quit playing it and for good reason. It's rare to get an item and stay as infatuated with it as when you first got it, but I am.

- The amp was built in 2004
- 2x EL84s in class A
- 20 Watts
- 3 Channels: Clean, Overdrive, Overdrive-Boost
- Passive Bass-Mid-Treble tone controls
- Two Voicing switches: Mid shift (2-way) + Bright (3-way)
- Single 12", newly designed VG12-60 Koch speaker
- 4, 8 and 16 ohm speaker outputs
- Speaker on/off switch
- Power Soak
- The next 4 outputs take the signal from the speaker output: Line ouput, "To Clean Channel" ouput, Recording output with speaker simulation filter and 2 voicing switches, headphones output
- Effects loop
- Accutronics spring reverb
- Footswitch input jack (footswitch not included)
- Size: 44W x 23D x 42H cm
- Weight: 15 kg

The only thing i don't like about it, is that ists "only" 20 Watts

I use a Gison Les Paul Classic, standard humbuckers. I loved to play metal, and believe it or not, this small amp does the job better than a marshall. But -again- only 20 watts... With the gain turned up only a little, it makes a bluesy kind of sound, wich i love too. The (distorted) sound "cuts like a knife", and i mean that as a compliment. The distortion+ channel gives a real hardrocksound, and is never muddy, even with the gain on maximum. The clean channel is very clean, and gives an open, sparkling sound. The character of the guitar shines pleasantly through. It stays clean till high volumes.

Until now, no problems, and according to other Koch products, it must be okay.

I've been playing for 15 years now, and owened some Marshalls. 100watts heads, 4*12inch cabs.
I would buy it again, as soon as possible when it was stolen or lost.
Since i lost my Marshall-religion (I was a believer) i've tried (i think) most of the amp brands, (like Engl, Hughes&kettner, more Marshalls, Fender, Vox, Mesa-boogie and some i cant remember, not impressive) and ended up with Koch products. And in a direct confrontation the studiotone came out as winner. I love the sound, in combination with digital effects too.
But what i don't like is the small amount of outputpower.

Straight off the Koch website:
- 2x EL84s in class A
- 20 Watts
- 3 Channels: Clean, Overdrive, Overdrive-Boost
- Passive Bass-Mid-Treble tone controls
- Two Voicing switches: Mid shift (2-way) + Bright (3-way)
- Single 12", newly designed VG12-60 Koch speaker
- 4, 8 and 16 ohm speaker outputs
- Speaker on/off switch
- Power Soak
- The next 4 outputs take the signal from the speaker output: Line ouput, "To Clean Channel" ouput, Recording output with speaker simulation filter and 2 voicing switches, headphones output
- Effects loop
- Accutronics spring reverb
- Footswitch input jack (footswitch not included)
- Size: 44W x 23D x 42H cm
- Weight: 15 kg

As you can see tons of features. It's these features which drew me to the amp in the first place. I was looking for a good class A tube amp for bedroom practice and small gigs, and this one seemed to fit the bill perfectly.

First off: I do not own this amp! It was one of the many models in the ?800 - ?1100 price range I was experimenting with. My goal was to find a versatile amp which could cover anything from clean to hard rock and sounded good with my distortion pedals. On paper, this one had it all.

I've tried two of Koch's models to date; this one and the Twintone. If I had to describe their sound in one word, it would be "neutral". I used several Fenders (ranging from strats to thinline telecasters) and a Les Paul Studio. The clean channel is okay, but it just lacks real character. It doesn't sound nearly as good as even the cheaper Fender tube combos. I tried to add in some reverb to spice up the clean sound a bit, but to my horror, I found out the onboard reverb was terrible! Even the reverb on my cheap Marshall transistor amp sounded better. Definitely a let-down.
The overdrive channel is much better. You can take it from a bluesy growl to classic hard rock distortion. The last channel; the overdrive boost channel, was less impressive and sounded downright muddy with the Les Paul Studio I used with it. This channel is suited for modern hard rock and metal, though these styles aren't really my cup of tea. Still though, like the clean channel both drive channels lack a distinctive character and could be described as "dry". The up-side to this lack of tonal characteristics is that this amp very clearly expresses the character of the guitar you're using. It'd be the perfect amp for, say, someone who is making sound demo's of different guitars.

Its construction seems very sturdy, and Koch has built up a reputation for good reliability. However, since I just tested the amp I can't voice and opinion.

The bottom line is this amp didn't cut it for me. Here in Holland many guitarists are raving about Koch, and judging by the other reviews here on Harmony Central, you can't help but expect a lot from them. What I have noticed is that Koch amps seem to be favoured by veteran guitarists who want the character of their guitars to shine through without the amp 'colouring' the sound. Personally, I like this 'colouring'. I find nothing more enjoyable than playing some clean blues on a Fender Twin Reverb or Vox AC30, and ripping into some rock on a Marshall. These amps have a 'personality' which Koch doesn't seem to possess. Needless to say the Studiotone was eliminated from the test. I put it up against a Brunetti Maranello, which is more than ?100 cheaper, and the Maranello souned much better. Regardless, if you're one of those guys who is fanatical about your guitar, rather than the amp, the Stuiotone should definitely be worth a look.