Music Man HD-130

My hd-130 was made around 78'. It's an earlier model with a 12ax7 driver in the pre amp, and though this means it runs quite hot at high volumes, it also provides a more tactile feel when compared to the later models. It has two channels, one for guitar, one bass. I usally a/b the two, so i can exploit the extra equalization this offers.
This varient of the 130 has no reverb, nor tremolo, but considering how little "colouring" the amp gives your signal, this is no loss, especially for a heavy pedal user such as me. At 130 watts (as the name implies) this amp is also quite loud. i have never had a problem powering a venue without aide from microphones. There is no channel switching, nor effects loop, and obviously ( this is a professional head, not a practice amp!) no headphone out. However, there is a 8/4 ohm switch, and a power reduction feature, which apparently lowers the amp to about 100 watts. I would not, however, employ this feature often, as it seems to harm the tubes. Speaking of tubes, this monster consumes 4 el-34's and 1 12ax7 at the rate of about one set every 4 four years. of course, you could probably get as much as 20 years out of the tubes (mine had the originals) but i tend to play it safe.
Versatility? You bet! I play quite a varied mix of music, and i never have a problem finding the right tone on this amp, provided, of course, you have an external means of overdrive, for the hd-130 has the most hilarious version of distortion you'll ever hear!

If the distortion is pathetic, why did i give it a 10? i'll answer you: there's no 9.5! true, the hopeless clipping the 130 delivers would make scrooge laugh, but when i employ a vox valve ton, or my route 66 in front, the sounds are terrific. the clean tone, however, need no such aide! mr. showman? eat your heart out! anyone who loves a thick clean sound should check these things out. Simply superb!
for the record, i play mostly avant garde rock, on my g+l asat classic, and on occasion heavier smashing pumpkins style rock on my us strat.

let's say if i dragged the amp to a gig behind my car, i wouldn't worry.

they're gone, man. ernie ball is clueless, but at least they can provide you with a schematic. i wish someone ( ahem g+l) would reissue these. i want every model...

if i lost this thing, i would get another. if the replacement wasn't as good, i'd jump off a bridge.

My dad bought the MM HD-130 amp head in about 85 or 86. It's basically a clean tube amp, with really excellent tone quality. There are two channels, normal and bass, each with two input jacks for stereo input. The amp has a ton of power, at a Master Volume of 10 and the channel volume at 3 you could easily project very loudly in an outside setting. The only bad thing about the features is that it lacks tremolo or reverb.

I have a '79 Hamer Sunburst with the original Zebra pickups still installed and this amp sounds great. You could turn the amp up all you want and still get a very clean, crisp sound out of it. However, if you did that you might blow out you and your neighbor's windows, cause this thing has power. It's insanely loud. The amp is excellent for blues, jazz, and rhythm playing. If you set the channel volume to 10, and the Master volume to a very low setting, you can get an amazing clean overdrive sound.

Built like a tank, never had to replace the tubes. I would definately gig with it without a backup.

Music Man is completely out of business now so...

I've been playing for a while now, and I have yet to hear a clean tube amp head. I would be terribly dissapointed if it were stolen. The only thing I don't like about it is its lack of built in reverb. I'd recommend it to any blues, jazz, or rhythm guitarist, but not necessarily to a hard rock one. The overdrive is good for a cleaner lead style, but not so hot for a really grinding lead. I'd buy an extra one of these if I could, just in case. An excellent deal.

Bought as 6-month old used amp @ 1977. Played Fender Jazz Bass, styles from roots black/white to "country rock" to rock of that era, club dates, some fairly big rooms. Completely filled the bill. Replaced chintzy original stamped frame speaker with Gauss. Not as smooth top as SRO; but easily compensated for with mid/treble tone controls. Amp was a little hissy if you turned it way up (lots more than I ever used on the job), and the distortion using the master vol. was kind of useless, but all I wanted was clean power anyway, which this amp delivered in spades. Had somewhat of an appetite for tubes, but not as hungry as Fender Showmen, about like B-15; only problem was replacing four at a time. But I was fussy. Port design of single 15 speaker cabinet very important.

Used with Fender Jazz, Precision (stock and Duncan Q.Pounders), and G&L L1000 bass. Great clean sound, used for roots (blues, country, country rock, standards) Only noisy when treble, volume cranked louder than I want to stand next to. Makes beautiful smooth tube bass sounds. Lets player use sounds in the bass, reproduces them very well. Never used distortion "for real". Mention cabinet design for bass--never had to turn it up to cover a room, never sounded mushy on stage, ever, quite unlike Fender Showmen, Bassman(s) and B-15's. Unique tapered port design worked absolutely great.

replace tubes when sound goes off, 100% no problem. A refrigerator. Use the standby switch at break time to save tubes--mandatory.

not an issue, unfortunately (wish G&L had brought these into "modern times").

Retired for over 15 yrs. Wouldn't really need to replace it, but old friend would be missed. Only drawback was size of speaker cab. But the way it worked, well... Have recently heard Ampeg Blue tolex 1-12, 1-15 amps that would certainly be easier to lug, and nice not to replace tubes. But for that time, the best thing out there, by far, incl. Sunn S-series, Acoustic, Kustom, etc etc. Unmatched for projection of clean, smooth bass sound.

130/100w solidstate preamp, valved driver and power amp. Two channels normal and bass. no switching, no fx loops or line-outs ect.
Both channels have a "bright/normal" switch and for both there is a deep/normal. (You'll leave it on "normal" and "deep". On my amp the 130 is written "One Thirty" and it's one of the earlier models with a 12AX7 for driver and phase splitter. I wish it had a reverb and also a few more 12AX7 instead of the LM307H based preamp. the tone controls have quite a good range.
It is very loud and one of the quietest amps I have owned. It really lets you see how noisy some effecte units are. Some more features would be better so I'll give it 6

I use a fender strat with "lace sensors"
some of the sounds are not very versatile, Nice clean, but the distortion you get is from the solid state preamp. The distortion is not smooth like a Marshall. (I made a small modification which sorted this out to a large extent). The amp is very bright so I tend to use the treble at about 2 the mid at ten and the bass at about 5.
Use a effects pedal distortion and set the gain at about 6.
As is I give the sound 7. after I tweeked it.. 9

Very well constructed. I've had no problem with it at all.

MusicMan name is owned by Ernie Ball. They can supply a schematic
but that's about it. These things are very simple and any technician
should be able to make repairs.

I've played for 13 years, own a Marshall valvestate.
I decided to increase the gain of the driver and reduce the gain of the preamp to get rid of the chunky solid state overdrive. You have to watch that you don't make the thing louder as you won't have a hope in hell of getting another output transformer!
I get a very nice smoother real tube overdrive with the mod.
To be on the safe side I don't use it on high as it puts a higher voltage on the plate and some EL34's don't like that too much.
email me if you want details of the mods I did.

hi everyone. I beleive my HD-130 was made in '78; Aerosmith used them on their 78-79 world tour, and mine looks just like the one i saw in a picture from that tour. Not an extremely versatile head, but it does have plenty of options. Two channels, bass and treble, each has a bright switch, bass, mid and hi controls, and the bass channel has a deep switch. no channel switching, loop, headphone, or any of that garbage. My head doesn't have any bells or whistles in it, no reverb or tremelo, and it is the only one i've ever seen without them. This thing is ear-splittin, especially when used in a full stack situation.

I am only using humbuckers at the moment, and they are in guitars i built myself. I've been playing in punk/ska/reggae band with it for about three years, and it's always served it's purpose. The amp doesn't make as much noise as i expected, especially for being as loud as it is. I was having problems getting enough bass response when i used the guitar side alone, so now i use both channels at th e same time. the independant gains make sound blending extremely easy, and being able to use both channels at the same time is just great. i Can't seem to get the levels of distortion that i feel comfortable with, but it will do if i forget my distortion pedal or something.

I put a matched set of groove tubes in it, and that is the only maintenance it has ever needed, except for the time it fell of my speaker cabinets. i just unscrewed the back cover, pushed the tube that fell out back in, and played the show. it still sounded the same. Did i mention that it's loud?

ernie ball has never responded to any of my requests.

I've been playing guitar and bass for about five years, and i have the music man, a guild thunderbass head that is absolutely stunning, and an old silvertone that, as my dad says, "sounds just like a marshall". I use two Hartke 4x10 cabinets, a peavy 4x10, and an old Kustom 2x15 cabinet. Thats right, all bass cabinets. it just sounds better. My other amps aren't nearly as loud or dependable, so i would be pretty depressed if the MM got stolen. If anyone has any info about my head, (remember, no reverb or tremelo) e-mail me.

this amp has two channels they are not foot switchable. the bass channel has 2 inputs and treble and bass controls, the guitar channel hass deep and bright switches, gain and master volume, bass treble middle, reverb, tremolo intensity,and speed. it has two cabinet outputs, switchable ohms 4-8 stand by. I wish the trem and 'verb weren't seperate foot switches. its a hybrid and it has more than enough power.

I use a gibson epiphone with a dimarzio humbucker(steve's special) Kinda metal but light in the quietparts and heavy in the heavy parts. I got it cranked gain 6 half and master 10!!! so its got this hum. this amp is extremly versatile if you use floor fx (distortion). I like the clean kinda dirty it gives it balls. the distortion would be alright for blues and rock stuff but thats it i use a boss metalzone and a boss distortion (DS 1)

This is the only amp I own its Heavy duty I.E(HD 130) it ways a whole tonne. its wicked I totally don't worry about it, i have only changed the tubes once so its not hard on tubes i have sovtek 12Ax7 in the preamp and I have a PM matched quad in the poweramp. never been serviced, reverb kinda cuts in and out other than that I trust this amp more than myself.

Company went under to ernie ball and they no longer make these

I had this monster for 1 year not to long but i push my stuff hard Its cranked to the limit, I am actually looking for another one I have this amp EQed to my distortion pedal so the clean isn't as good. so I want another to switch back and forth from cause the clean is awsome

Dead-simple. Two channels: One w/ volume, bass and treble controls (dry). and one w/ vol., bass, middle and treble controls, reverb and tremolo (foot swithced a la Fender Twin). The usual MM hi/lo power switch. 130W in 'hi' mode, around 100W in 'lo'. A very nice and clean spring reverb and a convincing tremolo effect. This is the way I like it - no mumbo jumbo!

Loud and *clean*. I like to have my overdrive effects in my pedals, so this is a plus for me. However the sound is a bit on the bright side but the eq. can be tweaked to help. I use it with the MM 2x10" cab for smaller gigs and with a stack of MM 4x12" + MM 2x12" (with the bass port). With a straight sound it is just as good for jazz as it is for rock. Perhaps Music Man is not the best for the heavier stuff, but for Stones and such it is great. I give it only 9 because there might be some hand built thing that can beat this out there - but I doubt it.

For the ten years I've had it I have changed tubes twice, and the only time the amp has failed me was just after the last tube change. It was the driver tuber that had recieved a blow under transport. When it was changed the MM started spit and scream again.

Well, MM has been out of production for some time now - I dunno. Check with some of the other MM reviews.

MM is not that expensive in the used market here in Europe. The MM amps give fine value for money. I am seriously thinking of buying another one. And I got my bass player to buy a MM bass head after he had tried my head (my amp head!) with his Marshall cabs. Another plus is that they are quite easy to fix yourself.

The amp has two channels, marked normal and bass, each with volume, bass, middle and trebbel controls. the only difference between the channels appears to be one capacitor associated with the bass control. The tone control range is the classic Fender treble/bass bosst. mid cut style.
The mains power switch has two "on" positions, one each for "Hi" and "Lo" power. Standby switch is on the back panel.
Tube complement is one 12AX7 for driver/phase splitter and 4 x 6CA7 output tubes. Front end is solid state, based on LM307H op amps.
The output stage runs on approx 700V on the "Hi" power setting, meaning that not all currently available EL34/6CA7 tubes can be safely used as replacements. Select new tubes carefully or go for NOS 6CA7 for reputable makers.
The chassis is bright plated (nickle I'd guess) and in my amp showed no sign of any corrosion at all. The chassis mounts into the head box in the tradional Ffender tubes down manner.
Internal construction is a mix of modern and traditonal. The pots are all mounted individually to the front panel and connected by wire to other circuits. The solid state front end is on a well made fibreglass printed circuit board with socketed op-amps. The power supply and tube components are on eyelet boards or mounted on the tube sockets.
I use this amp primarily for bass is Blue club settings and it covers this role very well.

Power rating on "Hi" is 130W RMS, which is mostly clean power. This amp shows the classic output tube/output transformer sonic interaction (i.e. it sounds like a tube amp) but does not go easily into the classic Fender overdriven tube sound. It's basically designed to be a loud clean amp and it does this very well.
Since I use it for bass, this suits me very well.
Note: Music Man "HD" series maps come in two flavours. If the model number is in script ("One Thirty") it used a tube drive for the output tubes. If the number is in numerals (130) it uses a solid state cathode drive for the output tubes. These two different drive technologies do soudn a bit different, but both fall into the "loud clean" category.

The amp is VERY well put together and when I got it was still running on all the original components except the tubes. I replaced the electrolytics (4 high voltage, 5 low voltage) as aprecaution but that wa s the only maintenance necessary.

Music Man amps have not been made for quite a long time.
On the off chance I e-mailed the Ernie Ball company asking if they could help me with a schematic for the amp, even though they had not continued the Muisc Man amp business. They promptly replied that if I proved the chassis number of the amp they would send me a schematic.

I'd been looking for a nice clean "Fender" style bass head to use on those occassions when a "output tube" sound was needed (I normally use SWR heads with a tube pre-amp for a "hi-fi" transparent sound, but occasionally something different is called for). I'd looked at various 60/70s Fender Bassman heads etc but most were in indifferent condition and need extensive work. The HD One Thirty is much better made than the Fender alternatives and meets my needs very well... plus the price was right.
I have no hesistation in recomemdning the HD One Thirty to any one looking for a medime power, reliable bass head with the output tube sound.

The amp does'nt do the high-gain Marshall thing. At th same time, it doesn't get very clean. I just replaced the 4 El-34 power tubes, which greatly improved the sound. There are 2 channels, one for guitar, and one supposedly for a bass. There is no effects loop or reverb. The amp is an excellent blues-rock amp when paired with a TS-808 tubescreamer. It definitely has enough power at 130 watts. The solid state preamp section is'nt very good, so I have been considering putting in a blackface Fender tube preamp.

Like I say,an excellent blues-rock amp. The amp is anly noisy when you are on a low setting in the giutar channel with the bass channel on a higher setting. the only good sound on this amp is a nice Fender Deluxe style breaking up clean. The distortion is nothing like a Marshall, but very chunky. It sounds best with a Les Paul, or the neck pickup of a Strat.

The amp is built like a tank. the chassis is very strong, and the solid-state preamp is very reliable. It has never had any problems with reliability.

Music Man is no longer in business, but is now owned by Ernie Ball. I called them to try and geta a schematic, but they could'nt help me. Has anyone got the schematic??? Any response would be appreciated.

The amp is great, not in terms of versitility, but in that one great sound and in reliability. I wish it had reverb, but that is not a big deal. It was a good value for the money.

The HD 130 power head had all the gain and power anyone could hpoe for. It has two channels with an A/B switch and an effects loop on the back. The overdrive was a bit too crunchy when you really cranked it probably because it was an older piece. I used this amp with my Univox 4x12 cabinet with Celestions in replace of the old ones. I used a Yamaha FX500 for sound generation. This amp is half ss / half tube with 130 watts of power.

The HD130 was perfect for my style. This amp has incredible gain and unbelivible smoothness and softness at any volume. I used my processor on the amp's clean channel and got some great sounds. When set to clean, the amp was silent at any volume but buzzed alot with overdrive. This amp is for someone who wants a superb clean sound and external effects generation or someone who needs termendous amounts of gain at a low price. The overdrive is very crunchy but is decent sounding at the right settings.

YES!!! this amp has great durability. Its heavy, sturdy, and reliable. My amp has never once had any problem. This amp is true right to the end.

I was never in need of customer service. No warranty was given to me because I found it in an attic of a neighbor. Your best bet for service is just to tke it to a local electronics repairer.

Yes, if I saw one again for the price I paid, I would snag it. This amp is great sounding, clean, sturdy, and LOUD!!! The only think notably bad was the buzzing from the effects loop. If you find this amp for under $200 and are in need of some serious sound, invest into it.