Hughes & Kettner TubeMeister 36 Combo Amplifier

PermanentWaves

Thinking of upgrading from my Blackstar HT5 and saw this amp:
Hughes & Kettner TubeMeister 36 Combo Amplifier

I'm playing more ow with a band and likely to gig again soon, so the extra power appeals. Also, the powersoak feature that allows me to play it as if it was 1 watt, etc, ;eads me to believe I can use this as a bedroom amp for practice.

Anyone got one of these and care to comment?

Cheers
Mike

johnnyurq

Not got one myself but like the look of them having owned a Switchblade and Tubemeister 18.

But here is a thread from someone who bought and is using one, maybe ping him a PM.

http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/15901/belated-ngm36d#latest

Kebabkid

I've got the head and H&K 1x12 cab and they're good, versatile, well-spec'd amps. I spoke to H&K's product specialist before I bought mine and Thomas Blug and they recommended this set up over the combo and said to "their ears" it sounded better. Try both and see for yourself. The sounds are pretty generic and I prefer to run pedals into the clean channel (quite spanky if you want it to be) and get my overdrives from various pedals but there's nothing wrong with the Crunch and Lead channels. 

The head weighs 17lbs- mad for a loud 36w amp and there's enough general volume and clean headroom for gigging. You can use it for recording straight to a unit via the Red Box Speaker Simulator or take a line out to a desk and the PA. If you've speaker cabs at rehearsal places, all you need do is turn up with the head. However, although the 1x12 new is on the pricey side, it's the best 1x12 I've ever heard and it has a lot of thump to it and doesn't sound as one directional as some units.

Bright Onions make a good channel switcher which works well on these.

gearaddict

H&K seem to be good at making 1x12 cabs which sound a lot bigger than 1x12. Not sure how they do this. I have a cheapo H&K Edition Blue 60 combo whcih sounds very nice and I added a speaker input so I can use it as a handy 1x12 cab for other amps. It sounds surprisingly good, even though it is nothing special - just particle board. It has a Jensen speaker in it, which is a bit unusual for H&K I think - they tend to use eminence.

Monkeybone

johnnyurq;334225" said:

Not got one myself but like the look of them having owned a Switchblade and Tubemeister 18.

But here is a thread from someone who bought and is using one, maybe ping him a PM.

http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/15901/belated-ngm36d#latest

That's me that is, unfortunately I can't really comment as mine is the GrandMeister rather than the TubeMeister. I can say though that 36 watts is definitely loud enough for gigging, and the powersoak is ridiculously helpful for not annoying your neighbours. I am loving my GM, it has all the sounds I need and loads more if/when I do need them.

Dave_Mc

1 watt might still be pretty loud

if you're ok with using the master volume it should be ok. then again if you're ok with that virtually any wattage should be ok.

johnnyurq

Monkeybone;334558" said:

[quote="johnnyurq;334225"]Not got one myself but like the look of them having owned a Switchblade and Tubemeister 18.

But here is a thread from someone who bought and is using one, maybe ping him a PM.

http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/15901/belated-ngm36d#latest

That's me that is, unfortunately I can't really comment as mine is the GrandMeister rather than the TubeMeister. I can say though that 36 watts is definitely loud enough for gigging, and the powersoak is ridiculously helpful for not annoying your neighbours. I am loving my GM, it has all the sounds I need and loads more if/when I do need them.[/quote]

@Monkeybone

That'll learn me for looking late at night with my shitty eyesight, I read it as Grandmeister for some obscure reason. DOH!!!!



OP I had the 18 watt head and it was a really nice amp and only moved it on because I wanted just a wee bit more headroom due to a proper loud tubthumper in the band. I used it with a 2 X 12" Celestion Vintage 30 loaded Harley Benton cab. Thye seem to sound a bit nicer to my ears through V 30's and I think all the H & K TM cabs have V 30's

Would love to get the GM36 in due course and it is good to hear from Monkeybone that it is still floating his boat and survived the honeymoon period and all that jazz.

Monkeybone

johnnyurq;335170" said:

Would love to get the GM36 in due course and it is good to hear from Monkeybone that it is still floating his boat and survived the honeymoon period and all that jazz.

It is a mini beast of an amp, sounds so much better than my old Marshall, and so versatile. The icing on the cake is that the GM36 app that was initially for iPad is now available for Android too.

johnnyurq

Ooh you are a very bad man @Monkeybone and tempting me into some GAS. 

Actually I have been trying to justify an excuse to get one since they were available and they are not too much more than their TM36 siblings.

The fact I loved my Switchblade and this looks to me to be their modern take in it means I do want.

Cheers for the info dude, it is always best to hear from actual owners.

PermanentWaves

Thanks everyone for the answers. Just got back from hols and forgot I'd posted the question. Really helpful - thanks.