Not a lot of love for the tubemeister round here…seems like the general consensus is that they are a bit lifeless. But people are using them so they can’t be all bad.
I kind of fancied the 18w head for a backup and home use amp. I used to have a Trilogy and I kind of liked it but it had this kind of ‘clean even when dirty’ thing which I didn’t like. I think that’s what people refer to as the “H&K HiFi” sound so I guess the Tubemeister is probably very similar. Mind you, I think the thing that put me off the Trilogy was more that it sounded a little bit harsh on the highs. Plus it was incredibly heavy. I once had to carry it through a couple of fields to an outdoor gig and I thought I would lose the use of my arm!
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Very light, really versatile, great emulated out, nice having the attenuator. Reverb would have been nice on the head version though. Second hand prices are getting pretty tempting actually.
Sounds, not my cuppa. But then again, it's not more offensive than a Marshall plexi (sounds fine, but I'd have no use for it at all).
I'm actually looking to change my gigging amp at the moment (Marshall Mode Four, nuff said), and I'm considering either the TubeMeister 36, a second hand Trilogy, or splurging on a GrandMeister 36, any opinions?
My band - Crimson on Silver For sale - Blackstar HT-5S
Gear - Guitars, amps, effects and shizz. Edited for Phil_aka_Pip, who is allergic to big long lists.
I do like the cleans though and mainly stay on that channel using decent pedals into it, and it takes them very well. The in-built Red Box, Power Scaling, giggable volume, light weight and portability made it a no-brainer for me.
You need to turn the treble down on the overdrive channels and whack the middle and bass up to get a good sound - the EQ works in an odd way and setting everything to 12 o'clock doesn't necessarily sound good.
I also used to have a H&K 20th Anniversary combo. Also nice. Also can't remember why I got rid. Honestly, I need help.
I think those two have a thicker sounding, creamier overdrive than the blue range.
I'd love to try the Triamp one day to see just how different it is.
I had a black one which (I thought) looked even nicer. It was quite a slim combo which made it very portable but it still sounded huge.
It looks like H&K haven't really replaced them in the range - focusing more on the blue stuff.
I think people slated them because (gasp, horror!) they used some solid state clipping.
Sounded great, though.
I'm wondering if it would run out of puff in a band situation though. I had that problem with the rebel 20 - it held it's own ok until I needed a solo boost, then it just had nothing left.
Wonder if the 36 is worth the extra wonga.
All the demos of the Stonehead I have heard sound very 'hard' to me...not much warmth in there. But the good comments it gets make me think that might just be the quality of the demos.