Hughes and Kettner Triamp Mark II: Any users?

[nightlight]

Thinking about picking up one of these. Any users om the forums who can give me the skinny on the Triamp MkIII? I've never owned an H&K amp, so quite interesting in trying one out. Does not seem to be anyone's top pick for metal, but I do note that Alex Lifeson uses/was using one.

 

[MadAsAHatter]

I haven't played specifically a Triamp, but have tested a few other H&K's and have a Tubemeister 36 (which I don't really care that much for). My experience has been that H&K sits in a rather odd area. There's this hi-fi quality to them that can sound great on its own, but is sorta out of place in other context.

For example, it sounds good for high gain surgical precision, but put it in a thrash or modern metal mix it comes off a sterile. There's no aggression or rawness to it. It's kind of the same thing with low gain or clean tones. That hi-fi quality hurts it. It's too sterile to sound good in a classic rock setting where you want some bloom. Similar with a clean tone. You can get some real pristine cleans, but it comes out as too clean; almost robotic. Hopefully that makes sense.

Considering the price of a Triamp (3-4K used) I think there's better options for your money out there. Keep in mind this is just my take on the couple of H&K's I've played. Other specific amps that I haven't tried have a better reputation of not being as sterile. The Warp X/T and Coreblade seem to be better received. And if you still want to give a Triamp a go, I suggest looking for a MK2. It doesn't have as many bells and whistles as a MK3, but of the revisions they seem to have the best reputation for tone and can be had for a lot less that a MK3. In fact; there's a MK2 at guitar center for about $1300.

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/H...3607a7626ebe07e&algoliaIndexName=guitarcenter

 

[NinjaRaf]

I've played each iteration of them, but not extensively, as well as a Tubemeister Deluxe 40 (which I owned). They are definitely not my thing. They have a very recto-ish low end. Big and loose and bloomy. With a boost, they can do metal just fine. Cleans are really great. That's all I got lol.

 

[Al Chapo]

I gigged with a mkii for a long time in 2 bands, one similar to older Gojira style and another Sludge. I absolutely loved it. It has a really good clean channel. The 2nd channel is pretty underwhelming for the Marshall sound imo. You can get some nice chunk out of it, but I agree with what's been said about the hi-fi sound and lack of bloom. I could never get it to sit right in a mix. The 3rd channel is pretty much all I used it for. It's pretty much the boosted recto sound no matter where you dial it. It still has its own flavour, like a touch of 5150, but I couldn't un-hear the recto.

I got mine used and some dummy oversized the fuse by 5x and she got scorched. I'd get the thing serviced at least once a year the whole time I had it. H&K's customer service swore me off the company.

 

[nightlight]

Thanks for the info. I am indeed looking at the MKII version, so fingers crossed that it is something I like. I have never even tried an H&K amp, so really curious.

 

[BlueParfait]

Thinking about picking up one of these. Any users om the forums who can give me the skinny on the Triamp MkIII? I've never owned an H&K amp, so quite interesting in trying one out. Does not seem to be anyone's top pick for metal, but I do note that Alex Lifeson uses/was using one.

I've owned a Triamp Mk1 (my first 100W amp) and I've played the Mk2 as well as the Mk 3.

It's not a top pick because they quite frankly sounds thin and weak. This is not an issue when double tracking, but I do think they sound really thin and weak compared to say, a 5150, a Marshall, a MESA or even an ENGL. It sounds like what would happen if you took an SLO and neutered it.

The clean channel mogs all of those aforementioned amps though.

 

[Rackman]

Honestly I feel like they're a brand that competes on price in Europe that aren't common in the US because there are better options. Not to insult anyone's favorite amp or whatever but the usual complaint is the gain channels are "thin" and I agree. When they're priced similar to or above Bogner, Soldano, Friedman, Mesa, high end rack etc. I don't think they're going to win many shootouts.

Resale is weak, so if you do like them you can get on board very inexpensively and maybe they make sense that way. It should be possible to pick tri-amps up for about $1000 locally from time to time depending on where you are.

 

[MadAsAHatter]

When they're priced similar to or above Bogner, Soldano, Friedman, Mesa, high end rack etc. I don't think they're going to win many shootouts.

^^^ This.

 

[nightlight]

Honestly I feel like they're a brand that competes on price in Europe that aren't common in the US because there are better options. Not to insult anyone's favorite amp or whatever but the usual complaint is the gain channels are "thin" and I agree. When they're priced similar to or above Bogner, Soldano, Friedman, Mesa, high end rack etc. I don't think they're going to win many shootouts.

Resale is weak, so if you do like them you can get on board very inexpensively and maybe they make sense that way. It should be possible to pick tri-amps up for about $1000 locally from time to time depending on where you are.

Interesting. Maybe I should bail on the guy. I'll definitely do a rethink. Thanks.

 

[nightlight]

Came across this video. Sounds pretty interesting to me? All my recordings are useless anyway, lol. Can't see the amp getting in the way of that!

https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervi...066772CAA9DE5DCF557E066772CAA9DE5D&ajaxhist=0

 

[Rackman]

At some point it becomes each person's own artistic judgement. That video's not really my style but I don't think I would be at all impressed by the isolated guitar track. But I do think it's fairly representative of what a tri-amp plus Universe would sound like. So if it's what you want, the decision's easy because the amps are cheap.

I'd do a serious think on whether you'd want that or a 3-channel dual recto for a couple hundred bucks (used) more. The recto is pretty much the gold standard for that sort of thing, and IMO a very under-rated amp for other styles too.

 

[rsm]

Years ago I was seriously considering a H&K Coreblade vs Switchblade; didn't buy though.

Toki from Aldious (now disbanded) is one of their signature artists (also an ESP signature artist) who uses H&K amps; another is Tommy Thayer who had a signature amp.

They seem to work well in their band settings, but they don't use the Triamp.

Toki is the one in pink, with her sig ESP and sig pink H&K

 

[BlueParfait]

Years ago I was seriously considering a H&K Coreblade vs Switchblade; didn't buy though.

Toki from Aldious (now disbanded) is one of their signature artists (also an ESP signature artist) who uses H&K amps; another is Tommy Thayer who had a signature amp.

They seem to work well in their band settings, but they don't use the Triamp.

Toki is the one in pink, with her sig ESP and sig pink H&K

Yeah like half of HK artists are in Japan lol

@nightlight this is my problem with these amps

note how she's pretty much buried by the other girl, who is using a Kemper.

A tube amp that gets buried by a modeler isn't something I would be interested in. In fact, I sold my TriAmp after jamming with my friend, who was using a 5152.

For comparison





IMO the other amps compared in these vids just sound better lol

 

[rsm]

Yeah like half of HK artists are in Japan lol

@nightlight this is my problem with these amps

note how she's pretty much buried by the other girl, who is using a Kemper.

A tube amp that gets buried by a modeler isn't something I would be interested in. In fact, I sold my TriAmp after jamming with my friend, who was using a 5152.

For comparison





IMO the other amps compared in these vids just sound better lol

I wouldn't say buried, but I'd say Toki's tone is thinner with more mids vs Yoshi who has fuller tone...and Yoshi uses H&K amps, that she modeled in her Kemper. They do this to get some separation/distinction between the guitars; it sounds more balanced on their studio recordings. IMO