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MGR/Niki N « Hughes and Kettner Tubeman 2 Recording Station »
Published on 01/31/02 at 15:00I've purchased the unit through Internet from a German distributor of Hughes and Kettner Products /Musik Service Gmbh/. Because Hughes & Kettner are German based company I decided that it will be the cheapest way, besides that I live in Europe and the shipping costs are kept to the minimum as well. The total cost, including shipping and custom duties was around 320$.
Before that I've tried Tubeman as a live preamp directly plugged into a PA system in a guitar shop in Denmark. The tone and feeling was great. And as soon as I came back home I ordered it /Denmark is not the country where you can buy gear cheap/.
This unit has 3 switchable channels. Clean, Crunch and Lead, all of them sharing common EQ with Bass, Mid and Treble controls. Lead channel has a voicing control, which realy changes the tone of the preamp from mild lead to "blow-the-windows" heavy lead sounds, but preserving the character of the guitar.
Clean channel is great - it has awesome dynamics, which can be controlled just with the picking technique /just like with a real amp/. Max the guitar volume and it breaks-up nicely, back it a little and it is godly clean.
Crunch channel on the other side is aimed towards blues,classic rock. It is very full and fat sounding without "over-the-top" gain. Just enough to get early Santana or AC/DC tone, depending on how you set it.
Lead channel is the one that should be used for heavy leads. It doesnt has the massive amount of gain that Messa Triaxis provides, but has just enough to pill the paint off the wall. As a huge Extreme/Nuno Bettencourt fen I can get almost every Extreme sound with Tubeman and my Washburn Nuno Bettencourt signature guitar.
Not noisy at all, except on the Lead Channel, which is easily removable by any Noise Suppresor.
It would be nice if it had some MIDI implementation there. For switching the channels, enabling/dissabling the EQ.
Solid German Craftsmanship- all shiny sturdy metal. It is built to last forever. I own it from a year and it doesnt have a scratch.
Overall this is great,great,great recording preamp. It is primarily designed for a recording preamp and there is where its best. But if you want three big sounding amps in 10"x10"x5" box live on stage, with no doubt it can be used as a very professional sounding unit.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
Before that I've tried Tubeman as a live preamp directly plugged into a PA system in a guitar shop in Denmark. The tone and feeling was great. And as soon as I came back home I ordered it /Denmark is not the country where you can buy gear cheap/.
This unit has 3 switchable channels. Clean, Crunch and Lead, all of them sharing common EQ with Bass, Mid and Treble controls. Lead channel has a voicing control, which realy changes the tone of the preamp from mild lead to "blow-the-windows" heavy lead sounds, but preserving the character of the guitar.
Clean channel is great - it has awesome dynamics, which can be controlled just with the picking technique /just like with a real amp/. Max the guitar volume and it breaks-up nicely, back it a little and it is godly clean.
Crunch channel on the other side is aimed towards blues,classic rock. It is very full and fat sounding without "over-the-top" gain. Just enough to get early Santana or AC/DC tone, depending on how you set it.
Lead channel is the one that should be used for heavy leads. It doesnt has the massive amount of gain that Messa Triaxis provides, but has just enough to pill the paint off the wall. As a huge Extreme/Nuno Bettencourt fen I can get almost every Extreme sound with Tubeman and my Washburn Nuno Bettencourt signature guitar.
Not noisy at all, except on the Lead Channel, which is easily removable by any Noise Suppresor.
It would be nice if it had some MIDI implementation there. For switching the channels, enabling/dissabling the EQ.
Solid German Craftsmanship- all shiny sturdy metal. It is built to last forever. I own it from a year and it doesnt have a scratch.
Overall this is great,great,great recording preamp. It is primarily designed for a recording preamp and there is where its best. But if you want three big sounding amps in 10"x10"x5" box live on stage, with no doubt it can be used as a very professional sounding unit.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com