The one thing I always loved about all the H&K tube and spirit amps is that no matter how much gain you have on your sound their amps still remain crisp and clear. The gain doesn't cause their sound to become fuzzy and diluted like it does on a lot of other brand amps.
Sag is related to the power amp being driven "too far" such that it starts to compress and sag. You'll notice things actually get quieter when the knob is all the way up. You should also notice that it's like you're using a very heavy compression pedal. Essential, if the gain dial is the "overdrive" for the pre-amp, the "sag" dial is the overdrive for the power amp.
@@resqgear1918 I'm a sucker for the HM2, personally. But nah, it does have good gain for metal, but I imagine an 808, super overdrive, or tube screamer before it would make it really squeal
Nice reviews on these little beasts! I'm thinking of getting the Vintage to plug into a 2x12 4ohm 160w Marshall cab I have for the metal band I'm in. The idea is to have the gain at about 10-12 o'clock and use a MT-2 as a distortion boost to effectively have two channels. 1: kinda clean 2: Dirty. Think that would work and would it be loud enough for gigging? Cheers!
Definitely would love an updated video of the Metal one with a down tuned 6 string EMG loaded guitar or a 7 string guitar with Fishman Fluence pickups and maybe some overdrive pedals like a BOSS SD or a Tubescreamer, I feel like that way a lot of modern Metal bands can really hear how well this amp works in a bedroom studio setting. I loved the video btw and the amps all sound great!
I just recorded the Metal one the other day and its coming up on sunday. Unfortunately i dont have any EMG or Fishman loaded guitars. I did throw a tubescreamer in front of it though! 😊 Oh and thank your for your kind words! Means the world to me! 😍
Nice Video! Great playing! I alreaddy own 4 Hughes & Kettner Amps and looking forward to getting the Vintage or Metal version of this! Sagging is the power amp saturation. I love the Sagging on my Black Spirit 200! It sounds like a Plexi on 10 with my Vintage Marshall 4x12! Greetings from germany
@@resqgear1918 I just ordert the Spirit of Rock at Thomann! My fifth Hughes & Kettner amp...cause they all sound great! Thanks for making such an excellent demo of these amps!
ResQ Gear I know. Small but loud! (and great sound) 🤘My Bassist laughed about me cause of the tiny Black Spirit 200 in the cute handbag...as I turned it up to 9 o clock on the Master Volume he really was schocked!!! It was to loud for him!🤣👍
@@resqgear1918 Sorry. But those amps do not look aesthetically the same. Different colored control knobs and different font style for the name of each control. Btw, what guitar model is that (Gibson) ?
Which one of them do you want me to that with? Unfortunately i already shot this video so it's hard to redo haha. And i also already shot the spirit of vintage. I'm just curious which one you were talking about :D
Ok great but a question? Is there a phase issue on the cabs you are using ?? cuz i think it sounds like you do idk it maybe me :/ and how does the Rock clean up when you lower the volume knob??
I do hear something. I am recording the Captor in stereo, but I dont hear it as a phase thing. I hear it like 2 guitar players. It should be something along the line of the Mimic from TC Electronic if i understand it correctly 😮
Why is it not a good idea to plug a reverb pedal into the front of the amp? Other comments say it is not a good. I plug a reverb pedal into the front of my Fender Bassbreaker 007 and it sounds fine to me.
Well the thing is, as soon as you start cranking an amp and you are getting overdrive from the preamp, then your wet effects gets distorted as well. Sometimes that's what you want, but usually you want clean effects. Your effects gets rather chaotic with overdrive after your pedals, but that's not to say that is what you are looking for. The Bassbreaker 007 is a rather fine pedal platform as it doesn't distort too much when playing it a bit loud. Of course with valve amps, there's gonna be a certain threshold before the amps starts going into overdrive :D Remember, there's no rules in music, so you can do whatever you want! :D
I agree! Every one wants the sounds of the big amps, but in a lightweight package. Its not so much the size of the 100 watt Marshalls i dislike personally. Its the sheer weight of those amps. Cause deep down, we all want the Marshall wall behind us haha!
@@truthfactreality6814 yeah okay! I love the small yamaha amps! They are so great. They are not super loud, but thats not what you are looking for when buying one of those! 😄
Sagging is when the amp won't properly pull up it's pants!🤪 Sagging, generally refers to a tube amp, when it's turned up all the way, the power supply falls behind a little bit,"fractions of a second", where the amp seems to breathe. The imperfection in the power section creates a sound where the touch of the player seems to make the amp's sound come alive, sort of like how a singer's vocals aren't perfectly linear, but his/her voice becomes softer and harder depending on the note, speed, and force at which the vocalist sings.
SAGGING: Maybe finally someone read Hartley Peavey's essay about how tube guitar amp sound actually gets created by a string of historical circumsances... this aspect was modelled for a long time in the Vypyr amps / other Peavey transTube amps, next to other aspects. It is a momentary dropping of power due to underdimensioned transformer & other aspects of power supply circuitry to cut costs in early days, that happens especially when old amps were cranked all up. So that would be, originally anyway, a power amp aspect. But to now have power amps almost die as a normal part of playing, I guess this would be modelled in different ways by newer amps (and when I say modelled, this can be in any way, modelling does not imply digital). The momentary dropping 8and going back, and down again... depending on what the signal currently does) creates an alive seeming amp with varying distortion / overtone characteristics from one split second to the next. I get it in theory - but I have not consiously observed the effect in conjunction with sounds let alone play with it in a circuit where I could deliberately and precisely control that one aspect, so, i, too, cannot *exactly* say what you should hear. But maybe my rough estimate makes sense enough when you play with it (also depending on how they modelled it, of course. amp + effect makers have all sorts of funny labels on their knobs...)
FX Loop 🔁 ???!!! No Send and Return???!!! I‘d buy the Vintage-Amp to play it slightly crunchy, but I‘d get a crunchy reverb and delay because I have to get straight into the amp.... WHY?! Even an Orange Micro Dark has an FX-Loop. Disappointing, I‘d buy one immediately if they‘d just had the Loop.
Hey Robert! I understand your frustration! Im no expert bud I'd believe these are aimed at a younger, non touring audience. I would prefer an fx loop as well, but I just got done shooting a video of the Spirit of Vintage and running pedals through the amp. It Will be out sunday if you want to check it out! 😄
I do like the spirit of vintage but no fx loop? Come on...with that amount of money you can buy something more versatile. Today even much cheaper toy amps have some kind of reverb or delay...
You think so? I tried it against 3 valve amps i have in my studio, and I think they sound very much like a valve amp! 😄 What you might think is very digital could be the Captor X! But that is digital so i would guess that would make sense 🤷🏼♂️😄
The one thing I always loved about all the H&K tube and spirit amps is that no matter how much gain you have on your sound their amps still remain crisp and clear. The gain doesn't cause their sound to become fuzzy and diluted like it does on a lot of other brand amps.
I totally agree with you! 😱
Sag is related to the power amp being driven "too far" such that it starts to compress and sag. You'll notice things actually get quieter when the knob is all the way up. You should also notice that it's like you're using a very heavy compression pedal. Essential, if the gain dial is the "overdrive" for the pre-amp, the "sag" dial is the overdrive for the power amp.
The cranked gain on that spirit of metal head is pretty cute. Through an 808 in front of that and really test it out
You think that is cute? 😂 What is brutal gain to you my friend? 😱
@@resqgear1918 I'm a sucker for the HM2, personally. But nah, it does have good gain for metal, but I imagine an 808, super overdrive, or tube screamer before it would make it really squeal
Yeah im sure it would! 😄
Nice reviews on these little beasts!
I'm thinking of getting the Vintage to plug into a 2x12 4ohm 160w Marshall cab I have for the metal band I'm in.
The idea is to have the gain at about 10-12 o'clock and use a MT-2 as a distortion boost to effectively have two channels. 1: kinda clean 2: Dirty.
Think that would work and would it be loud enough for gigging?
Cheers!
Definitely would love an updated video of the Metal one with a down tuned 6 string EMG loaded guitar or a 7 string guitar with Fishman Fluence pickups and maybe some overdrive pedals like a BOSS SD or a Tubescreamer, I feel like that way a lot of modern Metal bands can really hear how well this amp works in a bedroom studio setting. I loved the video btw and the amps all sound great!
I just recorded the Metal one the other day and its coming up on sunday. Unfortunately i dont have any EMG or Fishman loaded guitars. I did throw a tubescreamer in front of it though! 😊 Oh and thank your for your kind words! Means the world to me! 😍
@@resqgear1918 excellent! I can't wait man! And you're absolutely welcome! Keep up the good work!
That intro sounded damn good for no pedalboard. The Vintage is exactly what I’m looking for.
Thank you so much! 😍 I just did a video on the vintage! And if you end up buying the vintage, you are not gonna regret your purchase good sir!
Nice Video! Great playing! I alreaddy own 4 Hughes & Kettner Amps and looking forward to getting the Vintage or Metal version of this! Sagging is the power amp saturation. I love the Sagging on my Black Spirit 200! It sounds like a Plexi on 10 with my Vintage Marshall 4x12!
Greetings from germany
Thank you mate! You will enjoy either or of those amps! They are great! And thank you for the sagging clarification! 😁
@@resqgear1918 I just ordert the Spirit of Rock at Thomann! My fifth Hughes & Kettner amp...cause they all sound great! Thanks for making such an excellent demo of these amps!
Well im happy for you! Enjoy your new amp! Be careful though! It looks tiny, but it's loud and huge in sound! 😱😎
ResQ Gear I know. Small but loud! (and great sound) 🤘My Bassist laughed about me cause of the tiny Black Spirit 200 in the cute handbag...as I turned it up to 9 o clock on the Master Volume he really was schocked!!! It was to loud for him!🤣👍
Yeah dont underestimate H&K that's for sure! 😱😂
Now that’s a good lookin’ Les Paul 🤙🏻
Yeah im so happy to have such an instrument! 😄
@@resqgear1918
Sorry. But those amps do not look aesthetically the same. Different colored control knobs and different font style for the name of each control. Btw, what guitar model is that (Gibson) ?
Sag = Valve rectifier tight = Diode rectifier that is in a typical tube amp
I guess its all done with a resistor in that thing
I would assume you are right. You can look up the spirit of tone generator if you want a little reading on Hughes & Kettners tech! 😄
Hi, is it possible to use it without connecting a speaker (or a loadbox), just using the line out ? Thanks
Show us how it sounds when you turn the volume on the guitar down. Does it clean well ???
Which one of them do you want me to that with? Unfortunately i already shot this video so it's hard to redo haha. And i also already shot the spirit of vintage. I'm just curious which one you were talking about :D
Great review. Appreciate ya! 🎸 🎶
Thank you! I appreciate you too! 😎
Ok great but a question? Is there a phase issue on the cabs you are using ?? cuz i think it sounds like you do idk it maybe me :/ and how does the Rock clean up when you lower the volume knob??
There shouldnt be any phase issues. If there is, then theres a fault in my Captor X 😱
@@resqgear1918 idk better check it i´m not a professional but i can tell there is smth :/
I do hear something. I am recording the Captor in stereo, but I dont hear it as a phase thing. I hear it like 2 guitar players. It should be something along the line of the Mimic from TC Electronic if i understand it correctly 😮
Why is it not a good idea to plug a reverb pedal into the front of the amp? Other comments say it is not a good. I plug a reverb pedal into the front of my Fender Bassbreaker 007 and it sounds fine to me.
Well the thing is, as soon as you start cranking an amp and you are getting overdrive from the preamp, then your wet effects gets distorted as well. Sometimes that's what you want, but usually you want clean effects. Your effects gets rather chaotic with overdrive after your pedals, but that's not to say that is what you are looking for. The Bassbreaker 007 is a rather fine pedal platform as it doesn't distort too much when playing it a bit loud. Of course with valve amps, there's gonna be a certain threshold before the amps starts going into overdrive :D Remember, there's no rules in music, so you can do whatever you want! :D
i love metal but i do want clean would it be better to get the vintage and juset use a distortion pedal or just go for the metal version
If you want metal and no wet effects stick to the metal! If you want to use pedals and reverb, the vintage is to die for! 😄
@@resqgear1918 well I want clean tone to lol hmm
Well there is NO clean on the metal. Only gain 🤷🏼♂️
First!
3:33 Vintage
9:06 Rock
14:28 | 17:04 Metal
That was indeed first and very fast! But I see no time stamps on this video! 😱 What should i do?! 😱😱
Haha awesome! 😂❤️
@@resqgear1918 you can't escape it!
@@cravingmetal i dont want to! 😁
@@resqgear1918 🤔
What is that little orange bar on all of the amps
Thats the spirit of tone generator! The secret sauce in the Hughes & Kettner amps! :D
Excellent. No one wants big amps anymore. Just a small pedalboard.
I agree! Every one wants the sounds of the big amps, but in a lightweight package. Its not so much the size of the 100 watt Marshalls i dislike personally. Its the sheer weight of those amps. Cause deep down, we all want the Marshall wall behind us haha!
ResQ Gear my Marshall 410h and 4x12 sits doing nothing. I use my Yamaha thr30ii daily
@@truthfactreality6814 yeah okay! I love the small yamaha amps! They are so great. They are not super loud, but thats not what you are looking for when buying one of those! 😄
I'm very happy with that trend, so I can buy lots of gigantic tube amps for cheap ;-)
Hard to beat a good ol' giant tube amp, thats for sure! 😄
Sagging sounds like an overdrive/boost mixed with a presence knob.
The sagging knob is the best knob i didnt know i needed!
Sagging is when the amp won't properly pull up it's pants!🤪 Sagging, generally refers to a tube amp, when it's turned up all the way, the power supply falls behind a little bit,"fractions of a second", where the amp seems to breathe. The imperfection in the power section creates a sound where the touch of the player seems to make the amp's sound come alive, sort of like how a singer's vocals aren't perfectly linear, but his/her voice becomes softer and harder depending on the note, speed, and force at which the vocalist sings.
What a lad! I didnt know! Now i do haha. Thank you for a great comment!
SAGGING: Maybe finally someone read Hartley Peavey's essay about how tube guitar amp sound actually gets created by a string of historical circumsances... this aspect was modelled for a long time in the Vypyr amps / other Peavey transTube amps, next to other aspects. It is a momentary dropping of power due to underdimensioned transformer & other aspects of power supply circuitry to cut costs in early days, that happens especially when old amps were cranked all up. So that would be, originally anyway, a power amp aspect. But to now have power amps almost die as a normal part of playing, I guess this would be modelled in different ways by newer amps (and when I say modelled, this can be in any way, modelling does not imply digital). The momentary dropping 8and going back, and down again... depending on what the signal currently does) creates an alive seeming amp with varying distortion / overtone characteristics from one split second to the next.
I get it in theory - but I have not consiously observed the effect in conjunction with sounds let alone play with it in a circuit where I could deliberately and precisely control that one aspect, so, i, too, cannot *exactly* say what you should hear. But maybe my rough estimate makes sense enough when you play with it (also depending on how they modelled it, of course. amp + effect makers have all sorts of funny labels on their knobs...)
That is very much the longest comment i've gotten! Thank you for all the usefull information! 😍
Great video!
Thank you Josh! 😄
Is this all solid state?
It is 😊
All analog thankfully
All analog goodness indeed! 😄
@@resqgear1918 yep, promotes even harmonics as opposed to digital which promotes odd harmonics the ears does not want to hear :)
FX Loop 🔁 ???!!!
No Send and Return???!!!
I‘d buy the Vintage-Amp to play it slightly crunchy, but I‘d get a crunchy reverb and delay because I have to get straight into the amp.... WHY?!
Even an Orange Micro Dark has an FX-Loop.
Disappointing, I‘d buy one immediately if they‘d just had the Loop.
Hey Robert!
I understand your frustration! Im no expert bud I'd believe these are aimed at a younger, non touring audience. I would prefer an fx loop as well, but I just got done shooting a video of the Spirit of Vintage and running pedals through the amp. It Will be out sunday if you want to check it out! 😄
Wouldn't you get a crunchy reverb even if you plug the pedal into the effects loop? (if it had one). What difference would it make?
Basically if you plug your reverb into an fx loop you would go directly into the power amp. And its rarely the power amp which is crunchy 😄
orange micro dark terror is what you want
:O
Agreed 😂
I do like the spirit of vintage but no fx loop? Come on...with that amount of money you can buy something more versatile. Today even much cheaper toy amps have some kind of reverb or delay...
I hear ya, i hear ya. Write H&K, and maybe they will look into that with their next amp! 😱
They all sound very digital... if that’s what you like great!
You think so? I tried it against 3 valve amps i have in my studio, and I think they sound very much like a valve amp! 😄 What you might think is very digital could be the Captor X! But that is digital so i would guess that would make sense 🤷🏼♂️😄
all analog circuitry > Spirit Tone Generator. And since it doesn’t employ digital modeling, you get true analog. maybe your ears
what does 'digital' sound like?
"There's no usable clean in this amp"
Fluff would beg to differ
"Usable" and "clean" is also very subjective! 😄
...a lot of gain? Too much gain? Red card issued...out of the game!
😂😂😂