Off Topic NAD: Hughes & Kettner Grandmeister 36 Head

[skerwo]

Today arrived my new Hughes & Kettner Grandmeister. It´s a 4 EL 84 head with 36 watts. 4 channels, every setting you like is programmable as a preset. Also the EQ settings, the settings of the power amp (possible is 36, 18, 5 or 1 watt).

First two hours I played with the clean and crunch channel. These two could already be enough for me. Crunch channel with boost is a real hardrocking sound, more in the Marshall way.

First impression of the lead channel is also good, but I have to spend some more time for it. Ultra channel: I don´t need it, it´s for the real bad bad guys with much longer hairs than mine .

This amp is so versatile, unbelievable. You can store 128 presets. It´s got a fx section onboard (reverb, delay, chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo). Tap tempo for the delay is possible with the H&K midiboard.

Next week I take it to rehearsal. If it cuts well through the mix it could be my ready for everything weapon.

Here in Germany are a lot of discussions about the fizzy sound around the whole Tubemeister / Grandmeister series. So what I learned that it has a lot to do with the cabinet and speaker. I don´t like the Celestion v30 but it´s the serial speaker in the H&K cabinets. So I choose a cabinet with an Eminence Cannabis Rex and for my first impression this speaker matches very well with the Grandmeister because it´s a little bit darker sounding. And it also works very well for hardrocking tones and overdriven lead sounds (Eminence recommends it for Country, Jazz, Blues !?).

I will add more informations in the next weeks also about the fx section and its live use.

Sorry for the wrong guitar but my EBMM Silo is waiting just around the corner .

 

[joe web]

congrats!
let´s hear what you think after the rehearsal.
i´m thinking about the Grandmaster as well. did a test-drive a few weeks ago. as you say, i depends on the cabinet, with my Mesa 4x12 and 1x12, i didn´t liked it that much, but with my Marshall 4x12 is was cool.
it´s really a one-trick-pony - the fxs sounded good to my ears and the crunch channel is great for hardrock.

 

[skerwo]

Joe, I´ll do. From the fx section I already used the delay and it delivers everything I expect from a delay. Easy to dial in with three knobs. The reverb is also good for me but I´m not the real reverb expert. I like a little bit reverb that it sounds not so dry, and that´s enough for me.

I´m also curious about the Red Box DI. If it works good this would be great, no more miking, only one cable to the PA.

 

[skerwo]

Update:

Yesterday I tried the Grandmeister through rehearsal. It sounds fantastic, cuts well through the mix and it´s very easy to use. I also tried the DI-out directly into the PA. It also works very fine and sounds really good, so no need to mic the amp.

I´m playing cover music from country, rock, blues, pop. Rock up to the classic hard rock thing like Deep Purple, no metal or something similar. The Grandmeister delivers really good sounds for each of these styles. For me the three channels clean, crunch and lead are more than enough, I don´t need and use the ultra channel. One amp that fits it all and easy to use with its programmable presets. No noticeable delay by switching the presets. I really love this amp and think it´s very well made for the players who want to go for a lot of styles. What I find out that it´s much more defined and punchy in overdriven sounds than my JTM 45 with the TC Nova System.

Well done, Mr Hughes and Mr Kettner.

 

[TNT]

pretty dog gone cool, especially with all the fx & pre-set capabilities!!

 

[Assumer]

Glad you like it, congrats. How responsive is the amp? On paper, this sounds like a killer amp that can be played at home and out but no one locally carries the amp so I cannot test drive it.

 

[banjoplayer]

Looks great. Isn`t the Grandmeister 36 the amp that got a test in the new "Gitarre&Bass" ? I read it and found it quiet interesting - considering the price, too. I have no experience with H&K so far but as said, it sounds interesting! Thanks for the input!

 

[skerwo]

Yes, it´s tested in all the new guitar magazines around here in Germany and all the guys are deep impressed like me. I found it really responsive like a good tube amp. A lot of people in the forums talk about a fizz that the amp has especially in the lead and ultra channel. My experience is that the GM does not like any box and any speaker. You have to try various boxes and speakers. The new Celestion Vintage 30 is very dominant in the upper mids and this does not really match with the amp although H&K use them in their own cabs. I heared that they´re thinking about changing to the new Celestion Creamback. So my solution was a box with the Eminence Cannabis Rex and it works real good. But I´m not a metal guy and I don´t use the ultra channel so I´ve got no experience with this channel. The GM is very punchy already with a 1x12 box and very defined. It can be played also at home level very well. I used it on a gig a few days ago and it cuts well through the mix and the DI-out works very well. Very good amp with its own voicing so don´t compare it to the one trick ponys of the big companies. But you can get very good sounds for a lot of styles out of it. With the band I play from RnR over Blues, Country to classic rock and the amp does everything because the channels have a different voicing.

 

[Razzle]

Glad to hear you like the amp. I just got one of these myself but haven't received it yet. I wanted a triple channel amp and the TM 36 really looked appealing. Looking forward to it!

 

[Manxmusicman]

A couple of years back I had a H&K Puretone, I loved it but wasn't educated enough to get the best out of it so went down the 3 channel amp route, if I could use today's knowledge back then I would still have it. I love the fact that every thing can be stored, surely the future of midi compatible amps?

 

[skerwo]

Glad to hear you like the amp. I just got one of these myself but haven't received it yet. I wanted a triple channel amp and the TM 36 really looked appealing. Looking forward to it!

The TM and the GM are two different amps. Similar is the power amp with its scaling but the preamp is different, H&K developed the channels for the GM. And the all storable functions are only available with the GM while the TM only has a few storable functions but not the whole eq thing.

 

[skerwo]

A couple of years back I had a H&K Puretone, I loved it but wasn't educated enough to get the best out of it so went down the 3 channel amp route, if I could use today's knowledge back then I would still have it. I love the fact that every thing can be stored, surely the future of midi compatible amps?

The Puretone is a real single channel tone monster and made for playing with pedals. I left the pedal way now for the GM after playing a lot of years with a JTM 45.

 

[Azzman460]

I have a H&K TM36 Head and i run it through a 4x12 cab with Celestion V30's. If i crank the gain up on the Lead channel it can turn a little bit fizzy and not sound the best but to be honest i spend the majority of the time on the Lead channel with the Gain turned up to half or just over. Also most of the time its set to 1w or 5w. When things get serious i just bang it up to 18w or 36w and let her scream. I usually run an OD pedal as well to tighten the lows and add some nice crunch to the crunch channel. It is such a versatile head i love it for my uses. The attenuator lets you play with decent tone at low volumes and the Reverb and Effects loop, mixed with 3 channels means you can get all the colours in the rainbow from this Amp! My main guitar i play through this is JP6 PDN (LF/CL). Can't comment on the GM head but the TM36 is fantastic in my opinion!

 

[skerwo]

I have a H&K TM36 Head and i run it through a 4x12 cab with Celestion V30's. If i crank the gain up on the Lead channel it can turn a little bit fizzy and not sound the best but to be honest i spend the majority of the time on the Lead channel with the Gain turned up to half or just over. Also most of the time its set to 1w or 5w. When things get serious i just bang it up to 18w or 36w and let her scream. I usually run an OD pedal as well to tighten the lows and add some nice crunch to the crunch channel. It is such a versatile head i love it for my uses. The attenuator lets you play with decent tone at low volumes and the Reverb and Effects loop, mixed with 3 channels means you can get all the colours in the rainbow from this Amp! My main guitar i play through this is JP6 PDN (LF/CL). Can't comment on the GM head but the TM36 is fantastic in my opinion!

Have you ever tried another speaker which is smoother than the V30? This could turn down the rest of the fizz. The GM is as fantastic as the TM with more options

 

[Azzman460]

I havent as yet as i don't really ever turn the gain up to a point where it gets fizzy, The sweet spot in the tone for me is before that point. However that has been a thought since i bought my cab with the V30's, i read somewhere that it can be good to swap to of the speakers out and blend the V30s with 2 other speakers (i can't remember exactly what speaker was recommended, but it was another celestion speaker) so i'm thinking i will have to give that a try one day. For now i'm definitely happy with the configuration i'm running!

 

[skerwo]

I havent as yet as i don't really ever turn the gain up to a point where it gets fizzy, The sweet spot in the tone for me is before that point. However that has been a thought since i bought my cab with the V30's, i read somewhere that it can be good to swap to of the speakers out and blend the V30s with 2 other speakers (i can't remember exactly what speaker was recommended, but it was another celestion speaker) so i'm thinking i will have to give that a try one day. For now i'm definitely happy with the configuration i'm running!

Maybe this could be the new celestion creamback. Also the eminence cannabis rex or the jensen tornado should match very well.

 

[Razzle]

The TM and the GM are two different amps. Similar is the power amp with its scaling but the preamp is different, H&K developed the channels for the GM. And the all storable functions are only available with the GM while the TM only has a few storable functions but not the whole eq thing.

Doh! You're right, I mistook the TM for the GM. I figured I only needed the 3 channels and probably wouldn't need the onboard effects, and I'm not sure I'll even be storing settings (famous last words) even with mine. The iPad app thing seems pretty cool though. So are the preamps different? I just got my TM but haven't even had a chance to check it out.

I was listening to some Rush concerts and Alex uses what, the Mk II triamp? Not sure if I liked his tone, sounds like he was getting some really heavy break up of the power tubes. Kinda reminds me of my Class 5 when I crank it up.

Look forward to hearing a clip with that Silo.

 

[zepolynot]

Expression pedal for volume

Congrats on the GM36 I just purchased one also.

Did you get the MKIII midi controller also? Have you had any problems using the expression pedal for controlling volume?

I can't get the function to work.

Interested to hear if anyone has experienced the same problem and if they found a solution?

Cheers,
Tony Lopez

Today arrived my new Hughes & Kettner Grandmeister. It´s a 4 EL 84 head with 36 watts. 4 channels, every setting you like is programmable as a preset. Also the EQ settings, the settings of the power amp (possible is 36, 18, 5 or 1 watt).

First two hours I played with the clean and crunch channel. These two could already be enough for me. Crunch channel with boost is a real hardrocking sound, more in the Marshall way.

First impression of the lead channel is also good, but I have to spend some more time for it. Ultra channel: I don´t need it, it´s for the real bad bad guys with much longer hairs than mine .

This amp is so versatile, unbelievable. You can store 128 presets. It´s got a fx section onboard (reverb, delay, chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo). Tap tempo for the delay is possible with the H&K midiboard.

Next week I take it to rehearsal. If it cuts well through the mix it could be my ready for everything weapon.

Here in Germany are a lot of discussions about the fizzy sound around the whole Tubemeister / Grandmeister series. So what I learned that it has a lot to do with the cabinet and speaker. I don´t like the Celestion v30 but it´s the serial speaker in the H&K cabinets. So I choose a cabinet with an Eminence Cannabis Rex and for my first impression this speaker matches very well with the Grandmeister because it´s a little bit darker sounding. And it also works very well for hardrocking tones and overdriven lead sounds (Eminence recommends it for Country, Jazz, Blues !?).

I will add more informations in the next weeks also about the fx section and its live use.

Sorry for the wrong guitar but my EBMM Silo is waiting just around the corner .

 

[Assumer]

Well, I ordered one. Just waiting for them to come to the US.

 

[Sigvard90]

I'm excited to hear more about this amp as well! Going to the Musikmesse Frankfurt on Saturday, I'll try to check it out a bit there.

I have been using the H&K Matrix and Switchblade for the past 8 years and I'm still impressed...(many other amps are either insanely expensive here in Europe or others just don't sound great to my ears and aren't dynamic enough)
The new GrandMeister seems to be developed from/built on the "sound" concept of the Matrix and Switchblade, basically 4 channels and FX for versatility and H&K quality tone.

I have to agree about H&K amps having a tendency towards sounding a bit harsh or "spikey"... but as mentioned before it DOES depend on the speaker. The speaker has an equally strong voice as the amp itself... So that doesn't mean the amp sounds worse.
I use a closed-back 2x12 cab with a V30 and a Greenback, sounds perfect! So I'm sure the Creamback would be a great option as well. But for heavier tones, a V30 in a mixed configuration works great i think!