New amp gear - Hughes & Kettner Edition Tube 1x12 combo

The most recent (and most likely last) amp acquisition was purchased in an attempt to have a relatively small combo--something that could easily be thrown in the trunk for impromptu jam sessions--that would have unique enough of a tone (compared to the other amps around here) to merit owning. I started looking at 1x10" and 1x12" combos, primarily with class A EL84-driven power sections. Several amps caught my eye, including the Orange Tiny Terror, Vox AC15, and Zinky Blue Velvet, but when all was said & done, I found a good deal on a NOS Hughes & Kettner Edition Tube 20th Anniversary. This is actually the second Edition Tube I've owned... I had one a couple years back when I went through my first H&K phase.

The Edition Tube is considerably simpler than most of my amps these days... it's got 2 footswitchable channels (clean/lead), shared EQ, built-in spring reverb, 20w EL84-driven power section, and a 12" Eminence speaker. The 20th anniversary model in particular has gold grillecloth that's pretty pimp looking, IMO (not sure if there are any tonal differences aside from the obvious cosmetic differences vs. the original Edition Tube). The tone is considerably larger than its size, with massive amounts of low-end from the closed back, ported cab. The two channels cover considerable ground... the clean channel provides the chime, the lead channel can handle everything from classic rock to over-the-top saturation--it's hard not to draw comparisons to Vox amps. The reverb is perfect... there when you want it (clean channel), subdued when you don't (lead channel). It's definitely an under-rated amp... not a lot of bells & whistles, but mops the floor with many less toneful amps in the same price class.

Here's the Edition Tube, sitting next to the also-recently-acquiried H&K zenTera combo...


What's next? Who knows, although at this point I expect it'll be clearing out a bit of guitar/amp gear and maybe turning my attention to finding a nice PRS Satin/Trem... I'm pretty sure I don't need any more amps around here now!

--B