Hughes & Kettner Edition Blue Will Impress

A guitar amp is the next essential tool that must be chosen wisely before purchase.

Amp is one of the most important accessories which must be known before purchase and it must be appropriate for the instrument, otherwise, the guitar will sound disappointing.

Of course, any will do and you’ll be able to play on it, but every guitar needs to find “The Right Amp” to make a “teamwork”. There’s a myth in this World that electronics need to find similar specifics to work with each other.

This means that sometimes some Brands won’t work together and the sound can be better. That’s a paradox, but you need to take it into account.

I would like to take a review of Hughes & Kettner amp that is quite universal for many guitars. Today’s special guest is the “edition blue” thirty models.

Hughes & Kettner Edition Blue

I had experience with this amp, so I would like to share some tips with you. It served me for about 1.5 years. Here’s an image of the product I’m talking about. This is the combo or solid-state amp Hughes & Kettner edition blue series.

This is a good home practice tool. It’s compact, light and easy to use. It’s not suitable for playing on the scene or in front of the large crowd. The 30-watt amp model delivers great-sounding power which is not enough for the scene. If you want one for practice with your band or playing in front of the crowd (at school, in the club or at the party) then you must have one with minimum of 50-watt sound power. Otherwise, you’ll not hear yourself.

Any 30-watt unit is good only for practicing at home. If you have one (or want to get one) for practicing with the band, then you will (or have!) waste your money. Read few resources on the internet about amp characteristics (including this article) and only then decide for the real one,

Because of stingy pay twice!

Ok, let’s return to the solid-state Hughes & Kettner thirty. This is a great amp that will not disappoint.

It has a full pack of effects and gears included

• It delivers really powerful sound;
• It has built-in delight;
• It has CD input;
• It has digital Reverb;
• It’s compact and light (about 9.5 kg or 22 lbs);
• It has cool blue lighting on front panel;
• It sounds clear, precisely, light and soft;
• It delivers a great tone which can be modified with 2 volumes (master and volume) control option!

It sounds very precisely and soft, because of the Hughes and Kettner Company brand technology. It has no preamp or tubes; it can’t make that “warm” tube sound. It isn’t a cheap AB class amp. It’s built on the Marshall basis (Forms and design). It reminds Marshall, but it really isn’t, because engineers at the Company have redesigned it.

I like the sound of this amp because it’s very clear. I’ve tested Fender and Parker guitars on it. The sound was impressive with no distortion on a clear channel. If you compare Vox Valvetronix to Hughes & Kettner, then you’ll hear the difference. Vox is more tube warm natural sounding amp (because it has tubes or tube preamp), but Kettner edition blue makes artificial combo sound. That artificial sound is very clear, soft and powerful. It allows adding master volume which makes it even more powerful.

Once again this amp isn’t for studio or scene playing. It’s a typical home practice guitar tool. Its built-in CD input allows playing backing track and your own improvisation over. The amp makes no distortion and highlights guitars of individual brand sound. That’s the real power of Hughes and Kettner technology which makes these amps so special.

These amps aren’t cheap. The price is about 250 ~ 300$ dollars. But these solid-state amps are in a full line of their budget. These products really make the quality of the price. It’s one of my favorites. No matter if you choose combo or tube, Hughes will never let you down with a low-quality sound that can be just horrible.

This is a full list of characteristics of Hughes & Kettner thirty amp

• Power: 30w
• Speaker: 1×10” Jensen (made in Italy)
• Effects: Digital FX; Digital Reverb; Chorus/Flanger/Reverb
• Special Features: 3-Band EQ; CD-Player Input; Headphones Out; blue-lit panel
• Headphones line: Yes
• CD-Input: Yes
• Line Out: Yes
• Dimensions: 460 x 410 x 220 mm
• Weight: ~ 10 kg/22 lbs

That was the guitar amp review for Hughes & Kettner! This was my first amp and I can really suggest it to everyone looking for great tools. Blue edition lighting on the front panel makes this amp outstanding in front of other products that have no lighting at all.

Remember, choose your tools carefully! Read recommendations of well-known products, listen to them is a local music store, try them yourself and only then decide which to choose from. Do not hurry, there’s plenty of time!

Practice with good tools! Edition blue thirty combo amp is a good to start!

Good luck!

More to read:

• Read more about the Hughes and Kettner guitar amp on harmony central
• Customer reviews about the 60DFX amp which is the bigger brother of 30DFX