Hughes & Kettner launches brand new AmpMan pedal amps!
Hughes & Kettner SPIRIT AmpMan shoehorns the Spirit Tone Generator into the increasingly popular pedal amp format. This is a full-fledged dual-channel amp with up to 50 watts power output. AmpMan features the Red Box AE+ with eight speaker simulations and the functions – some unique and all helpful – that players need to shine in any live performance or recording situation.
The amp-in-a-pedal format is breaking big these days, and AmpMan is in the thick of it, the perfect choice for pedal boards as the last link in the signal chain before the speaker or mixing console. The format’s popularity is not merely down to convenience, although it does shrink the footprint and weight. Players are also choosing it to reduce the on-stage volume and enable in-ear monitoring. This is where the built-in Red Box AE+ excels, taking in-ear monitoring of pedal boards to a whole new level of quality.
AmpMan is great for the stage even without an upstream pedal board. Although it serves players well as a travel or backup amp, its wide range of sounds and many footswitchable functions make it is so much more than that. With two channels, dedicated Boost for each channel, a footswitchable FX loop and the unique Solo function, AmpMan is a full-fledged stage amp, a serious tool for serious players.
AmpMan scores big points when players go to practice at home. Its Aux In pipes in tracks to play along with and jam to. These audio backing tracks are blended with the Red Box AE+ signal and routed out via the adjustable Phones output in full stereo quality.
In home and other studios, AmpMan delivers its sound via the Red Box AE+’s speaker simulations. Players can also deactivate Red Box emulation and use their favorite software cab sims instead. Its audio output may be switched from mic to line level, so it is compatible with any standard interface a beginner or a recording pro wishes to use.
AmpMan Classic
AmpMan Classic’s Channel 1 delivers the legendary clean and distorted tones of the 1960s and early 1970s, when the rebels of rock history forged the sound that would come to define an era. The hallmarks of this amp’s sound design are great dynamic range and touch-sensitive response. The Sagging control dials in the authentic sounds of that era’s early amps with a nudge of the knob. The Tone control affords players access to the full spectrum of vintage tone from early Californian clean to Classic British crunch.
Channel 2 serves up big, thick slabs of sound, arena rock hero-style. It not only builds walls of sound with that full-stack flavor, it also inspires melodic soloing and virtuoso tapping. The Sagging knob works like a variable turbocharger, welcoming players to the world of brown sound. The Tone knob sweeps smoothly from Californian to British lead, and all points in between.
AmpMan Modern
AmpMan Modern’s Channel 1 is identical to AmpMan Classic’s Channel 1.
Channel 2 is the doorway to high-gain heaven. The Tone control takes players on a tour of entire genres of metal, from modern scooped sounds to that classic macho midrange. Add in the Gain knob, and guitarists enjoy access to all high-gain sounds, be they of British, German or Californian origin or flavor.
The Sagging knob greases the gears so that tone oozes from fingers with endless sustain and creamy overtones that let lead lines soar. Riffing requires the opposite, tighter tone and hair-trigger response. Roll back the Sagging knob, and the power amp responds with the suddenness of a cobra strike. The tipping point into compression comes very late, even when playing chords in drop tuning.
