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Hughes and Kettner H&K AMPMAN Classic Floor Pedal Amplifier - CLOSEOUT

The Hughes & Kettner Ampman Classic Floor Pedal Amplifier is a featured-packed pedal amp that can rightfully replace your typical guitar amp for stage, practice and studio. With two fully independent channels, Redbox direct out, and solo/boost features the Ampman Classic is a go-to tool for a range of playing environments:

  • 25W into 8 ohms, 50W maximum, 4-16 ohm load
  • Works with our without speaker load
  • Two strictly analog channels with fully independent controls
  • Channel-tailored Boost
  • Switchable, serial FX loop  
  • Presence and resonance power amp voicing
  • Sagging control that lets you dial in headroom, sensitivity and tightness
  • Tone control with broad mid-range sweep to dial in overall amp voicing
  • Master volume plus switchable solo volume
  • Built-In noise gate
  • Red Box AE+ DI-out with 8 cabinet simulations
  • Stereo Aux-In for input of music source for play along and jamming
  • Adjustable stereo headphones out
  • Includes 24VDC power supply

In the arms race for most features per square foot, H&K is typically a leading contender. And the Ampman Classic is no different. With two fully independent channels and a host of features, the Ampman could potentially be your only amp. While most of the controls are pretty intuitive, the Ampman contains some unique H&K features that are part of their "Spirit Tone Generator" technology to emulate real tube amp tone. With so many bells and whistles, let's cover the two channels and some of the more unique control features:

Channel A: This channel is best thought of as the "clean" channel although there is overdrive potential by working the gain  volume and sagging controls (more on sagging later), and setting the overall output with the master. The Tone control has a big effect on the the midrange content of the signal ranging from scooped and glassy to a mid-focused more British tone. Messing with the midrange that much has an effect on overall volume, and depending where you are on the tone control you may need to tweak the overall output. That being said, the scooped "Fullerton" tones are excellent and the Ampman has a silky, glassy feel that would make you think you were plugged into a really good blackface amp. Turning the tone control in the opposite direction juices the midrange for a harder, thicker tone that works well with pedals.

Channel B: This is your Classic Rock Station with plenty of drive and distortion possibilities. The tone is 70's and 80's hard rock and even grunge, and the Tone control has much the same effect as on Channel A: One side is more scooped (Mesa-ish) while the other direction is more classic British snarl and bite. The solo footswitch adds volume only, while the boost adds volume and gain. As with many H&K products, the boost switch is a bit over the top for us, but for players who know how to manage boatloads of gain, it's all there.

Sagging: Along with Tone, this is the most important knob for shaping your sound. Sagging essentially takes the amp from a clean controlled almost limiter-type feel, to a loose, gainy, touch sensitive response. Very much like an amp with negative feedback (blackface) to an amp with none (Vox). While the "loose" setting sounds like the most fun - and it's fun -- if you are using a lot of distortion you might prefer the tighter settings unless you are looking for a Neil Young tweed meltdown. Sagging also affects the dynamic range of your playing and hence the overall volume. So as with Tone, you may need to tweak the master after you get the Sagging where you like it.

Presence and Resonance: On a tube amp Presence typically does vary the negative feedback of the power amp, but in this case it's less dramatic and more like a brightness control. Frankly, we did not get much out the Resonance control, and maybe it matters more when using with effects and such. In our opinion it's subtle at best.

What doesn't it have? Reverb. But it has an effects loop and there are plenty of good Reverb pedals out there. But it's one detraction from the one-in-one-box concept. It also does not have a ton of low end content, at least through our 1x12 open back Eminence Cannabis Rex. And with a single tone control there is no on-board remedy. Choice of cabinet and speaker will matter in this regard, and maybe adding an EQ pedal to tweak things a bit more.

Can you gig with it? Absolutely. It's pretty much a two channel amp that you can also direct out to a mixing board with a variety of cabinet emulations. Most of the time it will be loud enough. But as we said, how you set Sagging, and Tone along with Volume and Gain all have an impact on overall loudness. A "low" sagging, scooped, low gain mix might be volume challenged in a band setting. Set a different way and you could go toe-to-toe with your drummer.

The Hughes & Kettner Ampman impresses with way above average clean tones, and independent two-channel flexibility. The tone section is both a little quirky but also unique in how you can completely tailor the feel and response of the amp. For players who want to travel light with minimal compromise, the Ampman is a solid choice.