Hughes Kettner Switchblade

Hughes & Kettner Switchblade 50w combo review

I’ve had this amp for a couple of days now and I’ve hardlybeen off it so while there is a lot more still to learn about it, I feel I knowenough to write an accurate review. When I was researching this amp prior topurchase it became quickly apparent that nothing divides opinion quite like aHughes & Kettner Switchblade! People invariably either thought it hadfantastic tone or was the worst thing since a Marshall MG. In this review I’lltry to address both sides of the argument as best I can. The issues people havewith the Switchblade seems to be the accusation that: This would appear to be a common refrain when it comes tothis amp and I think is based on four factors. Firstly is the fact that thisthing comes loaded with a number of digital effects and for valve purists, theword ‘digital’ amounts to sacrilege and they will never forgive the amp forsuch a scandalous indiscretion. I have a foot in both camps on this one as Ilove pure valve tone but I appreciate the convenience of having the most commoneffects built in to the amp. The onboard digital effects have nothing to dowith the actual amplification of the sound so it’s an unfair accusation in manyrespects, yet at the same time I can’t deny that on certain settings the amp does have a slightly more sterile and solid state feel to it thansomething like a Marshall DSL. Does this mean that the amp is no better thanany other modelling amp? No, not at all, but I think it is the conclusion thatmost people leap to having never actually tried the amp for themselves. I’vetried a Peavey Vypyr and a Line 6 Spider Valve and toyed with multi-effectsunits and this isn’t like any of them. While they really do sound digital, theSwitchblade doesn’t. The second reason the Switchblade is usually dismissed byvalve purists is that it gets so much gain from so few valves. My 50w comboonly uses two 12AX7 preamp valves and two EL34 power amp valves and that’s notmuch to generate the kind of distortion levels that you find on the Ultrachannel. So how do they do it? Simple really; they build into the amp what manyguitarists do themselves anyway – they add gain to the signal before it gets tothe preamp valves (this information came from Hughes & Kettner themselves).People like Zakk Wylde do it with an overdrive pedal in front of their ampwhile Hughes & Kettner simply build it into the amp itself.