Hughes&Kettner TubeMeister Deluxe 40

None better

This amp does far more than I expected. Quality build. Quality sound. Great to look at in its blue light. Wouldn’t go past Hughes and Kettner.

Beautiful in every way

It's a one-of-a-kind amp, if you consider all the features: I mean, all-tube power scalable or even completely silent recording or gigging solution with an analog DI out that really works and sounds good – where did you last see something like that?

Pros: It's powerful and loud enough for any style, it takes pedals well. Stacking drives into this thing is a bliss;

- Sounds nice;

- FX Loop;

- I think it's a more hands-on experience than the higher tier GrandMeister. Less fiddly and you can do without that spaceship foot controller or an app just fine. No real presets for you though (but you can change PowerSoak settings to get cranked master with sagging on a certain channel with a push of a button with a controller on a TubeMeister);

- Looks cool.

The amp takes the signal to DI after power amp section, which is good for me, and it also takes all the 'what about that sweet saturation' worries away. There are always some tubes along the way=) You can overdrive the master when needed, and it will be heard through DI. One thing I'm not sure about though. Manual claims it always takes full power to DI before PowerSoak. Problem is, when power scaled or silent, it switches to just 2 power amp tubes instead of 4, so I suspect you're not getting the full headroom anyway. So if you want superloud cleans or modern metal you might need to run it at full blast (40W), and you only can do it when connected to a cab. That said, I did get some seriously chunky metal tones out of it on a number of occasions while being fully silent. Also, PowerSoak does convert power into heat, so it will get hot, but not uncomfortably so. Just don't cover it with anything.

AMAZING SOUNDIND AMP

I own this amp for about 2 months now, combined with the Harley Benton G212 speakers. I use it only for practicing and recording at home at the moment. This amp produces amazing sounds in all styles I have tried and recorded with it, from clean to metal with anything included in between. It is versatile and definitely has character. The power soak is a must that many amps don't have. I haven't tried the redbox since I prefer to mic up my amps. I cannot think of any cons. I would buy this amp again.

Versatile and good sounding amp

The HK TM 40 is a fantastic first amp unless you want super heavy modern metal tones. It has a lovely clear channel that breaks up well if you push it. The crunch and lead channels do their job very nicely and the lead channel can be pushed with an OD pedal to become pretty heavy. The Red box and power soak are great for home use or where quietness is required. My only gripe is that the speaker emulation was a little tricky to work with in a mix due to the bottom end that the Red box creates but, that is partially personal taste. Even so it still sounds great and you can of course fix that by using an IR loader in your DAW which for me brought great results.

Recommended

Very versatile amp live or studio

Change the stock valves at Tube Doctor to really get the best from this

An Amazing Amp

So I got this today and I'm blown away how loud and perfect it sounds. It has a warm sound and isn't too trebbly (if that's a word). It has plenty of gain for any style and the clean channel is just fantastic. I love the thing!

Pros:

- Very lite weighs only 8kg.

- Comes with a soft bag and you can carry it arround easily

- Sounds amazing

- 3 channels

- Power soak function so you can switch between 40-20-5-1 or 0W

- Red Box for connecting directly to a PA or Computer. It allows the thing to play without a real cab connected to it

- Midi output

- Well built

Cons

- I'd love for the amp to have had some Reverb and Compressor included

- You have to buy the footswitch separately

Overall I really like it! It's a perfect piece of equipment for recording, band practice and live gigs. It's 40W but it's much louder than a Bugera 333 120W I had before.

The perfect amp for home recording

This is such a versatile beast, it surprises me every time I play. The sound is just amazing, the cleans are nice and glassy, the crunch channel has great rock and metal tones and the lead channel offers a very nice saturated tone. The features are also amazing, the power soak, direct output and Red Box speaker emulation make this a complete package for home recording. It's got everything a guitar player could possibly need, and more. Can't type anymore, gotta go back to playing!

Great amp for a Myriad of uses

Was looking for my first tube amp when I found this Hughes&Kettner Tubemeister Deluxe 40. I now play only at home but wanted an amp that could adapt to a series of different uses. I first found the tubemeister 36 and fell in love with the amount of features but it didn't captivate me where it matters the most, the sound (mostly the distorted sound, as I am mostly a metal guy). So i then looked at the tubemeister Deluxe 40, which shares almost all the features of the tubemeister 36 (and some more) but has the gain strutucture based on the triamp and having played it now I have to say it sounds GREAT!!!! The amp has 3 channels, clean (with independent eq), crunch and Lead (with shared eq). Cleanwise I like it super clean (jazz like) but it can get a little bit of bite. Crunch is where I keep it most of the time, has plenty of gain and mostly use Lead for (you guessed it) leads! Regarding the other features, the built in attenuator works great (and the amp doesn't get all that hot) the redbox is awesome, allowing for silent recording and has great speaker simulation (which in a live setting you might use to go direct into the PA) and perhaps the most amazing feature of the amp is the MIDI learn fucntion. With a MIDI pedalboard you can control everything in the amp but the EQ values, you can assign to a slot in the pedalboard the chanel, the attenuator level and the fx loop (on/off). This makes the amp super versatile (if you're considering this amps, BUY A MIDI PEDALBOARD, it takes the amp to another level).

The only reason I gave it 4 stars in handling is the passive eq which takes a little bit to get used to (and still am getting used to)

Great amp.

I just bought this amp and i am very impressed. I have old Marshall JCM 2000 TSL 602 combo and I've searching tube guitar head to replace it very long time. And i`ve found it. I have Gibson Les Paul Studio with 57`classic pickups and with this amp and tubescreemer in front of it i dial many different tones. Clean channel is very clear and crunch is much better. The other great stuff is RedBox. You can easy record you guitar with different cab emulations. Power Soak is other good stuff. This amp is rated 40W but when i compare to my old TSL 602 combo witch is 60W, this amp is louder. Actually i use 1W when i play. Lead channel is smooth and compressed and very good for lead solos. Only thing may be is not good that amp came with china tubes and i`ll replace them ASAP.

I should have got one of these years ago!!

I play full time in a wedding/function band, this little beast is an amazing upgrade from my JVM410, amazing tones and the redbox DI sounds far better than micing my cab when playing live. Played a show tonight, used the H&K set to 25W through a 1x12 cab, and redbox out to P.A, I had more than enough volume, and got so many compliments on my tone.

The amp has a really tasty clean sound so it takes to pedals very well. I used to use a 100w and a 4x12.... never again, 40w and a 1x12 FTW!