The Watering Hole

Gear
2 posts
Been thinking for a while about upgrading from my Switchblade combo to a Grandmeister head.  Our local guitar Center has a used Grandmeister.....so I tooled around on it a bit today. It was hooked up to 2 H&K 1x12 cabs. I was stoked to actually try this thing out.  The controls were in different places, but it was just like navigating my Switchblade once I figured out what was where.

And it sucked.  It lacked low end, even with the resonance dimed.  It was nowhere near as 'punchy' as my Switchblade, and had no depth whatsoever.  I was beside myself, honestly.

If you are gong to get an H&K amp, get a Switchblade, Coreblade, or a Triamp. They are killer. The 'Meister' series have a bunch of cool features, but lack BALLS of any sort. Unless you add 'post production balls' in a studio. Unless you have an EQ from hell, they are THIN live. I was blown away at how shitty that amp sounded today. I really was.

I think the Switchblade and Coreblade amps are WAY underrated, esp. now that I've spent time on the 'newly upgraded' version of those amps.

Find a used Switchblade, buy it, and be happy. If you have more $ to spend, buy a used Coreblade, and be even happier.
Just like McDonald's, Supersize is not always the better deal. :D

I went to the H&K site.  I was surprised to find that the GRANDMeister was an EL84 amp.  I was expecting something beefy like a 6L6 or a 5881.

Not at all surprised that it doesn't stand up to the Switchblades EL34's.

I haven't played them.  I haven't been in a guitar store in ages.  I like to buy shit too much.