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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:
‘It’s not a realvalve amp’
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. How valid thisis as an approach is down to the individual I suppose but in all honesty, itreally doesn’t bother me. I’ve seen loads of threads on guitar forums wherevalve purists swear by a Marshall JCM800 and advise people to boost theirdistortion with a pedal if they need more gain and I have no problem if Hughes& Kettner choose to do that within the amp and call it a different channel.The end result is much the same to me but I find it a lot more convenient tohave it all in the amp. People reading this must make up their own mind if thisis a real valve amp or not but to me, it definitely is. Compare it to theBlackstar HT series or even a Spider Valve if you want to but the bottom lineis that this amp sounds good and that’s ultimately all I’m interested in. PerhapsI’m over-simplifying things here but to me, it has valve preamp and power ampstages, it certainly sounds like a valve amp and it feels like a valve amp toplay, therefore, it’s a valve amp.
The third reason is the perception that this is a modellingamp and therefore can’t be a pure valve amp. In this respect, Hughes &Kettner have done themselves no favours at all because in the owner’s manual itsays that the amp has ‘the boundless versatility of amp modelling’. Thephrasing here is poor because it suggests that it is in fact a modelling ampwhen it isn’t; it merely has the versatility that is commonly associated with modellingamps. The manual also talks about ‘Californian cleans’ and ‘classic Britishhigh gain’ tones but these channels are not merely copies of Fender andMarshall amps. They certainly share a similar voicing to those amps so theUltra channel tends to have a similar feel to it as a Dual Rectifier but makeno mistake, the tone you hear is Hughes & Kettner and not an attempt toduplicate somebody else’s amp tone. I’ve played modelling amps and theSwitchblade quite certainly isn’t one of those. Each of the channels has adistinct tonal characteristic but on every channel you know you’re playing aHughes & Kettner and not a Marshall, Fender or Mesa Boogie.
The final problem some people seem to have with it is thefact that it’s midi controllable and that makes it something other than a purevalve amp. All I can say is ‘Marshall JVM’ which was another amp I wasconsidering before buying the Switchblade. As with most amps, some love it andsome loathe it but it is a real valve amp for sure.
So having dealt with some of the accusations often madeagainst this amp; what does it actually do well? Quite a lot in my humbleopinion. It’s German so just like cars; it’s built to a very high standard witheverything having a solid and quality feel to it. As a 50w valve amp it’sbloody loud and could certainly be used for gigs just as a 1X12 combo, though Iwill hook it up to a 4X12 instead for better projection. For me it’s idealbecause I have a conveniently sized amp for the home and rehearsals that can beeasily converted into a large head unit for a 4X12. Best of both worlds. Aswith many valve amps, it can sound a little muffled at very low volumes and themore you open the taps on it, the more it starts to really sing. The amp iscrisp and articulate with quite a modern voicing on all channels rather thanhaving say the smoothness of a Marshall and this is exactly why I say it isn’ta modelling amp.
I LOVE the way you can programme a vast array of sounds intothis thing. The front panel looks pretty basic compared to something like aJVM410 but because of the way you can program your settings into the footcontroller, you effectively have independent EQ and presence on all channels aswell as two master volumes. You can also program in up to three popular effectsonto a preset so once you’ve got your channel and EQ etc. set, you can thenchoose to add Reverb and Delay as well as either Chorus, Flanger or Tremolo.The Delay is the most tweakable effect with controls for volume, feedback andtime (80ms – 1.4 secs.). The controls for the other effects are quite basic butthe effects themselves are of a surprisingly good quality and I’ve had noqualms about selling some very expensive effects pedals now that I have thisamp. In many respects, the basic approach and programmability makes theseeffects more useable in the real world. To take two examples, I am now sellingmy Hardwire DL-8 Delay and CR-7 Chorus pedals because I no longer need them.These are fantastic pedals with a vast array of sounds available but inreality, rather than fiddling with a pedal between songs, I just used one settingand never bothered moving it. The effects on the Switchblade, basic as theyare, can be programmed so I can have chorus and a particular delay setting onone channel for the main part of the song and then switch to a differentchannel for the solo that has a totally different sound, volume and delay etc.Basic these effects may well be, but in the real world I’m getting a lot morevariety from them than my expensive pedals. Of course, there is an effects loopso you can add your own effects as well and even this is programmable! You canprogram into a preset whether the effects loop is activated or not and you caneven program whether the effects loop is serial or parallel and with 128presets available, that’s a hell of a lot of flexibility.
Now that I’ve started getting used to the modern voicing ofthe amp, I really like it. It’s very different to the Marshall I’m used to butI like the crisp nature of the sound. It’s quite an articulate amp and I likehaving that note definition within the distortion. Most of my time seems to bespent on the Lead and Ultra channels but last night I spent ages playing someBlues on the Crunch channel with a little delay and tremolo added. As with most amps, you tend to gravitatetowards a relatively small number of core tones and this is no different. Fourbasic channels is enough for me and it’s good to be able to add effects toadditional presets but I can’t see me ever using all 128. It’s so nice having asmaller pedalboard. All I have now is the midi controller for the amp, aWeeping Demon Wah, an Ibanez stage tuner and an MXR Super Compressor and I don’teven use the compressor as much as I used to.
Is there anything I’d change? No amp is perfect so there arethings I would change in an ideal world. I wish I could name a preset like youcan on a multi-effects system rather than just allocating it a number andletter (bank 5, channel C) as that would make it far easier to recall thespecific settings I want for songs. I also wish it was a little less muffled atlow volumes and I think the lack of a DI Out is a serious omission on an amp atthis price point. You can get around this by using something like a Hughes& Kettner Red Box but you really shouldn’t have to spend another £50 tohave this facility. For me, I would also have loved it if they’d included a Waheffect, a tuner and a compressor, then I really would have found an amp thatwas an all-in-one solution.
Overall I am very impressed with this amp and I think itdoes an awful lot of what a musician wants if he’s playing in the home anddoing gigs in places like pubs. If you’re in a covers band like me, it’sperfect. I’m happy to accept that a full valve amp is a tonal ideal but for meit came with too many compromises. I simply didn’t want to have to spend afortune on an amp and then also cart around a load of effects that I’d need totweak between songs and possibly tap dance while playing. At the other extreme,multi-effects and amp modelling are fantastic for convenience but there is nodoubt in my mind that you do sacrifice valve tone for that convenience and whenit came right down to it, that was a price I wasn’t prepared to pay. TheSwitchblade does exactly what it says; it gives me a lot of the versatility ofmulti-effects units without sacrificing real valve tone. I can’t think of anyother amp available that gives this level of flexibility while retaining suchquality of tone. I’m certainly not saying it’s for everyone but it is, withouta shadow of a doubt, worth a very serious look. The main problem you’re likelyto find is the lack of dealers to try it as there are none at all inLincolnshire where I live at the moment and that’s a great shame with suchgreat quality amps.