H&K Statesman Quad EL84

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H&K Statesman Quad EL84

Postby Alain Benoit » Wed Jun 06, 2012 5:00 pm

I like this amp.
It's an amp that is easy to get around, sounds good right off the bat.
Mostly played around with the clean channel, there is a function on it called "Twang", I swear it adds a bit of compression, whether by design or by happy artifact, I just wish it did more of that, it's quite subtle.
Expect more on this review soon.

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Re: H&K Statesman Quad EL84

Postby Scott DeVarenne » Thu Jun 07, 2012 1:35 pm

Great looking amp. Heavy, solid. Loud. What? I said "Loud".
Clean channel took 10 seconds of fussin' to get it sounding awesome. Sounded great quiet and cleanish. I enjoyed how it started to bust up when I had the volume at 12-1 o'clock, but by that point it's so loud that the speaker is likely contributing to the raunch. The twang button does something. It changes the sound. I didn't find it to be a dramatic shift. I preferred the the normal/ non-twang mode.
Drive channel has plenty of gain and provided nice sustain even at a moderate setting. I have no complaint about the quality of the overdrive, but I feel a lack of enthusiasm about it. It definitely wasn't the cheapo-fizzy sort of sound. There was a character there. But, other than when Alain cranked it up and did some tweaking (he dialed in a perfect "Rebel,Rebel" tone), I just wasn't feeling a lotta love for the sound. Comparing the overdriven sound of the Statesman to the last couple of amps that we tried (Ironhorse, Lonestar Special), it was less girthy and not as full in the lower mids.
Statesman Quad EL84, you are perfect, don't change- you just aren't the amp for me. Though, I would be interested in meeting your brothers, 6L6 and EL34.
Last edited by Scott DeVarenne on Thu Jun 07, 2012 2:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: H&K Statesman Quad EL84

Postby Alain Benoit » Thu Jun 07, 2012 1:49 pm

Really happy with this amp so far.
I like everything about it, not a one trick pony, a working man's amp.
It does not do anything stupendous but all that it does it does very well.
The 'Twang' button says to add attack, it doe,s but like I said earlier has other bonus artifacts.
Reasonable weight, great gigging amp for your multi-faceted players, it should do country, pop, rock and blues credibly.

A.
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Re: H&K Statesman Quad EL84

Postby dylanger » Fri Jun 08, 2012 9:22 am

I was at the studio yesterday and got to try out the Statesman Quad EL84. I used three different guitars for this demo, an Epiphone Les Paul, an American Standard tele with a maple fretboard and a Jackson of some sort with EMG's. I started of on the clean channel with the Les Paul and it was right for me, there wasn't a lot of sparkle like most new fender amps, I didn't really have to EQ anything to get it sounding great. The Twang mode was cool but like what Al said, it should of been designed to do more. I went to the drive channel and I really liked how at low gain levels the amp still had a lot of sustain. I find that most amps that I plug into don't have that and when I'm playing and want to give myself a "grit boost" I'm really after a little bit of grit, volume boost and more sustain. Where this amp really shined was while I was playing Gary Moore/Joe Bonamassa leads. Very very nice focused clear overdrive tones, some of the nicest I've seen to be completely honest. I then tried out the tele wishing it was a strat to achieve some Texas Blues tones. It was defiantly there, but I had to cut back on the highs to get rid of some of the harsh tones going on. Keep in mind that I really like dark guitar tones. My bassman is a dark amp I usually have the treble around 10 o'clock and the presence helps it cut through on 5 o'clock. The amp with the Tele was good but I was trying to get strat tones (with rosewood) so feel free to disregard the tele section of this review. The Jackson was interesting. I'm really not familiar with Jacksons or EMG's but the jackson offered more girth that the les Paul didn't have. At this point the amp was dimmed.

All and all, this amp is a great bang for buck amp. Coming in at $1050 its great for the weekend warrior that needs lots of different tones and doesn't want to carry around a bunch of extra gear(guilty). Theres a lot of amps out there in this price range that simply just wouldn't be able to compete with it.
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Re: H&K Statesman Quad EL84

Postby Scott DeVarenne » Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:13 am

dylanger wrote: At this point the amp was dimmed.

I think Dyl meant to type dimed (meaning all the way up). Dimmed would be a good way to describe one's perception of sound after spending a short while with this amp dimed.
It's nice to have the amp evaluated in regard to lead tones. That's not something I can do.
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Re: H&K Statesman Quad EL84

Postby dylanger » Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:33 am

Cha! I did mean Dimed.
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Re: H&K Statesman Quad EL84

Postby Mathieu Benoit » Fri Jun 08, 2012 12:13 pm

But were the texas blues tones really that defiant?
"Volume automation takes time. You don't got that kinda time. You could be getting naked with somebody somewhere." -Slipperman

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