Hughes & Kettner DUOTONE COMBO User Manual
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CONGRATULATIONS AND THANK YOU FOR
CHOOSING THE HUGHES & KETTNER DUOTONE!
Your choice would indicate that you're one of a select group of
players who know exactly what they want - a bona-fide, all-tube
amp - and won't settle for anything less.
Beyond that, you undoubtedly have a very definite, unique sense of
what your tone and amp should be all about.
The Hughes & Kettner Custom Tube Series models are all amps with
distinctive personalities tailored to individual expression. Built for tube
purists, each amp in this line is a no-frills, straightforward original.
Each one delivers the goods in terms of tone, quality of components,
workmanship and aesthetic design, living up to the most discerning
standards - no ifs, ands or buts.
The Duotone is a no-compromise design dedicated to creating
absolutely classic rock sounds. As its name would suggest, the
Duotone offers two distinct tonal worlds. There's the rough-and-ready
Overdrive channel that packs a mighty wallop and the Clean
channel with dynamics galore. Plus, with the benefit of the Overdrive
channel's Boost circuit, you have enormous gain reserves to dial in
everything from a touch of grit for classic rock riffing to high gain for
singing leads. The Duotone delivers tube tone pure and simple: even
the parallel effects loop is served by a tube. There is not a single
transistor in the entire signal path.
The hallmarks of the Duotone are not only its exceptional sound
quality but also its reliability and stage-worthiness. All amps of the
Custom Tube Series ship with tubes that satisfy the highest standards
for quality and assure maximum reliability under even the most
arduous operating conditions. With two footswitch-selectable master
volumes and a healthy 50 watts of tube-driven power, the Duotone is
a joy to play - with it you'll feel at home on any stage.
These qualities and its unique aesthetics make the Duotone
a highly individual amp for equally individual guitarists.
WE WISH YOU ALL THE FUN AND SUCCESS IN THE
WORLD WITH THE TONE OF YOUR NEW DUOTONE!
BEFORE POWERING UP
• Check that the local current and the amp's AC power rating are
identical before you plug the Duotone's mains cable (power cord)
into an AC outlet.
• Ensure that air can circulate freely around your amp's ventilation
slots.
• Place the amp on a stable platform where it is not exposed to
mechanical shocks and temperature extremes which may
damage the amp or endanger the safety of bystanders.
• Hughes & Kettner is not liable for any damage to the amp due to
improper use.
NOTE: Although we select our tubes according to the highest standards for quality, these are nonetheless sensitive components. Their
service life may be shortened considerably by improper handling.
Just like a top-notch athlete, they need to warm up before they're off
to the races. Always power the amp up in STANDBY mode and wait
one to two minutes before you flip the switch from STANDBY mode to
ON.
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1.0 CHANNELS
OVERDRIVE:
The Duotone's Overdrive channel redefines what is typically known
as the "British" sound - it makes the tone thicker, throatier, more
articulate, with greater dynamic range. The Duotone's response to
even the most subtle changes in attack is phenomenal.
Note how your touch precisely controls the level of saturation
and compression.
CLEAN:
Clear yet punchy, airy but focused, the Duotone Clean channel
delivers everything from pristine clean to - depending on the type of
guitar and pickup - remarkably responsive sweet blues sting, thus
perfectly complementing the Overdrive channel's tonal spectrum.
2.0 JACKS AND CONTROL FEATURES
FRONT PANEL:
INPUT: Plug your guitar into this jack (it accepts all standard guitar
input levels).
CLEAN VOLUME: Determines the CLEAN channel's volume.
Depending on the output of the pickups in your instrument, you'll also
be able to dial in wooly blues tone and slightly overdriven crunch
sounds.
CHANNEL SELECT: This channel selector switches back and forth between the CLEAN and OVERDRIVE channels.
BOOST: Hit this button to increase input sensitivity and pump up the
mids for fat, singing lead tone and a fairly bone-crunching, classic
heavy rock sound
OVERDRIVE GAIN: Controls the input sensitivity and thus the amount
of distortion in the OVERDRIVE channel.
OVERDRIVE MASTER: Determines the OVERDRIVE channel's volume.
Adjust this to achieve the desired balance of levels between the
OVERDRIVE and CLEAN channels.
OVERDRIVE EQ SECTION: Bass, Mid and Treble knobs for the
OVERDRIVE channel. Again, Mid and Treble influence one another.
REVERB: Controls the intensity of the on-board reverb effect.
FX LEVEL: Controls the level of the effect signal. In contrast to a con-
ventional FX MIX knob, here the signal coming from any connected
effect device is simply added to the original signal (like the AUX send
on a mixing console), leaving the original signal intact at every setting.
PRESENCE: This knob controls a power amp circuit that determines
the amount of upper mids and highs in the signal.
MASTER 1 and MASTER 2: These knobs are used to dial in two basic
overall levels, which may then be activated via footswitch.
EQ SECTION: Bass, Mid and Treble knobs for the CLEAN channel. Mid
and Treble influence one another, an attribute considered normal
and desirable in a tube amp. Boosting treble decreases midrange
honk and vice versa: jacking up the mids cuts back on the shimmer.
You'll find that this feature offers a fairly staggering range of subtle
tonal variations.
POWER: The DUOTONE's mains power switch.
STANDBY: Be sure to wait one to two minutes after turning on the
POWER switch before you flip this switch. It assures that the tubes
warm up gradually when you first power up the DUOTONE and
mutes the amp during breaks. In the latter case, the tubes stay warm
at a reduced level so that they don't have to heated up from a cold
start again when you're ready to get back to playing.
RED MAINS LED: The red LED illuminates when the DUOTONE is
powered up.
REAR PANEL:
MAINS IN: Connect the factory-included Euro-norm mains cable to
this socket. Ensure the amp's voltage rating matches your local AC
voltage rating before you plug into the wall socket. The mains fuse
bracket is located next to this socket. When replacing blown fuses,
make sure you use specified replacement fuses only (see TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS p. 26).
FOOTSWITCH: This jack accepts the included 3-way footswitch, which
lets you remotely select Channels, Boost On / Off, and Master 1 /
Master 2.
SPEAKERS: The Duotone features 4, 8 and 16-ohm connections for
perfect impedance matching. Its minimum impedance is 4 ohms
(one 4-ohm speaker or two 8-ohm speakers). The internal speaker is
connected to the 16-ohm output.
3.0 STANDARD SETUP/CABLE CONNECTIONS
4.0 OPERATING THE DUOTONE
ANODE FUSE: This is the holder for the power tubes' anode fuses. Here
too, make sure you use specified replacement fuses only when
replacing blown fuses. If a replacement fuse blows after just a short
while in operation, you should definitely have the power tubes
checked for defects.
FX LOOP: Parallel, tube-driven circuit designed to accept signal
processors. The effect signal is mixed in with the original signal (rather
than replacing it entirely, as is the more common method, in a serial
effects loop). This ensures the purity of the original signal remains
intact. For this reason, we recommend that you set the wet balance
on the effect device itself to 100%, and do the mixing of wet-to-dry
by adjusting the FX-LEVEL knob on the amp.
FX SEND: Sends the original or dry signal to the input of your effect
device.
FX RETURN: Receives the effect or wet signal from the output of your
effect device.
FX SEND LEVEL: Adjust this control to make sure the level of signal
you're sending to the input of the effect device is neither too hot nor
too soft.
4.1 SELECTING CHANNELS
You can activate either channel of the Duotone via the front panel
CHANNEL SELECT button or via footswitch. The red LED on the footswitch illuminates when the OVERDRIVE channel is selected. When
the LED is off, this indicates that the CLEAN channel is active.
4.2 OVERDRIVE CHANNEL BOOST FUNCTION
The BOOST circuit is activated via the BOOST switch on the front
panel or via footswitch. When you activate BOOST, the red LED on
the footswitch lights up.
4.3 MASTER 1 AND 2
Either of the two variable master levels can be activated via footswitch. The red LED on the footswitch lights up when MASTER 2 is
selected. When the LED on the footswitch is off, this indicates that
MASTER 1 is active.
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