Hughes & Kettner Coreblade 100W Tube Guitar Amp Head

The flagship of Hughes & Kettner's programmable tube amps, the Coreblade 100W is perfect for the modern metal guitar player.

Hughes & Kettner has built a reputation for itself as a manufacturer of very high quality tube amplifiers, and the Coreblade 100W can only enhance that.

Its four independent channels, three parallel FX modules, intelligent noise gate, automatic power tube management, and analog programming technology all make it a great choice for the gigging metalhead.

Of the four channels, two are voiced to provide high-gain alternatives, and there's also a versatile Drive channel, and a Clear channel with more headroom than, well you get the idea.

The three effects modules can be used simultaneously on each channel, and the Intelligent Dual Breakpoint (IDB) noise gate, which simultaneously measures the gain at the input jack and after the preamp, is available on all channels.

That Hughes & Kettner Coreblade tone

The key to shaping the  tone of the Hughes & Kettner Coreblade 100W are the Programmable Resistor Network (PRN) potentiometers. Designed to be twisted and turned thousands of times without becoming scratchy, these knobs are the state of the art in tone control. You can store up to 128 presets and select them from the included MIDI pedalboard, and all the sounds are driven by the tubes (there's no modelling). Importantly, every signal, from the input jack to the speaker output is analog. Presets can also be downloaded to a USB stick.  

'Love it,' wrote jpizzle on Musician's Friend. 'Gain is brutal and Cleans are tube smooth. Sounds incredible through my new mesa cab. Huge Tone.'

In the UK, Guitarist magazine wrote: 'The Coreblade is quite simply a highly powerful, highly capable piece of pro kit. Plug in if you dare!.'

Watch the video below and make up your own mind.