BEDIENUNGSANLEITUNG MANUAL HEAD ENGLISH DEUTSCH illustrations FX-UNIT IN SEND OUT RETURN STAGEBOARD INPUT SPEAKERS ENGLISH DEUTSCH HOME 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 100 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. HOME 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. 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. FX LEVEL: Controls the level of the effect signal. In contrast to a conventional 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. 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. 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. 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. RED MAINS LED: The red LED illuminates when the DUOTONE is powered up. 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). 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). 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. 3.0 STANDARD SETUP/CABLE CONNECTIONS 4.0 OPERATING THE DUOTONE 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. 4.4 THE DUOTONE AND SIGNAL PROCESSORS The Duotone is equipped with a parallel effects loop, meaning the original signal always comes through, and the processed signal is mixed in with it. CONNECTING EFFECT DEVICES: - Connect the FX SEND jack to the input of your effect device and the FX RETURN jack to the output. - Adjust the FX LEVEL control on the rear panel to match the input of your effect device. NOTE: When you're trying to dial in a suitable signal level, you'll find that it's harder to come up with good results when you're using a multieffects processor that features an on-board preamp (actually, any kind of signal boosting circuit) but does not allow you to patch signals in after its preamp and in front of its effects section. The reason for this is that when you have connected this type of processor to an FX loop, the signal is being routed through two preamps in series. Effects devices that are not equipped with this type of "preamp" are better suited for use in conjunction with effects loops because response is more dynamic and sound quality considerably better. If you happen to own one of these everythingbut-the-kitchen-sink boxes and understandably want to use it, dial in the most dynamic clean sound you can find on the effects device. - Dial in the desired balance between dry and wet signals via the FX LEVEL knob located on the front panel of the amp. in a listening benchtest. One of the most important steps is power tube matching, a process whereby tubes with the same characteristics are selected and combined to make matched sets. WHEN IS IT A GOOD IDEA TO REPLACE TUBES? The tubes in the Duotone are exemplary in terms of quality, workmanship and long service life. If you nevertheless come across a problem, please be sure to run down the following checklist before you swap out your old tubes for new ones: Was the fault or failure of the power tube caused by the tube itself or a flawed peripheral device or component, perhaps a defective speaker cable? (If you don't get to the bottom of the problem and remedy it, it may crop up again even after you replace the tubes.) Did the mains voltage fluctuate or spike while the amp was on? In all-tube amps, over-voltage surges in the mains net can certainly blow fuses or even the amps. Over-voltages are often caused by generators or improperly installed high-current power circuits. Did a fuse blow even though none of the tubes is actually defective? An old fuse, tube de-ionization or mains voltage power surges could conceivably have caused it to blow. In this case, replacing tubes of course is a waste of money and time. Tubes definitely show signs of wear when their service life is coming to an end, such as increased microphonics, noise, muddier tone through loss of high-end frequencies, degraded performance, etc. You should take these indications seriously and replace old tubes because not only do these side effects take their toll on sound quality, they also indicate the affected tube is about to fail. TIP: If you choose not to connect an effects device to the effects loop, you can instead use the RETURN jack for patching in the signal of another instrument or tape deck (guitar, keyboard, drum machine, tape player, etc.) for rehearsals or practice sessions. If you choose to use the FX RETURN this way, use the FX LEVEL knob to determine the balance of levels between your guitar's signal and the connected signal source. 5.0 REPLACING TUBES, MAINTENANCE AND CARE The Duotone ships with EL34 and 12AX7 tubes by RUBY®. Once they've been burned in (initial continuous operation under a load), these undergo an in-depth selection process where their electrical values and mechanical status (microphonics) are checked. Beyond that, they're installed in a finished amp and their sound is auditioned NOTE: Although it may be tempting to find out what an amp sounds like with different tubes, we urgently recommend that you refrain from replacing tubes for experimentation purposes. Handled improperly, this will damage the amp and lead to incredibly steep repair costs. WHAT SHOULD YOU KEEP IN MIND WHEN YOU'RE REPLACING TUBES? The golden rule: Replacing tubes is a job best left to qualified professionals. Accordingly, these guidelines are addressed to reputable technicians who earn their living with a screwdriver: Pull the mains plug of the Duotone and allow for a discharge time of at least two ...