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Old School H/H amp


The_D
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So I had a bit of history with my Superfly which has now been relegated to a practice amp for my living room.

I started using my old H/H B100 to gig with and I began to appreciate how good it was until it too decided to die on me at the end of a gig. I popped it open to see if I could find a reason for it dieing and discovered 2 blown fuses inside the head unit. Replaced both fuses and it sounded better than ever so I suppose one might have blown a while ago and I just ran it on half power.

So with both fuses now good and a touch of gain this amp sounds killer and I will prob only make an upgrade to a Tecamp/Markbass type head. I play pubs generally but have yet to crank it above a quarter and any more is way too loud for the band.

One thing to mention, I noticed while changing the fuses that there was a QC type date written underneath the top chipboard plate that read **/Apr/62. Surely this amp isnt 47 years old but if it is then how the hell did these guys not manage to keep pumping out amps?!

Share all your H/H experiences and love here as I'm sure some of the more experienced guys here have used these in the past.

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HH amps first appeared in the early 1970's, and I believe your amp was a mid 1980's model.
Still manufacturing today but now owned by Laney.

Was in a band with a guitarist who used an HH IC100 head - loud as hell,sounded great for a transistor design too.
(Much HH loveliness available on ebay for not a lotta dough,but don't tell anyone!)

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My first 'proper' Bass amp was an HH.

It was a 15" combo with a fully parametric EQ and a built in compressor.
I think it was only 100 watts, although loud enough for the job.
I played blues back in the day, and it was ideal.
A lovely warm and rich tone.

I would (should) have kept it, but....
It fell out of the back of the van on the way to a gig.
The poor little thing didn't take too kindly to bouncing down the road!

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[quote name='Spoombung' post='651272' date='Nov 11 2009, 04:34 AM']Oh yeah, now you're talking - I love H&H and it's still my main amp. Big fruity sound with a lovely compressor.



These young'uns and their Mark bass amps....[/quote]

Woah - I had both the Bass Machine and the Studio 60 as well. I fact I've still got the Bass Machine and regret moving the combo on. They're both cracking amps.

The rehearsal studio I use has an HH musician head and old school 4x12 knocking about somewhere - that sounds lush as well. How HH managed to disappear I'll never figure out.

Edir: I've just noticed that's actually a bass baby you've got there, but it's close enough!

Edited by Musky
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I've got a pair of HH PA speakers, that I was given. Only rated at 100w with a single 12" driver, but really loud and clear, I reckon they would easily take double the power. Only trouble is the weight, boy, they are heavy!

I also have a McGregor power amp, and I was told that the guy who designed it used to work for HH. This is also a great bit of British eighties kit.

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Used all sort s of HH gear, amps and cabs (their big 'ole 215 did for my back when I was young and thought I could lift anything).

Even my previous rig (Laney G300) was actually HH power amps inside.

Good simple gear.

Not even close to as good as my new fancy gear, but certainly good enough, better than most (Peavey for instance) IMO.

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Never had an HH amp, although the guitarist in my first "school" band had a shiny new Valve-Sound combo - we were all dead impressed, especially as had back-lighting.
For about a decade though I ran my old Fender Bassman 135 through a big old HH 2x15 - monster cab, monster weight.
Never sure why they went under, as I always reckoned they were technologically ahead of Carlsbro, Laney etc, and way cooler design styling too.

Edited by Shaggy
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I shared a house in the early 80s with a bass player who owned an HH VS bass amp and so got to use it on several occasions. I can say I remember anything special about the sound - it certainly didn't (to my ears) offer any significant tonal improvement over my generic no-name 100W transistor head. What I do remember was a tendency for the sound to cut out for no apparent reason and the only way to get it back was to cycle the power with the volume controls on max until it started amplifying again.

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[quote name='Low End Bee' post='652317' date='Nov 12 2009, 09:39 AM']

My first gigging bass amp in 79-81 was one of these matched with an ex sound system 1x18 cab

Loved the sound at the time.[/quote]
I had one of those and a slave version too running two Electrovoice 1x15s in late '70s. It sounded great (at the time). I don't recall what happened to that rig, I certainly don't remember selling it. :)

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[quote name='EssentialTension' post='652634' date='Nov 12 2009, 01:40 PM']I had one of those and a slave version too running two Electrovoice 1x15s in late '70s. It sounded great (at the time). I don't recall what happened to that rig, I certainly don't remember selling it. :)[/quote]

I can't remember what happened to mine either?

Perhaps they escape and roam free in a field somewhere like the one in the pic.

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I've still got a B100 combo, when I find the camera I'll take some pics.

Mines a bit different it's a bit of a prototype/hybrid with no serial number.

It's one of the best sounding combos I've ever played through, unfortunatly it's no longer loud enough for most venues but I still use it if I'm DI'd to the PA.

Cheers,

Mark

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[quote name='Low End Bee' post='652317' date='Nov 12 2009, 09:39 AM']

My first gigging bass amp in 79-81 was one of these matched with an ex sound system 1x18 cab

Loved the sound at the time.[/quote]

I had one of those too - loved it.
In a moment of regrettable madness P/X'd it in for a 4x10 Session combo, which turned out to be crap. :)

Always on the lookout for another (cheap) one.

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[quote name='gafbass02' post='653988' date='Nov 13 2009, 07:44 PM']lol i started on the HH Vs 100 too! theres one in a shop in cheltenham for like £90 which i nearly bought for the memories before slapping myself and realising that £90 seemed kinda steep for a memory trip![/quote]

Memories for some of you on this site: [url="http://www.hhamplification.co.uk/"]http://www.hhamplification.co.uk/[/url]

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