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Hughes & Kettner GrandMeister Deluxe 40 - 40/20/5/1-watt Programmable Tube Head

40W Tube Guitar Amplifier Head with Adjustable Wattage, 128 User Presets, Built-in FX, Digital Reverb, and iOS Control
$1,479.00

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Hughes & Kettner GrandMeister Deluxe 40 - 40/20/5/1-watt Programmable Tube Head
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This Amp Can Do Almost Anything

The Hughes & Kettner GrandMeister Deluxe 40 tube guitar amplifier head can do just about anything. Whether you're playing jazz, blues, or death metal, Hughes & Kettner's Deluxe Tone Technology conjures the full gamut of all-tube tones. And once you've dialed in sounds that you like, you can store up to 128 patches for instant recall. Achieve cranked-amp tone at any volume, by virtue of adjustable wattage, and inject the sound of a miked cabinet directly into your PA or DAW with a built-in Red Box AE. Onboard modulation effects and reverb make it easy to sweeten your tone. The Hughes & Kettner GrandMeister Deluxe 40 tube guitar amplifier head will excel in any application you dream up.

Hughes & Kettner GrandMeister Deluxe 40 Tube Guitar Amplifier Head at a Glance:
  • If you can imagine it, Deluxe Tone Technology can do it
  • Put 128 unique tones at your fingertips
  • Sweet-sounding modulation effects to polish your sound
  • Built-in power soak for cranked-amp tone at reasonable volume levels
  • Onboard Red Box AE delivers all-tube miked tones without the mics
  • Powerful control via your iPad with the GM40 Remote app
If you can imagine it, Deluxe Tone Technology can do it

The GrandMeister Deluxe 40 is loaded with Hughes & Kettner's powerful Deluxe Tone Technology, which pairs an innovative circuit design with incredible tone-shaping capabilities. Deluxe Tone Technology puts sparkling cleans, muscular crunch, classic brown sound, metallic high-gain goodness, and any other tone you can imagine completely at your disposal. Vintage or modern, it doesn't matter. Whatever all-tube tone you're trying to conjure - the GrandMeister Deluxe 40 can get you there with incredible results.

Put 128 unique tones at your fingertips

While the Hughes & Kettner GrandMeister Deluxe 40 boasts an all-tube signal path, digital control over the parameters gives you the powerful ability to recall your favorite settings. There are 128 user presets you can use to save the tones you create in your studio, ready for instant recall onstage. And with four distinct amp channels (clean, crunch, lead, and ultra), plus built-in modulation effects and reverb, you've got an amazing sonic palette to work with in the GrandMeister Deluxe 40.

Sweet-sounding modulation effects to polish your sound

With built-in delay, chorus, and other modulation effects, the Hughes & Kettner GrandMeister Deluxe 40 makes it easy to add some extra excitement to your tone. Although you may already have your own favorite effects pedals, you'll quickly find yourself adding these great-sounding effects to your tone presets for easy recall.

Built-in power soak for cranked-amp tone at reasonable volume levels

The Hughes & Kettner GrandMeister Deluxe 40 is packed with a variety of power consumption options: 40 watts, 20 watts, 5 watts, 1 watt, and even 0 watts. Lower wattage means the GrandMeister Deluxe 40 starts overdriving at lower volume levels, giving you access to cranked amp tones at civilized volume levels. It's perfect for recording and also for gigs where you're trying to reduce stage volume without sacrificing your tone. Global Power Soak mode ignores any power soak settings stored in your presets, in favor of a global setting of your choice. Guitarists at Sweetwater have found that the Global Power Soak mode makes using stage presets during low-volume practice situations a piece of cake.

Onboard Red Box AE delivers all-tube miked tones without the mics

The Hughes & Kettner GrandMeister Deluxe 40's built-in Red Box delivers miked tones directly to your PA or DAW. DSP-driven Ambience Emulation taps your signal between the GrandMeister Deluxe 40's power amp and power soak, convincingly modeling the sound of a miked cabinet and injecting your signal with a direct dose of pure tube tone. You're not limited to a single sound, either. The Vintage/Modern switch selects between the warm wooly tone of an old-school cabinet and the bark and bite of modern speakers. The Small/Large control switches between the compressed sound of a small cabinet and the added girth and bass response of a large cab. Best of all, no speaker load is required. Just set the GrandMeister Deluxe 40 to 0-watt mode, connect the speaker-emulated output to your PA or recorder, and you're ready for silent performance.

Powerful control via your iPad with the GM40 Remote app

Achieve real-time control over the Hughes & Kettner GrandMeister Deluxe 40 with the free GM40 Remote app for iPad. When paired with a MIDI-enabled iPad-compatible MIDI interface, you can view, touch, and control all your amplifier's parameters on a single screen. Back up, store, and share your favorite sounds. Onstage, in the studio, during rehearsal - the free GM40 Remote app controls the GrandMeister Deluxe 40 conveniently from your iPad. You can even enjoy wire-free control with the optional WMI-1 wireless MIDI interface!

Hughes & Kettner GrandMeister Deluxe 40 Tube Guitar Amplifier Head Features:
  • All-tube guitar amp head with adjustable wattage and iOS control
  • Deluxe Tone Technology delivers a massive array of all-tube tones
  • Built-in modulation effects and digital reverb make it easy to sweeten your tone
  • 128 user presets available to store your favorite sounds
  • Adjustable wattage (40 watts, 20 watts, 5 watts, 1 watt, or 0 watts) achieves cranked-amp tones at low volume
  • Built-in Red Box AE speaker emulation plugs directly into PA or recorder, no speaker load required
  • Adjustable noise gate tightens up your sound without affecting your tone
  • Tube Safety Control automatically readjusts tube bias for maximum tone and performance
  • Dial-in via front panel controls or GM40 Remote iPad app
  • Gig bag included
If you can imagine it, the Hughes & Kettner GrandMeister Deluxe 40 tube guitar amplifier can do it.

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Tech Specs

  • Type: Tube head with MIDI switching
  • Number of Channels: 4 channels, 128 user presets
  • Total Power: 40W (switchable 20W, 5W, 1W, silent recording mode)
  • Preamp Tubes: 3 x 12AX7
  • Power Tubes: 4 x EL84
  • Reverb: Yes
  • Effects: Delay, Flanger, Phaser, Chorus, Tremolo
  • EQ: 3-band EQ, Resonance, Presence
  • Inputs: 1 x 1/4" (instrument)
  • Outputs: 1 x 1/4" (speaker 8/16 ohms), 1 x 1/4" (line out), 1 x XLR (emulated DI out)
  • Effects Loop: Yes
  • MIDI I/O: In, Out/Thru
  • Footswitch I/O: MIDI (optional FSM-432 MK III footswitch)
  • Footswitch Included: No
  • Computer Connectivity: GM40 Remote iPad app (WMI-1 wireless MIDI interface required)
  • Bias Type: Adjustable Fixed
  • Power Source: Standard IEC AC cable
  • Height: 6.7"
  • Width: 17.5"
  • Depth: 5.9"
  • Weight: 16.9 lbs.
  • Manufacturer Part Number: GM40DH

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Customer Reviews

Write your review
Rated 5/5

Great

Great amp great paired with line 6 hx effects
Rated 5/5

Packs quite the punch!

This is quite the amazing amplifier and it's my very fist fancy tube amp! It gets me some very nice beefy cleans to some hard hitting metal rhythm and lead tones. My Majesty and Strat both sound great on it for different reasons. All I use is a compressor going into the amp for a little more "oomph" on both guitars and that pretty much works. Every now and then i'll step on the Tube Screamer for tighter crunch.

When the amp first arrived, it did sound very harsh and the distortion was very "fizzy"... I read on forums that everyone almost immediately swaps tubes to fit their needs as some do like that fizzy sound. I switched to JJ tubes for everything and it made it alot better (to my ears) in my opinion. I like a warmer tighter crunch sound for metal and solely use the Lead / Ultra without boost and gain around noon, although i've seen demos with people doing solid sounding tracks with the Boost and higher gains.

My cheap Katana cab sounds pretty good with most of it, it tends to "warble" on palm mutes when trying to get that tight crunch (not the fault of the amp i'm sure) but I'm really looking forward to trying this thing with a Mesa or Marshall 4x12 to see how tight it can get.

All in all i'm very happy, the onboard effects are nice to have (especially to save some quick patches with the midi foot controller which is a must with this amp too) but if you have nice Reverb/Delay/Chorus pedals, it probably won't replace them. As always thanks to Myron who got everything out perfectly!
Music background: Guitarist (18 years)
Rated 5/5

Great tone.

I couldn't be more pleased with this monster.
Rated 5/5

Killer

One of my favourite amps I have. Fire breather. Clean to mean.
Music background: Love playing guitar.
Rated 5/5

Can’t go wrong

Love this amp the only pedal you need is a tuner!
Music background: Playing last 15 years
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