Kitty Hawk Amps
Ken Empson
There's a small music store nearby that has one. I was thinking of going
over to look at it. Would appreciate any info/opinions anyone here has about
them.
Thx,
--
Ken Empson
Peculiar Sound Studio
http://www.cdinc.net/~eriador
www.cdstreet.com/artists/peculiarsoundstudio
John Pattison
Fender Super Reverb and was given $800 in trade value for it from a dealer
toward a Kitty Hawk (he wanted a smaller tube amp to transport easier).
From what I remember, Kitty Hawk amps were designed in Germany by Roy
Electric. The USA importer/distributor support was weak, internal component
quality was suspect, and a significant number of the amps experienced
failures in the field. Kitty Hawk amps were supposedly a Class A design,
ran hot, and (when biased properly) sounded pretty good.
However a reputation of unreliability is the kiss of death for a guitar amp
line. Customers complained about poor service and support from the USA
distributor, sales dropped, and dealers eventually blew their remaining
stock of Kitty Hawk amps out at below cost.
Ken,
With the recent boom of new tube amp lines and models, and numerous online
sources for excellent used vintage amps, I recommend you steer clear of the
Kitty Hawk no matter how good it sounds at an audition. If the Kitty Hawk
dies on you (and a lot of them have) then you end up with an expensive door
stop.
Good luck!
--John
.s...@home.com> wrote in message news:9Qmdnfz3j8s...@comcast.com...
Vinny
where Reb Beach (and others) were endorsing them. The company claimed
the amps had unsurpassed sound pressure levels, whatever the hell that
entails.
OvrReactor
I would AVOID all Kitty Hawk gear for all of the reasons already stated in this
thread. When I teched for Reb Beach, he told me stories about how unreliable
the Kitty Hawk stuff was on the road. He also told me how much pleasure he and
other members of his crew took in pushing the gear off the end of a loading
dock at the end of a tour and smashing the stuff to pieces.......
Regards,
Tom Mitchell
website - http://members.aol.com/ecc81
website - http://www.over-reactors.com
Scott McKnight
wrote:
>A guy I played in a band with got one in the late 1980s. He had a blackface
>Fender Super Reverb and was given $800 in trade value for it from a dealer
>toward a Kitty Hawk (he wanted a smaller tube amp to transport easier).
>
>From what I remember, Kitty Hawk amps were designed in Germany by Roy
>Electric. The USA importer/distributor support was weak, internal component
>quality was suspect, and a significant number of the amps experienced
>failures in the field. Kitty Hawk amps were supposedly a Class A design,
>ran hot, and (when biased properly) sounded pretty good.
>
>However a reputation of unreliability is the kiss of death for a guitar amp
>line. Customers complained about poor service and support from the USA
>distributor, sales dropped, and dealers eventually blew their remaining
>stock of Kitty Hawk amps out at below cost.
>
>Ken,
>
>With the recent boom of new tube amp lines and models, and numerous online
>sources for excellent used vintage amps, I recommend you steer clear of the
>Kitty Hawk no matter how good it sounds at an audition. If the Kitty Hawk
>dies on you (and a lot of them have) then you end up with an expensive door
>stop.
>
>Good luck!
>
>--John
There's one of these in a local store and I think it's been there for
about as long as I can remember. Not that I want one, and not that
I'm disagreeing with your assesment - I'm just curious - what would be
wrong with it that couldn't be remedied with aftermarket
improvements? I mean, is this a case of a few internal components
that could be replaced by better ones? Or is it more like a main
board was made out of a giant graham cracker - i.e., it's going to
break and keep breaking as long as it exists? Maybe for cheap enough
it might make a good platform for something like a Gary Gerhart kit.
-Scott McKnight
Ken Empson
And thanks, all, for the advice(s).
Michael Goretz
H2R
From memory if you got one for 20 bucks
it could be good for ripping apart
and home brewing.
Warren
"Scott McKnight" <np...@remove.this.bellatlantic.net> wrote in message
news:3e36a0e1...@news.bellatlantic.net...
jh
Ken,
I´ve bought my KH Supreme new in 85; mine really failed over the years,
besides a dead presence pot, a defect relay and a dead reverb spring;
but I don´t consider that as catastrophy. It´s a good amp, especially in
combination with my JMP Marshall acting as a second power stage to oomph
up the sound.
-After- I bought it, I tried to contact a store in Munich to see
whether I´d achieved a good price. After saying the word "Kitty Hawk"
the clerk started to shout through the telephone "we don´t sell them
anymore, they blow up, we´ve only got problems with those amps ..." and
hang up.
After that incident I bought a book about tube amps to learn how to fix
them, regarding the "time bomb" living with me. I never had to with this
particual amp, but I´ve cought the tube amp virus then and never got rid
of it......
The construction of my supreme -it´s a close predecessor of the
M-Series- is let´s say -ok- but not really great.
The ´lytics are cheap and slightly underrated (450V with a B+ of 470V);
they are still working
The amp is all pcb with pcb-mounted pots and tube sockets (power and
preamp tubes);
The PCB is of the thick with considerable copper traces; no solder mask,
no coating.
The layout is ok with proper grounding;
It is soldered from the component side, so you -can- modifiy them and
work on them.
The Iron is Standard from Welter in Duesseldorf; I´ve worked with these
transformers in my own homebrews; I never had a problem, but the real
vintage guy spit on them. (no mojo)
After all, I´d say if you kno how to fix an amp -and as far as it´s a
cheap buy- get it.
regards
Jochen
jh
The dutch company bought the name; the "original" Kitty Hawks were made
by the "Roy Brothers" somewhere in the "Ruhrgebiet".
regards
Jochen
Ken Empson
$485US for it. A bit much, I think.
--
Ken Empson
Peculiar Sound Studio
http://www.cdinc.net/~eriador
www.cdstreet.com/artists/peculiarsoundstudio
"jh" <jh-audio...@t-online.de> wrote in message
news:3E379B29...@t-online.de...
> After all, I悲 say if you kno how to fix an amp -and as far as it愀 a
PCollen
SPL is a parameter associated with the speaker and it's enclosure, not the amp.
PCollen
One of the marketing 'spiels' of these amps was that they used custom
wound output transformers. Try to find a replacement if needed.
jh
100 to 150 would be ok.
regards
Jochen
Ken Empson schrieb:
jh
transformers.....
They even sold the remaining chassis and cabinets of KittyHawk when they
went out of business the first time.
It愀 the same as the old Boogie Hype; they claim to know something
special.....
regards
Jochen