Musikmesse 2014 – Hughes & Kettner

Company founders (and brothers) Hans and Lothar Stamer began producing their own guitar amps in 1985. While the production space may have been small, their aspirations were not. Soon, the reputation of their products for craftsmanship and performance spread, prompting them to expand operations time and time again.

Musikmesse 2014 – Hughes & Kettner

Company founders (and brothers) Hans and Lothar Stamer began producing their own guitar amps in 1985. While the production space may have been small, their aspirations were not. Soon, the reputation of their products for craftsmanship and performance spread, prompting them to expand operations time and time again.

When Mr. Hughes, the synonym for the discerning guitar player, and Herr Kettner, the ahead-thinking German engineer, first met, Mr. Hughes was on a tone quest, looking to enrich players’ sonic palette with more soulful means of expression. A glockenspiel’s chime, the snap and snarl of a junkyard dog, the seductive wail of Siren’s song, the thunderous rush of a passing freight train, the howling of a keening jackal, the malevolent grind of a chainsaw biting into metal – could an amp really be made to do all this? Engineering whiz Herr Kettner had his eyes on a very different prize. Envisaging a compact amp that would deliver fully-formed sounds including effects at the touch of a button, he sought to do what has never been done before. And he wasn’t averse to doing better what has already been done. So began an impassioned collaboration that continues to this day.