H|H Electronics

Bassist Sam · #1 10-19-2010, 02:28 PM

I bought this a year or two ago and there haven't been any problems, and i can get a pretty good sounds out of it, but i've never known anything about the company, or the amp...
Just wondering if anyone had heard of H|H Electronics?
Here's a picture

, 'scuse the stickers

username1 · #2 10-19-2010, 05:46 PM

My buddy used to have an H&H power amp years back and i also knew a guy who had one of their bass heads. If i remember correctly they were made in England and decent quality equipment. I havn't heard that name since the eighties though and didnt know they were still in business.

ishouldbeking · #3 10-19-2010, 07:48 PM

Daniel Ash from Bauhaus famously used (possibly still uses?) an H/H guitar amp, and that was supposedly the only thing that could give him the distortion sound that he was happy with. I remember searching for one of these things for years while on a silly tone quest, but that h/h name has got to be completely ebay/google proof as far as search queries go. From what I understand, H/H was a decent British manufacturer of amps in the '70s and '80s, who went out of business and have not been heard of since. Enjoy that amp!

Bassist Sam · #4 10-20-2010, 09:33 AM

Thanks for the help guys

I've tried many times to google the name and have found nothing, it's good to know something about it!

BassmanPaul · #5 10-20-2010, 12:39 PM

H & H were a company built in the midlands (Cambridge IIRC) of the UK. They started bringing out high quality SS MI amplification around the early Seventies. Their products were well received. They were mostly in the 100W @ 4Ω area at that time. Their front panels were electroluminescent and lit up green. They had the IC100 for guitar, IC100S for bass. They had PA versions too. I own a 100W power amp and a, now, much modified IC100. One of the last times I was in the UK I saw the H&H brand on a piece of cheap rubbish so their name has obviously been bought out.

In the early Eighties I owned a twin 15 of theirs that was a nice cabinet. Paired with a 150W tube amp I designed it was a great sound. Both are loose somewhere in Ontario last I heard.

**bassybill** · #6 10-20-2010, 01:43 PM

HH have indeed been going for years. I had an HH amp back in the 80s and it was very similar in lots of ways to my old Peavey Mk. II bass head. Solid gear, decent sound, very reliable.

Not sure whether they were based in Cambridge or not, but in the interest of raising awareness of English geography I will mention that Cambridge is in the east part of England, rather than in the Midlands.

Bassist Sam · #7 10-20-2010, 02:39 PM

Wow, glowing green front panels! Wish i'd ended up with one of them!
And i'm not too certain about them being bought out, I live in the UK and my amp and a dusty old bass head i found lurking at the back of a cupboard at a venue are the only two i've seen.

KramerBassFan · #8 10-20-2010, 02:54 PM

Almost reminds me of the green solid state Marlboro's....

Bassmec · #9 10-20-2010, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassybill

HH have indeed been going for years. I had an HH amp back in the 80s and it was very similar in lots of ways to my old Peavey Mk. II bass head. Solid gear, decent sound, very reliable.

Not sure whether they were based in Cambridge or not, but in the interest of raising awareness of English geography I will mention that Cambridge is in the east part of England, rather than in the Midlands.

They also made a very good range of Pro Audio power amps which where even accepted for monitor amp duty by the jolly old BBC! and where legendary for their clean tone and reliability.
The VS musician was an interesting early attempt at Valve/Tube sound from a transistor amp. Interesting but not a real contender against the Sans amp VT pedal.
Probably need a few new electrolytic caps by now though.

Jeff Scott · #10 10-20-2010, 08:11 PM

The only times I ever saw a HH amp used was the back in the early to mid '70s whenever I saw Genesis come through town; Steve Hackett used one.

BassmanPaul · #11 10-21-2010, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassybill

Not sure whether they were based in Cambridge or not, but in the interest of raising awareness of English geography I will mention that Cambridge is in the east part of England, rather than in the Midlands.

When you come from the north everything is down south and, if it's not as far as the Smoke, it's in the middle!

Ad Jetsonic · #12 10-21-2010, 08:43 AM

My first bass rig was a green glowing HH VS100 bass head through a monster 1x18 cab! 1979 I think.

HH guitar amps were used by a lot of new wave/punk bands. For example Wilko Johnson of Dr Feelgood and Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks. Lovely cutting treble.