H & K Fortress Preamp - Need advice.

[Matt in Jerzey]

I just bought a Hughes & Kettner Fortress pre on ebay on a whim. I've heard a few good things about them and I wanted to check out the sound. Has anyone here used, or currently is using, this pre? What is the tone like? Are you able to get any grit from the tube section? Any advice would be great, I would love to know what to expect when I get it. My setup is a QSC1450 amp, Eden 410XLT, ESP C-305 bass, Fender P, MM stingray.

I tried to find something on thier website, but it sucks and I'm tired of wasting my time on it. Thanks.

[Matt in Jerzey]

Just thought I'd answer my own post. I got the preamp this afternoon, hooked it up, and wow. Even the ss portion of the preamp exudes tubelike goodness. The EQ is setup fairly well, the bass can get very heavy if you need it to. The tube section is also very good. I'm able to dial in quite a bit of dirt with the gain turned up. I'm still getting the compressor setup to where I like it, it takes time, and I'm not certain I like the compressor yet. Overall I am very happy with the tone. Granted, I'm coming from a PODxt, but I also owned an SVT IIP that IMHO did not sound near as good the this pre. Harmonics shine through as well, and it really picks up the subtle nuances from your fingers.

I'll try to get a sound clip or two together for examples.

BTW: I looked all over online and couldn't find much on this pre at all. I am trying to put some things together so anyone else who wants to know about this pre can get some info. Also, H & K never returned any of my emails. Bunch of douches as far as I'm concerned.

[bongomania]

Glad to hear you are happy with it. I saw one on Ebay a few weeks ago, did some searches, and the only thing I could find was that TB'er Tombowlus has one, and he gave me his opinions of it. You could PM him to compare notes and see if he has any setup suggestions. I ended up buying a couple of other preamps instead, but the H&K is still on my GAS list.

[Matt in Jerzey]

Yeah, I saw one with the stageboard, then the one I got. I would like to get the board as well at some point. It looks useful. What pre's did you end up getting?

[bongomania]

A pair of AMP SL-1's- one for the rig, one for backup. It's a clean ss sound, not the tube voice of the H&K, and I already had a Summit/ART setup for my tube-voiced pre.

[magicapple]

Hi Matt,
I can only say: Congratulations to your preamp!
I also have a fortress in my setup, and I have used it for about 18 years now without any problems, and I am still very glad to have bought it.
It adds a lot of "thickness" to your instrument and kicks the bass "straight in your face" :-)
The only thing about it is that I lost the stageboard when I moved house 3 years ago, and I can't get a new one. Even in the factory it's no longer available!
But in general I can say that it's one of the best sounding and most reliable amps ever made :-)

[Matt in Jerzey]

Yeah, this pre is incredible. I've also been searching for the stageboard, it's quite impossible to find. There was one on Ebay with the pre a while ago, but I missed it. It's a shame that H&K act as if this preamp never existed, I've emailed a few times with no response. I have the owners manual in .PDF, but my german is a little rusty.

[tombowlus]

Grats, Matt! I have a Fortress, as well, and it is a very fine preamp, IME/IMHO. It is quite full sounding, and more aimed at vintage than modern tones, but that does not mean that you can't dial in a more 'modern' tone, just that it lends itself more to a warm/full kind of tone. In some ways, it reminds me of an F-1X, but definitely more tweakable.

The Fortress is kind of a 'sleeper', IMHO.

Enjoy!

Tom.

[magicapple]

Yeah, that's it! They act as if the fortress never existed!
Perhaps it helps if there are more of us to write them what a great preamp the fortress is and that it's not really a good service denying the stuff.
I think I have an idea: You write an email about your problems finding a stageboard, send it to me, I translate it for you (I am german ... *g*), send it back to you and you send this now german mail to the guys at Hughes & Kettner. I write a mail with the same topic, and so we are already two ... ;-)
What do you think about it?

[magicapple]

Yeah, that's it! They act as if the fortress never existed!
Perhaps it helps if there are more of us to write them what a great preamp the fortress is and that it's not really a good service denying the stuff.
I think I have an idea: You write an email about your problems finding a stageboard, send it to me, I translate it for you (I am german ... *g*), send it back to you and you send this now german mail to the guys at Hughes & Kettner. I write a mail with the same topic, and so we are already two ...
What do you think about it?

[Matt in Jerzey]

I think is more time of mine to be wasted on those people. They suck for service. I hope nothing ever happens to this thing or I'll have to go to another brand, or search forever for another. Certainly no chance of getting help from HK. It's a good idea if they're were more of us who owned this pre, I just don't think they'll listen to 2 guys who own outdated equipment. Apparently, we suck too.

[Count Bassie]

Whoah there- I just got hold of one! I'm trying it at a gig on Saturday. If I like it- and it sounds at this point like I will, I like that older vibe- I'll get in on that emailing H&K too! Hey magicapple, will you translate one for me, if I send it to you, as well?

I see no reason why folks who make good gear should get away with leaving it on the side of the road, as it were!

There are some of us...

[Count Bassie]

Originally Posted by Matt in Jerzey

Just thought I'd answer my own post. I got the preamp this afternoon, hooked it up, and wow. Even the ss portion of the preamp exudes tubelike goodness. The EQ is setup fairly well, the bass can get very heavy if you need it to. The tube section is also very good. I'm able to dial in quite a bit of dirt with the gain turned up. I'm still getting the compressor setup to where I like it, it takes time, and I'm not certain I like the compressor yet. Overall I am very happy with the tone. Granted, I'm coming from a PODxt, but I also owned an SVT IIP that IMHO did not sound near as good the this pre. Harmonics shine through as well, and it really picks up the subtle nuances from your fingers.

I'll try to get a sound clip or two together for examples.

BTW: I looked all over online and couldn't find much on this pre at all. I am trying to put some things together so anyone else who wants to know about this pre can get some info. Also, H & K never returned any of my emails. Bunch of douches as far as I'm concerned.

Hey Matt in Jersey, what are you using for a poweramp? I have a Crest FA901 and I seem to have to do a little work to get the volume up very far on this H&K Fortress I just got hold of. Without the Tube circuit engaged I'm having trouble getting much at all out of it. Otherwise all the controls work well.

[Count Bassie]

For you Fortress users bereft of documentation on it, I have a copy on .pdf. If someone knows how to upload it to a place it can be downloaded from I'll be happy to oblige- or you can PM me you email and I'll send you a copy in an attachment.

Pretty cool pre.

[MrDOS]

Thanks to Count Bassie (Roger) for being so helpful with these!

Here's the owner's manual in German:
http://www.zebb.info/TalkBass/Fortress_DE_LowRes.pdf

A section translated to English:
http://www.zebb.info/TalkBass/Fortress_Manual_EN.pdf

The schematic diagram:
http://www.zebb.info/TalkBass/Fortress_Schematic.pdf

[UntuchablSS]

ughhhh..... 7 years after the last post, I am scrounging to find a Fortress manual and to my dismay the links MrDOS posted are no longer any good... =(