Hughes & Kettner Red Box "Cabinetulator" guitar speaker direct
box
Last Update 12-09-2017
The Hughes & Kettner Red Box is a direct box with filter circuitry
designed to emulate the sound of a guitar speaker cabinet, hence its
"Cabinetulator" moniker. To date there were at least five
different versions. I used to own the Red Box MKII which I sold
to
the guitar player in a band I was in. Later when I revived my
recording hobby I also revived playing the guitar, so in the interest
of avoiding the hassles of micing a speaker cabinet (and keeping the
peace with the neighbors) I acquired a Red
Box again, this time the "MK III" version. The only difference is
that it includes a switch to select between the emulation of a 4x12
cabinet or a combo cabinet. I have no experience with the other
versions.
The Red Box can accept line outputs or speaker outputs, but if you opt
for the latter:
- If your guitar amp has a tube power stage, you MUST use a speaker
or passive load in the THRU jack. A tube power amp MUST have a
load connected or you will damage your amp.
- You must make your
connections BEFORE you turn the amp on. Otherwise you will
damage the Red Box and H&K assumes no responsibility for this user
error.
The Red Box does a fine job of emulating the sound of a guitar speaker
cabinet. The 4x12 setting sure sounds like a Marshall cabinet,
and the Combo setting does sound like an open back cabinet associated
with combo amps. The box can be powered from battery, from AC
adapter, or phantom power if your console is equipped. Going
direct into a recording system offers the maximum flexibility for
processing that isn't possible with a guitar rig. My guitar amp
has a line output; I briefly tried that into the "line in" of the Red
Box. It doesn't sound right because the line output of guitar
amps take the signal before
the power amp stage, which is where half the tone is developed.
This is where the "speaker in" is valuable, and you can insert the Red
Box between the amp and the speaker cabinet (just be sure you heed
warning #2 above!).
If you wish to play guitar without the crushing volume that introduces
new neighbors (and law authorities), you can omit the speaker cabinet
and run the balanced output into a mixer and practice with headphones
(be cautious of headphone volume so you don't damage your ears).
However if your guitar amp has a tube power stage, it absolutely
positively MUST have a
load connected to it or you will damage the amp ($$$ output
transformers will go POOF). In place of the speaker, you need a
passive resistor that equals the output impedance of the amplifier and
has a power
rating higher than the amp. A power
resistor is not a small
component and since the terminals are exposed you must take precautions
that they are never shorted or you will damage your amp. These
things get hot so keep them away from flammable materials (definitely
DON'T leave it on carpeting). Highly recommended that these be
installed in a suitable box to isolate them (don't forget the vents so
the heat can escape!). Stay away from carbon power resistors as
they are a
fire hazard as they approach their maximum power rating.
At least four guitar player friends have tried my Red Box and they were
happy enough with what they heard that they all acquired one of their
own. One of them said the Red Box gave him the best guitar tone
he ever got on a recording.
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