Hi, Watt?

[myoldfriend]

Are there any HIWATT fans out there?  If you have one in your stable, do you currently play thru it?  Likes?  Dislikes?

[buzzy]

I have a DR103 purchased new in 1980 I believe, #14810 Hylight w/ PCB.

Waaaay too much amp for the band that I was in and likely too much amp for my skill level at the time.  Over the years, I've used it for bass more than six string.  Master at 10 and channel at about 1:00 - sounds great.   I've tried to light it up about once a year or when the occasion calls for robust clean.

I recognize that isn't much help; sorry.

[bolero]

I've had a couple:

'78 DR504, 2 input Canadian import model with the cascaded preamp

'72 DR504 4 input model.  matching purple Fane loaded 4x12 too.

they both sounded fantastic. I preferred the 4 input model, as it stayed cleaner as the vol went up, and thus beefier. but it is easy to "undo" the mods to the 2 input model & make it like the 4 input

 

the guys I sold them to raved about them as well. great amps. loud if you don't use pedals

 

[212Mavguy]

There are two in my stable...and both of them sound absolutely fantastic.  The first one I got was a Harry Joyce Custom 30 head, early 90's build on turret boards, serial #03, signed by the man.  It's running a pair of Siemens el34's in the power section, with VOS euro and US glass in the preamp, I measured plate voltages more like what are found in a 50 watt amp, and the amp behaves like it has way more than 30 watts.  It has a four hole input system.  It does some really sweet, harmonically complex tones.  cleans, riding the fence, or all out dirty roar, it delivers the goods like nobody's business.  It sounds great playing out by itself, at home messing around I like to use it as the clean tone amp, running the slave out to a Dumble clone, Hiwatt cleans dominate until I hit the D-clone's boost and or dirty switches to do up some amazing Dumble dirt, wooooooooeeeeee!  Talk about opera star singing tones for days...The master volume is good enough to do small clubs, that is what it is designed to do, guitar straight into amp and tweak the Normal, Bright, and Master volume knobs from song to song while playing ol' school style.  This amp illuminates the player with mad skills in ears and fingers.  

The other one is a '74 Hylight DR112 Custom PA 100 head with the famed Partridge iron in it, all the raves about those transformers are true....  It features some stuff that IMO makes it the most desirable of all the Hiwatt amps to play guitar through, period.  It had been victimized by a tech that did some sloppy work before the seller put it up, but I found and fixed the freakups on my bench.  This amp has been played out by one of the best bands in the state, I have a friend in that band that likes to run my rigs.  In the course of several gigs he's played through my RedPlate, Hiwatt, and Harry Joyce rigs.  The other guitar player in the band is an amp builder that loves to build and play through JTM45 and Plexi circuits.  The best part is that since the head has a non buffered serial fx loop, you can do things with effects that most Hiwatts can't handle, namely time based effects while playing in the dirt...and the ability to play the quietest venues by running a Dumble style tube loop buffer in that loop just like the fat man did in his legendary amps.  The Dumbulator is the secret sauce of Howard Alexander Dumble's amplifier designs.  Here's the old thread on that amp.  Pete's as well as David's tones are all in there, in spades from chamber music levels on up to a gorgeous pant flappin' ROAR!  The way I got those tones out of that amp is found in this resurrected HOC thread.  The PA heads are the secret weapons from Dave Reeves that the Hiwatt herd doesn't know to follow.

 

 

[LittleLeroy]

i have a Hiwatt Custom 50 from 1972.  It was modded to turn it into a 100 watt a few decades ago.  I was nostalgic for the Custom 50 I bought new in '73, and I got this one pretty cheaply.  I doubt it has Partridge trannys, but it's hella loud and clear just like a Hiwatt should be. And the wiring of Mr. Reeves is a thing of beauty.

 I never use it now.  Just too big, heavy and LOUD for anything I'm doing.  I'll likely be buried with it.

[bolero]

allright....we need some pics in here!

 

here is one of my old amps, c/o Mark Huss' Hiwatt website.

 

whoops I guess it was a DR505

lots of good info at Marks' site....a great resource!

 

link:

http://hiwatt.org/

[LittleLeroy]

This is my 1971 DR504 modded to DR104.  I installed the EIC inlet, though I do have the original power cable.  Note the 4 EL34 tubes.  And a glimpse of Dave Reeves wiring artistry.  MASSIVELY LOUD.  Just waiting for Mr. Gilmour or Mr. Townsend to visit.