Hiwatt nuts, where are you?

Everyone's got their favorite, and I have mine. Old, British, and really LOUD. And pretty darn small, too. The name plate may not begin with an quot;Mquot;, but anyone who don't like this little monster just hasn't played through one.

'82 or '83 Hiwatt SA112OL, 50 watt. More gain than the typical Hiwatt and one of the last made in Britain. JJ EL34L power tubes, (4) Mullard 12AX7 preamp tubes. Eminence Delta Pro 12quot; speaker just POURS out the tone !!!
HiWatt's rock!

Never owned one though. Played a few old ones years and years ago. They never had the gain I wanted. But the tone is gorgeous.

One of my faves..Frank Hannon..played high gain modded Hi-watts...great tone...sounded like the biggest, baddest 800 with Hi-Watt quot;bitequot;.

I had an '82 DR504 amp; it was the LOUDEST F*CKIN' amp I've had to date!

But it stayed clean for days.....if you like pedals, they're amazing.

i've never had the chance to try one but if D.Gilmour uses them then they must be really good.....................

I have never owned a Hiwatt but i have played thru some... Being a Who Fan i love Hiwatts of course.... some guys i know in the Who Tribute act now own the Pete Townshend signature head made for the UK market.. The Wholigans are sponcered by Hiwatt UK and these new Pete Townshend heads are modeled after an old modded Sound City and an old Modded Hiwatt that Pete used own. They have been gain boosted and the EQ is quite different from a Custom 100.

Great amps.... Wish i had bought some in the 80's when they were poping up for cheap! Now the old ones are too expensive and the prices on the new handmade UK ones are not in my reach until i win the lottery

WhoFan

PS Hiwatt UK also makes a David Gilmour model....

i had a Dr103 last year......cool amps

I've got a Sound City 50 that was designed by the guy who founded HiWatt... does that come close?

My bedroom, circa 1979....

That's a DR103 - the scanner cropped the original photo, so you can't see the Altair power attenuator up on top.

Check these out:

in power scaling

Never got along with HiWatts...but plenty of great guitarists love 'em. Tommy Bolin comes to mind. For me they're just to loud, to bright and to clean. But they are so beautiful inside! Neatest, cleanest wiring and interior I've ever seen in an amp.

And they show your every weakness.

My Tele amp; the Hiwatt used to mock me when I played.....I just had to split them up. All that laughter will make you cower in shame.......Yes, I still have issues.....but I'm dealing with it

When I think of Fender and Marshall thrown in to a pot, the ending result is HiWatt. Very nice and clean like a Fender but loud as hell with good breakup when you push them like a Marshall.

Hiwatts are not for the timid. I agee that they tend to be bright and will certainly reveal any sloppy playing.... Thats why I goose the front end with a tube screamer.


Originally Posted by PUCKBOY99Check these out:

in power scaling

Thanks so much for that link!!!! Reeves makes a Pete Townshend Model too... the CP103.... I never heard of them before but that is great info to have... Thanks! Is Dave Reeves from Hiwatt fame a part of that company?

WhoFan


Originally Posted by WhoFanThanks so much for that link!!!! Reeves makes a Pete Townshend Model too... the CP103.... I never heard of them before but that is great info to have... Thanks! Is Dave Reeves from Hiwatt fame a part of that company?

WhoFan

I believe the REEVES in Reeves amps IS Dave Reeves.

From the site:

quot;Dave Reeves started making amplifiers under the HIWATT™ brand name in 1966. What made Dave Reeves HIWATT™ amplifiers so unique and so special was the use of turret board point to point wiring, premium military-spec components and Partridge transformers. The amplifiers not only sounded great but were extremely reliable and durable!quot;

Granted, they won't come with the Harry Joyce sharpie sig inside the chassis, but most of those were fake anyway....

If I remember correctly, Hiwatt was Dave's design, but it was Harry Joyce mil-spec wiring that really made them what they are.

Or was Dave the wiring genius? Never the less, I'd still grab a Reeves over one of the new Hiwatt amps.

I like that Reeves Custom 30 a lot
O.K., I had it rightthe first time...check this out:
from : localhost/mhuss.com/Hiwatt/index.html


Originally Posted by PUCKBOY99I believe the REEVES in Reeves amps IS Dave Reeves.

From the site:

quot;Dave Reeves started making amplifiers under the HIWATT™ brand name in 1966. What made Dave Reeves HIWATT™ amplifiers so unique and so special was the use of turret board point to point wiring, premium military-spec components and Partridge transformers. The amplifiers not only sounded great but were extremely reliable and durable!quot;

Granted, they won't come with the Harry Joyce sharpie sig inside the chassis, but most of those were fake anyway....

If I remember correctly, Hiwatt was Dave's design, but it was Harry Joyce mil-spec wiring that really made them what they are.

Or was Dave the wiring genius? Never the less, I'd still grab a Reeves over one of the new Hiwatt amps.

I like that Reeves Custom 30 a lot
Very cool amps! Thanks again

OR...

You could go for one of these:WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT????!!!!!!!

Never see that in a Fender!

It would actually be cool to get a Hiwatt Custom 50, a Harry Joyce Custom 50 amp; a Reeves Custom 50 and see how they all sounded. See if there was anything different after all the years.