NAD x4: Diezel, Mesa, Mojave, Hiwatt

itsgoodnow

Well-known member
Hey All,

First--Happy Thanksgiving to all. I had a busy month and probably bought more amps than I should have but wanted to show off a couple odd things. I also was delayed with travel/work/family so I just figured I would do a NAD. Also thanks to forum members on here who I purchased 3/4 amps from. All were excellent to deal with.

Diezel Herbert (#23:) I purchased this early Herbert. Supposedly the first 25-30 had a slightly different voicing (brighter) and were brighter before switching to the "standard" mark 1. This is my first Herbert so I would be incredibly curious to hear this compared to the standard Mark 1 for the rest of the production line. If anyone happens to have info about any differences (tonally, internally, etc.) or is local in AZ with a Herbert 1 and wants to get them in the same room let me know.

IMG-9349-min.jpg


Mesa Dual Rectifier: I wanted to send a recto to Hermansson for a mod and wanted something that looked different than the "standard" recto. I have always loved the look of the early chrome chassis rectos but didn't want to 1) pay the price for one and 2) chop it up for a mod. Luckily I had a 2010ish chrome chassis come up at the right time and jumped on it. It came super minty. Headshell cover, perfect foot switch, cover for the switch, and all original documentation and hang tags. This one came from Japan and I ensured the tap was set up for 117. Also kind of cool to see all the tags/literature in japanese. A good find and it ended up being only marginally more expensive than a local one even after tax and shipping.


IMG-9066-min.jpg


Mojave Peacemaker: I have always wanted one of these and I could not resist. I have a 1970 Marshall Super PA that was modded to plexi and 2203 specs. I was having that done at the time and wanted to hear the Mojave and it back to back to hear the similarities and differences. Really cool amp that has been on my list for a hot minute (but you just don't see them come up that often).

IMG-9347-min.jpg


Hiwatt Super-Hi 50: Another on my list for a while. I have heard a lot of clips of this and it always sounded great. I had a Fortin Cali I really loved, but it had a lot of redundancy to too many amps I owned at the time. I kept the Landry for the modded Marshall flavor but do miss that Fortin! This seems like it has a different flavor than other things in my collection and I thought it was worth a gamble. I also have a Hiwatt DR103 and have always wondered what a hot rodded tone would sound like through a Hiwatt style power section.

IMG-9350-min.jpg



Thanks again to all the badass forum members I dealt with on these items. Happy turkey day.
 
Congrats! Curious to see how you feel about the Herbert.
Thanks! Me too. It is definitely atypical for the type of amps I usually play. I have seen Herberts for so long I just had to know. I would really love to get it in the room with a Herbert Mk1 to see what differences there really are. Or if someone has experiences with both that would be interesting.
 
Congrats, damn bro you're mowing through the amps man very nice...that Hi50 is my pick. Tell us more after you recover after that Thanksgiving bird😎
 
Congrats, damn bro you're mowing through the amps man very nice...that Hi50 is my pick. Tell us more after you recover after Thanksgiving haha😎
I have a suspicion that one will be the keeper. Traditionally that is more my wheel house for amps. I'll post some updates after my thanksgiving eating-induced coma
 
Would love to hear more about the hiwatt. Not familiar with that model. HiWatts are unicorns in my neck of the woods, never seen one in the wild.

And congrats on 4 cool amps.
 
Would love to hear more about the hiwatt. Not familiar with that model. HiWatts are unicorns in my neck of the woods, never seen one in the wild.

And congrats on 4 cool amps.
This one was designed by Mike Fortin based on a DR 504. I have the bigger brother of that the DR 103 which is a very clean amp, very open, and still has some bite when it’s cranked. They are great pedal platforms. They sound massive. Widely regarded for their outstanding build quality. The Fortin designed one is supposed to retain the openness and clarity but be very aggressive. Much more gain. I believe it is a 3 stage and then a foot switchable 4th stage. But still supposed to be very open. It has 2 gain knobs which affect the low mids and the hi mids so you can dial in the voicing a lot with those controls. It doesn’t have the Marshall karrang, and kind of does it’s own thing that can be upper mid centric or low-mid grind depending on taste. Supposed to be super tight and have a lot of note clarity.
 
Thats quite a pickup! Definitely curious about that Hiwatt. Oh and I dig the grill of that Herbert MUCH more than the current "D" metal grill.
I'll definitely update on the Hiwatt for those curious. Every clip (which can be misleading), sounded reallllly good. I also appreciate the comment on the grill. I thought about changing it at first but thought this looked pretty unique and cool so I decided to leave it haha.
 
Hey All,

First--Happy Thanksgiving to all. I had a busy month and probably bought more amps than I should have but wanted to show off a couple odd things. I also was delayed with travel/work/family so I just figured I would do a NAD. Also thanks to forum members on here who I purchased 3/4 amps from. All were excellent to deal with.

Diezel Herbert (#23:) I purchased this early Herbert. Supposedly the first 25-30 had a slightly different voicing (brighter) and were brighter before switching to the "standard" mark 1. This is my first Herbert so I would be incredibly curious to hear this compared to the standard Mark 1 for the rest of the production line. If anyone happens to have info about any differences (tonally, internally, etc.) or is local in AZ with a Herbert 1 and wants to get them in the same room let me know.

View attachment 146569

Mesa Dual Rectifier: I wanted to send a recto to Hermansson for a mod and wanted something that looked different than the "standard" recto. I have always loved the look of the early chrome chassis rectos but didn't want to 1) pay the price for one and 2) chop it up for a mod. Luckily I had a 2010ish chrome chassis come up at the right time and jumped on it. It came super minty. Headshell cover, perfect foot switch, cover for the switch, and all original documentation and hang tags. This one came from Japan and I ensured the tap was set up for 117. Also kind of cool to see all the tags/literature in japanese. A good find and it ended up being only marginally more expensive than a local one even after tax and shipping.


View attachment 146572

Mojave Peacemaker: I have always wanted one of these and I could not resist. I have a 1970 Marshall Super PA that was modded to plexi and 2203 specs. I was having that done at the time and wanted to hear the Mojave and it back to back to hear the similarities and differences. Really cool amp that has been on my list for a hot minute (but you just don't see them come up that often).

View attachment 146575

Hiwatt Super-Hi 50: Another on my list for a while. I have heard a lot of clips of this and it always sounded great. I had a Fortin Cali I really loved, but it had a lot of redundancy to too many amps I owned at the time. I kept the Landry for the modded Marshall flavor but do miss that Fortin! This seems like it has a different flavor than other things in my collection and I thought it was worth a gamble. I also have a Hiwatt DR103 and have always wondered what a hot rodded tone would sound like through a Hiwatt style power section.

View attachment 146578


Thanks again to all the badass forum members I dealt with on these items. Happy turkey day.
Beauty score for all four - but my initial thoughts are such that the HIWATT's gonna be a thing of its own. They're amazing amps - unique - so keep us posted.

Killer score for all four!! But that HI50 🤤
 
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