What about Hiwatt?

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Jofipe

Jofipe

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Any love for the classic custom or the newer higain amps from Hiwatt? I guess you need a 4x12 with Fanes along aswell.

I had a Custom stage/studio for a month. I really likes the bark of that amp. Lacked some low-end though IMO.
 
I played a Custom 100 for years in the 80/90's as my rhythm amp. 2 fane loaded 4x12's also. Punchy and crunchy as hell. Never had a problem pummeling my drummer who was super heavy handed. Those were fun times. I love hiwatt but always preferred a second amp for my lead sound. Not much Hiwatt talk around here tho.
 
I've never had a Hiwatt - but I have a SLO that has a Hiwatt front end with the SLO power section. I love it. I even bought some old Fane's but haven't tried them yet, lol Would love to try a DC60. My Hiwatt/SLO:
Mesa4x12.jpg
 
Never played a Hiwatt, but I always wanted to give one a try. Reeves amps make the best ones from what I have read.
 
I recently got the chinese hiwatt hg212 hi gain 2x12 cab in a trade
sounds actually pretty good
don't know how the chinese fane 100w speakers compare to uk made fanes, but they sound exactly like people decribe vintage fane speakers
pretty punchy, dark and definitely the closest speaker I had that would fit the definition "woody"
like an extension of my main guitar (a '73 les paul custom)...
sounds really deep and clear
reminds me of the mesa black shadow voicing (one of my favorite speakers), but sounds cleaner in the upper mids and highs, so the notes sound more natural and less saturated than they sound through celestions (that have that characteristic aggressive top)
won't cut through the mix like my scumback h75, a v30 or g12m, but sounds quite full and much clearer than I expected
I wish they had a little more upper mids, as my main amp is already pretty dark and bass heavy and so is my guitar
I love how this cab sounds in a single guitar context, but I still gotta try it against the other bands guitarist using v30/g12h speakers
 
i've had a '76 hiwatt custom 100 for a while now, killer amp, recently had it serviced to keep it playable for another at least 35 years, given it still sounded fine with the original preamp tubes (power tubes had been changed) after 35 years is quite a feat

i used it for guitar for quite a while and then bass, super clean and simply won't break up,

made a clip of my old setup through a camera phone, a blackstar ht dual doing all the work
https://soundcloud.com/paulb2/pedalboard ... nto-hiwatt

//

the other guitarist in the band uses a newer model custom 100 (i think from 2009 or so), also sounds good imo, plays guitar+bass through it + 8x10 ampeg cab, but yes you do have to crank the bass knob and play around with the normal/brilliant channel volumes (depending if you jump channels)

haven't heard much on the HG amps tho, look interesting, Hiwatts are great but i'd also look into Reeves however if i was stateside, the videos i've seen of them are smokin
 
Thanks allot for the clip! I was wondering how the Hiwatts would sound with a preamp or a good distortion pedal infront of it.
I have a chance to get a white hiwatt dr103 halfstack for a really good prize.

My perception of the Hiwatt SSH was that it was insanely clear and high end sounding... Nothing like any other amp iv played through... it kind ha the clearity of a SLO, but without that type of gain.
 
Gilmour, Page, Townsend all used Hiwatt at some point. Loud, clear, crunchy, awesome with pedals. If I were getting a new model I'd go with Reeves for high power, Trinity Triwatt for lower power.
 
My introduction to jamming as a 'yoot' was on a 100W HIWATT head and 4x12. A P2P wired head, blazingly loud, stiff, and very fun to go full tilt with. Musta been a mid 70's head or the like. Loved it. Wasn't mine, but it was my go-to head and cab when I was about 10 years old getting into jamming with my buds.

From that day forward, HIWATT will always hold a special place in my heart :yes:
 
Yeah. There is some sort of love around Hiwatt and the EXTREMELY responsive and dynamic amps they make. They are amazingly fun to play.. but is it cause ppl struggle to get a modern tone for recording, and the fact they need to be played AMAZINGLY loud that none uses them?
 
ive played a few and they sound great for cleans. they have to get WAY too loud to break up to be useful unless you are playing an outdoor arena, or if you like pedals. my buddy, who is doing quite well for himself internationally, uses a Hiwatt, but he also uses like 6 different fuzzes.
 
Jofipe":1f4pzsvr said:
Any love for the classic custom or the newer higain amps from Hiwatt? I guess you need a 4x12 with Fanes along aswell.

I had a Custom stage/studio for a month. I really likes the bark of that amp. Lacked some low-end though IMO.
Click to expand...
They don't do VH so they are not popular.
 
Jofipe":3qsesqfb said:
Yeah. There is some sort of love around Hiwatt and the EXTREMELY responsive and dynamic amps they make. They are amazingly fun to play.. but is it cause ppl struggle to get a modern tone for recording, and the fact they need to be played AMAZINGLY loud that none uses them?
Click to expand...
This is their Achilles Heel.
 
I have not heard any of the new ones, but I'd love to get my paws on an old one :yes:
 
Ventura":2ernyu3y said:
Jofipe":2ernyu3y said:
Yeah. There is some sort of love around Hiwatt and the EXTREMELY responsive and dynamic amps they make. They are amazingly fun to play.. but is it cause ppl struggle to get a modern tone for recording, and the fact they need to be played AMAZINGLY loud that none uses them?
Click to expand...
This is their Achilles Heel.
Click to expand...
I don't have a new /highgain Hiwatt...mine is a 74 DR103. I bought it for it's "crunch" tone. That on the edge clean / overdriven thing. No other amps do this. Mix it with a cranked plexi and its pretty killer.

With slaving, you can drive the snot out of it and get a pretty overdriven sound at whatever volume you want.
 
It's funny because I did not get mine with pedals in mind (I've never really been into pedals), and now I have about 15 drive pedals I've been using with it just messing around. At least it's nice to hear that you guys are using them the same way - I guess my ears aren't as bad as I thought, :lol: :LOL: :lol: :LOL: :lol: :LOL:
 
shark diver would buy a turd if it said Soldano on it....that said Hiwatts were some cool amps....now???
 
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