FourT6and2
Well-known member
Haven't had a lot of time with it, just plugged in for a bit today.
First, it was a bit of a process dealing with Maxwatt (who is now Hiwatt). All said and done, it took 32 days to get them to take my payment and ship the amp (which was in stock and ready to ship on day 1). Shipping itself was insanely fast at just 3 days from the UK. Lots of back and forth via email (and 4-5 international calls) just to get an accurate price and flesh out the details of how to pay since they don't seem to be set up as a retailer at the moment. This was pre-NAMM. Maybe NAMM had something to do with the hassle. But either way, the amp is here now.
That said...
It was worth it. One of the best high-gain amps I've ever played. It sounds phenomenal. It's mean as hell, it's super tight, it's harmonically rich, and yet it has a sort of bounciness in the midrange that gives it musicality and character. The tone controls behave nicely. Plenty of mids and nothing fizzy or harsh about it—unlike most Marshalls if you EQ them wrong.
It seems like both "channels" are the same. You can just run the gain and masters differently. There's enough gain on tap with the amp running 3 gain stages to cop most hot-rodded Marshall sounds. And then when you kick in the 4th gain stage via the footswitch (not diode clipping), this thing will hang, if not beat, many other high-gainers I've tried.
It's hard to nail down how this thing sounds. But it's kinda like... a modern high-gain Vox AC30 if that makes sense. It has that vocal mid-range quality. I've never played a Hiwatt before, so maybe that's just how they sound. This amp is supposed to be a modified DR504 after all.
I need to spend more time with it before making a clip. But I like it a lot so far. Definitely a keeper.
First, it was a bit of a process dealing with Maxwatt (who is now Hiwatt). All said and done, it took 32 days to get them to take my payment and ship the amp (which was in stock and ready to ship on day 1). Shipping itself was insanely fast at just 3 days from the UK. Lots of back and forth via email (and 4-5 international calls) just to get an accurate price and flesh out the details of how to pay since they don't seem to be set up as a retailer at the moment. This was pre-NAMM. Maybe NAMM had something to do with the hassle. But either way, the amp is here now.
That said...
It was worth it. One of the best high-gain amps I've ever played. It sounds phenomenal. It's mean as hell, it's super tight, it's harmonically rich, and yet it has a sort of bounciness in the midrange that gives it musicality and character. The tone controls behave nicely. Plenty of mids and nothing fizzy or harsh about it—unlike most Marshalls if you EQ them wrong.
It seems like both "channels" are the same. You can just run the gain and masters differently. There's enough gain on tap with the amp running 3 gain stages to cop most hot-rodded Marshall sounds. And then when you kick in the 4th gain stage via the footswitch (not diode clipping), this thing will hang, if not beat, many other high-gainers I've tried.
It's hard to nail down how this thing sounds. But it's kinda like... a modern high-gain Vox AC30 if that makes sense. It has that vocal mid-range quality. I've never played a Hiwatt before, so maybe that's just how they sound. This amp is supposed to be a modified DR504 after all.
I need to spend more time with it before making a clip. But I like it a lot so far. Definitely a keeper.
