@@MichaelSmith-rn1qw we have dual bias controls now on our DR201 and DR103 now, yes! And we increased the voltage on the bias tap off the transformer, so we have a 20v range on the bias pot (-35 to -65v on the 103)
Hello everyone! Thank you for your comments and corrections. I am the first to admit I have a LOT to learn! And it’s so cool to have y’all along for the journey. With that said, here are a few corrections: I misspoke about the fuse ratings. The mains fuse should be doubled (not halved) and indeed be 6A. I installed a 3A fuse. The fuse will of course still blow if there's an issue in this case, but just wanted to clear it up. Dave Reeves was the actual designer of Hiwatt amps. I apologize for my error, Harry Joyce didn’t begin wiring the amps until the early 70’s. Thank you Dave!!
People know one's a class act when they admit their errors, and "rectify" (pun intended, I build Marshall Clones) said mistakes. Cool vid, those old Reeves Hi-Watts are classics. Resplendent with Mustard tone caps, and impeccable wiring. Would love to get one or simply build a clone, which is the financially only option!
Audio engineer Dave Reeves founded Hiwatt in the mid-1960s (the exact date varies from source to source). To raise enough money to get his company up and running, he contracted with Arbiter’s Sound City music store to build a line of amps bearing the store’s name. By the late 1960s, however, Reeves had fulfilled his contract with Sound City and began focusing on building his Hiwatt-branded amps. Harry Joyce stopped building HIWATTs in 1976 because Dave Reeves (original designer of HIWATTs and Sound City) wanted to find a cheaper way of doing things to make more profits. He (Reeves) later decided to build the amps with PCB and upon hearing that suggestion from Reeves, Harry refused to work with him because he felt it was an inferior design which would only cheapen the sound/quality. LOVE your show..PS I have a DR103 and still use it. All caps and res. and power sw have been replaced.
This amp is a good choice for an extreme metal guitarist who wants a vintage tube pathway, but also super clean power, who also uses a pedal for their distortion. Best of all worlds in a situation like that. Clean, loud power, nice tube sound, takes the pedal distortion well and helps smooth it out a little, and when you turn your stomp box off, the clean tone is so buttery smooth. Its a win-win-win and something like this is an essential part of your tone when you favor the really gainy pedals like the old metalzones and the like.
HiWatt, that brings alot of memories for me. At the time, beginning of 1970s, I was working as a service tech at a music store in Gothenburg, Sweden, called MUG. They where the Swedish distributor and I was responsible to adapt them for the market. More fuses and replace the power connector. I had a punch tool to fit the new connector. I actually had pleasure to meet Dave at his shop. We had tea...... I asked Stuart the British repair guy, youtuber, if he had repaired any Hiwatts, zero was his answer. That says alot of the quality! If I remember correct, I only had a few returns, all bad tubes. Thanks again for this wonderful memory. PeterS
Those weren't "bad tubes." This lil lady just pointed out.... No Bias adjustment, grid runs Hot, DESIGNED INTO THE CIRCUIT. Your uTuber Hero didn't repair Hiwatt Amps because the artists using them got tired of feeding them Vacuum Tubes. On top of that, I doubt Hiwatt had any considerable market share. Those Capacitors in any Amplifier die from AGE. If noone Loved their HiWatt long enough for those caps to die, they never had it Serviced. I could say that since I have never performed any service or repairs on a DeTomaso Pantera, that makes it a better road car than a 911 and a better race car than a GT40. The absence of evidence does not make a verdict. Go unravel your logic. It doesn't work for me. Edited to Correct Autocorrect
Hi-Tones are great. I have one of their DR-504s (50 watts). It’s the Reeves family who’ve given the thumbs-up, though. Dave Reeves designed all the classic Hiwatt circuits. Harry Joyce was his main wiring guy and is responsible for the military-spec quality of the layouts.
Whenever I see Hiwatt I think of The Who at the Isle of Wight .... flat out in all their full glory. Not many of us will ever get the chance to experience playing through a rig like Pete Townshend used.
Very nice video, Colleen. You definitely showed proper reverence for the incredible craftsmanship that goes into the creation of these jewels. The geometric precision.....the bundled wire runs......the clarity of design. They are more an art form than an electronic device. Sorry for the hyperbole, but (as you might guess) I really admire Hiwatt amps ;) Thanks for posting :)
Your very good and we all miss you. Your teaching style is very relaxed. The explanations you give are concise and informative. It was very nice to see your guitar skills instead of just hearing them. You have excellent timing. I wish you could post more but making a living is more important. Thank You for sharing. You are Appreciated 🙂👍🎸🎼🎶🎹🎷🎺🥁🎻🪕🎤🎛️🎙️📻
DON'T consider this Video as Educational. This Tech failed at identifying the Correct Safety Fuse, with the Factory Schematic in her mits. If Vacuum Tubes are at a premium, how can one say "Close enough" for Resistors and Capacitors? What useful Compromise is that? The excuse is, "I don't want to wait to get the Correct Replacement Parts, so I will just use what I find in my spare parts bins?" The ONLY reason to do that is if the Customer insists on Gigging that night with this gear. It fits with cracked nail pollish. Either remove it or paint those digits again. Edited to Correct Autocorrect.
@@truthsRsung If you have your own channel I'd like to watch it. Plus, everyone makes mistakes. For me knowing nothing about electronics, and knowing her training background, Fazio is an expert to me. She has other videos where she is reading schematics very well. Plus she has repaired amps that were a mess inside. And she has her own custom line of amps. Maybe she doesn't have an electronics engineering degree, but she runs a successful, busy amp repair business. Thanks for the input! Must be nice to be perfect and never make a mistake! I like to have the recipe for that one?
@@reddragon3733 ...I use what I know to fix people's heating and air conditioning equipment. I have to make sure, before I leave their house or business, that I haven't "Made a Mistake" that could leave the air in the house UNBREATHABLE. I have the belief that there are more steps to a repair or maintenance call because... Checking my Work keeps people from death or brain damage. Once you admit that Humans Fail, you have to admit that Not Checking Your Work is FOOLISH. I get support up the wazzu from the manufacturers and the distributers and the tool designers in the industry. Parts guys who don't let me forget a gasket, find a spec or withdraw from Caffeine. I am sure I could find many rebuild kits and "upgrades" for this amplifier if I searched a few electronic supply houses. I haven't bought a single resistor, pot, or transformer for anything that didn't meet the specs from Who Designed and Built It. I will give you two pieces of advice. The simpler an electronic circuit is, the less chance "noise" can enter a system. The electric guitar is half the instrument. Someone recording can use a midi direct to a PC as the other half then add any effect (electronic equation modifier) they want, without worrying about how cables, pedals, speakers and microphones are connected and placed. Or that there is a quiet place to do it. These amps are made to SCREAM above the voices of the Drunk Masses. It is also the leather jacket draped over the Indian Motorcycle of the Music World. Jewelry for the stage. If you really want to learn about electronic musical instruments, start at the beginning or close to it. Hertz and Marconi for the electrical theory. The foundation is essential. The Organs. Yeah, the musical instrument that is the building and vise versa. (this requires knowledge of what the historians of the time referred to as classical and radical. Xtra credit is earned when you plunge directly into the reality that Beethoven, Liszt, and Bach, alongside the inventers of the improvements made to Musical Instruments, were Literally Risking their Lives and Reputations in their struggle against the people that Owned Them.
@@truthsRsung the ramblings against an amp tech from an appliance repair man? Please. This isn't about life or death. It's about sound from a box that a more than competent tech repairs. I fined your comparisons to be ridiculous! If you bother watching the majority of Fazio Electric videos you would see how talented she is at repair. You are making to much out of nothing and over exaggerating. At least she unplugs the amps and doesn't demonstrate problems like I've seen other TH-camrs that repair amps do! She has a video on safety and proper use of equipment. Do you unplug your air conditioners before testing? Please! Make and amp out of an air conditioner then we'll talk. Otherwise I'll listen to Fazio. Must be nice to be perfect and never make a mistake! I'd like to have the recipe for that one?
@@reddragon3733 ...I studied Robotics at Northwestern. I have a Private Pilots License. I am MECP, ASE, and Red Cross Certified. I was in Scouts, a Lifeguard, and worked at a Custom Shop called, "Rockinn Motorsports" while going to school. I was one of the last technicians to service Chicago's Union Station Coal fed Boilers. I don't know what kind of "Appliances" you have at home, but I bet there aren't many that breathe FIRE. If you aren't in a climate that requires a Furnace, you can't respect one nor frostbite or what happens to a house full of water pipes when it's temp falls below Zero. Take your chapped backside off to where you can lick your wounds in private. Give yourself a chance to be wrong, then change.
Nice to have you back, love your videos! One note though, you’ve got the fuse rating backwards, the fuse rating doubles on 115VAC compared to 230VAC, as the wattage demand of the amp is constant regardless of line voltage, it’ll pull twice the current on the primary side on 115V, so it requires a 6.3 amp fuse. You can see it on the schematic as well, the voltage selector in the schematic is set to 220VAC, hence the 3.15A fuse with 6.3 in parentheses below. The HT fuse or the heater fuse doesn’t change on the other hand, as it’s on the secondary side of the transformer. Otherwise, brilliant work as always!
You had me completely at "Hiwatt"!!!! After a lifetime of tone-chasing, it's the only amp for me. Clean, dynamic, and unique! And it's the world best pedal platform.
@@RocknJazzer Could you please explain what's meant by an amp being "too sterile"? Sorry, but I haven't quite picked up on the words used to describe amp tone 😄
@@dingalarm sterile means mostly the faster clearer unforgiving nature of solid state that reproduces transients very fast and accurately, that tubes naturally round off being less accurate, as tubes smear things resulting in smoother transients and tone, so when using solid state pedals (which are most ie ic or transistor) going thru a clean tube amp will take the edge off such pedals if that is what you want to do, but if you want max harsh raspy sound of pedals going thru a roland or other ss amp to let the often fuzzy edgy pedals to shine thru extra clean not rounding them off, that is your artistic choice and just as valid in certain genres, as there is no right or wrong in art ie music, all sounds are valid from silence to noise and all in between. Also using ss pedals into tube amps can get a halfway ss/tube tone if you push the tube amp to breakup adding tube drive to your pedals, again tho all this is genre specific, tho no rules, certain genres fall more one way or the other, blending can result in a more unique tone if you want one, otherwise just follow what your favorite players use in whatever genre you favor, or just mess around experiment w a bunch of stuff you will find what you want eventually tho some chase tone for decades, others dont care and use whatever, both are valid good luck have fun
I love your laid-back style, Colleen. Very relaxing. Which is the bottom line for me. I watch yours and other's channels like Uncle Doug and David Tipton's (AU) for the same reason. Informative without being overly technical but above all, easy and relaxed is what I personally look for in vintage electronics TH-cam channels, not because I wish to learn any applicable skills, I just find the subject interesting. Thanks for uploading, hope to see more!
I had a two input 504 and a four input 103. Best amps ever...I have ginormous seller's regret for having sold these, even with a solid 200% profit on the resell... But I am glad they are still being made by Hiwatt and several devoted cloners.
Afterthought: I still have a Lead 30 head from the mid 80s...very cool amp and from the outside, it looks more or less identical to the Dave Reeves amps, but it is NOT the same type of machine at all. It's a Sterling Imports model, one of the makers who used the name for a few years back then. It's a four EL84 single input with a PCB and it has gain more akin to a Marshall of that same era...
Hi Colleen, nice to see you back again, look forward to seeing your videos. The amp is really clean and nicely built, I’ve been a massive fan of the Who and I remember them using these amps.
Dave Reeves did the original layout. Harry Joyce was a contractor for Reeves. Also when going to 120V from 240V you DOUBLE the amperage. Watts are watts. Say you have 240V @ 3A = 720 Watt. If going to a 120V supply you'd divide the 720/120 = 6A fuse.
Money, Shine On, and the Seeker, good test songs! I liked your "How Soon Is now" riff to check the tremolo on a previous amp too! Absolutely love the cleanliness of the Hiwatt wiring layout, outside of Hiwatt's and old Tektronix test gear you rarely see anything like it.
We've missed you Colleen, you're a wizard! And also have an incredibly soothing Californian voice 🤘❤️ if you're tight on time give us some shorts - maybe a quick tip or two on anything amp related?! Peace, out.
Nicely done, Ms. Fazio (although you should have cranked it through a quad of Fanes, as it was intended, for the final demo). Hiwatt in many ways set the stage for the 'boutique amp' industry which sprang up in the '90s; the guys from Matchless were so in awe of Mr. Joyce's brainchild that they decided to emulate the wiring scheme so as to improve the service and reliability of their own products, and that has bled over into other builders' work to the extent that it is now largely the norm in any modern handmake amp. Personally, I always wondered what sort of phenomenally durable amp might have been achieved by wedding the Hiwatt circuits with Traynor amps' use of raw bias feed to the screens (as Mullard intended) of the EL-34s...it might have been too clean and loud for us to bear. ;)
You are the most beautiful tech I have seen in a while and I've been a tech for many years. I am a Hiwatt fan and love to see them restored and maintained!
I work at a Micro-Electronics company in Simi Valley CA. as the name implies all my work is done under a microscope it involves a lot of micro soldering and many other disciplines with Piezo Electric components watching you work your impressive knowledge and love of classic electronics is impressive.
Fantastic video on one of the unsung great tones of the classic rock era. Very happy to hear you are busy - if anything good came out of Covid it’s that it got people back into music and picking up a guitar and plugging in.
I have an old Sano that has pt to pt wiring, where we see wiring measured and cleanly run at 90degree angles, bent to destination. So clean, craftsmanship. It's functional art, becoming a rare discipline in today's market driven, mass production models... nice to see examples occasionally in your vids...
Happen to be from the Midwest? You say solder the way I, and most of my friends, do: sodder. The wiring inside that thing is just drop dead gorgeous. That had to be an absolute pleasure to work on.
Had a few Sound City amps back in the day custom 120,200+ and an SMF tour series that was a monster at 265 watts RMS. Always loved the mil-spec wiring of those and the Hiwatts
Relaxed, simple amp repair and/or modification without shitting on every amp designer in the business! I love watching You Tube amp techs telling you how "they would've done it" as if there is only one perfect way of doing it...their way!
I have worked on many HiWatts in the past and I'll never forget the awe I felt when I opened up my first one and saw the quality of the construction. They were absolutely rock solid. 90% of the repairs were just normal service like re-caps, new tubes, or dirty pots. Amazing amps, and I loved getting them into the shop because I knew that there probably wouldn't be any major issues. Wish I could say the same about Marshalls. Old Fenders were a pretty close 2nd to the HiWatts. Not as pretty inside, but still rock solid. Another brand I've worked on that were almost as nicely wired was from another English company. H H. The wiring on these was also impeccable.
Hello Colleen! Glad to see you're back!! I missed you a lot on TH-cam, and even with your absence, I understand that thank God you have a lot of service!! This is very important, it's part of being able to pay the bills!! I love you so much, keep it up!!
This has become my new favorite channel, despite the fact that I know almost nothing about electronics or amp repair. I haven't even learned to solder yet, something I do plan on, as I'd like to be able to at least switch out pots/switches and pickups on my guitars. The calm and methodical manner you work with, explaining things and giving a little history along the way in your friendly and humble way, is fun to watch. The hope is, like Ted Woodford's (twoodfrd) guitar repair channel, that things will seep into my brain through osmosis. You need to make more videos though! My wish for you is that you get lots of super interesting vintage amps that you feel obligated to document, like that 1941 Gibson. That thing was amazing! I'm especially curious right now about Rickenbacker amps from the late 50's/early 60's - the guy that played guitar on the new Elvis movie used one of those to nail the 50's Scotty Moore tone (see the Ask Zac channel...).
That is an awesome design job on that amp. Cleanest wiring I have ever seen outside of military equipment. Easy access to all the components. nice bias mod too. Have you ever thought about having a PCB made as an add on ready to go into any amp using similar circuitry? Might be able to sell as a separate item also. Nice clean repair. After over 55 years of seeing buggered up repairs, it is so nice to see what you & D lab do.
Hey Colleen, never to your videos, but love them. Just an fyi when working on old amps...yes, I always just get rid of all electrolytics. Although somethings like the iron (transformers) of days gone by are bullet proof and you will die long before they ever do....the electrolytics are the weakest link, leak and if don't just dead shorts, so all get replaced. Some of the components like electricytic caps or self-healing poly of now-a-days are far superior and you can pick up 15k/18k/20k hour electrolytics and 200,000hr poly! But one thig I wanted to point out when chasing ghosts in some of these old amps are the diodes....I've worked on so many old amps and some changed virtually everything and when it came to the diodes....those were the ones causing the issues I could not find! Soo, I like to just replace them as readily as electrolytics and wanted to pass this tip along. Traynors, Bassman, you name it and these things were wasted!!
Very interesting video. I have 1974 DR504 that I bought used back in 1980 for $240(!). It's a great amp that I used as my primary gigging amp thru the 80's. It was 100% reliable thru that period, but started developing some issues in the mid-90's. My amp tech called it "motorboating". I think it got upset probably because I wasn't using it enough. I had it re-capped and re-tubed and it was restored back to its previous greatness. I had an adjustable bias installed too. The unique power cord always intrigued me and I've always guarded it with my life because I thought it was irreplaceable. Too bad that new power socket didn't work out so well.
I learn souch from your videos. I recently scored a Fender Sound Column 410. For $10.00. It seems to be geared as a P.A. speaker. The speakers aren't blown, but a couple have small rips in them. They are four ten inch 32 ohm speakers, which are super hard to find. The jacks had been pulled through the particle board, and a previous owner used electrical boxes to mount them. I've replaced the jacks and made a new cover for the grille. Since I cannot find any affordable 32 ohm speakers, I'm going to try and sell it as is. But your videos inspired me to tackle this.
I had quite a few students come from the audio band equipment field to my clinical engineering biomedical technician program in my thirty years teaching. They all made the transition with ease and went on to great jobs in the healthcare industry working on medical equipment and imaging equipment. Something to consider with your skills.
Back in the 70's I had two Hiwatt 4 x12 cabs and a Sound City 120 Amplifier. I wanted the Hiwatt head but couldn't afford it. But I'm not gonna dis that Sound City Head because it was loud and really clean until you got to num 11 on the Dial. Colleen or anybody else ever hear of Sound City? Things don't sound as loud to me now as they used to, wonder if they changed watts lol. Regards 70 year old bass player. I love her vids. So relaxing even though they mean Jack to me though she is a lovely clean worker
I've always admired mil-spec wiring with the lacing. So time consuming but it sure is effective. I have repaired a couple of the newer Hiwatt's and they also had very neat, right angled wiring though I don't recall if they were laced together. Good job done on a great classic amp!
I used to do MIL-SPEC wiring when I worked as a Gov't contractor the Dept of Navy in RI....used a lot of lacing in some equipment....later, tie-wraps were the 'thing' . . .
It’s not terribly hard to do, NASA has published a manual on how to do it back in the day that explains it very well, you can also cheat and use a few zip ties to bundle the wires before starting which makes it a lot easier to lace the wires, just cut them off as you go and no one will be none the wiser that you cheated. 😂
Hi I really enjoyed the renovation of the late 30’s tweed Gibson EH185 Bass reflex. You brought it back to life, but man it sure sounded great. These combos were the Roll Royce of amps at the time. Did you know when you remove the amp and you close the cabinet it became a bass reflex, some sort of subwoofer. They even have an output for an echo speaker to transforme it into a sound system.
Tommy Bolin used em. My brother has one that has been DOA for years. I need to get it from him. I have a pair of Altec 1569A amps from the Alladin in Vegas. They power my stereo. Cool video.
As someone who knows next to nothing I really enjoy your channel, you explain things extremely clearly and at a nice steady pace. As a boomer I always love hearing young business owners say "…it’s been crazy busy around here."
@@eyedunno8462 yes I know. I was speaking to how great these Hiwatt amps and their cabs were back in the day. Reeves Amplification is making these today. The demo's I've heard are out of this world!
Nice to see you again! As much as I loved the loud concert music when I was young, now that I'm in my 60's, I'm paying for it with hearing loss and tinnitus.
I've played a couple of Hiwatts - they are fantastic and built like a tank. It's so refreshing to see an amp that is this unique - thanks for posting this!
Yuo have maybe inspired my 12 year old daughter. Sorry great for inspiring her maybe what kids are firguring out themselves. So a positive experience. I always let her play my guitar and let her understand why I loved the joy of here being amazing. Keep up your videos
Alex Lifeson used the Hiwatt's in the late 70's/early 80's with power soak. Massive overdrive in that configuration, but cleaned up nicely with a twist of the volume knob for pristine chorus/flange with delay chain effects ..
I have a DR103 and 2 4x12 Fane cabinets from '77 that I'd like to resurrect. Now, other than the clean-up, I know what to change, besides just tubes. The sounds are just amazing!
I to had never seen the inside or worked on a Hiwatt. It does have similarities to Vox and Marshall, especially those from the 80s. The British have a way with layout. With the amount of power supply filtering, it explains the clean output. It’s great you gave some history of the amp with photos. Upgrading the bias supply was brilliant. I look forward to the next video you post! Love from NW Colorado. Thanxz
and do not forget to mention the large amount of iron and copper in those hiwatt (partridge) transformers which give it the punch and clean sound. I restored the same Hiwatt, the DR103, bought as a wreck from a local musican for few bucks. It was in a miserable condition. Generations of so called engineers try to found the right sound, no magic smoke inside.☺awful! But the shell and the rear panel were okay. There were a big hole in the chassis for a replacement transformer which do not belong into it. After welding a piece of metal, sheet and let the chassis galvanised in a friends workplace I build it complete new to the original schmatics in the same way Dave Reeves did it. Luckily for me a handful of specialized shops got lot of hiwatt parts on stock. The transformers are homewound with the same lamination and winding specs . The iron, the coil former and the endframes of proper size are ordered from a company in England. I used an Auman 300 winding machine. I spend a complet year for this exciting task. I worked several hours during the week and least one day at weekend. The total cost of components include the valves were 750 EUR. The amp is finished since several month and sit on a shelf in my living room waiting for being played. By the way, there is a IEC power receptacle availabe which fit in the hole of the Bulgin plug.
I loved the tunes. It's exactly what I wanted to hear to be like "oh ya there's the tone." My brother has a DR105 but the power tubes be glowin'! The screens are just cooking away and eating it. We figured it was in the 100ohm screens. I'm not sure what dropping in higher values will do to the sound, but at least I won't create a condition blow an output.
I've been searching for a new amp for sometime now. You have settled it after seeing what's under the hood of these amps. Time to search for a Hiwatt DR103. Thanks for the walkthrough of the circuitry!
Pete townsend was the first. Actually he was the reason why hiwat started. Amazing amp. The best I've owned. Except 4:23 extremely loud and heavy for stages today. But surely an amazing experience. Thanks for chering.
A minute? It's been forever! Saw your shout out on the last uncle Doug video! Please don't change the power lead input, you can use a clover lead in there!
By the way was ALSO very good knowing that YOU weren't able to post constantly / more often, because YOU had loads of work, Thumbs up for that too... thanks FOR THIS VIDEO I was curious, I'been never saw a HIWATT inside parts / components... CHEERS / THANKS
Ah, great to see a new video! My early career was as a test engineer in the defense industry, doing lots of troubleshooting and repair on weapon control panels.
It amazing how educated you are at all of this. I'm lost watching you do these repairs but it's fun to watch the end results. My favorite parts are when you install modern parts to replace the old ones. Then the amps become better than when they originally built.
My favorite part is when she put the wrong fuse in according to the schematic then replaced components with ones that were "close enough" and "in stock." If you think this is how to wander through life with an "Education," I hope you change your mind. This is someone who doesn't have enough work to keep them busy, so they spend their time repositioning cameras all day to make it LOOK like they know what they are doing. As long as videos like this keep YOU from sticking your mits in one of these boxes, I am satisfied.
@@athathoth01 ...I will continue to treat Childish Ideas as if they come from Children. She replaced old, correct parts, with new, incorrect parts, and you Congratulated her for it. There are discussions in Congress of the U.S. of A. to discuss if people like you need electronic babysitters to keep dumb ideas from becoming VIRAL. If multiple masks won't shut you up, I suggest putting a cork in it when it comes to Anything Technical. Feel free to vomit poetry about your feelings day n night. Go for it. You don't have the background to say the Amp was improved after watching the Video Evidence. Don't comment on it.
@@truthsRsung well she got the amp working and improved it. The fact that she used modern parts to replace the old ones is what sets you off into a rage. I LOVE what she does and how she makes things work. I'll keep supporting her journey because she does good work. Have a lovely day sir.
@@athathoth01 ..."Modern parts"? No The wrong rated fuse would be the same when this amp was manufactured. There were resistor values she decided were close enough to what she had in stock, not the exact ones that were called for. You don't understand what I complain about and probably will never open a box like this. You have no right to say what she did to this amp was "better" because you don't know what "worse" or "correct" are.
I can’t decide whom I would like to meet first, yer mom or yer dad. I’m guessing the parents who set you on this path are two human beings who have the kind of stories to tell, that we all should count our selves lucky to hear.
Having owned a DR 103 in the early 80s I was happy to see a video on the topic. Enjoyed the video and problem solving.Enjoyed the playing, too. It could have been the mic placement, or the Strat/strings, or the settings, but I just thought the sound, for a Hiwatt, was very thin and lo-fi. They are bright, yes, but not crispy and tinny, like on the D chords. Even straight in and clean they have a great, unique textured sound that is richly harmonic. Someone give some feedback on that. Either back me up or slap me silly please!
Its probably cause she's playing into a Marshall cab so its most likely Celestion speakers. Vintage Fane-style speakers compliment the amp much, much better. I have a Reeves Custom 50 with Vintage Purple speakers, and I tried plugging in Celestion speakers to hear how they sound, and they made the amp sound like what you're hearing here-no bass at all and very thin sounding. If you notice, she even has the treble control waaaaay down and it still sounds like that. Vintage Fanes just give Hiwatt-style amps the best frequency response.
Keep the videos up, your videos are great, incredibly informative and you clearly really know your stuff, think not so long your gonna be mimisounds level followers very soon
My favorite way of using a Hiwatt is to set the normal channel volume at ~11:00, bril volume at ~9:30 (channels jumpered), the tones all around Noon and the master volume at ~1:00. Then plug in a 50’ cable & play from elsewhere in my house. ☺️ Once the power section starts compressing the sound thickens up and you get a beefy tonal palette to play with.
Wow - thanks that was a sweet video , Colleen ! Wearing the golden Fazio Tee in your honour , enjoyed every minute of this - totally worth the wait since your last post especially to see your solo guitar licks ! Mr Gilmour & Mr Waters would be proud 😎 One QA suggestion for you, unless you already do it (?) , is to test the replacement caps you are sourcing for both value and ESR , prior to soldering. I’ve had the odd bad one and it could save a rare tube from instant destruction ! Keep up the great work ! 👋🤩✌️
Long time since I saw one of your vids. If you think about it, that type of super tight wiring scheme was the builder's way of getting closer to a PCB. "A place for everything and everything in it's place" Proven techniques give proven results. Thanks for the builder background info also. Always important to give credit and record history for the future tube geeks
When i worked in a music shop in the mid 80's one of these came in the shop as a part ex. I brought it for £40, its was in great shape. It sounded great when cranked up, gigged it a number of times. It the only bit of gear i had that i regret selling but you can't keep everything. It was big and heavy and i had to move at the time so it had to go. I always wondered what the history of it was.
I am the head of Custom shop at Hiwatt - we do still build them the old way :D
That is what I love to hear! I can’t wait to see one someday.
Calvin: Nice to hear! Do the current production amps have an adjustable fixed bias circuit?
@@MichaelSmith-rn1qw we have dual bias controls now on our DR201 and DR103 now, yes! And we increased the voltage on the bias tap off the transformer, so we have a 20v range on the bias pot (-35 to -65v on the 103)
How much is one nowadays.
Are most of these over in that there Olde World?! Pretty cool selector knob for the mains voltages! THANKS FOR SHARING!!
Hello everyone! Thank you for your comments and corrections. I am the first to admit I have a LOT to learn! And it’s so cool to have y’all along for the journey.
With that said, here are a few corrections:
I misspoke about the fuse ratings. The mains fuse should be doubled (not halved) and indeed be 6A. I installed a 3A fuse. The fuse will of course still blow if there's an issue in this case, but just wanted to clear it up.
Dave Reeves was the actual designer of Hiwatt amps. I apologize for my error, Harry Joyce didn’t begin wiring the amps until the early 70’s. Thank you Dave!!
Thanks for what you do and how you do it. Rock on!
Hiwatt was Pete Ham from Badfinger go to Amp. An excellent amp to say the least.
People know one's a class act when they admit their errors, and "rectify" (pun intended, I build Marshall Clones) said mistakes.
Cool vid, those old Reeves Hi-Watts are classics. Resplendent with Mustard tone caps, and impeccable wiring. Would love to get one or simply build a clone, which is the financially only option!
i'd love for you to do a video about speaker wiring harness making, parallel vs series, ohms etc that would be great
Long Live The Who!
Those Hiwatt stacks always looked so perfect behind Pete and John!
Audio engineer Dave Reeves founded Hiwatt in the mid-1960s (the exact date varies from source to source). To raise enough money to get his company up and running, he contracted with Arbiter’s Sound City music store to build a line of amps bearing the store’s name. By the late 1960s, however, Reeves had fulfilled his contract with Sound City and began focusing on building his Hiwatt-branded amps. Harry Joyce stopped building HIWATTs in 1976 because Dave Reeves (original designer of HIWATTs and Sound City) wanted to find a cheaper way of doing things to make more profits. He (Reeves) later decided to build the amps with PCB and upon hearing that suggestion from Reeves, Harry refused to work with him because he felt it was an inferior design which would only cheapen the sound/quality. LOVE your show..PS I have a DR103 and still use it. All caps and res. and power sw have been replaced.
Don't forget he was working full time for Philips which is how he ended up using Mullard tubes.
This amp is a good choice for an extreme metal guitarist who wants a vintage tube pathway, but also super clean power, who also uses a pedal for their distortion. Best of all worlds in a situation like that. Clean, loud power, nice tube sound, takes the pedal distortion well and helps smooth it out a little, and when you turn your stomp box off, the clean tone is so buttery smooth. Its a win-win-win and something like this is an essential part of your tone when you favor the really gainy pedals like the old metalzones and the like.
Used to use that amp with a Rat pedal. Sounded fantastic.
HiWatt, that brings alot of memories for me. At the time, beginning of 1970s, I was working as a service tech at a music store in Gothenburg, Sweden, called MUG. They where the Swedish distributor and I was responsible to adapt them for the market. More fuses and replace the power connector. I had a punch tool to fit the new connector. I actually had pleasure to meet Dave at his shop. We had tea......
I asked Stuart the British repair guy, youtuber, if he had repaired any Hiwatts, zero was his answer. That says alot of the quality! If I remember correct, I only had a few returns, all bad tubes.
Thanks again for this wonderful memory.
PeterS
Those weren't "bad tubes."
This lil lady just pointed out....
No Bias adjustment, grid runs Hot, DESIGNED INTO THE CIRCUIT.
Your uTuber Hero didn't repair Hiwatt Amps because the artists using them got tired of feeding them Vacuum Tubes.
On top of that, I doubt Hiwatt had any considerable market share.
Those Capacitors in any Amplifier die from AGE. If noone Loved their HiWatt long enough for those caps to die, they never had it Serviced.
I could say that since I have never performed any service or repairs on a DeTomaso Pantera, that makes it a better road car than a 911 and a better race car than a GT40.
The absence of evidence does not make a verdict.
Go unravel your logic. It doesn't work for me.
Edited to Correct Autocorrect
I too was a bench engineer for 30 years and while I saw many Marshalls-I never had a Hiwatt on my bench!
I grew up working with stuff like this, radios, amps, TVs. It makes me nostalgic and now I want to get back into it.
Hi-tone amps do awesome clones of these amps. With the blessing of the reeves family. Great video.
Hi-Tones are great. I have one of their DR-504s (50 watts). It’s the Reeves family who’ve given the thumbs-up, though. Dave Reeves designed all the classic Hiwatt circuits. Harry Joyce was his main wiring guy and is responsible for the military-spec quality of the layouts.
Blessing of the REEVES family
Blessing of the REEVES family
Whenever I see Hiwatt I think of The Who at the Isle of Wight .... flat out in all their full glory. Not many of us will ever get the chance to experience playing through a rig like Pete Townshend used.
Very nice video, Colleen. You definitely showed proper reverence for the incredible craftsmanship that goes into the creation of these jewels. The geometric precision.....the bundled wire runs......the clarity of design. They are more an art form than an electronic device. Sorry for the hyperbole, but (as you might guess) I really admire Hiwatt amps ;) Thanks for posting :)
Would love to see a Hiwatt on your bench at some point too, Doug!
Your very good and we all miss you. Your teaching style is very relaxed. The explanations you give are concise and informative. It was very nice to see your guitar skills instead of just hearing them. You have excellent timing. I wish you could post more but making a living is more important. Thank You for sharing. You are Appreciated 🙂👍🎸🎼🎶🎹🎷🎺🥁🎻🪕🎤🎛️🎙️📻
DON'T consider this Video as Educational.
This Tech failed at identifying the Correct Safety Fuse, with the Factory Schematic in her mits.
If Vacuum Tubes are at a premium, how can one say "Close enough" for Resistors and Capacitors?
What useful Compromise is that?
The excuse is, "I don't want to wait to get the Correct Replacement Parts, so I will just use what I find in my spare parts bins?"
The ONLY reason to do that is if the Customer insists on Gigging that night with this gear.
It fits with cracked nail pollish.
Either remove it or paint those digits again.
Edited to Correct Autocorrect.
@@truthsRsung If you have your own channel I'd like to watch it. Plus, everyone makes mistakes. For me knowing nothing about electronics, and knowing her training background, Fazio is an expert to me. She has other videos where she is reading schematics very well. Plus she has repaired amps that were a mess inside. And she has her own custom line of amps. Maybe she doesn't have an electronics engineering degree, but she runs a successful, busy amp repair business. Thanks for the input! Must be nice to be perfect and never make a mistake! I like to have the recipe for that one?
@@reddragon3733 ...I use what I know to fix people's heating and air conditioning equipment.
I have to make sure, before I leave their house or business, that I haven't "Made a Mistake" that could leave the air in the house UNBREATHABLE.
I have the belief that there are more steps to a repair or maintenance call because...
Checking my Work keeps people from death or brain damage.
Once you admit that Humans Fail, you have to admit that Not Checking Your Work is FOOLISH.
I get support up the wazzu from the manufacturers and the distributers and the tool designers in the industry.
Parts guys who don't let me forget a gasket, find a spec or withdraw from Caffeine.
I am sure I could find many rebuild kits and "upgrades" for this amplifier if I searched a few electronic supply houses.
I haven't bought a single resistor, pot, or transformer for anything that didn't meet the specs from Who Designed and Built It.
I will give you two pieces of advice.
The simpler an electronic circuit is, the less chance "noise" can enter a system.
The electric guitar is half the instrument.
Someone recording can use a midi direct to a PC as the other half then add any effect (electronic equation modifier) they want, without worrying about how cables, pedals, speakers and microphones are connected and placed.
Or that there is a quiet place to do it.
These amps are made to SCREAM above the voices of the Drunk Masses.
It is also the leather jacket draped over the Indian Motorcycle of the Music World. Jewelry for the stage.
If you really want to learn about electronic musical instruments, start at the beginning or close to it.
Hertz and Marconi for the electrical theory. The foundation is essential.
The Organs.
Yeah, the musical instrument that is the building and vise versa.
(this requires knowledge of what the historians of the time referred to as classical and radical.
Xtra credit is earned when you plunge directly into the reality that Beethoven, Liszt, and Bach, alongside the inventers of the improvements made to Musical Instruments, were Literally Risking their Lives and Reputations in their struggle against the people that Owned Them.
@@truthsRsung the ramblings against an amp tech from an appliance repair man? Please. This isn't about life or death. It's about sound from a box that a more than competent tech repairs. I fined your comparisons to be ridiculous! If you bother watching the majority of Fazio Electric videos you would see how talented she is at repair. You are making to much out of nothing and over exaggerating. At least she unplugs the amps and doesn't demonstrate problems like I've seen other TH-camrs that repair amps do! She has a video on safety and proper use of equipment. Do you unplug your air conditioners before testing? Please! Make and amp out of an air conditioner then we'll talk. Otherwise I'll listen to Fazio. Must be nice to be perfect and never make a mistake! I'd like to have the recipe for that one?
@@reddragon3733 ...I studied Robotics at Northwestern.
I have a Private Pilots License.
I am MECP, ASE, and Red Cross Certified.
I was in Scouts, a Lifeguard, and worked at a Custom Shop called, "Rockinn Motorsports" while going to school.
I was one of the last technicians to service Chicago's Union Station Coal fed Boilers.
I don't know what kind of "Appliances" you have at home, but I bet there aren't many that breathe FIRE.
If you aren't in a climate that requires a Furnace, you can't respect one nor frostbite or what happens to a house full of water pipes when it's temp falls below Zero.
Take your chapped backside off to where you can lick your wounds in private.
Give yourself a chance to be wrong, then change.
Nice to have you back, love your videos! One note though, you’ve got the fuse rating backwards, the fuse rating doubles on 115VAC compared to 230VAC, as the wattage demand of the amp is constant regardless of line voltage, it’ll pull twice the current on the primary side on 115V, so it requires a 6.3 amp fuse. You can see it on the schematic as well, the voltage selector in the schematic is set to 220VAC, hence the 3.15A fuse with 6.3 in parentheses below. The HT fuse or the heater fuse doesn’t change on the other hand, as it’s on the secondary side of the transformer. Otherwise, brilliant work as always!
Thanks for the clarification.
I though she made a boo boo 😂
Aaaahhhhh.😌 You're back! God I love your videos.
You had me completely at "Hiwatt"!!!! After a lifetime of tone-chasing, it's the only amp for me. Clean, dynamic, and unique! And it's the world best pedal platform.
Wouldn't a clean solid-state amp (e.g. Roland Jazz Chorus) also be a great pedal platform?
@@dingalarm no. too sterile
@@RocknJazzer Could you please explain what's meant by an amp being "too sterile"? Sorry, but I haven't quite picked up on the words used to describe amp tone 😄
@@dingalarm sterile means mostly the faster clearer unforgiving nature of solid state that reproduces transients very fast and accurately, that tubes naturally round off being less accurate, as tubes smear things resulting in smoother transients and tone, so when using solid state pedals (which are most ie ic or transistor) going thru a clean tube amp will take the edge off such pedals if that is what you want to do, but if you want max harsh raspy sound of pedals going thru a roland or other ss amp to let the often fuzzy edgy pedals to shine thru extra clean not rounding them off, that is your artistic choice and just as valid in certain genres, as there is no right or wrong in art ie music, all sounds are valid from silence to noise and all in between. Also using ss pedals into tube amps can get a halfway ss/tube tone if you push the tube amp to breakup adding tube drive to your pedals, again tho all this is genre specific, tho no rules, certain genres fall more one way or the other, blending can result in a more unique tone if you want one, otherwise just follow what your favorite players use in whatever genre you favor, or just mess around experiment w a bunch of stuff you will find what you want eventually tho some chase tone for decades, others dont care and use whatever, both are valid good luck have fun
@@RocknJazzer Thanks so much for your detailed response to my question! 👏 It's been most helpful! 👍🙂👌
I love your laid-back style, Colleen. Very relaxing. Which is the bottom line for me. I watch yours and other's channels like Uncle Doug and David Tipton's (AU) for the same reason. Informative without being overly technical but above all, easy and relaxed is what I personally look for in vintage electronics TH-cam channels, not because I wish to learn any applicable skills, I just find the subject interesting. Thanks for uploading, hope to see more!
I would LOVE to crank that amp up! Glad you're back!!!
I had a two input 504 and a four input 103. Best amps ever...I have ginormous seller's regret for having sold these, even with a solid 200% profit on the resell... But I am glad they are still being made by Hiwatt and several devoted cloners.
Afterthought: I still have a Lead 30 head from the mid 80s...very cool amp and from the outside, it looks more or less identical to the Dave Reeves amps, but it is NOT the same type of machine at all. It's a Sterling Imports model, one of the makers who used the name for a few years back then. It's a four EL84 single input with a PCB and it has gain more akin to a Marshall of that same era...
We've missed you Colleen 😍 Nice job and what neat looking wiring in that amp ... Thx ...
Hi Colleen, nice to see you back again, look forward to seeing your videos.
The amp is really clean and nicely built, I’ve been a massive fan of the Who and I remember them using these amps.
That’s the sound I’m hearing from these amps. The Who.
@@panzerlieb was that from “ Long live Rock “ ?
HI THERE !!! YOU're BACK !!!
Nice seeing a brand new VIDEO from YOU here !!!
You possess both immense knowledge of amp repair and a thermonuclear weapons grade level of cuteness. Pure kryptonite.
Heeeeey!!!! Missed seeing your face on TH-cam. Glad you're OK!
Dave Reeves did the original layout. Harry Joyce was a contractor for Reeves. Also when going to 120V from 240V you DOUBLE the amperage. Watts are watts. Say you have 240V @ 3A = 720 Watt. If going to a 120V supply you'd divide the 720/120 = 6A fuse.
Yes in the US both fuses are 3A
Wow!! I've never worked on a hiwatt. That amp is even cleaner than a traynor!!!
My two fave amps. Add Laney and Sound City and that’s the holy Quad of Tube Terror!
Good to have you back Colleen! Always learn something new from your vids ..
Money, Shine On, and the Seeker, good test songs! I liked your "How Soon Is now" riff to check the tremolo on a previous amp too! Absolutely love the cleanliness of the Hiwatt wiring layout, outside of Hiwatt's and old Tektronix test gear you rarely see anything like it.
We've missed you Colleen, you're a wizard! And also have an incredibly soothing Californian voice 🤘❤️ if you're tight on time give us some shorts - maybe a quick tip or two on anything amp related?! Peace, out.
Not native Californian but….😉
Nicely done, Ms. Fazio (although you should have cranked it through a quad of Fanes, as it was intended, for the final demo). Hiwatt in many ways set the stage for the 'boutique amp' industry which sprang up in the '90s; the guys from Matchless were so in awe of Mr. Joyce's brainchild that they decided to emulate the wiring scheme so as to improve the service and reliability of their own products, and that has bled over into other builders' work to the extent that it is now largely the norm in any modern handmake amp.
Personally, I always wondered what sort of phenomenally durable amp might have been achieved by wedding the Hiwatt circuits with Traynor amps' use of raw bias feed to the screens (as Mullard intended) of the EL-34s...it might have been too clean and loud for us to bear. ;)
You are the most beautiful tech I have seen in a while and I've been a tech for many years. I am a Hiwatt fan and love to see them restored and maintained!
Good to see you back - glad it was "just work" keeping you away. Thanks for sharing.
I work at a Micro-Electronics company in Simi Valley CA. as the name implies all my work is done under a microscope it involves a lot of micro soldering and many other disciplines with Piezo Electric components watching you work your impressive knowledge and love of classic electronics is impressive.
Fantastic video on one of the unsung great tones of the classic rock era. Very happy to hear you are busy - if anything good came out of Covid it’s that it got people back into music and picking up a guitar and plugging in.
Glad to hear you are busy. I was worried the opposite was true.
I have an old Sano that has pt to pt wiring, where we see wiring measured and cleanly run at 90degree angles, bent to destination. So clean, craftsmanship. It's functional art, becoming a rare discipline in today's market driven, mass production models... nice to see examples occasionally in your vids...
Happen to be from the Midwest? You say solder the way I, and most of my friends, do: sodder.
The wiring inside that thing is just drop dead gorgeous. That had to be an absolute pleasure to work on.
Pete Townsend sure put the HIWATTS to good use..Great video, Thanks !
Neat service and repair job. Those mustard caps must cost a fortune. Thanks for sharing your work and these amps.
Had a few Sound City amps back in the day custom 120,200+ and an SMF tour series that was a monster at 265 watts RMS. Always loved the mil-spec wiring of those and the Hiwatts
I knew there was something missing in my life. A treat as ever.
Relaxed, simple amp repair and/or modification without shitting on every amp designer in the business! I love watching You Tube amp techs telling you how "they would've done it" as if there is only one perfect way of doing it...their way!
Your smile talking about your profession and skill is just amazing. Thanks for showing off the Hiwatt. I hope to get to play through one someday.
I’m a retired aircraft mechanic and R&E. I love mil spec wiring, it’s something to aspire to in my amplifier builds.
If this whole electronics gig doesn’t work out, the ASMR community will LOVE to have you…
I have worked on many HiWatts in the past and I'll never forget the awe I felt when I opened up my first one and saw the quality of the construction. They were absolutely rock solid. 90% of the repairs were just normal service like re-caps, new tubes, or dirty pots. Amazing amps, and I loved getting them into the shop because I knew that there probably wouldn't be any major issues. Wish I could say the same about Marshalls. Old Fenders were a pretty close 2nd to the HiWatts. Not as pretty inside, but still rock solid. Another brand I've worked on that were almost as nicely wired was from another English company. H H. The wiring on these was also impeccable.
I agree. The HH was and still is a great amp, takes multi effects pedals really well
Hello Colleen! Glad to see you're back!! I missed you a lot on TH-cam, and even with your absence, I understand that thank God you have a lot of service!! This is very important, it's part of being able to pay the bills!! I love you so much, keep it up!!
This has become my new favorite channel, despite the fact that I know almost nothing about electronics or amp repair. I haven't even learned to solder yet, something I do plan on, as I'd like to be able to at least switch out pots/switches and pickups on my guitars. The calm and methodical manner you work with, explaining things and giving a little history along the way in your friendly and humble way, is fun to watch. The hope is, like Ted Woodford's (twoodfrd) guitar repair channel, that things will seep into my brain through osmosis. You need to make more videos though! My wish for you is that you get lots of super interesting vintage amps that you feel obligated to document, like that 1941 Gibson. That thing was amazing! I'm especially curious right now about Rickenbacker amps from the late 50's/early 60's - the guy that played guitar on the new Elvis movie used one of those to nail the 50's Scotty Moore tone (see the Ask Zac channel...).
Oh man. I dream of owning a DR103. So cool that you got to work on one!
That is an awesome design job on that amp. Cleanest wiring I have ever seen outside of military equipment. Easy access to all the components. nice bias mod too. Have you ever thought about having a PCB made as an add on ready to go into any amp using similar circuitry? Might be able to sell as a separate item also. Nice clean repair. After over 55 years of seeing buggered up repairs, it is so nice to see what you & D lab do.
Joyce was taught by two Americans during WWII so it's no surprise I guess.
Hey Colleen, never to your videos, but love them. Just an fyi when working on old amps...yes, I always just get rid of all electrolytics. Although somethings like the iron (transformers) of days gone by are bullet proof and you will die long before they ever do....the electrolytics are the weakest link, leak and if don't just dead shorts, so all get replaced. Some of the components like electricytic caps or self-healing poly of now-a-days are far superior and you can pick up 15k/18k/20k hour electrolytics and 200,000hr poly!
But one thig I wanted to point out when chasing ghosts in some of these old amps are the diodes....I've worked on so many old amps and some changed virtually everything and when it came to the diodes....those were the ones causing the issues I could not find! Soo, I like to just replace them as readily as electrolytics and wanted to pass this tip along. Traynors, Bassman, you name it and these things were wasted!!
A most welcome return! Thanks for sharing.
Very interesting video. I have 1974 DR504 that I bought used back in 1980 for $240(!). It's a great amp that I used as my primary gigging amp thru the 80's. It was 100% reliable thru that period, but started developing some issues in the mid-90's. My amp tech called it "motorboating". I think it got upset probably because I wasn't using it enough. I had it re-capped and re-tubed and it was restored back to its previous greatness. I had an adjustable bias installed too. The unique power cord always intrigued me and I've always guarded it with my life because I thought it was irreplaceable. Too bad that new power socket didn't work out so well.
I learn souch from your videos. I recently scored a Fender Sound Column 410. For $10.00. It seems to be geared as a P.A. speaker. The speakers aren't blown, but a couple have small rips in them. They are four ten inch 32 ohm speakers, which are super hard to find. The jacks had been pulled through the particle board, and a previous owner used electrical boxes to mount them. I've replaced the jacks and made a new cover for the grille.
Since I cannot find any affordable 32 ohm speakers, I'm going to try and sell it as is. But your videos inspired me to tackle this.
I had quite a few students come from the audio band equipment field to my clinical engineering biomedical technician program in my thirty years teaching. They all made the transition with ease and went on to great jobs in the healthcare industry working on medical equipment and imaging equipment. Something to consider with your skills.
Welcome back! Hiwatts are the best pedal platform amp I’ve ever played they take any pedal with ease and eat them right up! Beautiful work!
Hello from England, just subbed. A very straightforward and informative amp repair channel. Thank you.
Back in the 70's I had two Hiwatt 4 x12 cabs and a Sound City 120 Amplifier. I wanted the Hiwatt head but couldn't afford it. But I'm not gonna dis that Sound City Head because it was loud and really clean until you got to num 11 on the Dial. Colleen or anybody else ever hear of Sound City? Things don't sound as loud to me now as they used to, wonder if they changed watts lol. Regards 70 year old bass player. I love her vids. So relaxing even though they mean Jack to me though she is a lovely clean worker
Great to have you back I’ve missed watching your videos!
I've always admired mil-spec wiring with the lacing. So time consuming but it sure is effective. I have repaired a couple of the newer Hiwatt's and they also had very neat, right angled wiring though I don't recall if they were laced together. Good job done on a great classic amp!
I used to do MIL-SPEC wiring when I worked as a Gov't contractor the Dept of Navy in RI....used a lot of lacing in some equipment....later, tie-wraps were the 'thing' . . .
It’s not terribly hard to do, NASA has published a manual on how to do it back in the day that explains it very well, you can also cheat and use a few zip ties to bundle the wires before starting which makes it a lot easier to lace the wires, just cut them off as you go and no one will be none the wiser that you cheated. 😂
Hi I really enjoyed the renovation of the late 30’s tweed Gibson EH185 Bass reflex. You brought it back to life, but man it sure sounded great. These combos were the Roll Royce of amps at the time. Did you know when you remove the amp and you close the cabinet it became a bass reflex, some sort of subwoofer. They even have an output for an echo speaker to transforme it into a sound system.
My new job has be doing more soldering again.which I do enjoy..it got me thinking when your next video would drop and Bam! here we are!
Tommy Bolin used em. My brother has one that has been DOA for years. I need to get it from him. I have a pair of Altec 1569A amps from the Alladin in Vegas. They power my stereo. Cool video.
Right on dude. Tommy never gets enough love. So under appreciated.
As someone who knows next to nothing I really enjoy your channel, you explain things extremely clearly and at a nice steady pace. As a boomer I always love hearing young business owners say "…it’s been crazy busy around here."
The Fane speakers that came with these Hiwatt amps are magical!
They are, but she's using a Marshall 2x12 here purposely low volume with tarbacks or greenbacks
@@eyedunno8462 yes I know. I was speaking to how great these Hiwatt amps and their cabs were back in the day. Reeves Amplification is making these today. The demo's I've heard are out of this world!
Nice to see you again!
As much as I loved the loud concert music when I was young, now that I'm in my 60's, I'm paying for it with hearing loss and tinnitus.
what?
As soon as I heard The Seeker, I went into drum mode... Excellent Channel!!
Glad to have you back.....and with a HIWATT no less.
Thanks Colleen
I've played a couple of Hiwatts - they are fantastic and built like a tank. It's so refreshing to see an amp that is this unique - thanks for posting this!
Yuo have maybe inspired my 12 year old daughter. Sorry great for inspiring her maybe what kids are firguring out themselves. So a positive experience. I always let her play my guitar and let her understand why I loved the joy of here being amazing. Keep up your videos
Alex Lifeson used the Hiwatt's in the late 70's/early 80's with power soak. Massive overdrive in that configuration, but cleaned up nicely with a twist of the volume knob for pristine chorus/flange with delay chain effects ..
You beat me to it. Love those pictures of him in front of a wall of HIWATTs
I have a DR103 and 2 4x12 Fane cabinets from '77 that I'd like to resurrect. Now, other than the clean-up, I know what to change, besides just tubes. The sounds are just amazing!
BTW, I'll most likely *still* hire a tech to do the work. Or practice up on my soldering! ;-)
Aye been a while! Glad to see you're back!
Beautiful. I love well laid out wiring. There's nothing worse than trying to diagnose and repair a rat's nest of wires and pcb traces.
Nice work, gorgeous amp and all topped off with "The Seeker"; love it!
I to had never seen the inside or worked on a Hiwatt. It does have similarities to Vox and Marshall, especially those from the 80s. The British have a way with layout. With the amount of power supply filtering, it explains the clean output. It’s great you gave some history of the amp with photos. Upgrading the bias supply was brilliant. I look forward to the next video you post! Love from NW Colorado. Thanxz
and do not forget to mention the large amount of iron and copper in those hiwatt (partridge) transformers which give it the punch and clean sound.
I restored the same Hiwatt, the DR103, bought as a wreck from a local musican for few bucks. It was in a miserable condition. Generations of so called engineers try to found the right sound, no magic smoke inside.☺awful! But the shell and the rear panel were okay.
There were a big hole in the chassis for a replacement transformer which do not belong into it. After welding a piece of metal, sheet and let the chassis galvanised in a friends workplace I build it complete new to the original schmatics in the same way Dave Reeves did it. Luckily for me a handful of specialized shops got lot of hiwatt parts on stock.
The transformers are homewound with the same lamination and winding specs . The iron, the coil former and the endframes of proper size are ordered from a company in England. I used an Auman 300 winding machine. I spend a complet year for this exciting task. I worked several hours during the week and least one day at weekend. The total cost of components include the valves were 750 EUR.
The amp is finished since several month and sit on a shelf in my living room waiting for being played.
By the way, there is a IEC power receptacle availabe which fit in the hole of the Bulgin plug.
LOVE used Hiwatts so did Rush and Traffic Badfinger too.
I loved the tunes. It's exactly what I wanted to hear to be like "oh ya there's the tone." My brother has a DR105 but the power tubes be glowin'! The screens are just cooking away and eating it. We figured it was in the 100ohm screens. I'm not sure what dropping in higher values will do to the sound, but at least I won't create a condition blow an output.
55.4k subscribers are thrilled you are back!
Welcome back, Colleen. Thanks for sharing you knowledge and expertise.
I've been searching for a new amp for sometime now. You have settled it after seeing what's under the hood of these amps. Time to search for a Hiwatt DR103. Thanks for the walkthrough of the circuitry!
We missed ya!!! Welcome back.
Good to see you on here again.
Pete townsend was the first. Actually he was the reason why hiwat started. Amazing amp. The best I've owned. Except 4:23 extremely loud and heavy for stages today. But surely an amazing experience. Thanks for chering.
i love your voice, your eyes, your hair and the amp
A minute? It's been forever! Saw your shout out on the last uncle Doug video!
Please don't change the power lead input, you can use a clover lead in there!
Thanks for sharing what you have learned and keeping a disappearing art alive for future generations 👌
By the way was ALSO very good knowing that YOU weren't able to post constantly / more often, because YOU had loads of work, Thumbs up for that too... thanks FOR THIS VIDEO I was curious, I'been never saw a HIWATT inside parts / components... CHEERS / THANKS
Ah, great to see a new video! My early career was as a test engineer in the defense industry, doing lots of troubleshooting and repair on weapon control panels.
It amazing how educated you are at all of this. I'm lost watching you do these repairs but it's fun to watch the end results. My favorite parts are when you install modern parts to replace the old ones. Then the amps become better than when they originally built.
My favorite part is when she put the wrong fuse in according to the schematic then replaced components with ones that were "close enough" and "in stock."
If you think this is how to wander through life with an "Education," I hope you change your mind.
This is someone who doesn't have enough work to keep them busy, so they spend their time repositioning cameras all day to make it LOOK like they know what they are doing.
As long as videos like this keep YOU from sticking your mits in one of these boxes, I am satisfied.
@@truthsRsung hey thanks for the unsult. Sounds like you have personal problems.
@@athathoth01 ...I will continue to treat Childish Ideas as if they come from Children.
She replaced old, correct parts, with new, incorrect parts, and you Congratulated her for it.
There are discussions in Congress of the U.S. of A. to discuss if people like you need electronic babysitters to keep dumb ideas from becoming VIRAL.
If multiple masks won't shut you up, I suggest putting a cork in it when it comes to Anything Technical.
Feel free to vomit poetry about your feelings day n night. Go for it.
You don't have the background to say the Amp was improved after watching the Video Evidence. Don't comment on it.
@@truthsRsung well she got the amp working and improved it. The fact that she used modern parts to replace the old ones is what sets you off into a rage. I LOVE what she does and how she makes things work. I'll keep supporting her journey because she does good work.
Have a lovely day sir.
@@athathoth01 ..."Modern parts"?
No
The wrong rated fuse would be the same when this amp was manufactured.
There were resistor values she decided were close enough to what she had in stock, not the exact ones that were called for.
You don't understand what I complain about and probably will never open a box like this.
You have no right to say what she did to this amp was "better" because you don't know what "worse" or "correct" are.
Your videos are well made and it's obvious you have a thorough understanding of what you're doing.
I can’t decide whom I would like to meet first, yer mom or yer dad. I’m guessing the parents who set you on this path are two human beings who have the kind of stories to tell, that we all should count our selves lucky to hear.
Having owned a DR 103 in the early 80s I was happy to see a video on the topic. Enjoyed the video and problem solving.Enjoyed the playing, too.
It could have been the mic placement, or the Strat/strings, or the settings, but I just thought the sound, for a Hiwatt, was very thin and lo-fi. They are bright, yes, but not crispy and tinny, like on the D chords. Even straight in and clean they have a great, unique textured sound that is richly harmonic.
Someone give some feedback on that. Either back me up or slap me silly please!
Its probably cause she's playing into a Marshall cab so its most likely Celestion speakers. Vintage Fane-style speakers compliment the amp much, much better. I have a Reeves Custom 50 with Vintage Purple speakers, and I tried plugging in Celestion speakers to hear how they sound, and they made the amp sound like what you're hearing here-no bass at all and very thin sounding. If you notice, she even has the treble control waaaaay down and it still sounds like that. Vintage Fanes just give Hiwatt-style amps the best frequency response.
We miss you videos !, but good that things are doing well for you !,
Keep the videos up, your videos are great, incredibly informative and you clearly really know your stuff, think not so long your gonna be mimisounds level followers very soon
My favorite way of using a Hiwatt is to set the normal channel volume at ~11:00, bril volume at ~9:30 (channels jumpered), the tones all around Noon and the master volume at ~1:00. Then plug in a 50’ cable & play from elsewhere in my house. ☺️ Once the power section starts compressing the sound thickens up and you get a beefy tonal palette to play with.
Lol. You forgot the initial step of planning an escape route from the house when your neighbours call the noise police on you.
Sounds like a blast!
@@f33fifofum HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Very nice work on installing the adjustable bias circuit.
Imo every amp should get one that lacks one. Lol.
One of the best made vintage tube amp ever
Wow - thanks that was a sweet video , Colleen ! Wearing the golden Fazio Tee in your honour , enjoyed every minute of this - totally worth the wait since your last post especially to see your solo guitar licks ! Mr Gilmour & Mr Waters would be proud 😎
One QA suggestion for you, unless you already do it (?) , is to test the replacement caps you are sourcing for both value and ESR , prior to soldering. I’ve had the odd bad one and it could save a rare tube from instant destruction !
Keep up the great work ! 👋🤩✌️
Long time since I saw one of your vids. If you think about it, that type of super tight wiring scheme was the builder's way of getting closer to a PCB. "A place for everything and everything in it's place" Proven techniques give proven results. Thanks for the builder background info also. Always important to give credit and record history for the future tube geeks
When i worked in a music shop in the mid 80's one of these came in the shop as a part ex. I brought it for £40, its was in great shape. It sounded great when cranked up, gigged it a number of times. It the only bit of gear i had that i regret selling but you can't keep everything. It was big and heavy and i had to move at the time so it had to go.
I always wondered what the history of it was.
HUGE Hiwatt fan. The new solid state Hiwatt’s are a HOOT, too!