Live at Leeds is a fantastically distorted guitar sound, and arguably some of the best live rock guitar tone ever recorded.. The fact that the Hiwatts needed to be set to ludacris volume to achieve this is mind-boggling. A lot of attendees must have suffered from early hearing loss as a result.
Really nice to see a. the depth of Lee’s knowledge and b. the full range of his interviewing skills on display here. Lovely work all, but especially the chap with his name over the door. Bravo. 👏🏻
Mine and the bass players original DR103's were loud, proud and tough as old boots. Loads of gigs, never missed a beat. His was running a Hiwatt 1x18 cab on skids, no castors and would "creep" across the stage during the gig, it was so loud. Tinnitus came as standard 🤷🏼♂️ lol.
Oh, forgot to say that mine was into a non descript 4x12 that had BCR sprayed on the back. I took that as Bay City Rollers, so totally unused then! Lol.
I played a 100W one with a 4x12 cab a number of years ago at a Guitar Center and I was totally blown away. It doesn't sound like any other amplifier. It was one of the best amps I've ever heard and I've heard and owned many.
Seen Elder many times, fantastic band and they sound incredible live. Also had the please of being front of stage for Russian Circles. The guitarist Mike Sullivan had a Custom 100 stack and it sounded glorious.
Really glad too see Hiwatt being brought back into the conversation of "cool old tube amp designs." Their traditional custom line are literally THE high headroom pedal platform amplifiers. I hope to see more players using them.
HiWatt! You forgot Tommy Bolin!!! He played your amps back in the 70's. He is an amazing guitarist from my state of Iowa, US. He is criminally underrated and not remembered nearly as much as he should. We lost him too soon. CHECK HIM OUT!!! Also, Pete, that's my kind of playing at the beginning! I feel you can really hear what the amps about that way, and it sounded amazing!
Is that right? His playing on the Billy Cobham album has been my lifelong aspiration, and is what I consider to be the best strat tone. I always wondered how someone who never changed his strings could get such a sparkling sound. Now it makes sense.
Same here, brilliant ! Live at Leeds demonstrates that to the full. He also used a Fuzz pedal (Marshall I think?) for some of the riffs and solos on that album.
Hiwatts have been my favorite since my first "fake" Hiwatt, a Lead 30 Sterling Imports model I bought in the late '80s. Benefited from that no-one-wants-a-Hiwatt era to snag my first DR 103 (no serial number but cap dates and tranny codes put it early '72). Punishing in the most sonically beautiful way possible - and the four-hole versions really let you dial in what you need depending on the darkness or brightness of your guitar.
I grew up using Fane speakers for disco, guitar and PA (being a Leeds lad). They were, and I'm sure still are, almost indestructible with great sound. Didn't know Hiwatt are now just down the road though. Fascinating stuff!
Yes... I was at Tom Hannon's shed yesterday (former frontman with Steel Trees and the bloke who built the amp you're looking at, the name written on the chassis).... gave me something to try out that HiWatt will be releasing next year, and it's fab.... but I'm not allowed to say what it is. Also tried out the DR20/0.5.... what a fab little amp.
Pete Townshend used a drive pedal into the front end of his Hiwatt rig. I once read a piece with Pete's amp tech talking about Pete's signal chain. It was just one drive pedal on the floor just in front of his Hiwatt rack. It can be seen in Who footage from '69-'70 (Woodstock, Leeds, Isle of Wight), but you really have to be looking for it.
That was a fuzz pedal, used for some solos but mostly the big noises at the end of the show. Most of the drive came from the amp, he rode the volume on his guitars
Badfinger used some Hiwatts, probably DR103's. Robert Fripp used a DR103 a lot and John Wetton as well, which happened to have one of the most amazing bass sound of the 70's.
In the late 80s I had a hiwatt bass cab. Think se320 . It was a beast to lug around and only just fit in my Talbot horizon. Wish I still had them both.
You know these amplifiers are reminding me of the trainer mark three that I have from 1971. Same thing, 100 tube watts of pure loudness, oh my goodness, I use it at a moderate volume for recording sessions, and use a paddle board with it and leave The game on a clean setting as standard practice. But if you wanted it to fill an arena it could do so, like the high water, I've never even heard the thing go to break up unless you intentionally cranked the game like you described, there's nothing like it
I actually dug the 1st Gen of the Lead series in the 80’s. Clean channel was classic Hiwatt and the overdrive channel was quite good. The Lead 30 was like a little variation on a Marshall.
Man, it's a shame that you guys had to preasure Ozz to speed up his rendition of Dopesmoker to approximately twice the original speed. That was dope. Follow the smoke to the riff filled land.
46:17 A lot of doom and sludge metal bands are using the Laney AOR series (out of manufacture since the 80's). Maybe get in contact with them to get some reissues...Fane were also the OEMs for Laney
I'm pretty sure Pete Townshend only used a Super Fuzz for some leads here and there, it can clearly be heard when it kicks it. All the rest is power amp drive.
What's the plan for US availability. Idk much about Hiwatt but I notice it's definitely not available in US directly from retailers here. Can't find any to go play either. The Leeds 50 really caught my attention in a previous Andertons video but just wondering if expansion logistically is in the future plans.
Lots of wrong into around the Audio Brothers in this video. The Audio Brothers also made Booker amps, and Biacrown (who owned Hiwatt in the 90s and may have had some relationship with Music Ground) contracted them to build some amps. The Audio Brothers amps are amazing quality, but they never owned Hiwatt and their amps were made in the 90s. It's a shame that the Audio Brothers were associated with Music Ground, but they're sill wonderful amps.
as an ee the internals are amazing except - wire has a max bend radius - when exceeded it deforms the wire causing a bottleneck and also makes a stress point that metal fatigue over time leads to a break - stop bending the wires so tightly - plenty of places where you can reference this fact - so i see an amazing amp with outstanding build quality except that several of the wires are doomed to break over time - it seems that you guys are trying to do it right so i applaud you
For these sort of hook up cables, the bend radius is around 6 x diameter. The wiring pretty much matches the originals, so I don't think it's a particular issue, given how reliable they are. My '73/'74 has never had any issues related to wiring.
PAHAHAHAHA at 36.36…….OMG. ...OZ does the best amp demo in the whole history of amp demos, EVER , that was epic ,i gotta have one ,where’s my wallet ,here take it ,just use any card ,ahhh just use all the cards ,gimmie two of em…. gimmie gimmie gimmie
I had an old vintage hiwatt custom 100 head which I payed 50 quid for because the bloke couldn’t be assed to replace the valves ! Was an absolute beast after it got a full service! That was over 30 years ago! Hopefully it’s still going strong! Never really liked the harsh sound and breakup ! Probably wasn’t using it properly! Ie turned up which was impossible because it was so fkn loud!!
I run a Hiwatt DR 504 OL. Takes pedals magnificently. The OL has factory Drake transformers. I get more beautiful overdrive/lead satisfaction. I run both channels. Everything at noon,..exept master volume,...duh.
Is the metal fella just Pete in a wig? Does he not have a face? Does Andertons not pay him for his likeness? Is his spine broken? Does he know how badly his neck is going to hurt when he’s my age? I have so many questions.
No time for long videos? Watch our playing only video on Andertons 2 | th-cam.com/video/QIchC-jid24/w-d-xo.html
Glad to see Hiwatt back in business. I have only used them in modellers and I have to say, they are my favourite clean tones!
Live at Leeds is a fantastically distorted guitar sound, and arguably some of the best live rock guitar tone ever recorded.. The fact that the Hiwatts needed to be set to ludacris volume to achieve this is mind-boggling. A lot of attendees must have suffered from early hearing loss as a result.
Really nice to see a. the depth of Lee’s knowledge and b. the full range of his interviewing skills on display here.
Lovely work all, but especially the chap with his name over the door. Bravo. 👏🏻
Arv, you're a legend. And finally you show the beautiful inside of your amps. Love it!
Mine and the bass players original DR103's were loud, proud and tough as old boots. Loads of gigs, never missed a beat. His was running a Hiwatt 1x18 cab on skids, no castors and would "creep" across the stage during the gig, it was so loud. Tinnitus came as standard 🤷🏼♂️ lol.
Oh, forgot to say that mine was into a non descript 4x12 that had BCR sprayed on the back. I took that as Bay City Rollers, so totally unused then! Lol.
Yes Arv!! I had the pleasure of speaking with him a couple of times while teching on the road, and he’s been a big help every time!
I played a 100W one with a 4x12 cab a number of years ago at a Guitar Center and I was totally blown away. It doesn't sound like any other amplifier. It was one of the best amps I've ever heard and I've heard and owned many.
Seen Elder many times, fantastic band and they sound incredible live. Also had the please of being front of stage for Russian Circles. The guitarist Mike Sullivan had a Custom 100 stack and it sounded glorious.
Always loved Hiwatt amps, they are quality and performant. You don't find many of them for sale used, they are really rugged - hold their value.
Really glad too see Hiwatt being brought back into the conversation of "cool old tube amp designs." Their traditional custom line are literally THE high headroom pedal platform amplifiers. I hope to see more players using them.
Great show and info. Thank you for doing this. I'd love to see an Orange episode like this. 👍🏻
That's how to demo an amp, Here's the sound, here's the story and here's the Gut shots of the amp! These look awesome!
Except none of them got cranked. We didn’t actually get to hear any of them with output stage saturation.
Drives me crazy (no pun intended)
What a great video. Bit of history. And a fascinating sound.
Really looking forward to a dedicated review of the Leeds series you mention. Many thanks!
HiWatt! You forgot Tommy Bolin!!! He played your amps back in the 70's. He is an amazing guitarist from my state of Iowa, US. He is criminally underrated and not remembered nearly as much as he should. We lost him too soon. CHECK HIM OUT!!!
Also, Pete, that's my kind of playing at the beginning! I feel you can really hear what the amps about that way, and it sounded amazing!
Is that right? His playing on the Billy Cobham album has been my lifelong aspiration, and is what I consider to be the best strat tone.
I always wondered how someone who never changed his strings could get such a sparkling sound. Now it makes sense.
Martin Barre from Jethro Tull played an Hiwatt on Aqualung. Also, Reeves Gabrels plays 3 Hiwatt with The Cure those days.
When I hear the name Hiwatt I think early 1970's Pete Townshend and some of his greatest work. Great clean and crunchy tones.
Or David Gilmour.
@@stevebarnes3152or Jimmy Page
Same here, brilliant ! Live at Leeds demonstrates that to the full. He also used a Fuzz pedal (Marshall I think?) for some of the riffs and solos on that album.
And Alex Lifeson for a number of years
Loud and clean. Impressive 👍
I have one of the early Custom 20’s in a 210 combo. It’s my favourite guitar amp by far.
Hiwatts have been my favorite since my first "fake" Hiwatt, a Lead 30 Sterling Imports model I bought in the late '80s. Benefited from that no-one-wants-a-Hiwatt era to snag my first DR 103 (no serial number but cap dates and tranny codes put it early '72). Punishing in the most sonically beautiful way possible - and the four-hole versions really let you dial in what you need depending on the darkness or brightness of your guitar.
I was totally not caught off guard when Oz started ripping through Dopesmoker on the the Super Hi 50
😅
glad to see wem stuff is still being used, loved the vid m.
I have been using a modded Hiwatt DR103 for years. Incredible amps!
Super clean build.
I grew up using Fane speakers for disco, guitar and PA (being a Leeds lad). They were, and I'm sure still are, almost indestructible with great sound. Didn't know Hiwatt are now just down the road though. Fascinating stuff!
We always thought that Fane were not as good as Celestion.
My buddy has Brad Whitford's (Aerosmith) old DR103... it's a thing of beauty.
Ooh, super jealous. I bets its astounding.
I got his toenails, a bit smelly but..
@@PXR5-PXR5Any Crud there?
I play through my Tonex 90% of the time, but god damn I love tube amps and always will. Great video.
That build is absolutely beautiful inside.
Yes... I was at Tom Hannon's shed yesterday (former frontman with Steel Trees and the bloke who built the amp you're looking at, the name written on the chassis).... gave me something to try out that HiWatt will be releasing next year, and it's fab.... but I'm not allowed to say what it is. Also tried out the DR20/0.5.... what a fab little amp.
Pete Townshend used a drive pedal into the front end of his Hiwatt rig. I once read a piece with Pete's amp tech talking about Pete's signal chain. It was just one drive pedal on the floor just in front of his Hiwatt rack. It can be seen in Who footage from '69-'70 (Woodstock, Leeds, Isle of Wight), but you really have to be looking for it.
That was a fuzz pedal, used for some solos but mostly the big noises at the end of the show. Most of the drive came from the amp, he rode the volume on his guitars
@@grahamhatton7096 That is correct. It was more specifcally a fuzz pedal. Yes, most of his sound came from the sheer volume of his amps.
Looking forward to that Hiwatt Leeds series roundup. I think I'd like the Leeds 25 times two for a steroe rig.
beautiful British valve amps with great clarity.
I bought a super leeds 150 this year and i love it
JJ Burnell - enough said 🤘😎
I'm waiting for them to release a "Dirty Two-Watt" version
Badfinger used some Hiwatts, probably DR103's. Robert Fripp used a DR103 a lot and John Wetton as well, which happened to have one of the most amazing bass sound of the 70's.
My favourite amps. Dave Reeves was a genius.
Alex Lifeson used them too around the time of the "Hemispheres" album/tour.
I just need clean channel like what Mike Sullivan from Russian Circles uses. Loud and clean. Helps keep the looping clean and clear.
In the late 80s I had a hiwatt bass cab. Think se320 .
It was a beast to lug around and only just fit in my Talbot horizon. Wish I still had them both.
I bet the cabinet didn't rust as fast as the Horizon
I worked for Bill Comins. He uses an old Hiwatt and Twin Reverb to test each guitar
Still regret selling my 200w HiWatt head back in the '80s- the best big clean tone of all time.
Love me some Hiwatt. Tones are pretty good. Love to hear one with leaded solder.
Still use leaded solder on all the custom builds 🤘
@@FretbuzzGuitarServices I thought it was outlawed in the UK?
@@Thatbobguy8 only in pipeworks or anything that can be used for human consumption
You know these amplifiers are reminding me of the trainer mark three that I have from 1971. Same thing, 100 tube watts of pure loudness, oh my goodness, I use it at a moderate volume for recording sessions, and use a paddle board with it and leave The game on a clean setting as standard practice. But if you wanted it to fill an arena it could do so, like the high water, I've never even heard the thing go to break up unless you intentionally cranked the game like you described, there's nothing like it
I had a HIWATT 100 head and a 150w 4 x 12 cabinet that I bought in 1971. Stupidly sold it in 1990.
Same got mine in 83 and a TS9 and traded for a JCM800 in 88. Mistake! And I had an SG Special!!
I actually dug the 1st Gen of the Lead series in the 80’s. Clean channel was classic Hiwatt and the overdrive channel was quite good. The
Lead 30 was like a little variation on a Marshall.
I could never need that level of professional equipment.
Great history lesson.
Underatted amps. It's nice to see valve amps are still being made in the digital world.
Man, it's a shame that you guys had to preasure Ozz to speed up his rendition of Dopesmoker to approximately twice the original speed. That was dope. Follow the smoke to the riff filled land.
Orange 4x12s are also 18mm Baltic birch. My cab feels like it’s full of bricks. 🥵
46:17 A lot of doom and sludge metal bands are using the Laney AOR series (out of manufacture since the 80's). Maybe get in contact with them to get some reissues...Fane were also the OEMs for Laney
I'm pretty sure Pete Townshend only used a Super Fuzz for some leads here and there, it can clearly be heard when it kicks it. All the rest is power amp drive.
I wish these were easily available in Canada.
I love Lee’s honesty. “It’s a bit too loud and I don’t like the sound” 😂
Townsend used a Univox Superfuzz with his Hiwatt for the Live at Leeds sound.
Univox Super Fuzz was integral to Townshend drive distortion tone in the late 60’s
I saw The Who in the mid-seventies at the Wembley Arena - and it hurt.
What's the plan for US availability. Idk much about Hiwatt but I notice it's definitely not available in US directly from retailers here. Can't find any to go play either. The Leeds 50 really caught my attention in a previous Andertons video but just wondering if expansion logistically is in the future plans.
Lots of wrong into around the Audio Brothers in this video. The Audio Brothers also made Booker amps, and Biacrown (who owned Hiwatt in the 90s and may have had some relationship with Music Ground) contracted them to build some amps. The Audio Brothers amps are amazing quality, but they never owned Hiwatt and their amps were made in the 90s. It's a shame that the Audio Brothers were associated with Music Ground, but they're sill wonderful amps.
The cameras started rolling and my mind went blank - you are indeed correct! Thanks for posting this!
@@HiwattOfficial No worries - glad to see Hiwatt back, being made properly and souding epic. Dave Reeves would be proud.
Where do I get that shirt!?
What were the chords Pete was playing in the intro music??? Ive got the A, D and the G but what was the forth chord??
as an ee the internals are amazing except - wire has a max bend radius - when exceeded it deforms the wire causing a bottleneck and also makes a stress point that metal fatigue over time leads to a break - stop bending the wires so tightly - plenty of places where you can reference this fact - so i see an amazing amp with outstanding build quality except that several of the wires are doomed to break over time - it seems that you guys are trying to do it right so i applaud you
For these sort of hook up cables, the bend radius is around 6 x diameter. The wiring pretty much matches the originals, so I don't think it's a particular issue, given how reliable they are. My '73/'74 has never had any issues related to wiring.
The Captain showed great chops and touch on that opening rendition of Shine On You Crazy Diamond😮
...and including both another great Oz moment _and_ an Oz mention! :D More Oz on the channel! :D
Canadian Alt-Rock band The Beaches use HIWATTs as well.
Can you get custom name plates? I want one that says "HI TWAT".
I can make you one
@@stegvonheintz2707 I better start saving lol
PAHAHAHAHA at 36.36…….OMG. ...OZ does the best amp demo in the whole history of amp demos, EVER , that was epic ,i gotta have one ,where’s my wallet ,here take it ,just use any card ,ahhh just use all the cards ,gimmie two of em…. gimmie gimmie gimmie
Every guitarist needs to try a DR103 and matching 4x12 at least once in their lives, just to know.
Just on looks alone, they have to sound great :)
Pete had three full stacks
Angus Young: You gotta pump those numbers up, those are rookie numbers
6 Marshall stacks might equal the volume of 3 hiwatt stacks
The guitar cable, right? What goes into a Hiwatt?
Didnt Peter Hook use a Hiwatt(Guitar amp) for his bass?
If Hiwatt is good enough for David Gilmour - it's good enough for me. In my case - Maxwatt G200R head. A definite forever keeper.
Have some of that…. Yes please
Arv's such a legend.
😉
Alex Lifeson of Rush used Hiwatt during the late 70s!.
I had an old vintage hiwatt custom 100 head which I payed 50 quid for because the bloke couldn’t be assed to replace the valves ! Was an absolute beast after it got a full service! That was over 30 years ago! Hopefully it’s still going strong! Never really liked the harsh sound and breakup ! Probably wasn’t using it properly! Ie turned up which was impossible because it was so fkn loud!!
I see you are still shouting as a result of hearing loss
😂🤦🏻♂️😂🤦🏻♂️what 🥳
Please let Oz play some gnarly fuzz pedals through the 100 watt. :))
Duane Denison of the Jesus Lizard played his DR103 through the 90s.
Jimmy Page 1970 Royal Albert Hall show. Hiwatt into a Marshall cabinet. 😃👍
Best tone he's got live IMO
Dopesmoker ❤
I see Hiwatt and I click (and I was first!)
I am apoplectic about the struggle it took fighting with the hardware and the interface to get to the page. Five minutes of hell.
American guitars and British amps.....the best combination.
at 36:00 I remember the first time I picked up a guitar lmao.
You missed Selmer -- they need to come back
I run a Hiwatt DR 504 OL.
Takes pedals magnificently.
The OL has factory Drake transformers.
I get more beautiful overdrive/lead satisfaction.
I run both channels. Everything at noon,..exept master volume,...duh.
Hi watt = Dave Gilmour...that sound🙈😎👍
Metal guy was really feeling it lol
I believe Alex Lifeson used a few Hiwatts.
Pat Quilter invented Master Volume.
That Custom 20, and Danish Pete are just magic
Well… that certainly explains Pete Townshend’s Hearing Loss!!!
Never liked that crackling distortion sound that trails off in the intro, my Helix used to do that until I started using GFI Cabzeus.
Nothing had this high headroom... What about Twin Reverbs? 🙄
To talk Hiwatt amps without even mention Iommi..... bring out the spanking paddles!
i didn't he used to use hiwatts, only heard of laneys
Is the metal fella just Pete in a wig? Does he not have a face? Does Andertons not pay him for his likeness? Is his spine broken? Does he know how badly his neck is going to hurt when he’s my age?
I have so many questions.
I thought Oz was Boris Johnson for a while there…. 🤔😂
Oosh how many Danishes has Pete been eating?
still waiting for the OR30 review :/ (how not to sell an amp)