Somewhere back in the 1970s, my brother took his summer job money and bought a brand new Hiwatt 100 watt stack. Purchased from a now-defunct Toronto music store, it was, in fact, the very first one they uncrated from England. This particular store had a British tech who'd do a mod to the brilliant channel before they even got the Hiwatts on the sales floor! This mod made the brilliant channel the most high gain channel of any amp I've encountered to this very day. The thing was an absolute MONSTER! Your observation about the Fane speakers is so true....and nobody else seems to have made note of that. SO DIFFERENT from the sound of Celestians. A band mate of mine used to play a big ol' Ampeg head through a Hiwatt cab - it had a noticeably "Hiwatt" sound to it.
Awesome. I rented a 100 stack for a month from a defunct Thornhill (Toronto area) music store back around those mid 70's. Loved that thing. That was after I heard a guy at a party making a Hiwatt 100 head sing all night through a Traynor Bass Reflex 15" Cab + horn. One of the best rigs I ever heard. The guy whose rig it was, told me a couple of years ago that he regrets letting it go.
@@slowfinger2 OK....you'll think I'm making this up but I'm not. My big brother was renting rehearsal space with his drummer friend. They weren't a band, in that they were out playing gigs - but they were writing songs and just generally having fun at high volumes. Down the hall, an early Rush also rented a space. Lifeson tried out my brother's Hiwatt one night and went out and bought one for himself! Alex didn't stick with the brand but that's a true story.
Cool story. I just sold my Custom 50 half stack. While I owned it I removed the 'canadian mod'. Didn't really care for it and ended up reverting the preamp back to factory spec.
What I love about your demo videos is while you’re playing, you play riffs that’ll let the notes breathe and you don’t play to show off your skill but to highlight the gear.
I agree. He plays to demo the gear and not show off, but what's really cool about him is his style. Bluesy-Rock without wanking all over the neck doing "tapping", which IMO is overplayed and boring af.
I love videos like this where kids are just discovering things we knew about back in the 60s. They talk like they know everything but get so much stuff wrong along the way.
Why do so many Boomers get off on being elitist and ageist? Don't get me wrong, I'm not anywhere near young myself, but I'm not enough of a fool to feel a smug sense of superiority to have lived before someone else. Instead of being a jerk, why not add something useful and informative?
the polarity switch is for switching the virtual ground in the AC mains supply when 2 wire cords were common. if it had been updated to a 3 wire it is not necessary. Nothing to do with audio signal polarity.
Good thing in heavy combos and cabinets is that they are really stable. I have a diy 4x12 cab made from birch plywood and I used it as a bottom cabinet. Now it's not even plugged in, but it's a good looking riser. If somebody wants to steal it, they have a hard time.
I’ve noticed the cleaner things are (amp, pickups, etc) the better your high gain sounds. I used to try to buy the highest output pickups and filthiest amp I could find. They sound good but get muddy when pushed. I’ve found PAF’s (7-8k) and a very clean sounding amp with a high gain dirt box is the way to go. Kinda counterintuitive, but works great.
Speaking of where the rest of the amps are in the world, I'd imagine Dave Gilmour has them safely stored away! lol. Man was fond of these back in the day according to every gear interview I've ever read.
FYI, just because a guitar amplifier control says "Gain" it doesn't necessarily mean that it is actually controlling the gain of the amplifier circuit. More often than not it's only controlling the output level/volume of an amplifier stage. When an amplifier has an actual gain control it is typically a negative feedback control that changes the actual gain of the amplifier circuit. One of the ways that you can tell if the control is actually controlling the circuit gain is that gain controls are almost always noisy when you rotate the control. Whereas a clean volume/level control is nearly silent while it is being rotated. An actual gain control also affects the bandwidth of the circuit, so the tone can change as the control is rotated. Although with as much distortion as many guitar players use it may be difficult to notice the tonal change. The only actual feedback control that Hiwatt used was the "presense" control which affected the midrange tone. It actually affected the midrange gain.
@@xXVIIVVWTWVVIIVXx It's the amount of amplification that a gain stage has. A volume control does NOT increase the gain! It is only capable of REDUCING the level/volume of the signal. Whereas you can actually increase or decrease the amount of gain that an amplifier stage has by changing the amount of negative feedback in that amplifier stage.
@@xXVIIVVWTWVVIIVXx gain is a value, of how much you've increased the input signal, but only in the X axis of the wave ( X axis is amplitude while Y axis is frequency ), if you increase the gain beyond the working voltage the wave will start to clip ( giving you that crunch sound ), if you increase it even more the wave will look like vertical lines ( because the wave is clipped) and that will result to that distorted sound.. manipulating the gain in the amplifier happens in the emitter side of the transistor, if the resistance values there are tweaked that's how you increase/decrease the gain.. But I always think that the first stage of gain is the volume knob on your guitar, because you can manipulate the knob to get you between 2 channels (clean and crunch) if you know how, first is set your volume knob halfway between full and zero, now set amp gain where it almost starts to break up (border of clean and crunch), now if you crank your volume knob to 10 you get a crunch sound, roll back the volume to 5 or below you get a clean sound, a lot of pros do this, watch the end of 'tender surrender ' by Steve Vai, he manipulates the volume knob to give him different levels of gain..
Speaking of gain, I think Line 6 was the place that built stuff so that every knob was a gain control. Pretty sure I just heard that on the 5 Watt World vid Keith did recently.
@@pihermoso11 You still are NOT getting it. The volume/level control connected after a passive pickup on your guitar can only DECREASE the signal level that is already there! It does NOT have any gain! Once that guitar signal reaches the first fixed amplification stage, in most preamplifiers it boosts the signal voltage level, maybe 40 times in a tube preamp. The volume/level control that follows the 1st amplification stage can only DECREASE the amplitude of the already amplified signal. The control does NOT affect gain. It only DECREASES the signal level that is already there to some degree. Or to put it another way, a volume/level control is actually a LOSS control. It controls how much LOSS there is to the signal!!!
Wow, that looks like it might weigh almost as much as an 70's Ampeg SVT. Hiwatts sound great, and that last tone demo you did, the third channel plus boost sounded so fat. It's a shame all that old stuff is so damn heavy.
The SVT are 90 lbs , V4B about 45 lbs SVT 300 watts both amps in one head, all tube . V4B 100 watts all tube , Both are not as Quiet as HIWATT when it was turned all the way up . The DI s are not quiet either there is a little noise going direct through the the amps XLR Direct out.
Dude your channel is criminally underrated. Great content and the way you structure your videos is great IMO, super educational but a digestible amount of time.
10:54 I got a Sunn Coliseum Bass off a guy that the first owner converted into a 1x15 + 2 horn combo (with casters, mercifully). Sounds amazing, takes distortion like a champ, will basically never leave the corner of my room because of its weight.
OMG dude! THAT is an awesome amp. One that I would love to have in my studio 100%. I would love to hear a bass through it as well. I can just imagine what that would sound like. Thanks for showing it off. That wiring is amazing. If you ever want to pass it on, let me know!
Hitting it with boost really reminded me of my Fryette D120. I know Steve was inspired by Hiwatts when he started VHT(yes I know that’s a oversimplified history) but you can really hear the lineage between the amps here. Especially with the Fane speakers. Fanes > Celestions for heavy music.
They just don't make things that last the test of time, I remember Hiwatt, I play a Carvin Pro Bass 300 4x10's and a 15, I have to retire soon, it's on its last leg, since carvin no longer makes amps and parts are hard to come by, it has turned into a rather large paperweight. I've never played it past 4, because it's so dang loud. I'm new to your channel, and I've loved every video I've seen so far. Keep up the awesome work.
..The place is really jumping to the Hiwatt amps 'Til a 20-inch cymbal fell and cut the lamps In the blackout they dance right into the aisle And as the doors fly open even the promoter smiles….. The Who / Long Live Rock
KDH I really respect you. I saw you first on a Star guitar programme and then on your Chappers vid. You are personable, respectful and have musical talent. Added to this your hard work investigating stuff and it adds up to.......success.
Genuinely impressed by your content. I’m enjoying the way you handle things and can imagine you’d be a great guy to have a pint with and discuss music and guitars. Thanks for this.
FYI, master volume turns down the signal BEFORE the power section, so you're still only getting preamp breakup. The only way to crank the power amp and lower the overall volume is with an attenuator. Most people hate vintage amps with master volume controls, because the amp isn't going to sound it's best unless the MV is turned all the way up. Also, you can skip the A/B switch if you want, and just jumper the two channels together with a patch cable.
thanks for the awesome trip down memory lane. in the late 70s had to move some of these heavy amps and my back is out to this day! lol. Very loud though as you were saying. Have a great weekend and love your content.
@@sski Yes, many years ago (early to mid 80s), I purchased a 1970s Sound City 50 Watt Head (can't remember exact model or year) from a friend for $100.00 USD. At one time pulled the chassis out of head-shell, only to find she was finalized and passed Q.C. on my birthday! I should have kept that amp! Story brought to you by a 100% Card Carrying P.F. Member, memory loss and all!
@@clemguitar63 Ah sweet! Owned two myself during the 80s (early to mid), a 50 and a 100 watt version. I kick myself now for letting them go. That's a great story about yours! Cheers, brother!
My 1977 50W Hiwatt head is dead quiet as well. It's my favourite amp by a mile. I have a HW JTM45 clone, a 1967 Bassman, Orange Rocker 30, Dumble ODS HRM clone, and so forth. Also, I had to discover for myself that Hiwatt amps don't sound good through compressed Celestion speakers. I may still get a couple Fanes at some point, but I find that the 2x12 I have loaded with an EVM12L and an EVM12S is the best sounding cab I've ever heard. It works with all my amps. Cheers.
Great video. I had a couple friends in the late 80s, early 90s, who played in an L.A. thrash band and they both had Hiwatts. What happened was Hiwatt was trying to make a comeback so they reissued some of their old 100 Watt stacks. They didn't sell well so my friends were able to each buy a stack less than half off. As my drummer was also in the same band with these clowns I would often plug into one of their amps for band rehearsal, as they kept them in his home studio, rather than bring my heavy Boogie combo. I'd throw a fuzz box in front and it sounded workable. Not great, but workable. These days high gain amps with better features, not to mention lighter weight, are a dime a dozen.
You can hear why so many players of this era pulled out their PAFs and T Tops and put in a Super Distortion or a JB if they were wanting some dirty tones. Great video thanks!
Well explained… I ran across one at a music festival in NZ. It had headroom to burn but most impressive was the low end freq response and the overall tightness of the sound. I was greatly impressed….
Oh c'mon man, you're trying to educate people who are complaining about the weight of the some of the highest quality hand-wired equipment ever made. Your info is far too advanced for the average disposable made in China amp user. Good try though 👍
@@deropol05 seething boomer detected, my marshall is twice the amp this grandpa guitar amp is and is only 20 watts And guess what? It's made in England Seethe
@@a-nus That Hiwatt would blow your Marshall out of the water. It’s a much louder amp. That’s why bands like the Who used them. And the Marshal 100 watt Super Lead and 4x12 cabs were made for Pete Townshend in the first place.
@@DavidRavenMoon I'll take a 20 watt amp that I can plug into a power section over a 100 watt 4/12 any day of the week, and if you say otherwise you're absolutely insane That hiwatt sounds like crap to me. Sorry, but it does And louder does not equal better, and even if it did wattage does not equal loudness The hiwatt is at best 50% louder than the 20 watt.
Another great video, KDH. This amp is very cool and unique, and the way you had it set up sounds killer. I'm very impressed by the internal wiring as well.
The closest I can get to that Hiwatt sound is with my rackmount amp, Peavey Classic Stereo Tube Amp 50/50 into a sealed 2x10 and a sealed 1x15. Honestly, with the right preamp style pedal that old Peavy rack head imitates classic stuff quite well but no "Master Volume" knob to save my ears! It's the cabinet styles that are a harder match. The two Falcon 10's and the Eminence 15 seem to give me some versatility in tone shaping close to some old amps. My rig is a trip, the amp was likely made for keyboard line level stuff because the only volume knob for each channel is BEFORE the preamp stage, so I crank those to max and push it with an old but awesome Yamaha MV802 stereo line mixer. All this leads to patching three different stereo signals from my pedal board via DB25 to TRS cable, reverb, delay, and a side chained "synth" channel from a EHX Superego+ and mix them all before going to the amp. It sounds exotic when I can crank up the mixer past half. Master Volume, - what a concept, wish I had it on the Peavey. Long Live the Hiwatt- killer amp,
Love your videos. If you want ideas for more topics, explain why you use the damping wrap at the nut or why people bridge the inputs on four input amps.
This is an excellent amp, along with marshals, Laneys and fenders, of-that era are legends 😮 , great hand wired amps from an electrical maintenance point of view… keep on rockin
04:39 Oh my God, you are actually playing Tora Tora - 'Guilty' from their 1989 debut album! These guys are friends of mine from right here in Memphis, TN. If you have never heard of Tora Tora, which is not unusual, and just kinda made that up I would be shocked.
Love the sound you got out of this, but I do wish we could have heard it with the master volume up. Speaker clipping shouldn't be overlooked when discussing the sounds from old amps like this!
For clarification, what most people call the effect of "gain" in a guitar amp, is actually clipping.or distortion. Overdrive occurs when the power amp is hit hard enough to cause power amp clipping which is the type of tone we all know from Classic Rock and is what you get when you crank a tube amp. Preamp distortion occurs in a "high gain" amp, with moderate amounts of clipping between stages to add harmonic complexity and is then run into a super clean, over built power amp
Check out Reeves Amplification as he is making new Amos based on the original Hiwatts. He also is selling replacement "purple back" speakers. The sample videos on his site are out of this world good with the tone he is getting with these amps!
I built a HiTone 50 watt kit years ago. Fujian Cedar Cab. 4 x Jensen 12” lightweight neodymium speakers. Its unreal. Yes, dead quiet. Plug a ToneKing Ironman II attenuator between the amp and cab and you enter a beautiful universe. I’ve found I prefer to drive the amp more and the pre-amp less. This breakup suits my needs.
Back in the 70s I played in a band with a guitarist that had a Hiwatt half stack. It was ridiculously loud. And there weren’t many pedals back then besides maybe an MXR Distortion + or a Big Muff Pi. It was painful. Isn’t the polarity switch for the mains power? They call them “ground” switches on Fender amps.
i have a dr201 1971 ? 4xkt88 hylight, harry joyce. member of the family since almost new apart from rumours the stranglers had used it briefly. you will never find a cleaner sounding, more powefull amp in this lifetime. i only have one sound city 4x12 (cousins !) i respect my neighbours too much to get it out often, but when i take the cover off, the lovely smell of the beast hits me, then gently comes the lovely warm hum and i'm in heaven.
I have a 1973 Traynor YRM-1 that is also shockingly silent compared to modern amps A recap on your Hiwatt might get rid of that tiny little bit of buzz with the volume cranked. The polarity switch should probably be removed btw.
You need to time travel back in time when big was better. I gigged a lot in the early and mid 80's. Everyone used or wanted big amps. My old band had two guitarists, one had an early full Carvin stack and the other had a full Marshall stack. Not to mention one guitarist had a rack of effects too. I played bass with a Sunn beta combo and lined out to a peavey power amp with 2x15 cabinet. We played bars, weddings and other types of small venues. House PA's didn't exist at all places and were usually underpowered, so everyone needed big amps. This amp would easily fit in back then. Amazing that we had the energy to play after setting up all that stuff.
Steven Fryette has talked about loving Hiwatts and their tone influenced the original VHTs(now Fryette). For this reason, I must bow to Hiwatt. If you've never played a Fryette, you're missing out. I'm settling for a Mesa at the moment because I can't find/afford the Fryette I want.
A lot of old amps were made so a guitar player and bass player could share an amp, I had a magnatone amp that was marketed to accordion players , they were known for their built-in vibrato, it sounded amazing up there with a univibe, it was unlike anything i ever heard up to that point, i ended up retiring it because i could not find the unique tubes it used
I will NEVER get over those ridiculous jumbo combo amps lol. Like, what was the thinking? "I know what people really hate about amps, portability! If you arent throwing out your back before every gig, are you really a player?" Some Amp maker in the 70's (probably)
just found a hiwatt catalog. the DR504 is listed with a shipping weight of 100 pound. about the same as my Vox 412, and that sommbitch is never moving, even when I'm not using it, it stays in its spot and I put the other amps on top.
My early gigs in '76 I played with a non-preamp volume amp...set very loud! Sometimes with the amp turned fully around to face the back wall. Ah, memories.
That is one killer amp. Awesome video man. Certainly overkill for me. Yet I admit the name Hiwatt holds a special place in my heart due to Gilmour. I know thats so silly. However it is he and my son that sonically convinced me, a then 27 year vet drummer, to instead of returning to kit right away, I'd pick up a guitar in the first place. Great video here KDH!!
I can remember going to see bar bands back in the 80s where the guitar players were running half stacks and the bass player had that Peavey MKIV bass rig w/the 2-15 cabinet. The PA had 15 inch scoops. The volume was deafening. Usually in a second floor bar. Yeah. I helped a time or two. That stuff was heavy.
I actually have been looking for one of these in America, they are near impossible to find or they are broken and stripped. I'm guessing due to the immense weight and pain in the ass of moving them around. If you know anyone that wants to sell one I'd be glad to buy it. I would never move it just leave it in my studio room to have for fun of playing through it. Awesome review as always keep up the good work!
Saw a speaker shootout with the Fane F70 speaker included and honestly, it was probably the best sounding speaker of the bunch. I'd love to try a Fane speaker myself.
This might be nitpicky, but technically it's not gain, it's distortion. Gain is the ratio of output voltage in an amplifier compared to the input voltage, so you would have, say, 2:1 gain, or something like that. Then there's headroom - how much signal the amplifier can take before it starts breaking up. And then there's the distortion, which happens when the signal exceeds the headroom. Thing is, in many guitar amplifiers you use the gain knob on the first amplification stage to drive the second amplification stage harder and get more distortion. What you have there is a high headroom amp. There's something called a negative feedback loop, when the power amp reroute the inverse of its output signal (through a resistor, to decrease the amount) into its input, subtracting it from its input signal, essentially lowering the amount of power amp distortion you get. The presence knob is essentially a high pass filter attached to the negative feedback loop that allows you to ground higher-mid frequencies from negative feedback, thus subtracting less of them from the input signal and allowing a brighter sound. Negative feedback is the secret to high headroom power amps. You can also have positive feedback loops, especially in solid state amps and pedals. Here's a funny thing: the diode clipping distortion used in many budget amps and most OD/Distortion pedals actually grounds peaks of the signal, lowering the overall volume, gain of the pedal, adding more distortion (in hard-clipping diodes, when the signal peaks and valleys exceed the forward voltage of the diode, they get grounded, so you can turn a sine wave into something more similar to a square wave). With very few modifications you could get this amp to give you as much distortion as you need; but you would notice a loss of actual gain. Maybe I didn't communicate the difference between volume and gain properly: volume is the objective value of audio signal, measured in decibels; gain is the relation between the output signal and the input signal, expressed in a ratio like 2:1. Distortion is a lot harder to measure, because there are many different components to it. E.g. harmonic distortion would be measured by the root square of its harmonic components, but I doubt anyone here is prepared to take an oscilloscope to the amp and measure harmonic components for various input signals and amp settings. Enough to know that tubes have a very "imperfect" distortion, essentially compressing the peaks and valleys the higher the signal gets, with different tubes at different plate voltages showing different characteristics. Which, while electronically imperfect, many people, including me, consider more pleasing. Solid state components basically cut off the top of the signal. Which often sounds harsh, especially in lower-end amps. I don't think a well-made solid state amp is inferior to a tube amp; both have their uses, but as the lower end segment is dominated by cheap solid state stuff, it is generally perceived that solid state amps are worse than tube amps. Anyone who has played a Roland JC-120, another very clean and very loud amp, would disagree, because JC-120 is a marvel of clean, transparent sound and monstrous headroom. TL;DR gain is the amplification of the input signal, not the amount of distortion you get. Distortion is when the input signal exceeds the headroom.
If you want to exlore the UKs next evolution of the valve amp, I suggest a Burman combo amp, same class of wiring, but a muilti gain staged preamp - well ahead of their time. Find one, play it and then check the date.....
I definitely wouldn't tour with one of these lol, but I've seen amps like them in studios and music schools as like in house amps for productions. The big Christmas performance for the kids, etc. They're awesome for recording and if you only have to move it once in a while, it's not a bad purchase at all.
The amps have no problem - the problem is having a stadium to crank them in like Pete Townshend.Remember, Keith Richards used Ampeg SVT 300 watt bass amps all the way up, the only way to get that underline that sound.Great show.
Instead of using an A-B-Y switch, try using a stereo/pan volume pedal. You'll be able to get both the Normal and Brilliant channels at either end of the sweep of the pedal, along with _both channels_ in the middle--as well as every variation in between. Teddy at Make'N'Music showed me that trick years ago on a Bad Cat.
yeah, ive just modified my 65 ampeg-b25 and added a master volume to be able to crank it up... even tho it was a pain in the ass to move and carry i used this amp for gigs for around ten years, (i had a screamo/stoner band)when the sound is so important you gotta make sacrifices...
I love Hiwatt Such a unique sound, I think they are nice through the 80s although many purists don't agree. I have a 86 LB100 head , yes needed a little internal trim, but what a wonderful thing these things are
Big, heavy, loud, and obsolete?
Yes, please.
Also, I love the way it sounds
Word.
Sounds killer with the Tube Screamer in front of it!
Somewhere back in the 1970s, my brother took his summer job money and bought a brand new Hiwatt 100 watt stack. Purchased from a now-defunct Toronto music store, it was, in fact, the very first one they uncrated from England. This particular store had a British tech who'd do a mod to the brilliant channel before they even got the Hiwatts on the sales floor! This mod made the brilliant channel the most high gain channel of any amp I've encountered to this very day. The thing was an absolute MONSTER! Your observation about the Fane speakers is so true....and nobody else seems to have made note of that. SO DIFFERENT from the sound of Celestians. A band mate of mine used to play a big ol' Ampeg head through a Hiwatt cab - it had a noticeably "Hiwatt" sound to it.
Awesome. I rented a 100 stack for a month from a defunct Thornhill (Toronto area) music store back around those mid 70's. Loved that thing. That was after I heard a guy at a party making a Hiwatt 100 head sing all night through a Traynor Bass Reflex 15" Cab + horn. One of the best rigs I ever heard. The guy whose rig it was, told me a couple of years ago that he regrets letting it go.
@@slowfinger2 OK....you'll think I'm making this up but I'm not. My big brother was renting rehearsal space with his drummer friend. They weren't a band, in that they were out playing gigs - but they were writing songs and just generally having fun at high volumes. Down the hall, an early Rush also rented a space. Lifeson tried out my brother's Hiwatt one night and went out and bought one for himself! Alex didn't stick with the brand but that's a true story.
Cool story. I just sold my Custom 50 half stack. While I owned it I removed the 'canadian mod'. Didn't really care for it and ended up reverting the preamp back to factory spec.
What I love about your demo videos is while you’re playing, you play riffs that’ll let the notes breathe and you don’t play to show off your skill but to highlight the gear.
His finger tremolo is nice too.
Ya and it’s in one take,,, WHAT!!?? Lol
I agree. He plays to demo the gear and not show off, but what's really cool about him is his style. Bluesy-Rock without wanking all over the neck doing "tapping", which IMO is overplayed and boring af.
Minor correction- Matt Pike with Sleep still tours with a massive wall of amps. During his Rig Rundown, the idling noise alone was massive.
“Watt?”, get it?
Some of the cleanest wiring ever produced. Nice amp!
I love videos like this where kids are just discovering things we knew about back in the 60s.
They talk like they know everything but get so much stuff wrong along the way.
Why do so many Boomers get off on being elitist and ageist?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not anywhere near young myself, but I'm not enough of a fool to feel a smug sense of superiority to have lived before someone else. Instead of being a jerk, why not add something useful and informative?
the polarity switch is for switching the virtual ground in the AC mains supply when 2 wire cords were common. if it had been updated to a 3 wire it is not necessary. Nothing to do with audio signal polarity.
Good thing in heavy combos and cabinets is that they are really stable. I have a diy 4x12 cab made from birch plywood and I used it as a bottom cabinet. Now it's not even plugged in, but it's a good looking riser. If somebody wants to steal it, they have a hard time.
Even with casters lugging that amp on gravel must have quite tough, just for that you earn a thumbs up. A very informative video. Thank you.
his mums back is shot 😁
i just learned more about amps in 12 min than i have in my whole life! master volume, thank you! gain and boost, thanks again!!
This brand is the ultimate clean amp. They take effects really well.
Well the Roland JC120 is the ultimate clean, but it is a good clean.
I’ve noticed the cleaner things are (amp, pickups, etc) the better your high gain sounds. I used to try to buy the highest output pickups and filthiest amp I could find. They sound good but get muddy when pushed. I’ve found PAF’s (7-8k) and a very clean sounding amp with a high gain dirt box is the way to go. Kinda counterintuitive, but works great.
@@HooksBill nah man, roland jazz chorus sounds Meh. Deluxe reverb or princeton reverb.
@@jameshickson8174 Princeton or Deluxe for cleans? Twin Reverb and Vibrolux are my picks.
@@HooksBill solid state crap
Worst clean amp i ever played
Speaking of where the rest of the amps are in the world, I'd imagine Dave Gilmour has them safely stored away! lol. Man was fond of these back in the day according to every gear interview I've ever read.
Pete Townshend may disagree with you.
@@northernthrifter8817 True!
Lifeson had them as well.
& if you're wondering where many, many Vox AC30s went, Brian May bought as many as he could lay hands on.
Robert fripp had a few as well
That crunch sounds really good ! What a cool sounding amp
Thanks for this man. I recently moved abroad and your video uploads just feel like home.
Really a fantastic video. Also, I couldn't help but be amused watching you play 70's classic rock riffs thru an ancient amp with a space-age Ormsby.
FYI, just because a guitar amplifier control says "Gain" it doesn't necessarily mean that it is actually controlling the gain of the amplifier circuit. More often than not it's only controlling the output level/volume of an amplifier stage. When an amplifier has an actual gain control it is typically a negative feedback control that changes the actual gain of the amplifier circuit. One of the ways that you can tell if the control is actually controlling the circuit gain is that gain controls are almost always noisy when you rotate the control. Whereas a clean volume/level control is nearly silent while it is being rotated. An actual gain control also affects the bandwidth of the circuit, so the tone can change as the control is rotated. Although with as much distortion as many guitar players use it may be difficult to notice the tonal change. The only actual feedback control that Hiwatt used was the "presense" control which affected the midrange tone. It actually affected the midrange gain.
Uh... What do you think gain is?
@@xXVIIVVWTWVVIIVXx It's the amount of amplification that a gain stage has. A volume control does NOT increase the gain! It is only capable of REDUCING the level/volume of the signal. Whereas you can actually increase or decrease the amount of gain that an amplifier stage has by changing the amount of negative feedback in that amplifier stage.
@@xXVIIVVWTWVVIIVXx gain is a value, of how much you've increased the input signal, but only in the X axis of the wave ( X axis is amplitude while Y axis is frequency ), if you increase the gain beyond the working voltage the wave will start to clip ( giving you that crunch sound ), if you increase it even more the wave will look like vertical lines ( because the wave is clipped) and that will result to that distorted sound.. manipulating the gain in the amplifier happens in the emitter side of the transistor, if the resistance values there are tweaked that's how you increase/decrease the gain..
But I always think that the first stage of gain is the volume knob on your guitar, because you can manipulate the knob to get you between 2 channels (clean and crunch) if you know how, first is set your volume knob halfway between full and zero, now set amp gain where it almost starts to break up (border of clean and crunch), now if you crank your volume knob to 10 you get a crunch sound, roll back the volume to 5 or below you get a clean sound, a lot of pros do this, watch the end of 'tender surrender ' by Steve Vai, he manipulates the volume knob to give him different levels of gain..
Speaking of gain, I think Line 6 was the place that built stuff so that every knob was a gain control. Pretty sure I just heard that on the 5 Watt World vid Keith did recently.
@@pihermoso11 You still are NOT getting it. The volume/level control connected after a passive pickup on your guitar can only DECREASE the signal level that is already there! It does NOT have any gain! Once that guitar signal reaches the first fixed amplification stage, in most preamplifiers it boosts the signal voltage level, maybe 40 times in a tube preamp. The volume/level control that follows the 1st amplification stage can only DECREASE the amplitude of the already amplified signal. The control does NOT affect gain. It only DECREASES the signal level that is already there to some degree. Or to put it another way, a volume/level control is actually a LOSS control. It controls how much LOSS there is to the signal!!!
Wow, that looks like it might weigh almost as much as an 70's Ampeg SVT. Hiwatts sound great, and that last tone demo you did, the third channel plus boost sounded so fat. It's a shame all that old stuff is so damn heavy.
Well don't move it then. Use it as a recording amp.
@@EbonyPope Oh FFS. Duh.
@@aprilkurtz1589 Well you don't have to move it if it's always at the same spot. ;)
@@EbonyPope Very true. When I was younger that's all we had was extremely heavy gear and I for one am thankful everything is lighter now.
The SVT are 90 lbs , V4B about 45 lbs
SVT 300 watts both amps in one head,
all tube .
V4B 100 watts all tube ,
Both are not as Quiet as HIWATT when it was turned all the way up .
The DI s are not quiet either there is a little noise going direct through the the amps XLR Direct out.
i like to see how this channel is upscaling in quality content. Keep it up!
Geez man, you must have some pretty tolerant neighbors.
Loadbox?
Or deaf
@@LIFEAFTEREVERYTHING dont wear out the word by using it wrong idiot
I don't, but I also live in the country in Pennsyltucky PA and with no noise ordinance, I don't care!
@@KelticKabukiGirl sweet! I'm jealous. I've always wanted to set up a band outside and make a record. Pensultucky sounds like a great spot for that!
Dude your channel is criminally underrated. Great content and the way you structure your videos is great IMO, super educational but a digestible amount of time.
The wiring is is a true work of art... 👏 👏 👏
10:54 I got a Sunn Coliseum Bass off a guy that the first owner converted into a 1x15 + 2 horn combo (with casters, mercifully). Sounds amazing, takes distortion like a champ, will basically never leave the corner of my room because of its weight.
Glad you gave some love to Hiwatt. Wish they were better know and more available.
OMG dude! THAT is an awesome amp. One that I would love to have in my studio 100%. I would love to hear a bass through it as well. I can just imagine what that would sound like. Thanks for showing it off. That wiring is amazing. If you ever want to pass it on, let me know!
Hitting it with boost really reminded me of my Fryette D120. I know Steve was inspired by Hiwatts when he started VHT(yes I know that’s a oversimplified history) but you can really hear the lineage between the amps here.
Especially with the Fane speakers. Fanes > Celestions for heavy music.
Loving the puke stain down the front from someone trying to carry it up the stairs to the rehearsal above the pub.
They just don't make things that last the test of time, I remember Hiwatt, I play a Carvin Pro Bass 300 4x10's and a 15, I have to retire soon, it's on its last leg, since carvin no longer makes amps and parts are hard to come by, it has turned into a rather large paperweight. I've never played it past 4, because it's so dang loud.
I'm new to your channel, and I've loved every video I've seen so far. Keep up the awesome work.
..The place is really jumping to the Hiwatt amps
'Til a 20-inch cymbal fell and cut the lamps
In the blackout they dance right into the aisle
And as the doors fly open even the promoter smiles…..
The Who / Long Live Rock
I’d love to see a video on a vintage high powered solid state amp!!
KDH I really respect you. I saw you first on a Star guitar programme and then on your Chappers vid. You are personable, respectful and have musical talent. Added to this your hard work investigating stuff and it adds up to.......success.
Genuinely impressed by your content. I’m enjoying the way you handle things and can imagine you’d be a great guy to have a pint with and discuss music and guitars. Thanks for this.
FYI, master volume turns down the signal BEFORE the power section, so you're still only getting preamp breakup. The only way to crank the power amp and lower the overall volume is with an attenuator. Most people hate vintage amps with master volume controls, because the amp isn't going to sound it's best unless the MV is turned all the way up.
Also, you can skip the A/B switch if you want, and just jumper the two channels together with a patch cable.
thanks for the awesome trip down memory lane. in the late 70s had to move some of these heavy amps and my back is out to this day! lol. Very loud though as you were saying. Have a great weekend and love your content.
Nothing beats an amp when it's seriously pushing air!
Remember Sound City amps? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
@@sski Yes, many years ago (early to mid 80s), I purchased a 1970s Sound City 50 Watt Head (can't remember exact model or year) from a friend for $100.00 USD.
At one time pulled the chassis out of head-shell, only to find she was finalized and passed Q.C. on my birthday! I should have kept that amp!
Story brought to you by a 100% Card Carrying P.F. Member, memory loss and all!
@@clemguitar63 Ah sweet! Owned two myself during the 80s (early to mid), a 50 and a 100 watt version. I kick myself now for letting them go. That's a great story about yours! Cheers, brother!
Saves time on home improvement projects. Very handy for peeling paint off the walls.
My 1977 50W Hiwatt head is dead quiet as well. It's my favourite amp by a mile. I have a HW JTM45 clone, a 1967 Bassman, Orange Rocker 30, Dumble ODS HRM clone, and so forth.
Also, I had to discover for myself that Hiwatt amps don't sound good through compressed Celestion speakers. I may still get a couple Fanes at some point, but I find that the 2x12 I have loaded with an EVM12L and an EVM12S is the best sounding cab I've ever heard. It works with all my amps. Cheers.
First time I’ve ever heard a TH-camr play a Tora Tora riff 🤘🏼Good on ya 👍
4x12 combos are rare beasts indeed. Fender made one called the quad reverb. Certainly not something an individual would lug around.
Dude I own the Reeves Custom Jimmy 100 it's the equivalent to the Hiwatt and I absolutely love it.... I was a high gain amp guy but now I use pedals.
Good job with the video. Not an amp we see every day for sure
This was a great video. It really sounded like Townshend. It was a bummer when Pete switched to Mesa Boogie amps with those awful EV speakers.
Was that a little of Tora Tora I heard? That brings back some memories.
Great video. I had a couple friends in the late 80s, early 90s, who played in an L.A. thrash band and they both had Hiwatts. What happened was Hiwatt was trying to make a comeback so they reissued some of their old 100 Watt stacks. They didn't sell well so my friends were able to each buy a stack less than half off. As my drummer was also in the same band with these clowns I would often plug into one of their amps for band rehearsal, as they kept them in his home studio, rather than bring my heavy Boogie combo. I'd throw a fuzz box in front and it sounded workable. Not great, but workable. These days high gain amps with better features, not to mention lighter weight, are a dime a dozen.
You can hear why so many players of this era pulled out their PAFs and T Tops and put in a Super Distortion or a JB if they were wanting some dirty tones. Great video thanks!
Well explained… I ran across one at a music festival in NZ. It had headroom to burn but most impressive was the low end freq response and the overall tightness of the sound. I was greatly impressed….
The guitarist from the Kiwi post rock band Jakob uses two 100w Hiwatt heads in stereo with matching cabs. Absolutely brutal. So much volume.
Dude, that was a very quirky, interesting video. Really enjoying the channel!
No. You miss something. The high/bright input was for guitar. The low for bass and keyboards.
It was a instrument amplifier.
Oh c'mon man, you're trying to educate people who are complaining about the weight of the some of the highest quality hand-wired equipment ever made. Your info is far too advanced for the average disposable made in China amp user. Good try though 👍
@@deropol05 seething boomer detected, my marshall is twice the amp this grandpa guitar amp is and is only 20 watts
And guess what?
It's made in England
Seethe
Same with Marshall amps
@@a-nus That Hiwatt would blow your Marshall out of the water. It’s a much louder amp. That’s why bands like the Who used them. And the Marshal 100 watt Super Lead and 4x12 cabs were made for Pete Townshend in the first place.
@@DavidRavenMoon I'll take a 20 watt amp that I can plug into a power section over a 100 watt 4/12 any day of the week, and if you say otherwise you're absolutely insane
That hiwatt sounds like crap to me. Sorry, but it does
And louder does not equal better, and even if it did wattage does not equal loudness
The hiwatt is at best 50% louder than the 20 watt.
Another great video, KDH. This amp is very cool and unique, and the way you had it set up sounds killer. I'm very impressed by the internal wiring as well.
wow i literally was just wondering yesterday why there is 2 volume knobs and looked up what the actual difference is, good timing.
Yeah, that stumped me too (way back when), but we didn't have the luxury of the internet to find out the answer.
Being in the desert I get to see bands with Hiwatt on stage and the sound is sweetly different 🤘🏻🌵🍺
Kind of a nice change too listen from the high gain screech overload thanks for the demo
The closest I can get to that Hiwatt sound is with my rackmount amp, Peavey Classic Stereo Tube Amp 50/50 into a sealed 2x10 and a sealed 1x15. Honestly, with the right preamp style pedal that old Peavy rack head imitates classic stuff quite well but no "Master Volume" knob to save my ears! It's the cabinet styles that are a harder match. The two Falcon 10's and the Eminence 15 seem to give me some versatility in tone shaping close to some old amps. My rig is a trip, the amp was likely made for keyboard line level stuff because the only volume knob for each channel is BEFORE the preamp stage, so I crank those to max and push it with an old but awesome Yamaha MV802 stereo line mixer. All this leads to patching three different stereo signals from my pedal board via DB25 to TRS cable, reverb, delay, and a side chained "synth" channel from a EHX Superego+ and mix them all before going to the amp. It sounds exotic when I can crank up the mixer past half. Master Volume, - what a concept, wish I had it on the Peavey. Long Live the Hiwatt- killer amp,
Love your videos.
If you want ideas for more topics, explain why you use the damping wrap at the nut or why people bridge the inputs on four input amps.
He talks about why people bridge the inputs in this very video.
@@evitative462 LOL! I think Craig jumped the gun!
This is an excellent amp, along with marshals, Laneys and fenders, of-that era are legends 😮 , great hand wired amps from an electrical maintenance point of view… keep on rockin
What a beast of an amp! Dan Hawkins is the man. Made me reeeaally want a 1987x
I think the video he did with Marshall made everyone want a 1987x !
04:39 Oh my God, you are actually playing Tora Tora - 'Guilty' from their 1989 debut album! These guys are friends of mine from right here in Memphis, TN. If you have never heard of Tora Tora, which is not unusual, and just kinda made that up I would be shocked.
Love the sound you got out of this, but I do wish we could have heard it with the master volume up. Speaker clipping shouldn't be overlooked when discussing the sounds from old amps like this!
For clarification, what most people call the effect of "gain" in a guitar amp, is actually clipping.or distortion. Overdrive occurs when the power amp is hit hard enough to cause power amp clipping which is the type of tone we all know from Classic Rock and is what you get when you crank a tube amp. Preamp distortion occurs in a "high gain" amp, with moderate amounts of clipping between stages to add harmonic complexity and is then run into a super clean, over built power amp
Check out Reeves Amplification as he is making new Amos based on the original Hiwatts. He also is selling replacement "purple back" speakers. The sample videos on his site are out of this world good with the tone he is getting with these amps!
I built a HiTone 50 watt kit years ago. Fujian Cedar Cab. 4 x Jensen 12” lightweight neodymium speakers. Its unreal. Yes, dead quiet.
Plug a ToneKing Ironman II attenuator between the amp and cab and you enter a beautiful universe.
I’ve found I prefer to drive the amp more and the pre-amp less. This breakup suits my needs.
Back in the 70s I played in a band with a guitarist that had a Hiwatt half stack. It was ridiculously loud. And there weren’t many pedals back then besides maybe an MXR Distortion + or a Big Muff Pi.
It was painful.
Isn’t the polarity switch for the mains power? They call them “ground” switches on Fender amps.
i have a dr201 1971 ? 4xkt88 hylight, harry joyce. member of the family since almost new apart from rumours the stranglers had used it briefly. you will never find a cleaner sounding, more powefull amp in this lifetime. i only have one sound city 4x12 (cousins !) i respect my neighbours too much to get it out often, but when i take the cover off, the lovely smell of the beast hits me, then gently comes the lovely warm hum and i'm in heaven.
Great shirt 😎 I also did not realize you were Superman, if you can carry that amp. Also, great mini-documentary of this amp. 😁 Cheers!
Sounds great! Especially with the boost
I have a 1973 Traynor YRM-1 that is also shockingly silent compared to modern amps
A recap on your Hiwatt might get rid of that tiny little bit of buzz with the volume cranked.
The polarity switch should probably be removed btw.
Man that sounds PERFECT.
I love the way John Wetton used these amps back in 1974. They sound beastly!
You need to time travel back in time when big was better. I gigged a lot in the early and mid 80's. Everyone used or wanted big amps. My old band had two guitarists, one had an early full Carvin stack and the other had a full Marshall stack. Not to mention one guitarist had a rack of effects too. I played bass with a Sunn beta combo and lined out to a peavey power amp with 2x15 cabinet. We played bars, weddings and other types of small venues. House PA's didn't exist at all places and were usually underpowered, so everyone needed big amps. This amp would easily fit in back then. Amazing that we had the energy to play after setting up all that stuff.
Wow - I'd love to have one of these! I used a 200 watt valve amp (4 x KT88) in the 1970s and always used an external preamp (Echolette NG51)!
Steven Fryette has talked about loving Hiwatts and their tone influenced the original VHTs(now Fryette). For this reason, I must bow to Hiwatt. If you've never played a Fryette, you're missing out. I'm settling for a Mesa at the moment because I can't find/afford the Fryette I want.
this is the best sounding amp ive EVER heard, good lord…
My peavey butcher and VTM with a tube art parametric gives a great crunch as well.
A lot of old amps were made so a guitar player and bass player could share an amp, I had a magnatone amp that was marketed to accordion players , they were known for their built-in vibrato, it sounded amazing up there with a univibe, it was unlike anything i ever heard up to that point, i ended up retiring it because i could not find the unique tubes it used
wow those were the days when 2 guys would plug into 1 amp.
that is exactly why Fender invented the Twin Reverb.
Love my old Hi Watt head and quad box. Haven’t seen the combo quad before but I would love one. The weight doesn’t bother you with a sound like that.
I will NEVER get over those ridiculous jumbo combo amps lol. Like, what was the thinking? "I know what people really hate about amps, portability! If you arent throwing out your back before every gig, are you really a player?" Some Amp maker in the 70's (probably)
Exodus used Hiwatt amps boosted with Boss SD-1s on Bonded By Blood.
just found a hiwatt catalog. the DR504 is listed with a shipping weight of 100 pound. about the same as my Vox 412, and that sommbitch is never moving, even when I'm not using it, it stays in its spot and I put the other amps on top.
My early gigs in '76 I played with a non-preamp volume amp...set very loud! Sometimes with the amp turned fully around to face the back wall. Ah, memories.
That is one killer amp. Awesome video man. Certainly overkill for me. Yet I admit the name Hiwatt holds a special place in my heart due to Gilmour. I know thats so silly. However it is he and my son that sonically convinced me, a then 27 year vet drummer, to instead of returning to kit right away, I'd pick up a guitar in the first place. Great video here KDH!!
I’ve got a ‘79 1x12 version of this amp. They sound amazing.
that sound, without the boost, is amazing
I can remember going to see bar bands back in the 80s where the guitar players were running half stacks and the bass player had that Peavey MKIV bass rig w/the 2-15 cabinet. The PA had 15 inch scoops. The volume was deafening. Usually in a second floor bar. Yeah. I helped a time or two. That stuff was heavy.
Nice mids and crunch. Something dry about it as well which is cool.
Truly a vintage sounding amp. Really killer.
I actually have been looking for one of these in America, they are near impossible to find or they are broken and stripped. I'm guessing due to the immense weight and pain in the ass of moving them around. If you know anyone that wants to sell one I'd be glad to buy it. I would never move it just leave it in my studio room to have for fun of playing through it. Awesome review as always keep up the good work!
Saw a speaker shootout with the Fane F70 speaker included and honestly, it was probably the best sounding speaker of the bunch. I'd love to try a Fane speaker myself.
This might be nitpicky, but technically it's not gain, it's distortion. Gain is the ratio of output voltage in an amplifier compared to the input voltage, so you would have, say, 2:1 gain, or something like that. Then there's headroom - how much signal the amplifier can take before it starts breaking up. And then there's the distortion, which happens when the signal exceeds the headroom. Thing is, in many guitar amplifiers you use the gain knob on the first amplification stage to drive the second amplification stage harder and get more distortion. What you have there is a high headroom amp. There's something called a negative feedback loop, when the power amp reroute the inverse of its output signal (through a resistor, to decrease the amount) into its input, subtracting it from its input signal, essentially lowering the amount of power amp distortion you get. The presence knob is essentially a high pass filter attached to the negative feedback loop that allows you to ground higher-mid frequencies from negative feedback, thus subtracting less of them from the input signal and allowing a brighter sound. Negative feedback is the secret to high headroom power amps. You can also have positive feedback loops, especially in solid state amps and pedals. Here's a funny thing: the diode clipping distortion used in many budget amps and most OD/Distortion pedals actually grounds peaks of the signal, lowering the overall volume, gain of the pedal, adding more distortion (in hard-clipping diodes, when the signal peaks and valleys exceed the forward voltage of the diode, they get grounded, so you can turn a sine wave into something more similar to a square wave).
With very few modifications you could get this amp to give you as much distortion as you need; but you would notice a loss of actual gain.
Maybe I didn't communicate the difference between volume and gain properly: volume is the objective value of audio signal, measured in decibels; gain is the relation between the output signal and the input signal, expressed in a ratio like 2:1. Distortion is a lot harder to measure, because there are many different components to it. E.g. harmonic distortion would be measured by the root square of its harmonic components, but I doubt anyone here is prepared to take an oscilloscope to the amp and measure harmonic components for various input signals and amp settings. Enough to know that tubes have a very "imperfect" distortion, essentially compressing the peaks and valleys the higher the signal gets, with different tubes at different plate voltages showing different characteristics. Which, while electronically imperfect, many people, including me, consider more pleasing. Solid state components basically cut off the top of the signal. Which often sounds harsh, especially in lower-end amps. I don't think a well-made solid state amp is inferior to a tube amp; both have their uses, but as the lower end segment is dominated by cheap solid state stuff, it is generally perceived that solid state amps are worse than tube amps. Anyone who has played a Roland JC-120, another very clean and very loud amp, would disagree, because JC-120 is a marvel of clean, transparent sound and monstrous headroom.
TL;DR gain is the amplification of the input signal, not the amount of distortion you get. Distortion is when the input signal exceeds the headroom.
If you want to exlore the UKs next evolution of the valve amp, I suggest a Burman combo amp, same class of wiring, but a muilti gain staged preamp - well ahead of their time. Find one, play it and then check the date.....
I definitely wouldn't tour with one of these lol, but I've seen amps like them in studios and music schools as like in house amps for productions. The big Christmas performance for the kids, etc. They're awesome for recording and if you only have to move it once in a while, it's not a bad purchase at all.
Finally a tone I like on this channel 😈
The amps have no problem - the problem is having a stadium to crank them in like Pete Townshend.Remember, Keith Richards used Ampeg SVT 300 watt bass amps all the way up, the only way to get that underline that sound.Great show.
That’s just awesome.
Thanks for sharing this.
Love the brutal sound with a tube screamer ! ♥
Great breakdown of tube amps.
It sounds big... real big.
Instead of using an A-B-Y switch, try using a stereo/pan volume pedal.
You'll be able to get both the Normal and Brilliant channels at either end of the sweep of the pedal, along with _both channels_ in the middle--as well as every variation in between.
Teddy at Make'N'Music showed me that trick years ago on a Bad Cat.
Oh man that thing reminds me of my "marshall mb4410" 😅
Also a back breaker but much loved and much much younger.
yeah, ive just modified my 65 ampeg-b25 and added a master volume to be able to crank it up... even tho it was a pain in the ass to move and carry i used this amp for gigs for around ten years, (i had a screamo/stoner band)when the sound is so important you gotta make sacrifices...
My God. It's beautiful!
I love Hiwatt
Such a unique sound, I think they are nice through the 80s although many purists don't agree. I have a 86 LB100 head , yes needed a little internal trim, but what a wonderful thing these things are
That Hiwatt sounds great !