New 400 Watt Reeves

[edbass]

Just an F.Y.I.; over the Holidays I got confirmation that there is a 400 watt Reeves in the works. I haven’t seen one yet, but I’m pretty sure it will be a 6 X KT88, and in the Reeves fashion will likely be a very high headroom, quite clean 400 (+?) watts. No idea on weight, but I believe it will share the 24” wide head cab that the C225 currently uses, with two end handles instead of the C225’s single center handle. If I were to guess, I’d think it will have to weigh almost as much as a 300 watt SVT, but that’s just a guess.
At least it will still fit on top of an average bass cab without looking goofy.

Personally, I think that the C225 has all the juice I would ever need, but for those uninitiated who scoff at a “puny” 225 watt amp for being “too small” to gig with, the 400 watter should provide all the skull pounding power anybody could need.

I’ll post real world observations when I get my hands on one, as of now I’m just trying to figure out where I can “wring out” a freakin’ 400 watt Reeves without getting unwanted attention from the constabulary .

[D.M.N.]

Oh. Mein. Gott.

THIS IS AWESOME. Probably of little use except to the insane, but still. AWESOME.




If you want, you can always come test it at my house! 5 acres, and the neighbour's really don't care.....

[fu22ba55]

Originally Posted by edbass

I’m just trying to figure out where I can “wring out” a freakin’ 400 watt Reeves without getting unwanted attention from the constabulary .

Probably here...



That's amazing and interesting news. Glad to see Reeves is adding another bass amp to their lineup.

That thing is gonna be hella loud.

[okcrum]

Hmm, I'd probably go 8x KT88 for 400 honest watts. If they figure the purists would accept an SMPS, they could make it about 1/2 the weight of an SVT.

[Baird6869]

Originally Posted by fu22ba55

That thing is gonna be hella loud.

+1.

400 tube watts? Holy moly!

[Jim C]

Originally Posted by edbass

I’ll post real world observations when I get my hands on one, as of now I’m just trying to figure out where I can “wring out” a freakin’ 400 watt Reeves without getting unwanted attention from the constabulary .

Thanks Ed; I will look forward to your review.
Many of us are still trying to get some volume out of innefecient cabs (1x15 in my case) so that could be a potential test bed as well as some of the 15/6 cab designs that also seem to operate without enough clean headroom with an SVT.

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by edbass

Just an F.Y.I.; over the Holidays I got confirmation that there is a 400 watt Reeves in the works. I haven’t seen one yet, but I’m pretty sure it will be a 6 X KT88, and in the Reeves fashion will likely be a very high headroom, quite clean 400 (+?) watts. No idea on weight, but I believe it will share the 24” wide head cab that the C225 currently uses, with two end handles instead of the C225’s single center handle. If I were to guess, I’d think it will have to weigh almost as much as a 300 watt SVT, but that’s just a guess.
At least it will still fit on top of an average bass cab without looking goofy.

Personally, I think that the C225 has all the juice I would ever need, but for those uninitiated who scoff at a “puny” 225 watt amp for being “too small” to gig with, the 400 watter should provide all the skull pounding power anybody could need.

I’ll post real world observations when I get my hands on one, as of now I’m just trying to figure out where I can “wring out” a freakin’ 400 watt Reeves without getting unwanted attention from the constabulary .

anyone playing in that league would probably be able to afford,and be better off with a pair of 225's....price and weight will be a bear.....

[ZachM]

Originally Posted by Jim Campbell

anyone playing in that league would probably be able to afford,and be better off with a pair of 225's....price and weight will be a bear.....

While I like the idea of a 400 watt Reeves (even though I would almost certainly not need one), I've also thought that for the bassist that needed scalability in a tube rig and that may need 400 watts (!), that a slave amp would be interesting. Basically, like the power section of the 225 alone.

I know that slave amps are not that prevalent today, and I know that in the era of 2000 watt solid-state power amps they may seem a little pointless. But I think that it might be really cool to have the big clean power section of the Custom 225 to use in conjunction with another Custom 225, or any other preamp of your choice.

[Din Of Win]

Dude... that's too much loud.

[JimmyM]

i'm holding out for a 30 watter

[johnk_10]

Hi Ed,
i think a 400 watter would be awesome, since i like alot of headroom. looking forward to your review of it.

[ZachM]

Originally Posted by Din Of Win

Dude... that's too much loud.

Oh I agree, very very loud. But, I like the idea of Reeves power section + any preamp. Even though it's probably tough to find anything that sounds quite as good as the 225 preamp... you would have a killer clean power section plus the ability to use any front end you like. Tell me that doesn't sound at least kind of cool!

[Din Of Win]

Originally Posted by ZachM

Oh I agree, very very loud. But, I like the idea of Reeves power section + any preamp. Even though it's probably tough to find anything that sounds quite as good as the 225 preamp... you would have a killer clean power section plus the ability to use any front end you like. Tell me that doesn't sound at least kind of cool!

Oh.... i think it's VERY cool... just LOUD!!

[CDweller]

The 225 has two additional holes in the chassis for tubes, located symetrically with the other four tubes. I'd love to see a retrofit for the 225; save me the bother of selling mine to fund the 400.

[nysbob]

The 225 has all the poop I need, but you can't have too many watts as long you know how to use 'em.

[CDweller]

Originally Posted by nysbob

The 225 has all the poop I need, but you can't have too many watts as long you know how to use 'em.

+1

[ampegfuzz]

Cool but too clean for me

[AwkwardLoudness]

Oh, cool. Really f****** cool. I had been hoping for this news for a couple years now. The current MusicGround Hiwatt 400 sucks for lack of quality and Max Weber in Germany won't ship a MYWATT 400 to the states..at least not for me when I tried. I can't even find another vintage HIWATT DR405 400w amp. My 1973 HIWATT DR405 needs a stable mate!!! I figured Bill Jansen would want to build a 400w Reeves amp at some point. I hope it has four output jacks like the original Hiwatt. The DR405 is certainly the greatest, fattest sounding tube bass amp I've ever played. Kudos to Bill...I hope his version works out to his satisfaction.

My 400w Hiwatt is certainly loud and clean, but there is plenty of gain on tap if you like to play louder than sin or use a pedal. The loudness of course depends a whole lot on the cab(s) being used, and four speakers outputs provides plenty of options. It's even louder with guitar without the low end power consumption...it's jet engine loud through a quad of vintage Hiwatt 4x12 guitar cabs.









Before restoration:


After restoration:

Originally Posted by edbass

If I were to guess, I’d think it will have to weigh almost as much as a 300 watt SVT, but that’s just a guess.

True. My Hiwatt 400 is about 85 lbs. Ampeg SVT is roughly in the range of 80 to 90 lbs depending on the year it was built.

Originally Posted by okcrum

Hmm, I'd probably go 8x KT88 for 400 honest watts.

David Reeves, i.e. the original Hiwatt company Hylight Electronics, reportedly did build at least a handful of DR405 amps with 8xKT88, but they had a high failure rate due to the heat. There were two rows of 4xKT88 and the internal row would get too hot.

There are at least a couple amps on the market today that are stocked with 8xKT88 tubes....Laney Nexus 400 is one and I can't remember the other(s).

Originally Posted by CDweller

The 225 has two additional holes in the chassis for tubes, located symetrically with the other four tubes. I'd love to see a retrofit for the 225; save me the bother of selling mine to fund the 400.

One would need to swap tranformers. That's not an easy or inexpensive retrofit but it's possible.

Originally Posted by ZachM

Oh I agree, very very loud. But, I like the idea of Reeves power section + any preamp. Even though it's probably tough to find anything that sounds quite as good as the 225 preamp... you would have a killer clean power section plus the ability to use any front end you like. Tell me that doesn't sound at least kind of cool!

The original Hiwatt company built 400 watt and 200 watt slave amps called the STA400 and STA200 respectively. They are exceedingly rare though. The Reeves C225 could certainly be modded to have an input directly to the power section (like Pink Floyd's David Gilmour modded his old Hiwatt amps) but I'm sure it would void to the warranty unless Bill would do this himself.

[nysbob]

The Marshall VBA 400 and Trace V8 both run 8 KT88's. They both are, coincidentally, stupidly loud.

[bassboysam]

It's great to see that in a world of micro rigs some manufacturers are still brave enough to build these giants. There are also roumours of a 400 watt Matamp...