SOLD AND DELIVERED TO A NEW HAPPY OWNER
Up for sale is my 1973 Hiwatt 400 (model DR405). This beast is a rarity as there were likely less than 100 of them built during the Hylight era of Hiwatt when David Reeves, the founder/designer of Hiwatt, was still alive. In the past several years since I kept track, I've only seen three of these for sale in the USA or Canada. I'm located in Louisville, KY, USA.
This old Hiwatt works great, no issues. It is loud, clean, full, and articulate as one would expect with a Hiwatt. Louder cleans than an SVT....it's more on par with a Fender 400PS. No loud hum or hiss at idle...as long as the attached instrument isn't noisy, of course.
Tubes include: matched sextet of Gold Lion reissue KT88 power tubes, vintage Telefunken ECC83 (v1 preamp position), vintage Amperex Bugle Box ECC83 (v2), two new J/J (v3 & v4), and vintage Mullard Blackburn ECC81 (v5 / phase inverter).
This beast is heavy...in the range of 83 to 85 lbs depending on which scale I used.
The impedance selector includes impedance taps for 4Ω, 8Ω, and 16Ω. There are four output jacks wired as two parallel pairs in series. It can operate one cab at any of those impedance values (must use dummy plug in one jack of the other pair to complete the series circuit), four 4Ω cabs (at 4Ω total combined impedance), four 8Ω cabs (8Ω tap), four 16Ω (16Ω tap), two 8Ω cabs (4Ω tap), or two 16Ω cabs (8Ω tap). More combinations are possible with daisy chaining options.
The voltage selector includes taps for 105V (Japan), 115V (USA, Canada), 225V (most of Europe), and 245V (Britain).
I restored this amp myself a couple years ago and Mark Huss (see Mark Huss Hiwatt Amplifier Pages) biased the amp after the tubes were swapped. The Hiwatt 400 was built with stock adjustable bias unlike the 50w and 100w amps. Some parts were replaced, but the circuit is still true to the original design. I replaced all of the seven original electrolytic capacitors...the old ones were bulging. A previous owner (or amp tech) had replaced the output jacks (with what looked like Fender type jacks), standby switch (looked wrong cosmetically), one power tube socket, and four pre-amp components (probably to add gain), and most of the screen resistors on the power tube sockets. So I replaced those replacements except for the tube socket. The standby switch is a vintage Arrow just like it should be. The output jacks are now the proper vintage Cliff jacks Made in England. The preamp section was restored to have the proper resistors values...I replaced four of them I think. I replaced all of the screen resistors on the power tube sockets with the most robust 1000kΩ resistors I could find.
I have the original Bulgin power cord for this amp!!!!
The huge transformers are the original Partridge transformers. The plastic molding on one side of the output transformer is chipped, but that is only a cosmetic issue.
The original rubber feet are no longer on the amp head case, but I have new replacements. One of the chassis screws is not original.
Someone installed a fan in the head box probably many years ago. I disabled the fan, but I can re-attach the wires upon request. The head box is in decent shape considering the age. There blemishes in the tolex, but the tolex is intact.
The dates on the pots range between mid-1972 to early 1973. The serial # 45XX is consistent with a mid 1973 completion date. The amp was probably wired by either David Reeves or Doug Fentiman at the Kingston-upon-Thames factory since it lacks the pen markings of a Hiwatt chassis wired by the contractor team at Harry Joyce Electronics. The DR405 was definitely a special order amp and not in regular production.
Price is $4,800 shipped within continental USA or $4,500 for local pickup. The very few vintage DR405 amps that have sold in Europe via eBay in recent years were bid to the 3,200 Euro (poor condition) to 7,700 Euro (great condition) range. My price is less than what I paid especially with cost of parts and tubes considered. I accept PayPal from USA buyers, but not international buyers. I'm not seeking trades.
I have documented the existence of 11 vintage Hylight era DR405 amps in the world that are still operational through watching sales and with the help of the Vintage Hiwatt Convention forum. Five in the USA (mine, two in Indiana, one in Minnesota, and one in Georgia?), one that sold in Germany 2009, one that sold in Britain in 2007, another in Britain owned by an elderly former club owner, one in Australia that is currently being restored with new electrolytic capacitors, one in The Netherlands (owned by the bassist of Focus), and one more with unknown (to me) location. There is also a slave amp converted to DR405 in the NYC area with a fake serial tag.
If shipped, the tubes would be removed and shipped separately. The transformers would be braced with foam spacers and packaging would be ample. Local pickup is good too of course. I can also deliver it myself to most areas of the eastern half USA.
I tried to be thorough in my description, but send a PM to me if there are any questions.
The amp is great, but I haven't much time to play in bands these days. Am gonna regret this....
vintage Hiwatt catalog info: http://hiwatt.org/info/78cat/page01.jpg
vintage Hiwatt catalog photo of DR405: http://hiwatt.org/info/78cat/page02.jpg
More info: HIWATT PHOTO GALLERY 15
^^^NOTE: that photo was taken prior to the standby switch being replaced.
Up for sale is my 1973 Hiwatt 400 (model DR405). This beast is a rarity as there were likely less than 100 of them built during the Hylight era of Hiwatt when David Reeves, the founder/designer of Hiwatt, was still alive. In the past several years since I kept track, I've only seen three of these for sale in the USA or Canada. I'm located in Louisville, KY, USA.
This old Hiwatt works great, no issues. It is loud, clean, full, and articulate as one would expect with a Hiwatt. Louder cleans than an SVT....it's more on par with a Fender 400PS. No loud hum or hiss at idle...as long as the attached instrument isn't noisy, of course.
Tubes include: matched sextet of Gold Lion reissue KT88 power tubes, vintage Telefunken ECC83 (v1 preamp position), vintage Amperex Bugle Box ECC83 (v2), two new J/J (v3 & v4), and vintage Mullard Blackburn ECC81 (v5 / phase inverter).
This beast is heavy...in the range of 83 to 85 lbs depending on which scale I used.
The impedance selector includes impedance taps for 4Ω, 8Ω, and 16Ω. There are four output jacks wired as two parallel pairs in series. It can operate one cab at any of those impedance values (must use dummy plug in one jack of the other pair to complete the series circuit), four 4Ω cabs (at 4Ω total combined impedance), four 8Ω cabs (8Ω tap), four 16Ω (16Ω tap), two 8Ω cabs (4Ω tap), or two 16Ω cabs (8Ω tap). More combinations are possible with daisy chaining options.
The voltage selector includes taps for 105V (Japan), 115V (USA, Canada), 225V (most of Europe), and 245V (Britain).
I restored this amp myself a couple years ago and Mark Huss (see Mark Huss Hiwatt Amplifier Pages) biased the amp after the tubes were swapped. The Hiwatt 400 was built with stock adjustable bias unlike the 50w and 100w amps. Some parts were replaced, but the circuit is still true to the original design. I replaced all of the seven original electrolytic capacitors...the old ones were bulging. A previous owner (or amp tech) had replaced the output jacks (with what looked like Fender type jacks), standby switch (looked wrong cosmetically), one power tube socket, and four pre-amp components (probably to add gain), and most of the screen resistors on the power tube sockets. So I replaced those replacements except for the tube socket. The standby switch is a vintage Arrow just like it should be. The output jacks are now the proper vintage Cliff jacks Made in England. The preamp section was restored to have the proper resistors values...I replaced four of them I think. I replaced all of the screen resistors on the power tube sockets with the most robust 1000kΩ resistors I could find.
I have the original Bulgin power cord for this amp!!!!
The huge transformers are the original Partridge transformers. The plastic molding on one side of the output transformer is chipped, but that is only a cosmetic issue.
The original rubber feet are no longer on the amp head case, but I have new replacements. One of the chassis screws is not original.
Someone installed a fan in the head box probably many years ago. I disabled the fan, but I can re-attach the wires upon request. The head box is in decent shape considering the age. There blemishes in the tolex, but the tolex is intact.
The dates on the pots range between mid-1972 to early 1973. The serial # 45XX is consistent with a mid 1973 completion date. The amp was probably wired by either David Reeves or Doug Fentiman at the Kingston-upon-Thames factory since it lacks the pen markings of a Hiwatt chassis wired by the contractor team at Harry Joyce Electronics. The DR405 was definitely a special order amp and not in regular production.
Price is $4,800 shipped within continental USA or $4,500 for local pickup. The very few vintage DR405 amps that have sold in Europe via eBay in recent years were bid to the 3,200 Euro (poor condition) to 7,700 Euro (great condition) range. My price is less than what I paid especially with cost of parts and tubes considered. I accept PayPal from USA buyers, but not international buyers. I'm not seeking trades.
I have documented the existence of 11 vintage Hylight era DR405 amps in the world that are still operational through watching sales and with the help of the Vintage Hiwatt Convention forum. Five in the USA (mine, two in Indiana, one in Minnesota, and one in Georgia?), one that sold in Germany 2009, one that sold in Britain in 2007, another in Britain owned by an elderly former club owner, one in Australia that is currently being restored with new electrolytic capacitors, one in The Netherlands (owned by the bassist of Focus), and one more with unknown (to me) location. There is also a slave amp converted to DR405 in the NYC area with a fake serial tag.
If shipped, the tubes would be removed and shipped separately. The transformers would be braced with foam spacers and packaging would be ample. Local pickup is good too of course. I can also deliver it myself to most areas of the eastern half USA.
I tried to be thorough in my description, but send a PM to me if there are any questions.
The amp is great, but I haven't much time to play in bands these days. Am gonna regret this....
vintage Hiwatt catalog info: http://hiwatt.org/info/78cat/page01.jpg
vintage Hiwatt catalog photo of DR405: http://hiwatt.org/info/78cat/page02.jpg
More info: HIWATT PHOTO GALLERY 15
^^^NOTE: that photo was taken prior to the standby switch being replaced.