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All Tube Heads - which one?
- Thread starter tlrsn
- Start date
Due to the influence of an ex RAF engineer called Harry Joyce that the original Hylight Hiwatt was so beautifully laid out and wired to military specs.
I am so pleased that Reeves have reissued this great old amp built with the same level of attenshion to detail.
As an ex-military electronics technician, I appreciate milspecs. Reeves weren't even 'on my radar' until I came across a thread where Tom Bowlus and Mike Arnopol were singing their praises. I was delighted with Jim Reeves' decision to replicate his fine amplifiers in the U.S.A. The initial investment is steeper than other brands, but considering the lack of need or desire to buy anything else, I'm saving money in the long run.
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Hi-Tone 200. Best Hiwatt Repros on the market.
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I just got a prodigy! From the OPs list, I would go with the Reeves or the Prod, depending on your tone goals, and how many "features" you want, and how much weight you are looking to schlep.
There is a 200 watt Jaguar bass amp in the classifieds. Basically a Blue line SVT front end with a 4KT88 power section. Looks very sweet. I almost bought it. They make a bunch of guitar amps, but the owner is a bass player. I've emailed the dude a couple times now. Will write you right back, answer questions, etc. Looks like a very cool amp, and a big discount from the new price.
There is a 200 watt Jaguar bass amp in the classifieds. Basically a Blue line SVT front end with a 4KT88 power section. Looks very sweet. I almost bought it. They make a bunch of guitar amps, but the owner is a bass player. I've emailed the dude a couple times now. Will write you right back, answer questions, etc. Looks like a very cool amp, and a big discount from the new price.
Seriously. If I wasn't desperately trying to up my Sunn count, I'd already have my order for one in. Clayton Calloway is great to deal with, and those amps are straight art work. I think the Reeves is a great amp, but it's been tweaked to be more of a bass amp. The Hi-Tone, on the other hand, is the closest darn thing you'll get to a brand spanking new David Reeves era Hiwatt without inventing a time machine.
I'm splitting my gig time between the Weber AB200 and my DR201 build and can't really decide which one is my favourite...
I still get the thrills every time I fire up my SVT-VR. I'm sure there are other nice, possibly even nicer, amps out there, but the classic look and the classic sound does it for me. Haven't had any QC issues, owned and gigged it for 3 years now.
Okay, first of all, what sound are you looking for? Those amps all sound very, very different from each other. In fact, the Orange and the Reeves are just about opposite in some ways.
For me, of those four, I would pick the Mesa, then the Ampeg, and then the Reeves, and the Orange last. But that's just for my purposes. Also, I'd get the Mesa Strategy, not the Prodigy.
If you want big headroom, you won't like the Orange. The Reeves and the Ampeg will probably have the most clean headroom out of those, with the Reeves being extremely clean very loud.
It also depends what your EQ needs are. The Orange, the Reeves, and the Mesa all have controls with 'passive' midrange. That means that the control can only cut; it can't boost, so anything under all the way up is a midrange scoop. The Mesa may be voiced with an intentionally strong baked-in midrange to mitigate this, but it's still a cut-only control, to my knowledge. This may, or may not matter to you.
If you don't want headroom so much, really, but do want overdrive from the amp, the Orange will be the easiest to get it on followed by the Mesa, followed by the Reeves. The Ampeg, on the other hand, has no separate master knob, and so the only way to get overdrive from the amp itself is by running it at extremely high volume.
Another factor is weight. To some this may not matter, to some it's important. The Ampeg is the heaviest, the Reeves and the Orange are in the middle, and the Prodigy is exceptionally light. I have no idea whether this matters to you or not.
Then there is quality of construction. The Reeves is easily the best-built of those four amps. The Orange lags behind, having tube sockets directly PCB-mounted.
Lastly, there's price. That, obviously, depends where you are.
The trouble with these threads is often that we don't really know what you're after.
+1
This is another amp you should consider. Light weight, has overdrive, but also a lot of power for clean headroom if you need it.
Eh, to my ears the Prodigy wasn't actually all that modern sounding, though a bit more 'refined' than the Strategy, which had a 'raw' quality to it, even though it had more power.
Another great recommendation.
OP, if you're looking for gnarly overdrive, the D-180 is a great amp.
Some other amps worth considering:
Peavey VB-2
Peavey Classic 400 (used, obviously)
Ampeg SVT-2Pro, SVT-II (nonpro)
Ampeg SVT (70s)
Ampeg SVT-CL
Ampeg V4B (if you don't need a ton of power)
Mesa 400 (used, obviously
Mesa 400+ (again, used)
Sunn 300T (used)
Sunn 2000S (or the 1200S, 1000S, or 1500S, and, again, they can only be bought used)
Now... if price is no object, I would contact a custom builder like Dunwich Amps and get exactly what you want.
I am going to unlike this post, just so I can like it again.
Bass Guitar Magazine, when it was worth reading, said of the D180: "looks built to survive being shot to the moon". I concurr.
Consider too that if you like the sound and don't mind the weight, there seems to be almost a glut of used SVTs on the market now. So the prices are pretty good. I see them all the time for $900 or less, especially the ones from the 80s and 90s. I own a perfect functioning SVT-II with NOS pre tubes, new power tubes and caps, and I couldn't sell it for $900 after listing it for a few months. Got offers of $500 -750. So I kept it, but I seldom use it. I wonder if SVTs will end up selling cheaper yet.
So in the spirit of sticking to the list, it sounds like the Reeves is your winner, OP. I'd nab it if I were you.
- Sep 3, 2006
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If price is not an issue I would probably go with the Reeves. Kinda have wanted one.
But scotch is not as easy for me to purchase as beer; my choice would be a Traynor YBA-300 seconded by a Peavey VB3 for bang for the buck.
But scotch is not as easy for me to purchase as beer; my choice would be a Traynor YBA-300 seconded by a Peavey VB3 for bang for the buck.
Don't rule out the Ampeg V4-B. Tons of power, and rather light. Personally, I have a Traynor YBA-300...but I'd probably go for the Mesa Prodigy, from what you've listed.
I would not put the V4b in the same class as the 200+ watters.
Great lower volume amp, not quite enough clean headroom in my experience.
Great lower volume amp, not quite enough clean headroom in my experience.
