Favorite all tube amp?

[AwkwardLoudness]

The opening post asked about favorite tube, so I picked my favorite regardless of price.

There was a Peavey Classic 400 that sold for about $600 recently through the TB Classifieds. That's certainly a lot of tube power for the money.

The Classic 400 certainly isn't built to the standard of a Hiwatt, but then, what is? (Aside from Reeves)

There are likely some boutique amps that rival Hylight era Hiwatt in terms of wiring quality, choice of components. Reeves amps are definitely not built to the same quality as vintage Hiwatt amps. Fortunately, Reeves has good warranty and customer service for when there is a problem out of the factory. Several people across various forums have had problems with incorrect wiring, but the issues were corrected under warranty each time. Reeves Amps is far better than the current MusicGround Hiwatt in terms of customer service and quality.

 

[60jbass91]

I would post some pictures of my soundcity to show the build quality (soundcity was hiwatt, without getting into old arguments) but I dont really know how, and I dont care fore photobucket haha. But these things are built like tanks. And they sound incredible. INCREDIBLE.

 

[AwkwardLoudness]

(soundcity was hiwatt, without getting into old arguments)

That's completely false although it's a prolific and often repeated falsehood. David Reeves, owner/founder/designer of Hylight era Hiwatt, started building Hiwatt amps in 1964 when he was still employed by Mullard, the vacuum tube manufacturer. He started building amps full time after being laid off by Mullard. His first bulk order contract was for supplying amps to Ivor Arbiter's Sound City stores in London; this was during 1966 and 1967. The Hiwatt built Sound City amps are now known as the Mark 1 era although they are not labeled that way. After the Sound City contract expired, Hiwatt continued to sell amps direct to end users and Arbiter merged with Dallas Industries to form Dallas-Arbiter. I believe the folks at Dallas did most or all of the wiring in SC amps after that.

But these things are built like tanks. And they sound incredible. INCREDIBLE.

The Mark 1, 2, & 3 SC amps are excellent. There was a dramatic drop in quality during the Mark 4 era though. That complicated, sloppy, noisy, active Mark 4 circuit was nothing like the earlier SC amps.

 

[edbass]

The opening post asked about favorite tube, so I picked my favorite regardless of price.

There was a Peavey Classic 400 that sold for about $600 recently through the TB Classifieds. That's certainly a lot of tube power for the money.


There are likely some boutique amps that rival Hylight era Hiwatt in terms of wiring quality, choice of components. Reeves amps are definitely not built to the same quality as vintage Hiwatt amps. Fortunately, Reeves has good warranty and customer service for when there is a problem out of the factory. Several people across various forums have had problems with incorrect wiring, but the issues were corrected under warranty each time. Reeves Amps is far better than the current MusicGround Hiwatt in terms of customer service and quality.

I have gigged and had my hands in vintage Hiwatts, MG Hiwatts, and Reeves amps.
The pseudo mil-spec build concept is the same for all of them, other than the OEM parts available 30-40 years ago vs. today the only build differences I've found is that the MG Hiwatts are a bit less consistent from amp to amp; less attention to detail than the "Harry Joyce" era Hiwatts, and the Reeves amps addresses the "times" by making a few concessions to modern use; power scaling, input pads, DI's, 24" wide cabs, 2 ohm capability, etc..
Any hand wired amp can and generally will have human error factors, including vintage Hiwatts.
It is erroneous to assume that in the 70's no Hiwatt ever left the shop with an issue; I was there. I played Hiwatts that needed service for defects under warranty, in the 70's. That doesn't mean they weren't/aren't great amps, they were/are, it just means they (as with vintage Marshall, Sunn, Fender, etc.) probably don’t really deserve the "super human" status that most vintage amps (cars, houses, etc.) develop after they are no longer available for sale new for a few decades.
The real difference in comparing them “heads up” to a current production amp is that the 30+ year old amps have generally had any manufacturing anomalies, build errors, etc. sorted out over three decades they have been in service; some of the old girls are done right, and some of them are butchered, just like any antique amp that has been gigged and not stored.
Old amps are truly great, I currently own and love several of them, and I’m particularly fond of old Hiwatts and Sunns.
Sometimes I gig them, but also having a current production amp around is a pretty reassuring feeling IMO.

 

[AwkwardLoudness]

Hylight era Hiwatt quality did suffer, in my opinion, beginning in 1977 or 1978 when the DR504 and DR103 models were wired with the 2-input circuit instead of the earlier 4-input circuits. At least some of the 2-input pre-amps were erroneously designed/wired so that blocking distortion occurred at V2, the 2nd preamp tube/valve. It's an easy mod to fix this problem. They started using cheaper pots and screen resistors around that time too. Dave Reeves was far less hands on in those days by all accounts. All of the unmodified late 60s through 1977 Hiwatts i've seen in person were flawless.

...the only build differences I've found is that the MG Hiwatts are a bit less consistent from amp to amp;...

MG Hiwatts are certainly inconsistent...the wiring/solder quality varies from okay to horrible.

 

[D.M.N.]

I love seeing all the love for the Sunn 2000s and Bassman 300 pro. Reassures me in my amp choices. So here's another +100 for both the Bassman 300 and Sunn 2000s. I may have some clips of the 2000s up soon too.

 

[mpdd]

sunn 2000s the one i left behind

mesa d180 the new sound