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Hiwatt

#21
Mr. Foxen said:
What's the deal with 'Partridge designed' transformers?
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Our transformers are all handmade in the UK to the exact design specification of the original partridge transformers that were used in the DR103s and DR504s.


Roxbororob said:
Us Canadians have great taste! Welcome to Talkbass.
I guess Ill start lobbying now to get some more gas credits (I see lots of dishes in my future).....
Any compact cabs in the cards?
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Thanks. It's an idea we've been playing with but nothing concrete as of yet. Keep an eye out though, who knows! :)

ThinCrappyTone said:
Glad to hear this! So, let me begin the flood of impractical suggestions for your product line: Any plans for a low-wattage all-tube bass head for recording enthusiasts? Or any DI's or pedals? All tube DI?? Drool. Anything like that on the way? :)
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Haha, all great ideas. We're constantly working on new prototypes and developing. Like I've said above, just keep an eye on our social media pages. the next 12 months are going to be pretty exciting!

Cheers,

Dave
 
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#25
khutch said:
Hiwatt has certainly been around for much of my life but I took little notice of it until a few weeks ago. I've been thinking about building or refurbishing a small tube amp, more for the experience than anything else. Tubes were the thing when I was very young but solid state took over before I got very much older. I am slightly older than the 9V or "transistor" battery as we called it then. When I was a teenager I took an RCA home study course in electronics and learned to bias up tubes although that was a skill I have never used in my 40+ years as an electrical engineer. But then a couple of months ago I noticed that the common and free circuit analysis tool LTSpice can simulate tubes quite easily using a freely available library of tube models. That was not how tube circuits were designed back in the day, but what fun today!

So I have been spending a lot of my free time playing around with tube amp designs and studying the old classic schematics you can find on line and that finally brought Hiwatt to my attention. It is nice to hear whenever a storied old brand name is revived from the dead as long as, as it is in this case, the intention is to keep the old traditions alive to the greatest extent that makes sense in these times. I wish you great success and I will keep an eye on Hiwatt. I'm not looking for anything big or expensive but if it becomes possible to buy rather than build a nice sounding practice/coffeehouse amp from Hiwatt then perhaps there will be a Hiwatt in my future!
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Hi thanks for getting in touch!

That's great that using LTspice sparked your interest in Hiwatt.

The Hiwatt heritage is key to us so building our custom amps the traditional way is a must. We build them to the same military spec that Harry Joyce introduced and they are all hand wired point to point.

Thanks for the well wishes, and please do keep an eye on our developments.

Best,

Dave

Mr. Foxen said:
Including the interleave scheme? Who is doing it?
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Yes, the transformers are constructed in an "E" and "I" interleaved way as per the originals. We use a tried and trusted company that have been making Hiwatt transformers for over 20 years.

Cheers,

Dave
 
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#26
jshinal said:
Hello and welcome !

A few years ago there were photos of some Hiwatt 1x15 cabinets, a rather compact and deep design with a shelf port. They were quite appealing - anything like that coming out soon ?
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Absolutely! You can actually buy them from us now. We are operating, just on a small scale until the launch in April.
 
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#27
HiwattUK said:
Yes, the transformers are constructed in an "E" and "I" interleaved way as per the originals. We use a tried and trusted company that have been making Hiwatt transformers for over 20 years.
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The winding interleaving, main thing that made Partridges a bit special.
 
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#28
HiwattUK said:
...the transformers are constructed in an "E" and "I" interleaved way as per the originals.
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I’m not sure that I understand your reply. I don’t believe the Mr. Foxen was referring to how the IE plates are stacked. I believe the question was, are the coils interleaved.

Normally interleave has to do with how the transformer coils are wound. If a transformer is wound, for example, with one layer of primary wire and then one layer of secondary, etc., the coils are said to be interleaved. When the primary coil is wound, then the seconary coil, they are not interleaved.
 
#31
Is it true that Danny Partridge’s transformer designs used in his stage amps were in such demand by British amplifier manufacturers that it led to the formation of Partridge Transformers Limited in the UK.

29DA9E35-57E7-4541-8870-68B7DF355FFA.jpeg




:laugh:
 
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#33
HiwattUK said:
at that using LTspice sparked your interest in Hiwatt.

The Hiwatt heritage is key to us so building our custom amps the traditional way is a must. We build them to the same military spec that Harry Joyce introduced and they are all hand wired point to point.
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Original Hiwatts and your one pictured are built on turret boards, rather than point to point. Couple of components are point to point. The military spec thing Harry Joyce did was the lacing of the wiring, which does not feature in the amp pictured.

This isn't a military handbook, that would be classified, but shows the general theme, the military spec would give the spacing of each loop and such.
12998442_849914718447717_1166018442349809698_o.jpg
 
#35
Hi Dave, welcome to TB.

Back in the mid '70s I desperately wanted a Hiwatt full stack but I was a poor teenager who couldn't afford such incredible gear. Instead I had to settle for a Canadian-made half stack which served me well for over 20 years.

I had given up on my dream of owning a Hiwatt but after hearing you say that the company is coming back I'm really excited. As it turns out, just this week I ordered a Tech 21 Leeds in the hope that I could recreate that Hiwatt awesomeness without owning an actual amp. That should tide me over until you release the real deal. I can hardly wait.
 
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#36
HiwattUK said:
Hi Bflat, I've (tried) attaching a pic of a 200w head that we tested a few weeks ago in the Hiwatt unit. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for the latest pics and videos :thumbsup:




Hi bobyoung53,

Absolutely. If the picture has attached properly that's a Custom 200 that was being tested a few weeks ago.


Thanks for all the responses so far! Any more questions, fire away.

Best,

Dave
View attachment 2926539
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You guys are making some very nice looking stuff, next time I'm in the market for another amp I'll definitely check out your stuff, do you release the specs on your heads besides just the power rating, RMS, % distortion etc? That 400 watt head looks very interesting too, and the price seems about comparable to what a Marshall Major is going for nowadays, thanks.
 
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#37
Hi Dave, Any chance you can shorten the head case so that it fits newer cabs? I think the 201s are 700mm (27") long! It looks like there is about 5" free space (2.5") on either side of the chassis.
Or make a rack mount version..............??
My Sunn 2000S is so long- 30", I don't know what to do with it. Put it on a stand in back? It ain't going on top of a 23" 2-15.
A 22" DR201 would fit just nice!
 

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