Hiwatt

[Mr. Foxen]

I wish they still sold the parts and kits.

Pretty much everything for making a DR103 or 504 clone is available from Modulus, although can get the generic parts cheaper elsewhere, they don't mark stuff up crazy. Invalid Link Removed

 

[83_Silberpfeil]

@HiwattUK - hi Dave: Great to have you here as a vendor in this forum community. When did this new Canadian company acquire Hiwatt? In the past 1, 3, 5 years?

I'm trying to research a Custom 400 (DR405?) from 2014 build. Serial number given is A14016. Any idea where I can go to find more about this build?

BTW --- very impressed with the new DR401's w 8 X KT88s. Will Hiwatt be publishing pricing and US stockists soon?

Thanks!

 

[Chuck_C]

Good morning all - brand new bass owner here (not ready to call myself a "player" just yet). A few months ago I stumbled on a couple of youtube vid's with Hiwatt amps in them. OMG! I was blown away by their sound! Of course I did some research into all of the great bands that used Hiwatt back in the day (hey, I am a new bass owner).

So, here I am totally digging this Hiwatt amp sound. More research. I can't believe how expensive these bad boys are! Then I stumble upon their Class D offering - the Bulldog 440. Now that looks like something I can afford. Bad thing - not a peep about it on the interwebs. No videos so I can hear its sound. No articles from owners telling us how great/bad they are.

Does anyone own one? Do they like it? How does it sound? What can you compare it to? Anything you can provide would be most appreciated.

 

[BassmanPaul]

There seems to mave been nothing from them for a couple of years. Perhaps due to the pandemic.

 

[Wasnex]

There seems to mave been nothing from them for a couple of years. Perhaps due to the pandemic.

AFAIK they longer maintain a presence here on TB. The official Facebook is still active:
Hiwatt UK (Established Manufacturer)

 

[Downunderwonder]

Last signed in March 2018.

 

[Wasnex]

Last signed in March 2018.

Facebook had posts this month.

 

[Buzz Allgrin]

I don’t have any direct experience with their class D amp, but I will say that most of that amazing Hiwatt sound comes from the way those old tube amps were designed. If you want something to get close to that tone at a lower price, you may be better off looking at less expensive tube amps.

 

[Wasnex]

I don’t have any direct experience with their class D amp, but I will say that most of that amazing Hiwatt sound comes from the way those old tube amps were designed. If you want something to get close to that tone at a lower price, you may be better off looking at less expensive tube amps.

I don't particularly think tube amps made by Fender, Matamp, Marshall, or Vox sound all that much like a Hiwatt, so IMHO it's not just the idea of an all tube design. I own vintage guitar amps made by all of these companies.

The Hiwatt voicing has a pretty strong baked in tone. It sounds warm for guitar to my ear, but fairly bright and scooped for bass. With bass, the high mids tend to be very aggressive and are difficult to tame if you don't want that characteristic sound. The tube output section is setup to produce max clean power IMHO. There are better choices if you plan to push the output section into OD. They sound fabulous clean and tend to make lot's of power versus their rating. The preamp is low gain, but there is enough gain on tap to get a bit of drive.

There are some very, very good Hiwatt clones that sound authentic. Reeves and Hi-Tone are good examples in the US. I would say the current Hiwatts are examples in the UK.

The current Hiwatt company has only been around for a few years. The owners bought rights to the name "Hiwatt" from Music Ground with the idea of building authentic Hiwatts and restoring the brands reputation. Most of what I have read about Music Ground is you should avoid anything they made.

 

[Chuck_C]

Wow. Thank you. That was quite informative and very helpful.