Hiwatt

[trasser]

Hi.

I just had a conversation with a quite experienced bassplayer, and he said, that hiwatt was a good as any ampeg. This was news to me, and I haven't been able to find any gear reviews on any Hiwatt amps, so just wanted to hear some opinions from you guys.
Thanks a million.

 

[Plain Old Me]

My opinion is that its great stuff, but impossible to get (especially living in Central Cali).

 

[Bassman62]

My opinion is that its great stuff, but impossible to get (especially living in Central Cali).

I live about 30 miles 48km from the UK Hiwatt factory, the UK setup is now owned by Rick Harrison a well known UK vintage guitar/bass/amp stockist; I visited there recently, they also produce hand built direct Vox AC30 replicas under the JMI badge (Jennings Musical Industries), Mark Knoffler recently purchased one.

 

[chadds]

Google Reeves. Hiwatts offered here under the name of their great designer. You can even get a 200 watt bass amp. They are beauteous.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Ive never tried Hiwatt, they all seem expensive IIRC

 

[The 0x]

The Who's Live at Leeds is all Hiwatt, both bass & guitar. Much better tone than any Ampeg i've ever heard.

 

[Willem]

I've heard from some bassplayers using their guitarheads for a more grindy, direct, filling the stage not the room sound.

 

[Polyamarous]

Hiwatts will piss all over any Ampeg you might find, I have a a hiwatt as my practice amp, love it ot pieces.

They're still not easy to find here in the UK.

 

[bgmww]

I've heard from some bassplayers using their guitarheads for a more grindy, direct, filling the stage not the room sound.

Hiwatts are ALL PURPOSE... not only guitar amps.. The sound is SOOOOOO CLEAN.. you wouldn´t believe... This is not a MARSHALL head... nothing to do with it.

This is my stuff...

 

[Matt Call]

Yes. HiWatt blows Ampeg out of the water (IMO); but also costs 2-3 times as much...

 

[Rick Brienzo]

I use to play with some guys in an informal jam type situation. The jam room bass rig was a vintage 50 watt Hiwatt into some kind of no name 4x12 cab. It wasn't the loudest rig but it sounded perfect. Needless to say I have been chasing that sound ever since.

 

[The 0x]

Oh yeah, another great Hiwatt tone is John Wetton's on "Red."

 

[The 0x]

Hiwatts are ALL PURPOSE... not only guitar amps.. The sound is SOOOOOO CLEAN.. you wouldn´t believe... This is not a MARSHALL head... nothing to do with it.

This is my stuff...

Dude, you look a LOT like David Gilmour.

 

[bgmww]

Dude, you look a LOT like David Gilmour.

hahahaha,, you think ? naaah.. i don´t think so... though he was very good looking when he was young, i preffer having 10% of his money. hahahah.. and at least 1% of all his gear.

 

[chadds]

A used Hiwatt is not more that a good used vintage SVT. The Reeves are just Hiwatts with a Reeves name plate because Fernades has the rights to market Hiwatts in the US. They are just like the originals.
www.reevesamps.com/. With a 10 day trial.

 

[Bassman62]

The Who's Live at Leeds is all Hiwatt, both bass & guitar. Much better tone than any Ampeg i've ever heard.

'Jeff Lewis' the owner of 'Matamp' spent all day preparing some cabs for Hiwatt to be used at that gig, when he arrived with them they wouldn't let him in.

 

[oddio]

A used Hiwatt is not more that a good used vintage SVT. The Reeves are just Hiwatts with a Reeves name plate because Fernades has the rights to market Hiwatts in the US. They are just like the originals.
www.reevesamps.com/. With a 10 day trial.

Apparently the Fernandes scrap has been over for a little while and HiWatt (the current owner) is able to provide their product in the USA. I was checking out the Custom 400 with visions of finally being able to obtain a DR405 dancing in my head. One of the vintage tube amp sites actually managed to do a tear-down, or more accurately a repair, on one. Based on the pictures I guess I'll have to keep scouting for an original. *sigh*

 

[chadds]

A 200 watter sold for $1200 on the bay in June. Check out the Reeves 200 watt. You may have to call him to get more details than the sight has.

 

[BillyB_from_LZ]

What is the power tube compliment on a 200 Watt HiWatt head? 4xKT88 (6550) or a whole lot of EL34s?

I gonna have to talk to a friend of mine about helping me wind some transformers to build a 200 Watt head in that style...he used to work for Transformers and Rectifiers in England (the company that builds "Partridge" transformers) and has already built himself a 50 Watt HiWatt clone...

 

[Bassman62]

What is the power tube compliment on a 200 Watt HiWatt head? 4xKT88 (6550) or a whole lot of EL34s?

I gonna have to talk to a friend of mine about helping me wind some transformers to build a 200 Watt head in that style...he used to work for Transformers and Rectifiers in England (the company that builds "Partridge" transformers) and has already built himself a 50 Watt HiWatt clone...

In the UK the chassis that I saw had 4xKT88s