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Simms-Watts 100 mk2

H

HemiBob

Mar 1, 2012
97
13
Montreal, Canada
#1
I have done a few searches here on and Google and I can't seem to get much info on this model. There is more info on their P.A. s. All I know is that they are 100 watts and seem to be "linear" not sure what that means though...

Could those be used for bass and what could they be compared to ?
 
#2
Great amps. Big powerful for 100 watts. Partridge transformers. Lots of headroom before they breakup. There was a YouTube clip of Michelle Stodart playing one with The Magic Numbers on an old Later with Jools Holland episode. She has great tone IMO. Tried to find it, but all I could find was a 2006 clip after she got her endorsement with Orange amps.
 
#3
Here is most of the info you can find on Simms-Watts > Link Removed

AFAIK, these amps never used Partridge transformers, but some that are similar in appearance, possibly made by Drake. In my Super A.P. 200 POW!, there is no identification on the transformers that can be seen. They are quite large, and are larger than on any other 4 x KT88 head I have seen.... bigger than those in a Marshall Major, a HiWatt 200, or a Trace Elliot V4.

2.jpg
4.jpg


These 200 watt monsters, or an A.P. 100 MkII, or the first version, or in the case of Franz Ferdinand a P.A. 100 MkII can be used as a bass amp. Great tone here, but no way of knowing if the tone is representative of the amp, or a DI. Sounds like it is the Simms-Watts tone, however, and the SWR cab in these videos is mic'd. The 100 watt amps are 4 x EL34 though, and that has got to be a somewhat different tone than produced by the KT88s in the 200 watt amps.
https://tinyurl.com/nwxuo78
https://tinyurl.com/penv22r
 
#5
^That AP 200 is flat out COOL. Those sure look like partridges to me. And they look exactly same size as the partridges in my Sound City 200+/Hiwatt clone.

hiwatthead1-1.jpg


hiwattfront-1.jpg


Actually, your OPT does look bigger. PT's look the same to me, but we'd have to measure 'em to be sure.
 
#6
There is already a thread somewhere on TB where these transformers were all measured and compared. The transformers in my amp are not Partridge, and as you will find on the Simms-Watts website that I linked above, they do not seem to have ever been the brand used by Simms-Watts.

How much does that HiWatt weigh? The big Simms-Watts is about 80 pounds, but the handles on top are placed well for maneuvering it. I just think of it as another cabinet, and then the size and weight don't bum me out too much! :D
 
#7
Gotcha. I just don't know much about simms watts I guess. I just weighed mine. It's only (ONLY!... lol) 60.2 lbs.

Your trannies MUST be alot bigger then. But mine is not a true Hiwatt. It started life as a Sound City 200+ that I built into a DR201 clone. I kept the original preamp board and all of the parts in case I ever wanted to make it stock again. Doubt that will ever happen, though. The SC preamp was HORRID imo which is why I changed it...

hiwattguts1-1.jpg


OP, how much do they want for it? It might not have enough juice if you play LOUD, but if you play through a large, efficient cab it might do the job. I'd probably buy it for nothing other than it's rarity and coolness factor.
 
#9
Rickenbackerman said:
But mine is not a true Hiwatt. It started life as a Sound City 200+ that I built into a DR201 clone. I kept the original preamp board and all of the parts in case I ever wanted to make it stock again. Doubt that will ever happen, though. The SC preamp was HORRID imo which is why I changed it...
Click to expand...

I believe you about that preamp, Rickenbackerman. I was really surprised that in this video that compares some pretty cool old heads, tested with bass, that the Sound City was one of my least favorites. The HiWatt sounded better to me by comparison, but that Marshall JCM 800 was my favorite in this test. I wish there were more great comparison videos like this one! >
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erSHiJeG8JM
 
#10
HaphAsSard said:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/simms-watts-story-851596/
And I see on post 3 above you've already linked to TBer lfh's website dedicated to all things S-W.
Click to expand...

Yes, lfh has done a great job in creating the web site. A lot of information has been compiled there over the past year. I had not been able to find much info just Googling on my own.

I don't ever remember seeing any Simms-Watts amps in the US back in the 70s through the 90s (I am in my 50s now, so I was going to a lot of concerts at that time!). It seems like it wasn't until the millenium before very many of these got shipped across "the Pond". I don't think the S-W line was sold as new anywhere in the US, ever. I paid a pretty penny (or shilling) for my amp plus the shipping and import duty, from a shop in Leeds.
 
#11
@Rickenbackerman, the seller posted it at 500. Actually it is not the models shown on the page here, it's the model that looks like a Marshall head with 100 indicated on the top right corner. Having trouble loading a picture....sorry

As far as my needs, it's pretty much for my basement and possible jams, nothing more. I m just looking for my first tube head...
 
#12
If that head is in good working order as is, I would say that $500 is a very good deal. Even if it needs caps and tubes it is a fair deal. I paid nearly double that for my 200 watt model. And I needed to replace a resistor, for which diagnosis and repair cost me almost another $200.
 
#14
For $500 I'd be all over that thing if it's in working order. I do all my own techie work so it would only cost me for the parts even if it did need some work. Somebody who's played through one would have to tell you how it sounds, though, as I haven't.

Boot, I haven't watched that video yet, but I can tell you that the SC preamp was indeed awful. It was one of the earliest active preamps (MK IV I'm talking about, the MK III's were passive but I'm not even sure they made a MK III 200+), and there was so much crap in the signal chain it wasn't even funny. The schematic looks like a bowl of spaghetti. They just didn't get anything right with it. It would distort, in a most harsh and unpleasant way, before you could get anywhere power section saturation.
 
#15
Boot Soul said:
I don't ever remember seeing any Simms-Watts amps in the US back in the 70s through the 90s....
Click to expand...


Uriah Heep toured the USA with a Simms-Watts stack at least through their Look At Yourself tour. I have a glimpse of one in a photo from when I saw them in Virginia Beach in February 1972.

The [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] on lfh's Simms-Watts website includes photos of at least a couple of USA shows from this tour. It usually looks like a bass rig, since there are shots of both Mark Clarke and Gary Thain standing in front of the stack (they changed bass players mid-tour). But it was really Ken Hensley's rig for slide guitar when he came out from behind the Hammond B3.
 
#16
That Hiwatt copy doesn't have Partridge transformers either. Later 200+ used Electro Voice transformers, Partridges have the yellow lacquer and a Partridge sticker on the top, that leaves a mark even if it comes off. 200+ preamp is great if it isn't broken, loads of headroom, the EQ is bandpassed gain, so you have three boosts. Most amps sound bad if they are broken.
 
#17
My copy absolutely has partridge trannies. And so does my other one! I have two 200's but the other now has an Early 70's Orange preamp. The Orange isn't totally finished but when it is I'll start a new thread. They both have the stickers to prove it. Maybe you've had good luck with the preamps, I sure haven't. Stock, they both sounded exactly the same to me. Like crap!
 
#18
Not so much luck, I fixed them so they work like they are supposed to, lots of time sensitive components in them. The OT in the above pic is def an EV transformer as no lacquer, some had one of each, I guess transitional or possibly factory repairs, I've seen a few various mark 4 models with one of each EV and Partridge.
 
#19
I don't know what to tell you, man. All I know is I've got two 200's with kickass preamps and a total of four partridge stickers. I'd take pictures to prove it but I'm not pulling my Hiwatt back apart just for you... I just put it back together last night after swapping out a flaky power switch.

Anyway, I think we've hijacked the OP's thread enough. I'll start a new one once I finish the "Orange".
 

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