Hiwatt Amplifiers

[Deadwing]

Just wondering if anyone else on here owns or has had any experience with Hiwatts, especially the vintage ones. I have a Custom 100 DR103 head and cabinet with Fane speakers from 1976 and it sounds amazing.

 

If you do own one, what tubes have you found work the best in the amplifier. EH are too noisy. I would love to find some NOS Mullards, but they're rare and expensive. Right now I'm using Mesa tubes, but thinking about switching to JJs or Groove Tubes.

Edited October 13, 2007 by Deadwing

[rushfanNlv]

First off, I hate you. I am so jealous that you have a 76 Hiwatt and I don't. That is like THE amp to have. Such a nice, clean sound. I would love to have one.

 

I've used Mesa tubes myself and they seem to be pretty good. They sell them in matched sets for the power amp section and from what I have been told, the process they use yields tubes that are matched perfectly.

 

The JJ's are supposed to be really good too. I have some Groove tubes in my wet Marshall and they are a little darker sounding than the Mesa tubes to me ears.

 

Where are you located? I happen to know of a shop here in Vegas that sells NOS Mullards, if you are having trouble them.

[Deadwing]

QUOTE (rushfanNlv @ Oct 13 2007, 04:01 PM)

First off, I hate you. I am so jealous that you have a 76 Hiwatt and I don't. That is like THE amp to have. Such a nice, clean sound. I would love to have one. I've used Mesa tubes myself and they seem to be pretty good. They sell them in matched sets for the power amp section and from what I have been told, the process they use yields tubes that are matched perfectly. The JJ's are supposed to be really good too. I have some Groove tubes in my wet Marshall and they are a little darker sounding than the Mesa tubes to me ears. Where are you located? I happen to know of a shop here in Vegas that sells NOS Mullards, if you are having trouble them.

HAHAHA. I'm sorry I don't mean to laugh. It's just that "First of all I hate you" caught me by surprise and made me laugh out loud.

 

The Hiwatt indeed is a very sweet amp. Very very clean - sparkly clean, and absolutely THUNDEROUS when you crank it up. It's all original, minus the tubes of course. One of the smartest purchases I've ever made.

 

I'm located in Ontario, Canada. I would LOVE to get my hands on some NOS Mullards.

 

Thanks for the info. Anything else you could let me know, especially about those Mullards would be very much appreciated. Perhaps contact info for the shop? Maybe I can call them and they'd be willing to ship a quad of EL34s and a quad of 12AX7s to Canada for me?

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

Groove Tubes makes a 12ax7 Mullard clone, but stay away from them. They sound GREAT -- almost indiscernible from the real thing -- but the current new stock is manufactured like shit. They go microphonic within a week, sometimes within hours (I've had that happen a couple of times). What a shame, too...if they could just get their QC up to speed they'd solve a lot of problems for people looking for that smooth Mullard tone.

 

I agree about the EH tubes -- nice sounding, but too noisy. JJs are excellent, but are a little too gritty for some players. A good combo is JJs in V1 and V2, and an Ei in the phase inverter slot (V3 on many amps). I'm not sure what the tube configuration is on that Hiwatt -- how many preamp tubes does it have?

 

Aside from shops like the one Nlv referred to, the best place to find NOS or used Mullards is eBay. There are always people selling them.

[rushfanNlv]

QUOTE (Deadwing @ Oct 13 2007, 01:22 PM)

QUOTE (rushfanNlv @ Oct 13 2007, 04:01 PM) First off, I hate you.   I am so jealous that you have a 76 Hiwatt and I don't.  That is like THE amp to have.  Such a nice, clean sound.  I would love to have one. I've used Mesa tubes myself and they seem to be pretty good.  They sell them in matched sets for the power amp section and from what I have been told, the process they use yields tubes that are matched perfectly. The JJ's are supposed to be really good too.  I have some Groove tubes in my wet Marshall and they are a little darker sounding than the Mesa tubes to me ears. Where are you located?  I happen to know of a shop here in Vegas that sells NOS Mullards, if you are having trouble them. HAHAHA. I'm sorry I don't mean to laugh. It's just that "First of all I hate you" caught me by surprise and made me laugh out loud.   The Hiwatt indeed is a very sweet amp. Very very clean - sparkly clean, and absolutely THUNDEROUS when you crank it up. It's all original, minus the tubes of course. One of the smartest purchases I've ever made.   I'm located in Ontario, Canada. I would LOVE to get my hands on some NOS Mullards.   Thanks for the info. Anything else you could let me know, especially about those Mullards would be very much appreciated. Perhaps contact info for the shop? Maybe I can call them and they'd be willing to ship a quad of EL34s and a quad of 12AX7s to Canada for me? Yeah, the Hiwatt has been a dream of mine for some time. Someday......   The shop that sells the NOS Mullards is Thermal Relief. Ask to speak with Shawn and tell him Yamaha Mike sent ya.

[Deadwing]

QUOTE (rushfanNlv @ Oct 14 2007, 02:04 PM)

QUOTE (Deadwing @ Oct 13 2007, 01:22 PM) QUOTE (rushfanNlv @ Oct 13 2007, 04:01 PM) First off, I hate you.   I am so jealous that you have a 76 Hiwatt and I don't.  That is like THE amp to have.  Such a nice, clean sound.  I would love to have one. I've used Mesa tubes myself and they seem to be pretty good.  They sell them in matched sets for the power amp section and from what I have been told, the process they use yields tubes that are matched perfectly. The JJ's are supposed to be really good too.  I have some Groove tubes in my wet Marshall and they are a little darker sounding than the Mesa tubes to me ears. Where are you located?  I happen to know of a shop here in Vegas that sells NOS Mullards, if you are having trouble them. HAHAHA. I'm sorry I don't mean to laugh. It's just that "First of all I hate you" caught me by surprise and made me laugh out loud.   The Hiwatt indeed is a very sweet amp. Very very clean - sparkly clean, and absolutely THUNDEROUS when you crank it up. It's all original, minus the tubes of course. One of the smartest purchases I've ever made.   I'm located in Ontario, Canada. I would LOVE to get my hands on some NOS Mullards.   Thanks for the info. Anything else you could let me know, especially about those Mullards would be very much appreciated. Perhaps contact info for the shop? Maybe I can call them and they'd be willing to ship a quad of EL34s and a quad of 12AX7s to Canada for me? Yeah, the Hiwatt has been a dream of mine for some time. Someday......   The shop that sells the NOS Mullards is Thermal Relief. Ask to speak with Shawn and tell him Yamaha Mike sent ya. Sweet! Thanks sooo much! I'll try and get in touch with them next week once payday comes again.

[Deadwing]

QUOTE (1-0-0-1-0-0-1 @ Oct 13 2007, 05:52 PM)

Groove Tubes makes a 12ax7 Mullard clone, but stay away from them. They sound GREAT -- almost indiscernible from the real thing --  but the current new stock is manufactured like shit. They go microphonic within a week, sometimes within hours (I've had that happen a couple of times). What a shame, too...if they could just get their QC up to speed they'd solve a lot of problems for people looking for that smooth Mullard tone. I agree about the EH tubes -- nice sounding, but too noisy. JJs are excellent, but are a little too gritty for some players. A good combo is JJs in V1 and V2, and an Ei in the phase inverter slot (V3 on many amps). I'm not sure what the tube configuration is on that Hiwatt -- how many preamp tubes does it have? Aside from shops like the one Nlv referred to, the best place to find NOS or used Mullards is eBay. There are always people selling them.

Microphonic within hours?? But that's ridiculous! A week is bad enough. Boy, that's sure good to know. I'm not sure if the JJs are for me then if I might find them gritty. The reason why I like the Hiwatt so much is because it's so clean. I'd rather keep it that way and have the option of breaking things up when I crank it or drive it with my stomp box.

 

The preamp has 4 12AX7s, two of which are the phase splitters, and a silicon diode rectifier, rather than a tube rectifier. The diode of course results in the one thing I'm not that fond of with the Hiwatt - it's lacking in the sustain department. Nothing a compressor doesn't remedy though. Probably why David Gilmour had three of them in his effects chain, though he apparently got all of his preamp tone from an amp made by Alembic, and merely used the Hiwatts as power amps.

 

And of course, the power stage is AB and has four EL34s.

 

Something I definitely need to invest in with this amp is a Hotplate. The amp sounds incredible up around 8 or 9, but my ears get mad at me. Its reputation of being one of the loudest guitar amps ever built is well deserved.

Edited October 14, 2007 by Deadwing