Hiwatt barn find

strtdv

And after all the work was finished:

With the Laney:

Phil_aka_Pip

Your SG looks nice, would look even nicer without the shiny bit behind the stop tailpiece

57Deluxe

...disappointing... no pics of the Barn...

EdGrip

I got,

There once was a rusty old Hiwatt,

riddled with spiders and dry rot.

It troubled no ears

for twenty-five years,

and ever again it will not.

tbm

EdGrip;204783" said:

I got,

There once was a rusty old Hiwatt,riddled with spiders and dry rot.It troubled no earsfor twenty-five years,and ever again it will not.

Best one by a country mile.

57Deluxe

strtdv said:

And after all the work was finished:

With the Laney:

can we have a hear of this?? Sadly hardly any old school Orange demos on YT and deffo none of these... Thanks,,, when y'er ready...

Danny1969

I paid £100 for one of these HiWatts in 1985. I don't remember anything other than a straight clean boring sound ..... I used an MXR distortion in front of mine. It amazes me people value stuff like this, it's not great it's just old! 

Gassage

Danny1969 said:

I paid £100 for one of these HiWatts in 1985. I don't remember anything other than a straight clean boring sound ..... I used an MXR distortion in front of mine. It amazes me people value stuff like this, it's not great it's just old! 

Are you mad?

A DR103 is the sweetest clean amp of all time! Just my view though.

ICBM

Gassage said:

Are you mad?

A DR103 is the sweetest clean amp of all time! Just my view though.

No, it's not.

A DR201 is .

Utterly beautiful clean tone, even at very low volume - it has an effortless depth that the DR103 can't quite match. Second choice would be a Marshall Major for the same reason. There's just something about four KT88s and massive transformers...

I can actually understand someone thinking a DR103 was a bit flat-sounding, at lower volume, to be honest. They aren't when they're up a bit though . Ask Pete or Dave .

ecc83

"There's just something about four KT88s and massive transformers..."

Yeah! I could barely get them on the bench!

It is odd tho'? The A100 is a bugger to shift saleswise apparently, peeps just don't want that much juice. However the S1 200 has sold fairly well (considering size and cost) maybe because of the 20W, DPR power capability but also I suspect because there are still nutters about! 

"Gotta have the biggest valve amp around!"

Dave.

ICBM

Some metal and down-tuning players like the really big iron. There's also a lot less competition in the 200W market - almost none, in fact… there's an Orange, and the Hiwatt, but I can't think of any others off the top of my head.

impmann

When two friends of mine had a 200w HiWatt and a 100w HiWatt respectively, on comparison, we all agreed that the DR103 had *more* sparkle and that the 200w thing sounded a bit flat and lifeless until you started really moving the electrons (using the same cabinet)... by which time it was a bit too loud for most applications...

But of course, each to their own and all that... :-)

ICBM

impmann said:

When two friends of mine had a 200w HiWatt and a 100w HiWatt respectively, on comparison, we all agreed that the DR103 had *more* sparkle and that the 200w thing sounded a bit flat and lifeless until you started really moving the electrons (using the same cabinet)... by which time it was a bit too loud for most applications...

But of course, each to their own and all that... :-)

Interesting!

I definitely feel the 200 has much greater depth at low volume. At medium volume, you might be right. I suppose it depends what you mean by 'low' and 'medium' . Any volume where the 200 is getting a bit too loud is definitely 'medium' at least though - I actually find it a very easy amp to dial in for great tone at low volume, and very controllable... it doesn't have a steep volume curve. (I've compared two 100% original 70s amps with original valves through the same cab, by the way.)

Oddly enough the 400 does sound a bit lifeless until you start to push some air - I'm not sure why. At low volume it just sounds completely flat and boring… at high volume it's awe-inspiring. I've worked on two of those, one 70s original and one which had never been finally assembled - sold off as parts when one of the original companies (I forget which one) went down. I made it operational about five years ago, so unless there are others which were sold in that condition, I finished the last original Hiwatt 400 . (It's in the USA now.)

impmann

I'll agree with you about the linearity of the volume control on both amps - really good and if I'm honest, I would have gigged either quite happily armed with a pedal board (and a forklift! ;-) )