Members Kaz2550 Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 In particular the DR103. Posted this in the amp forum but didn't get many responses there. I have a chance to acquire a modern Musicground reissue DR103 for a reasonable price. I've not heard too many reviews on the reissues but I've heard a lot of positive reviews about the Reeves amps which I heard are relabelled Musicground Hiwatts for the US market. Is this true? A lot of the websites on Hiwatts seem to be focused on vintage ones and not too much info for modern ones. In the youtube video by the guitar world guy the amp seems to have a lot of gain but I heard from some people that these amps don't distort at all. What's it like really? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members timeforheroes Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 um... loud. lots of headsroom. thats basically what i gathered from my "tell me about hiwatts" thread last month Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mistersuperfly Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 I've got one of the Audio Brother's DR103's and it's an amazing amp... don't know much about the Musicground ones but if you haven't already checked these sites check them out... www.mhuss.com and this one is great, these guys know everything http://vintageamps.com/plexiboard/viewforum.php?f=3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kaz2550 Posted June 26, 2009 Author Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 Yeah I've seen the Mhuss site but as I said it's focused on vinatge ones mainly. Comments that these amps are loud don't really help do they? Of course a 100W valve amp is loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BP90 Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 From what I understand the vintage and RI Hiwatts are quite different... But I have nothing to back this statement up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Loobs Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 Amazing, loud, warm, complex and punchy cleans. Very true to your guitars tone. Very high headroom. Take pedals incredible, don't cover mistakes at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SirJackdeFuzz Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 That dinosaur guitarist that thinks the sun shines out of his arse used to use them . . . can't remember his name, but the bloke who used to smash his guitars into the speaker cab's. Great band, but the guitarists is TWAT ! Does this help ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SirJackdeFuzz Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 um... loud. lots of headsroom. thats basically what i gathered from my "tell me about hiwatts" thread last month I think there is a fair amount of HiWatt owners in the Duncan Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Diabolus_in_Musica Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 That dinosaur guitarist that thinks the sun shines out of his arse used to use them . . . can't remember his name, but the bloke who used to smash his guitars into the speaker cab's.Great band, but the guitarists is TWAT !Does this help ? hmm... first sounds like you're talking about jmascis then pete townshend?Don't forget david gilmour seems to like em but he has a tendency to use a bit of compression for em to smooth out the dynamics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SirJackdeFuzz Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 hmm... first sounds like you're talking about jmascis then pete townshend? Don't forget david gilmour seems to like em but he has a tendency to use a bit of compression for em to smooth out the dynamics. Nope, i like Dino Jr. AND the man behind the band ! (and he is not that old... ...) I am referring to that Townsend bloke ! Nice band, but that is one guitarist that has a wayyyyy to high&mighty think of himself. Like the amps, but, i do feel they are wayyy over priced for their tone and feautures that they do offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SirJackdeFuzz Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?q=hiwatt Kinda expensive me thinks ! YMMV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Diabolus_in_Musica Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 loud.. louder than a marshall of same period they can be... had a 1974 marshall superlead that was less dynamic, less headroom, but the marshall tended to let lead playing sing more. I can tell bass players love the HIWATT sound, guitarists like em cuz they can use soo many pedals in front(cuz of the headroom) or perhaps other reasons(fun to windmill ala pete!). Extremely responsive to yer playing style... which means "practice" or people can tell yer mistakes... that youtube vid w/ that prs guy kept playing open chords... when you play one you will now why; you can tell every note in the chord and it can be very bold and glassy. He used a distortion pedal at the end and in the beginning.. he was having fun w/ the feedback(could u tell). Theres also a vid of some guy selling his dr-103 w/ cab playing an sg w/ p90s that is the "quintessential" sound of these. For the price you pay today for the reissues: musicground, reeves, audio bros, harry joyce, kits, etc... you can still buy an original hylight era for less possibly. These amps were made to last... especially the partridge transformers(the secret ingredient to the recipe). No need to go gaga over the right angled, point to point "mil spec" wiring, makes it easy to service(if ever needed). Reeves exhibit had a custom 50 at the LA amp show w/ a plexi see thru under the head cab to showcase the wiring... "AAAAHHH!":rolleyes: Another site is vintageHIWATTconvention.com.. some of those guys are also on the plexipalace one I believe. You'll never find any others that know more about em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SirJackdeFuzz Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 But I have nothing to back this statement up. YUP, that is what i heard too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Loobs Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 There are varying opinions on how different the Music Ground RIs are to the Hylights, usually depending on how snobby the person is. I can tell you that they do sound like Hiwatts, and I have owned a '72 DR103. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SirJackdeFuzz Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 There are varying opinions on how different the Music Ground RIs are to the Hylights, usually depending on how snobby the person is. I can tell you that they do sound like Hiwatts, and I have owned a '72 DR103. I also heard that the current HiWatt amps are NOT the same owner/Co. as the original's . . . or something like that !Something about the Co. going bust, then many years later a guy bought the HiWatt name and started to make amps under that name, or something to that degree. Do not know how true this story is ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Loobs Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 Yeah, Music Ground own the name nowadays and build what they consider to be accurate vintage-Hiwatt reproductions. As I said before, how accurate they are is up for debate. They are not really quite up to the same standard as the Dave Reeves/Hylight-era, and there has been some controversy over their use of 'Partridge' labelled trannies, indeed as Partridge (as it was) doesn't even exist anymore. They were using a label that looked like the old-school Partridge label... I am by no means a Hiwatt expert, and it is a long and complicated story. There have also been other repros - the 'Audio Bros'. era, which are very highly rated by collectors and said to be the most accurate repros ever made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SirJackdeFuzz Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 Yeah, Music Ground own the name nowadays and build what they consider to be accurate vintage-Hiwatt reproductions. As I said before, how accurate they are is up for debate. They are not really quite up to the same standard as the Dave Reeves/Hylight-era, and there has been some controversy over their use of 'Partridge' labelled trannies, indeed as Partridge (as it was) doesn't even exist anymore. They were using a label that looked like the old-school Partridge label... I am by no means a Hiwatt expert, and it is a long and complicated story. There have also been other repros - the 'Audio Bros'. era, which are very highly rated by collectors and said to be the most accurate repros ever made. Well, one thing i can say about the current amps are they sure are good looking What i know about HiWatts, is what i read in the "Guitar Rigs - Classic Guitar & Amp Combinations" book of Dave Hunter, and then all the other bits and bobs on the net. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kaz2550 Posted June 26, 2009 Author Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 Extremely responsive to yer playing style... which means "practice" or people can tell yer mistakes... that youtube vid w/ that prs guy kept playing open chords... when you play one you will now why; you can tell every note in the chord and it can be very bold and glassy. He used a distortion pedal at the end and in the beginning.. he was having fun w/ the feedback(could u tell). Theres also a vid of some guy selling his dr-103 w/ cab playing an sg w/ p90s that is the "quintessential" sound of these.. Yeah at the end and at the beginning that's pedal but at 4:50ish that's all amp right? Nice crunch! That '72 DR103 vid is sweeeet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Great Waldo Pepper Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 My Hiwatt is a later 2 inputter made in 1979 while Reeves was still kickin it. It is a {censored}ing loud LOUD L O U D!!!!!! amp. Sadly it is being serviced right now and I miss it. A lot of it has to do with actual Hiwatt cabs and Fanes and how they present the sound. Just yesterday kittycaster brought in his just serviced Marshall 4 inputter. We compared it into one of my Hiwatt cabs and my JCM800 4x12 cab. It is remarkable how much glassier, with a flatter mid range, and unforgiving the Hiwatt cab is compared to the Marshall cab. The Marshall gave you a fuller RAWK mid range to blend in with the brightness, this surprised me since the cab has 75W's in it. I've yet to plug my Hiwatt into the Marshall cab, seems like a sin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Loobs Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 Yeah, many think a big part of the Hiwatt sound is the Fanes. Celestion make a speaker called the Hot 100 that is allegedly quite similar sounding. I was running my DR103 into a 2x12 with Vintage 30s and it sounded great, though. The 2-holers have a little more front end grit, right? I've never heard a 2-holer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrweems Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 i want a reeves era 50w. thats all i know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members claytonjohn18 Posted June 26, 2009 Members Share Posted June 26, 2009 ask nick from catalinbread. He has a full stack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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