Hiwatt Bulldog 30

I bought this amp for the features, not really being an "amp afficionado" and knowing what good or bad reverb/distortion/eq sounds like. For some reason, I was drawn to the fact that the amp sported two guitar inputs, plus a mic input. Dreams of rocking out in my one-bedroom apartment, singing to an audiance of none made me lay down my $130 bucks. Not bad, I thought, for EQ, distortion, footswitch, FX loop, and of course that mic input. Plus, the thing was feather light.

The humm the other reviewers mentioned was definitely apparent. I didn't mind too much, considering how much I payed for it. I was playing a Dean Evo-FTX, with Zebra humbucking pickups, and getting a pretty decent sound out of the box. The distortion wasn't great, but I was happy. I'm easy to please.

This is where my story becomes tragic. I had only had the amp home for about two hours when it started making another hum that was distinct from the ambient noise I had begun to take for granted. This noise rose in volume until it reached an ear piercing screech (in a very small room, mind you). I disconnected the guitar, thinking it was feedback, only to have the sound continue. When I cut the power and pulled the cord from input, a fine wisp of smoke rose from the socket. Repeated attempts at playing produced similar results. I'm thinking it had something to do with the footswitch, as the dealer I returned the amp to had trouble reproducing the problem. On a second try, I bought the amp back from him, plugged in the guitar and footswitch, and in less than an hour the amp went into meltdown. More smoke and no more sound. I'm guessing this was a defect specific to my amp, though I'm curious if anyone else has tried the footswitch or had a similar problem. I'm curently shopping for another one, so I guess almost having my apartment burn down wasn't enough to deter me from buying this amp again. I guess that's a good review, right?

I give this amp a thumbs up. Really. If I get another one and it does the same thing, you know I'll be back to this site. But until then ...

At typical solid state practice amp,for a price where no one can
complaint.
Features are a lot for such a low cost device.You have a serial FX-loop,a MIC in(for what reason ever?!),a reverb,clean channel and a
distortion channel,footswitch is optional,three band EQ,headphones
and a 8 inch speaker.

For a practice combo it has enough power.All in all a fine small amp
for beginners or for practice or rehearsals.No feature is missing.

This amp can be used for several styles.I use it mainly as practice
and research amp."A note pad amp"

Don't expect a Monsteramp for a small money.For this this amp was not
designed.
Nevertheless the sound of the amp is not bad.EQ works acceptable.
Clean sound is OK.The distortion section is a little muffy,but also
OK,remember-some distortion boxes cost more as the whole amp.
The serial loop is useable,the reverb is works like a reverb of this
type,it is only a little to sensitive to "kicks and moves".
The reason is simple,because it is directly mounted to the chasis.
So a little damper material can help to pacifiy this sensitivity.
If you don't like the reverb,just unplug it and use it as second
FX-Loop.
The Amp produces a hum,here a groundliftswitch is missing.
the eight inch speakers does a good job !

Still had no trouble

The Hiwatt/Fernandes stuff is friendly and busy to help or to inform.

This Amp is at least a fine machine for practice and rehearsals.
Versatile and flexible in routing.( I never tried the MIC-Input).
A tool to work out ideas with an acdceptable tone.In this case the
hum is not a problem.It has a solid basic sound.Distortion or overdrive is a little "cheap",but remind the price for this combo.
The serial loop is very useable,the reverb is not so bad as some
posters told.The reverb works Ok for a small spring reverb,it lacks
only on the missing damping at the chasis.This can be done quickly..
The MIC INput is another nice gimmick.So you can sing directly and
play guitar over the amp...Not a bad idea...

I use this amp for practice and rehearsals.For this,this amp is really
good enough and no need to setup my big "Fridge".
By the way,I use this amp as main amp for my electric mandolin and hear this amp does really a great job.

I bought this one,because it was cheap and only planned to use it for
practice.In my mind was the sentences"Something cheap is nothing
worth.." But I found out that it was an error...
This amp offers an acceptable tone with a lot of flexibility.
I bought it only as a "Notepad" Amp,but druing this time it became a
worthy tool to me.

And at least,isn't it nice to have this HIWATT Label on the amp ?
I use for my professional work the original HIWATTS DR103...Handwired
Tube Monsters with an incredible sound.
So I am (from labelside) still in the family.

For beginners I can recommend this amp highly.This amp is versatile
and flexible in many ways and offers a fine basic tone for a low
money.Really a good Start up amp.But also for experienced players
not a bad tool.

If lost/stolen I would try to get another one.

FX loop, reverb....that's what counts....for other features look at the previous reviews.....

My Guitar: Fender US Std. Strat with Seymour Duncan JB jr. pu's...
Yes, it is noisy...as soon as you turn it on there is always an annoying deep buzz. When you are playing you don't hear it, but if not...***BBBFFFFFFFFFFF***
The Clean channel is ok; Overdrive is very weak...The overall sound has a bit too much bass and is a bit mushy. The reverb is lame...moreover if the unit gets hit or touched when reverb is used,
you get a strange, spacy SPLASH tone...
Well, but what can you expect for a 150$ combo?

no problems yet (have it for 1 month now)

-

The point is: I wanted a cheap combo with a good basic sound AND FX loop so i can use my FX unit for Distortion and effects.
For this application the Bulldog is ok, although the basic sound is (as i mentioned) a bit mushy and dark.....

Bought brand new in Feb 2000. Amp is a small, 30 watt solid state combo. Controls include preamp gain, master volume, bass, mid, treble and reverb. Amp also includes effects loop and footswitch jack for channel switching (footswitch not included).

I bought the amp to use for band practice. I play harder classic rock, so I needed something that would provide at least tolerable distortion. I normally do not like solid state distorition, but this little amp surprised me. Not too bad! Smooth and responsive, once you get things set the way you like it. EQ works well, too.

I use a Gibson Flying V and Fender Strat. Both guitars sound pretty good through this amp. The distortion can be varied from slight to really, really (I mean *really*) saturated, when plugged into the hi gain input. Almost too much gain! I run the preamp on only 2-3 and it's great with the Flying V, for classic rock tones.

Clean sounds are not bad, either. My Strat sounds snappy and clean, even at pretty high volumes. For only having an 8 inch speaker, this little guy punches pretty well. Not bad!

On the downside, the amp's reverb is pretty useless. Also, the amp hums more than it should. Poor power supply design, I'm guessing.

I'd still give the amp good marks on over-all tone & versatility. Not bad, at all! The stock speaker sounds full and punchy. Still...an external speaker out would have been nice.

Only had it a short time. No troubles yet. I don't think I would count on this as a main gig amp. It's construction appears to be "not bad" but it's not fantastic, either. The cabinet for example, looks to be half-inch particle board. I wouldn't stand on it. <grin>

I did have reason to call Hiwatt (really Fernandes guitar co.) with some questions. They were doing their best (it seemed) to resolve my concerns.

I wondered why the amp I got, didn't look like the photo in the catalog *or* on their very own web page. I was told that those photos were of the "first run" of amps. They (Fernandes) had had some trouble with the manufacturer on these amps and so had changed to another facility. The amps were slightly re-designed.

Also, the info on the Hiwatt web page claims the amp has a 10 inch speaker. Wrong. It has and 8 inch speaker. I asked "why?" I was told that this was part of the re-design...and that all this would be corrected on the webpage, ASAP. Well....it still has not. The photo has been updated, but the info listed below is still wrong.

Finally, I wondered why the owner's manual says the amp is "25 watts into 4 ohms", but the amp comes with an 8 ohm speaker!?!?

They weren't able to answer my question on that one!

For the most part, the company was easy to talk to and seemed to be honestly concerned, regarding my questions/concerns. However, they sure didn't follow through completely when it came to making sure all the information on their very own webpage was corrected. Not so good.

Also, don't bother e-mailing them. I tried twice and never got a reply.

Finally, the owner's manual is pretty funny. Obviously written by a non-english speaking person. Hilarious, at times and not very helpful.

Again, this amp was purchased to use for band practice. It is a LOT easier than hauling one of my Marshalls. I have 2 JCM 800's (2204 and 4010). For this, it performs very well. I'm quite satisfied. We do not practice very loud at all, so if you *do*, this amp would likely not work for you. It is not terribly loud. Perhaps with a 4 ohm speaker, you'd get more volume out of it. I may try this sometime.

For the money, I consider this to be a good deal. I'd have no problem recommending it to anyone, as long as you consider the minor details as listed above, in other sections.

This amp is not in the same league as other Hiwatts, in particular the reissue tube amps....but then, it's not supposed to be in that same class of amp. These are low cost "practice" amps, more or less. For this task, they do a good job. I'm satisfied.