Hiwatt CS-20

I play blues and rock - guitar sound, just the tonality of a quality instrument, with the right wood, pickups, amp sound is intoxicating to me and I like to play with big open chords and though I could shred with the best, I like melodic, hypnotic sustained notes that really breathe and share the spirit in the wood of the guitar.
Thus, I am REAL sensitive to differences in the sound itself and this amp is my favorite so far. I am really surprised over of the tonal quality of this amp. It's not made to be one of those "jack of all trades" amps for club musicians who want or need to play covers and get "that" sound off the record. However, it is extremely versatile within it's own range - not like a Marshall, who's tone controls are comparatively limited. This amp has good very solid sound. I'd put it up against any Matchless, I actually like the Hiwatt better.
If the new Hiwatts are as good as this, I'll be buying a few, though I hear the new ones don't have the slave output.
It has all the features I need which is the slave (direct output) and second speaker output. I don't need a 2nd channel - My sound is very thick and clean and I dirty it upping the vol. on the guitar.
I bought this used, though perfect condition, however it came with a Celestion G10L -35w speaker. I don't know if the amp originally came with a Fane or this speaker. It still sounds great. There's no feature I wish this had that it doesn't. It has a Master vol., Presence, Middle Treble, Bass and Volume controls and a single input. No standby switch.

I've got about 12 different guitars: Strats, Tele. Les Paul, Rickenbacker 381-12string, Pensa-Shur handmade strats. I just got a '72 SG-I with that black covered mini-humbucker in the bridge (a wraparound, no tune-a-matic). It sounds incredible through this amp. I also just got an SG-Exclusive (it was a rare model in '79 with a master volume & two tone controls & a coil splitting switch & tune-a-matic).
The "best" sounds from the Hiwatt come out of the SG's. That classic Townsend-Who sound is easy to get out of this baby (even at ultra low volumes - that's VERY surprising. It has that thick and percussive sound I usually can only get with max volume on a hot rodded Marshall. The amp is very quiet, nearly totally quiet until you crank it in the 7 to 10 range where it's noise is still 70% quieter than other amps.
The amp is versatile within it's own range - meaning, the tone controls really work and like the Vox AC-30, the amp's tonal color and "throaty-ness" are altered by changing the settings - it's not like changing a graphic EQ - more like the sweep of a parametric EQ. I like that aspect.
With some doing and the Les Paul (an '81 guitar with real '57 PAF's) the Clapton sound from Wheels of Fire - Sittin on Top of the World - one of my favorite lead sounds) is easy to get, {if you can play like that).
Ok, some direct answers about the amp. I believe that it was one of those from the 80's when the company's ownership was bounced around, however, this amp is a killer and is now my favorite (my Vox AC-30TB is my 2nd fav. and my 1970 JMP Marshall is my 3rd). I've never played other Hiwatt amps so I can't compare this to them. At low volumes, I could get that classic Townsend cranked up sound. I haven't recorded with it yet, but I anticipate that, on tape, it'll sound like a wall of 100W stacks either clean or cranked. This Hiwatt is the only amp I've ever played that can deliver this, even though every "buzz box" claims it can, in my experience, they just don't come close, ever, especially in the kind of dynamics and harmonics that occur between the guitar and amp when it's cranked. The rackmounts and stomp boxes don't and this amp does.
I hook the slave out to the input of either of my racks, (one for clubs and one for stadiums). I don't use effects loops because I want to keep the original sound of the amp unaltered. This way, the amp is dry, the efects are from a stereo rack with it's own stereo power amps and speakers. When this little Hiwatt has the effects rack added, the sound is ultimate. Enuff.
I will probably buy a few more Hiwatts - If you have one that you're willing to sell for a reasonable price- email me.

I just got the amp and have no basis to testify as to it's reliability.

I've e-mailed Steve Gibbs from the current Hiwatt website and he got back to me in two days. I just asked him some background questions about the amp etc. He seems fine, cooperative and helpful, etc. Being that I've just obtained the amp and it works perfect, I've not had the need nor opportunity to deal with customer support.

I've been playing since I was 4 yrs old. I own 4 Marshalls, Vox AC30, two Mesa Boogie's (an early 'Son of Boogie' model), Rocktron Velocity 150 in my small rack.
If you've got one of these amps or other Hiwatt stuff that you'd be willing to part with, email me.