Product: Hiwatt Custom 50 212 Combo
Price Paid: 1250 (#)
Submitted
06/07/2006
at
08:20am
by
joe muldoon
Email: joemuldoon<at>hotmail dot com
Features
:
9
2006 model.
4 Inputs, normal and brilliant channells.
master volume, prescence, bass, mid, treble, normal and brill volume.
Standby and power.
2 Fane spakers.
point to point hand wired chassis.
JJ Eletronics tubes.
50 watts.
no effects loop, no switching, nothing fancy like that.
Sound Quality
:
10
I use a range of guitars; Strats mostly.
Lots and lots of pedals.
This is the amp i always dreamed of owning. Its AMAZING.
Its big and cleand and warm and round sounding.
It takes pedals really well, and it has loads of headroom.
The whole amp just exudes quality.
The EQ section is very responsive, and has a lovely fat and punchy bottom end. The highs are never too sharp, but it carries through the mix very well.
There is a lovely sort of chewy sound when its up loud and your pushing it hard.... I think this is due to how the rectifier reacts, it sounds sooooooo classic 70's, and adds to the character of the amp.
I run it clean and use my pedals for overdrive, this amp has a great clean tone. If you whack it up full it will give you a soft and rich overdrive, but its really all about the clean sound.
Reliability
:
No Opinion
Well, i've only had it a couple of months, and so far so good.
I look after my gear so i expect it to last.
Customer Support
:
9
Fantastic. Music ground and Hiwatt have been really helpfull (though they can be a bit slow answering emails).
They gave me all sorts of information, and even threw in some freebies when i pointed out a tiny crack in one of the chicken head controls (as well as a whole new set of controls). perfect :)
Overall Rating
:
10
Awesome.
I sold every other amp i owned when i bought this. I am a huge David Gilmour fan, and always loved the tone he has. I discovered that he has been using Hiwatts for years and decided i wanted one.
They are expensive and not the easiest to get hold of, but WOW.
I also tried one of the old DR103's, and they are equally stunning.
The main benefit of this amp is the solid, creamy power of the thing, it has the nicest clean sound i ever heard (i sold a Fender Twin Reverb to buy this), and it reacts to your playing more than any other amp i've owned. Its true what people say though - it shows up your mistakes, it will push them right out front where everyone can hear :)
So...... by far the best amp ive heard. I will never sell it, and would replace it in a shot.
The words that come to mind are: creamy, warm, smooth, powerful, clean, punchy, quality, response and AWESOME.
If you want the best combo on the market, buy it.
