Hiwatt Custom

This amp was made in 1971 I assume. I use it for guitar and bass, it is a 'meat & potatoes' amplifier. Controls are much like early marshalls except it has master volume. 4 inputs, 2 normal, 2 brilliant, with high and low output.
EQ is basic bass, mid treble and presence. The lack of any mods or gadgetry ie channel switching/gains, reverb or effects loops, makes it easy to operate and elliminates noises and unreliability often associated with modern so called 'versatile' amps.
One big bonus is speaker impedece selector as I Change speakers from bass to guitar and 4x12 to 2x12 or 1x12 depending on size of gig.
I Play many different styles of music. rock, blues, jazz, heavy rock, funk and latin even classical/celtic all through this amp. I find it has shitloads of power for any gig. This is a seriosly grunty amp, it's only 100 watts.
For bass playing I'd say as loud as a 400watt mosfet, given well matched speakers.

I use 70's gretsch rocjet and strat with seymour duncan hb bridge pickup, also gibson ripper bass, 5 string ibanez bass with actives and
martin accoustic with slimline pickup. Amp is very quiet no hissing or farting noises.
Hiwatts are renown for being loud and relatively clean, no exceptions here. Heaps of headroom, glassy, fat bell like tone, great for amplified accoustic tones. Once the input passes 1 o'clock starts to 'rock' overdrive sounds hard, unlike softer sounding marshall, sort of like ac/dc or deep purple. For an accurate comparrison, listen to the who's 'young man's blues' that's a hiwatt roaring it's lungs out. These amplifiers sound awesome for guitar.
With bass you need low powered speakers to get sufficient headroom , It's not as tight as i'd like it to be for slap playing, a mosfet or transistor would be better.For rock bass though it's the ultimate.
Some may find the hiwatts too clean, if you want thrash you'll need a distortion mechanism. For me this amp is as good as it gets.

Gets heavy use never a problem.The fact that it does get used continiuosly and doesn't sit in some yuppies amp collection probably helps. A true workhorse. I keep mine in a road case, this protects the amp from rough roadies and corrosion and water problems.
Very sturdy well made machine. I replace valves(el34's) about every 12-18 months.

30 Year old amp I believe parts are still avaliable.

I've been playing for about 16 years. If misfotune came about this amp in any way I would get another. I love the tone and the headroom.I've previously owned or borrowed the following: roland 60, laney pro tube 50, vox climax and ac30, sterile mesa boogie and mushall jcm and marshall jmp. I like voxes and jmp marshalls but the hiwatt is my most favoured. I also owned a labsystems vp300s which was a nice bass amp but didn't have the character of the hiwatt.
Only gripe is it's heavy to cart around an old head and boxes as oppossed to a combo but I'm prepared to make that sacrifice so that I can have decent tone.

As you might have read Hiwatt Custom 100 offers no breathtaking special features but input into two preamps (bright and normal) which you can use at the same time, EQ, presence and master volume. Normally this does not sound as a lot but remember that tons of settings in many cases reduces the output of a amp and creates noise. If you use a pedal board Hiwatt offers what you need. I myself play bass through the amp and it offers all what I need.

This is the real thing. Yes, it is a guitar amp but it offers a lot more for us bass players. Turn all nobs to 12 o'clock and you are in for a mean rock-bass sound with a lot of top, mid and bottom. It's impossible to overdrive the head which is good for bassplaying. This amp runs in 60% class A so it's attack and punch outruns all 300-400 watts transistor amps I'we heard. If your bass is proporly shielded you cannot hear that the amp is on - it's so quiet.
If you play jazz and funk maby Hiwatt isn't for you but if you play rock it's perfect.
I use a old Hiwatt guitar cab 4x12" 150W with fane speakers. As with the head it is reliable and HEAVY. Sounds really good with both guitar and bass. Better than old Marshall's but they are dificult to obtain. I paid approx. #250 for the cab alone.

My head was hand built in 1976 and looks brand new though it has had more than one owner. Once, it broke down but I repaired it on my own. A broken wire and it did not say a sound. You cannot kill your Hiwatt - it is built to last.
If you use your Hiwatt you should change your four EL34 tubes once a year for optimal performance. I changed all preamp tubes in '98 two of them was original from '76, you couldn't hear the diference.

Mailed to Audio Bros. Steve Gibbs once (sgibbs@audiobro.u-net.com) and he replyed in under a week. Anyway most tube-experts can repair a Hiwatt if it breaks down (which it nearly never does) so don't worry about that.

The Hiwatt Custom 100 Head is a true classic. Not many knows about it but if you once heard one you'll never forget it. I love it - you might hate it but you should give it a try. It's worth it. I'we found my perfect setup in this amp with a 4x12" original cab. And yes, you're noticed on stage in the jungle with all those Marshalls. Just remember that this is the loudest of all 100W heads - it's dangerous...

I've got a 1977 head, and a 1972 cab. The head's got two inputs, each corresponding to a volume knob (bright) and normal). There is also a presence knob, EQ knobs and a Master volume knob as well. As opposed to earlier Hiwatt Custom 100W heads, this one has not got four inputs, which is a shame because you cannot use both bright and normal channels at the same time (as you can do on Superlead 100s, Bassmans, etc.) The features are very simple, but functional.

Hiwatt: eather you love it or you hate it. It's the anti-blues amp. The other guitarist in my band has got a 1969 Marshall Superlead 100W, and the two sounds really are different even though they use the same controls and the same valves! The Hiwatt sound is very cutting, harsh even, and is heaven when you play funky rythmic stuff. From the Stones to the Who's "My Generation"! It's also a great amp for post-rock sounds, think Labradford or Mogwai. What it won't do is giving you an Eric Clapton or Led Zep sound. When you decide to get a Hiwatt, you become part of a choosy club that is up for originality!

THE big thing about Hiwatts. I was talking about a friend of mine in London, called John Kelly, who used to build amps in the 60s and is now a top repairman for Boogie. He told me that tonight if he had a penny for each Marshall amp he fixed in his career, we could get pissed in the pub for the next fortnight! However, he told me he only fixed a handful of Hiwatts in his career. An example: on my Hiwatt, the presence knob is just dead. Does it prevent the amp from working? Nope. Or this one: once, I was changing the valves and the head fell from a table to the floor, bounced several times. Did that prevent the amp from working? Nope. This stuff is tough as the Terminator. Oh, yeah, and the cab: it weighs a ton. I mean, a TON. No way you can lift it on your own. You've got big 12'' Fane speakers in it, for a total of 300W. It's the best-sounding cab on this planet (and I've tried loads of stuff, including Greenbacks and Vox Blue Speakers). By the way, the cab is just like the head: undestructible.

Don't know about that. This amp is 20 years old, man!

I'd definitely buy it again. This being said, there is NO WAY you can use it at home: this amp is LOUD, much louder than a Marshall 100. I think the fane speakers play a big part in this, as their bass response is just unbelievable. Warning, though: this amp is not for everyone. But if you're one of the happy few who don't care about fashion, this is a treasure.