Hiwatt D-50LR Head

This is for my mid-Eighties D50-L ... yes , it's THAT amp, that all the "gurus" talk trash about . **** 'em . More of these amps for the
rest of us with more brains than ego and cash. It isn't a 1972 hiwatt,
and it doesn't pretend to be.says USA made hand written in marker.

2 channel ,fx loop ,no reverb ,pre out, 4-8-16 ohm speaker switch ,
footswitch jack,
rhythm chan has pre vol and b+t , Lead channel has b+M+t plus
a high gain and a pre volume . Amp has master vol and master presence . 2- EL34 , 4- 12ax7 tubes. Diode rectifiers.

it does everything i need , i just miss having a spring reverb in mine.

the lead and Rhythm channels are remarkably different. i play jazz/blues/soul/metal , and this amp adapts pretty well to all.

The lead channel is sorta limited to a screaming in-your-face metal
sound ... but it's super tight,never mushy ,play every note perfect-
or-else (think metallica's AndJusticeForAll guitar sound). Through
my Marshall 4x 12 and generic-Celestion loaded 2x12 cabs, it kicks butt(kinda' one sounded , though.)

Rhythm channel is a much different sound. BIG and LOUD w/ tons of low end. Turn the Master way up , control the vol from my guitar( a
semi-hollow Ibanez Artcore w/ a Dimarzio FRED in the bridge pos ,
and Yamaha shb-400 ,ssc-500 (1982) solidbodies). at med vol it's
bright and hi-fi , turn up the volume , and it breaks up just
right for that "live at leeds" tone. Add an overdrive , and the distortion sings - but not over the top like the lead channel.

the pc board construction( a very heavy glass-epoxy ) is frowned upon by the 'experts', in favor of hand wired spaghetti....but this amp hasn't given any trouble ,ever. i've played out with this amp , home studio , and rented it out several times since 1991 .

i replaced the crappy Sovtek tubes which came in it with some vintage
German Seimens tubes i got from my dad's old Eico. They have just
died after 17 years in this amp(and 6-8 years in the old hi-fi)
i replaced them with some vintage Siemens tubes i bought on ebay.
The difference great tubes makes in sound quality is night and day.
Chinese tubes suck in this amp.

none

i've been playing guitar since 1982 , i have used Fender twin , Peavey
Artist , Kustom , and Dean Markley rm-40sr , and Signature 60 amps .

The Markleys are the only other amps i've kept , and have their own good qualities , but don't compare to the D50-L . Not as loud , not as bright , not as much low-end punch. The Hiwatt will fill a 5000 square foot hall easily, without miking . The 40 and 60 watt Markleys struggle.

I'd buy another ,though i'd look for one w/ reverb. With all the clowns out there preaching what "rubbish fit for the dust bin"
these amps are (!) without evaluating their performance on the
whole (likely never even played one), there should be some available
in the future to come.

Not sure of the year, from the late 80's? The first reviewer described the amps features very well. This amp is VERY flexible. This amp covers any style easily, and is plenty loud to gig with.

This amps gain/tone signature blows me away every time I turn the master up past 3-4. I play a 1981 Les Paul Custom with active EMG's through an Orange 4X12 with Celestion Vintage 30's. For heavier music, to me, using this head seems the perfect marriage of amp and guitar. The clean channel is rich, and sweet sounding, but I use the lead channel 99% of the time. And man, what a channel it is. When pushed, it has a bone crushing, monsterously evil sounding tone to it. The distortion can be very brutal. I play original Heavy Doom/Stoner rock, and alot of classic heavy stuff, from Sabbath, and Unorthodox to metallica, and beyond, along with the occasional cleaner David Gilmour style. The distortion is as high gain as any Mesa, but much more clear sounding. Open chords sound incredible even with the gain is cranked. It also has way more balls than any Marshall I've tried. The Peavey 5150, and XXX aren't even in the same ball park. No chainsaw distortion here, it has a very crisp in your face tone to it, but with major league balls, and ass to boot. When cranked, it is very quiet for a high gain amp as well. This is the distortion tone I've always been searching for, I love how this amp sounds.

6 months, and no problems..... Yet. It seems very well built, but I always have a backup.

No need...... Yet. A good tube tech is all I need.

I've been playing 22 years. I'm a dealer, so I own a bunch of nice tube amps, and I buy and sell them all the time. Of the 200 plus I've moved and tried out in the last few years, only three have made me step back, and say wow, after playing through them. They were a 73' Ampeg V4 (Low end heaven), My 74' Orange OR120 (Ass, tone, and more tone), and this Hiwatt. Though each amp has it's own strengths, this amp can almost do it all. Everyones tonal tastes are different, but to me, this is amp is by far the best, and sweetest sounding high gain head I've ever heard, much less played through. It literally puts a smile on my face every time I plug in. If you see one, pick it up, and you won't regret it. For the price I payed, it was a steal.

Made in the mid 80's as far as I know. 2 channel, clean with just a volume, treble and bass, and overdrive with drive, volume, T-M-B presence, global master volume, global reverb, adustable line out, FX loop. 2 EL34, 5 12ax7's. Bought it NOS from Ed Roman's in Las Vegas on vacation. It is footswitchable, but a footswitch didn't come with it.

This amp sounds AWESOME! I use a homemade "tele-bastard" with Seymour Duncan hotrails & a Ibanez SZ320. This amp can get very mean and dirty - very surprising for an 80's amp. Has a very thick, boogie/rectifier type growl to it - but with a distinct sound. It isn't a boogie, nor it is a Marshall. Its its own beast. It can do metal Alter-bridge type tones, to Guns-N-Roses & AC/DC. The Clean channel is no less as nice. Though it only has a treble and a bass EQ, you can get fat jazzy tones to clucky glass cleans. It is actually very flexible. I can't believe more people don't use them. It is an USA made Hiwatt, so there must be a bias against them initially. Its ashamed...this amp sounds killer.

Well, I bought it NOS (or so I was told). The stock EL34's weren't even matched! I had a new pair of Mesa EL34's lying around so I stuck them in and biased it to around 40+mA. I changed all the 12ax7's to JJecc83's - and what was great sounding amp in the store sounded killer at home. I've had no problems with it so far.

Well, I'm not sure. I tried to buy a user's manual as well as a service manual from Hiwatt, but they said they didn't have them any more due to the age of the amp. Well, at least they returned my email very quickly. It only took a couple of days. I've waited weeks for a reply from other amp mfg's.

I have a good collection of amps - better than most music stores near me: a Fender Prosonic, Mesa Stiletto Duece, 79 Marshall JMP MarkII, a custom handmade JTM clone with a master volume by Whitney, and of course this Hiwatt. Its a perfect fit. Like each of these amps, it has distinct sound, yet really blends well with them in a mix. If I lost this amp I would be devastated: I just don't know if I could ever find another.