Hiwatt DR-103

All tube, hand wired 100 watt Head with no frills, just as much real tone as you'll ever need!!Just set the rear impedance selector to match your cabinet, plug in a good quality guitar and play.There's no channel switching and apart from a slight crunch with the channel gain up high, no distortion either, but no matter how you set the controls, it's impossible to get a bad sound out of it.

At the moment I'm doing a residency and need an amp setup that I can leave at the gig, Previously I'd used a silver faced Twin and a Marshall JCM 800 stack but because the accoustics at the venue are so bad, I was never happy with either of them. I wasn't particularly looking for a Hiwatt and didn't really know too much about them but I came across this at a great price and bought it.
The guy I bought it from was a friend of Warren Cucurullo's (he said) and when Warren left England to move back to the States, he was entrusted with selling off some of his equipment for him.
Warren had it modified by Chandlers in London with a bias adjusting trim pot and had a "Choke" added, this looks like a small transformer next to the output tubes and it's supposed to smooth out the sound and improve the dynamics.
I've never heard the amp without these mods so I don't know how much of this amp's great tone is down to them, but judging by what all you other guys are saying, maybe not a lot.
I can't believe I wasted so much time (and money) trying every amp under the sun when Hiwatts have been there all the time!!
I didn't know how good my guitars were 'till I played them thru this, I realised that I've just been making do all these years. It's loud, clear, warm, it's got as much headroom as you'll ever need and it sits in with the other instruments so well, it just makes the band sound better, it just sounds "real"
I'd used various Marshall heads in the past and was always dissapointed with the basic clean sound, it was always a bit too gnarly and harsh for me. My style is basically somewhere between Larry Carlton, Jeff Beck and Nile Rogers so my clean sound is very important and if you've got your clean sound down, it's very easy to get a good solo sound with the right pedals.
At the moment I'm running it through Boss CS3 > Crybaby > Line 6 Distortion Modeler > Line 6 Modulation Modeler > Line 6 Delay Modeler > EH Holy Grail Reverb. The amp doesn't have send and return so everything is going straight in the front and I have no problem with noise.
I don't know what year mine is 'cos the serial plate is missing but it looks old and has the old pull out/push in voltage and impedance selectors.
I'm running it through a new Marshall 4x12 with 30 watt Celestions but I'm currently trying to locate a 70's Hiwatt cab with Fane speakers just to see if this improves it even more.

Everytime I turn it on it works.

I've emailed Hiwatt to see if they can help me date this amp but they don't reply.

I use this with various guitars including Strats, Teles and a 335 and they all sound like themselves with no unwanted coloration. For me, this is definitely an amp for life and if anything happened to it, I'd get another one in a heartbeat.
Everytime I play through it, it makes me smile.

as easy as it gets, no channel switching, no fx loops, just great sound

can't get any better, this is the best, forget about the rest. for years I struggled with various Fenders and Marshalls, but wasn't ever satisfied. This beast solved all sound problems in a heartbeat!
Fatter and more chunky than a Marshall with more headroom and less compression, the perfect mix between a Fender and a Marshall, just plain perfect.
Can do anything with it, pure, pristine and punchy. Works great with fx: Put a decent fuzz face, distortion or overdrive in front and you got it.
Want to know how it sounds? Listen to the Who (Live at Leeds) or any Pink Floyd stuff. Townshend and Gilmour used nothing but Hiwatts.

Without a doubt the most reliable amp ever: Build to military specs until 1980 (the later models are good, but not in the same ballpark).

You don't need any customer support with these. These amps were build for easy servicing under field conditions (mil spec), so every tech who knows a little about tube amps can service it.

this is it, nothing more to say. Buy one while you can.

Same features as everyone else has, no more - no less. Kind of a cool story to go with it. I've been in a band for the last 8 years and we've played mostly heavy metal ala Opeth, In Flames, and other Swedish bands like that. Well, looking to branch out into new territory, I wanted to add a Floyd-sy tone to our sound and I started searching for some equipment Gilmour used. I found this amp at a garage sale by an elderly couple. The woman's husband had died 4 years ago and left everything to her b/c they didn't have any living children. So, I offered her $400 for it even though she probably would have taken $40 for it, and took it home. Which leads me to the next category...

WOW! The second best clean, the best overdrive, and a decent crunch. Not exactly for death metal but that's what the Peavey 5150II is for. Now I know what Gilmour and Townshend and all the others felt like on stage (almost). I run a Fender Strat or a Gibson LP to a Dunlop wah, a tubescreamer (driver), a small stone, a CE-2, and then to an a/b box into either the 5150II with a dbx 166 in the FX loop, or the Hiwatt. Both run through 5150 4x12's. Absolutely amazing sounds. Tone out the ears! Everything is relatively quiet for how much crap I have running at one time. The clean and OD is absolutely awesome!

It's worked for who knows how many years. It sat for at least 4 since the old man died and didn't give me any problems with tubes, scratchy pots or anything after I brought it home. Just dusted it off a bit and bam, it worked.

This adds an entirely new (and old at the same time) element to my music and adds character to the tone. I gave up a roland jazz chorus 120 for this and haven't regretted it since. True, the jazz chorus was the best sounding clean channel I've ever heard but it didn't have as much character as the Hiwatt and it didn't stand a chance against the Hiwatt's OD!

No nonsens design, 2 non switchable channels (Normal and Bright) with 4 inputs, 2 pre-amp volumes, 4 tone pots and a master. 4 El 34 delivering 100 W of pure tube power.

Holy shit, here it comes, the ultimate amp, end of all debates, the real deal:

I saw it in a music store 10 years ago, plugged in but didn't hear not sound, no hiss, nothing. Ah... the guitar's volume pot was down, I hit a chord and booom - the tightest, loudest, most agressive brightest sound I had ever heard hit me in my stomach. What a shock, I couldn't believe it.

It was so fucking loud and heavy, everything else just seemed like a toy in comparison. It took a while to get used to it, it was real frightening. For the first time I could hear the guitar - no matter what guitar, what band, what stage.

Some say it has less gain than a Marshall, I don't think so, it sounds just different. The treble, bass, mid and presence pots are very interactive (e.g. want more bass? - turn down the mids) and give much more control than a Marshall.

You can have as much headroom as you want (turn the preamp down and the master up) for real tight clean rhythm playing.

If you want it more gainy, use a booster or a good distortion, that's all you really need.

This is the most reliable amp in the world, period. It was build by Harry Joyce himself (there is his name and the date inside the chassis) to military specs. This amp was build to withstand the III. World War.

Founder Dave Reeves died in the early 80's, Harry Joyce, who builded great amps under his own name, died recently.

So there is no customer support anymore? Well, it's a HIWATT- you don't need any customer support.

There's a new HIWATT company in England now who builds amps in the old fashioned way. Never deal't with them and am sure I'll never will.

So thank you Dave and Harry for the best customer support I could wish for !!!

I've been playing for so long, I can't remember, I have owned lot of good stuff (Fender, Marshall, Boogie) and lot of crap ( bought the TS-808 when it appeared on the market, what a piece of shit - never used it. When I needed some resistors and such some weeks later, I opened it and took it apart, threw away the rest).

The HIWATT is the one thing to me that's like a fire in the darkness. Guitars come and go, but this amp stays wih me all the time. Sometimes I look for another flavour, buy a pedal (overdrive, distortion or fuzz) and have some fun.

Man, I love this thing to death.

plenty of tone variation posible from various combinations of the two channels (bright/normal) and four inputs (hi/low gain for each of the two channels), the four band eq (bass, mid, trebble and presence), channels gains (1 ea) and master volume.

A lot of other people say it won't break up without a buzz box, but mine f--ing screams when I rail out the volume on my (mostly - shaller bridge) stock '63 SG standard! Just rail rail everything w-f-o (EXCEPT the master volume! - that's on about 1 or 2)
Turn the guitar's volume down to 5 or 6 and it's sweet, singing sustain, clear as a bell.
Better than Viagra! This amp f--ing rocks!

Owned it for over 15 years, never a problem - still have the same tubes init as when I bought it!

I've been playing damn near 20 years off and on (gigging, garage, wanking) mostly hard rock/ metal, bluesey cruncha billy moshfunk type stuff. I've used this amp for both guitar and bass (although with different cabs - orange 4x12 celestions for guit and various bass cabs, usually with jbl drivers)

S0...about a two years ago I was driving in my car and I just got the remastered Who "live at Leeds". I was really pumpin the volume. And I just absolutely fell in love with the guitar tone. I mean...power, punch, grind, just fuggin balls! That was the sound that I wanted.

So I went searching on the web and found some good resources on hiwatts. Found the one I desired and got it sent from England. I also got a '69 4x12 4122 with the oatmeal grill. Beautiful!

As stated in previous reviews, it has four inputs, two normal , two bright. I prefer the normal channel since I usually play the bridge pickup on my les paul. Gets a little bright for me in the bright channel.

Does it have enough power....bwahhahaha! Hell yeah it does. I have acutally pulled the two outside EL34's to reduce the power. It does that very well. Please note that it does not go to 50 watts. However, you are able to get more crunch at lower volumes by pulling the tubes. Warning: Pull the outside tubes only.

I love amps with limited features. I don't like at the channel switching. I use my pedals for that. The controls are responsive. I'm giving it a 10 because these are the features that I like in an amp. However, if you like fancy knobs, there aren't on this amp.

My main guitar is a 77 Les Paul Custom. All stock. My pedals are the following: Guitar > Budda Wah > Ernie Ball Volume > Fulltone FD2 > Menaton Blue Collar (the best) > Visual Sound Jeckyl&Hyde > Boss CE2 > old MXR Flanger > Boss TU2 Tuner all powered by a Voodo Lab pedal power.

From this setup, I am able to get many different kinds of overdrive sounds (lead and rhythm) that sound great on top of the Hiwatt. I get a great clean tone that has just a smidge of dirt on it and use just guitar and amp for clean tone. For my main overdrive that can get to AC/DC levels, I use the Menatone Blue Collar. Killer combo!! Use the FD2 for Clean boost on the hiwatt. Yummy! the J&H for lead tones.

What I love about the Hiwatt is the punch and clarity. Marshalls get a little saturated for my liking. If you can give the hiwatt just enough volume and add a good overdrive, you will be in heaven. Sounds so good. Can go from Fender to marshall by still sound like a hiwatt.

Tone for years! If you run it through Fane speakers, even better. I like my strat through it as well. I have Kinman pickups that sound great. But I'm a les Paul man and it just goes beautifully with the DR103.

You will need a pedal to get crunch unless you don't care about your hearing. But get a good one dammit. A boss overdrive into a Hiwatt is a sin dammit. Get one that is as transparent as possible.

Built like a tank!

Haven't dealt with them.

I love this amp. My Fender twin is in strage collecting dust. My dreams of a plexi have washed away. No substitute.

Let's be up front about this: I wanted a Hiwatt because Pete Townshend used them. With that point made we can now start to be critical.

My DR103 was built in 1971. It has four inputs, two normal , two bright. On each channel, one of the inputs is higher sensitivity. My usual choice is the bright high sensitivity.

The DR103 has individual channel volume controls; bass, middle, treble and presence controls; and a master volume. Usually the input volume is wound right up and overall volume levels set with the master. Power output is rated at 100 watts from four EL34 power valves [tubes].

Tonal variation is amazing, and the interdepenedence of the controls, especially the preence control can contour your sound to surprisng degrees of subtlety. Even with the input volume opened right up, the Hiwatt will not distort like a Marshall. It remains clean but with a musical edge to it. Wind up the master volume and it moves an awful lot of air.

The DR103 is precision musical instrument, in that it responds to touch. Poor technique or plain sloppiness is revealed in no uncertain fashion. Get it right and the Hiwatt rewards you with sounds that you have earned.....

The DR103 takes a Les Paul armoured with Seymour Duncan PAF [neck] and JB [bridge] pickups and a homebuilt HSS Strat. Humbuckers produce a real kick in their attack. Single coil/tapped humbuckers generate a far cleaner, almost sweet clarity. Strat positions 2 and 4 really bring out the best in the amp and vice versa.

Since a recent valve replacement and re-biasing, the amp has run virtually hum-free. Distortion is relatively clean and external help is required to really grunge things up [ie a ProCo RAT]. For what I want, the Hiwatt is ideal. Tonal variety, power, clarity. Full marks for, what is relatively speaking, old technology.

Recent valve replacement was needed after eight or nine years since the last one. Sitting in a cold garage probably doesn't help, but She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed refuses to have a Hiwatt amp and 4x12 cluttering up a bedroom. Apart from recent valve failure, she [the Hiwatt!] has ben reliable in the extreme. The point-to-point chassis wiring has to be be seen to be believed! Exemplary isn't the word!

Never used any of the various 'Hiwatt' companies. She's over thirty years old now and warranties count for very little. However local electronics specialists can readily cope with thermionic technology. Getting EL34 spare valves has become less problematic.

Nearly thirty years playing although SWMBO reckons it seems like less. The Hiwatt copes admirably with my two Les Pauls [Goldtop Standard and black Pro Deluxe] and homebuilt Strat [2xsingles coils + bridge JB 'F'-spaced].

Almost invariably a ProCo RAT sits between guitar and amp, although occasionally a wahwah will fall out of the stomp box case.

What do I love about this amp? It's a HIWATT. Compared to my previous 1959 Marshall it is versatile, demanding and bloody LOUD! OK it doesn't have the Marshall distortion but it does have options beyond that particular voicing. The ubiquitous RAT takes care of the extra distortion as and when it is needed.

The combination of my guitars via the Rat stomp-box into the DR103 and a 4x12 cab is all I could ask. To me it is priceless. Blues sweetness, rock'n'roll drive and Uncle Pete's crunch ['Magic Bus' a la Leeds]. It's all there. God Bless you, Dave Reeves!

Let's be up front about this: I wanted a Hiwatt because Pete Townshend used them. With that point made we can now start to be critical.

My DR103 was built in 1971. It has four inputs, two normal , two bright. On each channel, one of the inputs is higher sensitivity. My usual choice is the bright high sensitivity.

The DR103 has individual channel volume controls; bass, middle, treble and presence controls; and a master volume. Usually the input volume is wound right up and overall volume levels set with the master. Power output is rated at 100 watts from four EL34 power valves [tubes].

Tonal variation is amazing, and the interdepenedence of the controls, especially the preence control can contour your sound to surprisng degrees of subtlety. Even with the input volume opened right up, the Hiwatt will not distort like a Marshall. It remains clean but with a musical edge to it. Wind up the master volume and it moves an awful lot of air.

The DR103 is precision musical instrument, in that it responds to touch. Poor technique or plain sloppiness is revealed in no uncertain fashion. Get it right and the Hiwatt rewards you with sounds that you have earned.....

The DR103 takes a Les Paul armoured with Seymour Duncan PAF [neck] and JB [bridge] pickups and a homebuilt HSS Strat. Humbuckers produce a real kick in their attack. Single coil/tapped humbuckers generate a far cleaner, almost sweet clarity. Strat positions 2 and 4 really bring out the best in the amp and vice versa.

Since a recent valve replacement and re-biasing, the amp has run virtually hum-free. Distortion is relatively clean and external help is required to really grunge things up [ie a ProCo RAT]. For what I want, the Hiwatt is ideal. Tonal variety, power, clarity. Full marks for, what is relatively speaking, old technology.

Recent valve replacement was needed after eight or nine years since the last one. Sitting in a cold garage probably doesn't help, but She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed refuses to have a Hiwatt amp and 4x12 cluttering up a bedroom. Apart from recent valve failure, she [the Hiwatt!] has ben reliable in the extreme. The point-to-point chassis wiring has to be be seen to be believed! Exemplary isn't the word!

Never used any of the various 'Hiwatt' companies. She's over thirty years old now and warranties count for very little. However local electronics specialists can readily cope with thermionic technology. Getting EL34 spare valves has become less problematic.

Nearly thirty years playing although SWMBO reckons it seems like less. The Hiwatt copes admirably with my two Les Pauls [Goldtop Standard and black Pro Deluxe] and homebuilt Strat [2xsingles coils + bridge JB 'F'-spaced].

Almost invariably a ProCo RAT sits between guitar and amp, although occasionally a wahwah will fall out of the stomp box case.

What do I love about this amp? It's a HIWATT. Compared to my previous 1959 Marshall it is versatile, demanding and bloody LOUD! OK it doesn't have the Marshall distortion but it does have options beyond that particular voicing. The ubiquitous RAT takes care of the extra distortion as and when it is needed.

The combination of my guitars via the Rat stomp-box into the DR103 and a 4x12 cab is all I could ask. To me it is priceless. Blues sweetness, rock'n'roll drive and Uncle Pete's crunch ['Magic Bus' a la Leeds]. It's all there. God Bless you, Dave Reeves!

Build in 1976 and Quality checked by Harry Joyce.

This is the classic Tube AMP with all what is needed for a good
sound.No stupid and overloaded gimmicks.A real craftsmen tool.
Pure Valve at all with a very high quality standard.
The best friend to your guitar and playing skill.Not an Make Up Amp
like som many nowadays.

Dave Reeves designed the perfect Amp.

The good thing is,that the Hiwatt never sounds like Hiwatt.
It reacts fast and clearly to your guitarwork and choosen guitar.

The Hiwatt does not make up your sound.You have to fight with yourself
to sound great.If you are good,you sound good over a Hiwatt.
If you play bad,the Hiwatt will show it to you.

The Hiwatt has no sound.With a Mesa Boogie you can use nearly every
guitar and it will sound like Mesa Boogie.
With a Hiwatt each guitar will have its own voice.Nothing gets covered.
A really neutral and fair sound.The guitar sounds,not the
amp.
The Hiwatt has only one sound.Strong and balanced amplification.
Eventhough in highvolume Zones,the Hiwatt will not shape the sound.
Howatts are known for their clear and hardpunching sounds.
The Hiwatt reacts directly.
It is hard to make a Hiwatt distort.Mostly you pay it with your ears.
They will fall down.

I want from an Amp,that it delivers the same quality at high Volumes
like on low Volumes.A clear tone showing every detail at every
volume.
When the Hiwatt still is in balanced level a Marshall starts to scream
like a hysterical woman.

The Hiwatt is a pure Poweramp and it has Power.It is not an effect
amp.And I love it for that...

Soundshaping is done before the signal enters the AMP.The EQ of the
Hiwatt is only a fine way to correct the final sound.

HIWATT is a classic Amp at the best quality.Hiwatt has no own
sound,but it can let you sound amazing,if you are good.

ARMY Material ! Nothing can destruct this quality.
All the other amps have to proove if they can survive like the old
DR103s.

Indestructable !!!

Never needed ! And where to go ? Hiwatt was burried in 1981 when
Dave Reeves passed away.
The following Hiwatt Story was a bitter fruit.

When I got this DR103 there was a Mesa Boogie hype.
The Hiwatt sounds not,it only amplifies what you feed in.
But amplification was never done better like with the Hiwatt.
A Hiwatt amplifies,the others only make up.

Hiwatts are clean,pure amps.There were times,when High End
HIFI cracks,where hunting for the Hiwatt Transformers.Many Hiwatts were
destructed on that way.What a pity.

Dave Reeves designed with the DR103 the NonPlusUltra Tubeamp.
Indestructable and to highest quality standards.Point to point
wiring at its best.And the still unreached Partridge transformers.
Not any compromise in this amp.100% perfect.

An amp should be an amp and not an effectbox.

My Hiwatt Dr103 with Serialnumber 10518 is from 1977-78.

I play blues-rock, and for 1 year ago I had a Marshall 1959 Plexihead. The Plexi was wonderful for Hendrix or just some 70'-rock, and i believe that a cranked ampoverdrive is much better than any guitarpedal, but since i play both blues, hard rock, jazz in Bigband, and experimenting with Country, I need to have a Amplifier that gan give me ALL sounds for every style i need-of course with pedals.
The Hiwatt only have; Brill/Norm. volume;Treble,Midrange,Presence,Bass and Mastervolumen, but NO fancy channelswitching or eff.loop. No, it's an amplifier that delivers the most CLEAN sound in the world. You can not crank up this amp,(at least not with AAH GrooveTubes). It's great to build up a good sound from this amp with it's Basic-sound.

I think it's the perfect amp for me; with the right pedals I can make any sound i want, and the notes are just so clear. The sound I'm searching for ,but haven't found yet, is a bit like David Gilmours(PINK FLOYD). Listhen and hear the worlds greatest guitarsound.

When i play with my rockband through my Dr103 in my 360Watt Marshall cab.(lousy cab)- it provides more Power tha't i shall ever need.

This amp is a really cool amp, in BIG halls where you play loud, but It doesn't have any reverb so you need to use the real reverb that comes in the Hall. If you only need a practiceamp, don't buy this, but onstage it's a dream.

It's not noisy at all, even with my singlecoil Morchpickups. I play both Hardrock and jazz, it's good for all styles.
It only gives you CLEAN, but It's great for any Effectfreak, if you use highquality pedals. I'm inspired of David Gilmours sound(Pink Floyd) He uses Pedals, and it sounds like Heaven. I'm about to archieve his sound now after 1 year with my Hiwatt.

The Amp is from 1977-78, made with "Point To Point" Wiring, there have never been any problems. I've read that when they built the Hiwattamp. in the seventies, they Hired a technician from the Brittish millitary, that stood for Qualitytesting. The amps had to be able to hold for Touring, and were build like a tank

Too old, but I've spoken to the "new" Hiwattfactory(actually there are 3 different companys that are making Hiwattamps, but I had Question to www.hiwatt.co.uk , and they were very friendly even thou they didn't even produce this amp.

This is the ultimative amp for me, I'd deffinetly buy it again if it were stolen.
Remember it's a pedalamp. You can only form a clean sound from it.

It has anything that i need