Hiwatt LA412 Cabinet

I have no idea what year this cabinet was made - I got it used at guitar center. It has only 1 input on it, and I think it's 16 ohms. No casters - it has these hardwood sliders on the bottom. It's really gorgeous, but heavy as hell. No corners on the cabinet, and the tolex looks great - must be EXTREMELY well made. The handles are so old, that when we lifted it one of them broke right out. Why such a great amp with such crappy plastic handles? No idea, but I have to knock off two points for that.

Les Paul R9, and Marshall amps! Many, many, Marshall amps. Play old school, and this cabinet sounds fantastic. I was really just looking for a spare cabinet to play amp heads through for my repair business, but am lucky to have found this. Fane speakers are largely unkown, but have a great sound, and this cabinet has a deep tight sound. Just a smidgeon dark, but the tone really works well with Marshalls.

Must be good - it would appear that I am the first person to have peeked at the speakers. They are held in with little clamps, and were pretty stuck to the baffle. The speakers are front mounted, so service should be very easy. The grill just pops off. Based upon that observation, and the cabinets age, I would say it is made to last forever.

Are they even in business anymore?

$500.00! LOL. They wanted 799.00, but it was guitar center, and I offered up 500.00, and they took it. I feel like this is one of the best buys I have ever had in the music biz. My advice is just like the other poster - if you find one, buy it. You won't be sorry, and it is miles above a marshall cabinet (and short of this, I think those are the best made).

This is a 4x12 cab that I found at Sam Ash (fairly large chain store) a few weeks ago for $250. Yes $250. I don't think they really knew what the hell it was seeing as everyone i've talked to that knows anything about them says it's worth at least $800.

It's 5-ply birch, 110lbs, 4-75 Watt Fane Speakers that have a red and white Hiwatt sticker on the back of each. Hiwatt doesn't put casters on their cabs, but someone put them on this one. It makes moving this beast around a lot easier. One jack, the only thing I don't like is that it's not recessed.

After looking at how this thing is constructed that Hiwatt would've gone through the trouble to at least recess the jack. But they way the speakers are mounted is really neat. They're front loaded, and each held in by 4 metal securing plates. These things clamp down on the front of the speaker and hold it into the wood with these huge screws. The screws tighten down into these metal threaded things that are forced into the wood from behind the front panel. It makes for only 4 movable contact points per speaker, and you will never have to worry about them coming loose because you'd have to pull those metal threaded things through 1 1/2 inches of 5-ply birchwood.

Oh, I think it's early to mid 80's.

It's a Hiwatt. They were not messing around when they decided to sit down and pretty much make the best gear money could buy.

I use an SG, and an Ibanez custom S into a Peavey Classic 100 Tube head. This thing is amazing. But, the sound is a lot different than i'm used to. They're British speakers and all. If you're used to Celestians, Emeniance speakers...Marshalls, Peavey's, ect...then this may sound a little open, or a little hollow to you at first. But in a good way.

It makes those other cabs sound too muffled, like the rest of the tone is being held inside the enclosure somehow. This is very open, very warm. It has more presence then any cab i've ever heard.

I was worried about it sounding hollow, until I used it with the rest of the band. It just has so much presence. I would change nothing about how it sounds. The low never gets muddy, you can crank your highs more and get a clearer, more defined tone without it being too piercing, and the mid presence is phenominal, it's just the right mix between being warm and having attack that cuts through. It really let's your amps mid presence decide that.

Over all, I can't believe how amazing this thing sounds. I planned on having a pretty mediocre sounding half stack for a while seeing as I was playing my Peavey Classic 100 through a Fender RocPro 4x12. But this thing! For $250! ...even I can afford that, i'm glad I didn't pass it up...I will never find another one of these.

I'm in a melodic indie/emo band...and we're pretty much a bunch of dirty punks. I don't buy anything that i'm not completely confident about. This thing has been thrown in our scary molester van with 1200lbs of gear, thrown around, dropped, kicked, slid, bumped...you name it. I wasn't too keen on having an expensive (not to me though), rare cab and being worried about ruining it, scuffing it up...but this thing is amazing. To give you an idea of how tough the Tolex is...they don't put amp corners on these.

The grille frame is renforced, the wood is 5-ply baltic brich, the joints are indestructable...this is the kinda thing that would hurt your toe if you kicked it out of spite cause it's so heavy, I already figured that out.

I have no doubts about it being the most reliable cab i'll ever own. I don't plan on buying another cab for a long time...

never dealt with them...I heard they're great though.

This cab is by far the best sounding cab i've ever played through...probably the best i've ever heard. The only thing I would change about it is the fact the the jack isn't recessed. And i'd put 2 paralleled jacks in, just for convienence. But it's the sturdiest, most well built cab i've ever seen.

If you can ever find one of these...buy it! Cause you won't see another one for a long long time. This thing supports the theory that you never drive by a music shop without going in. I didn't even plan on buying anything that day...I was just in the neighborhood driving by on the way to a friend's house. I may just hide a few hundred bucks in my car's trunk in case I ever find another deal like this...maybe a Hiwatt head to go with it...