Hiwatt Maxwatt BSK-15 8 Busker Amplifier

Made in China as part of the Hiwatt Maxwatt series. This is a small 15 watt (actually it is 19 watts!) battery or mains powered amp. The case is tough and sits on sturdy rubber feet either as a 45 deg monitor or on its end (useful as a stool - great height for sitting on and playing if you are under 6' tall - a good feature for a busking amp) No corner protectors so it will look tatty after a couple of years pavement playing. It actually looks like a 1960s amp and realistically in terms of components features and retro sounds that's where it is at. Channel 1 has two jack inputs (low & high) which are matched to take a mic (eg Sure SM58) without needing a pre-amp (this is a godsend for busking - the less kit the better)and level and tone controls - good range. Channel 2 has a jack input (guitar type impedance) a gain knob that works if you press the boost switch - bass, mid, treble knobs - and level knob. There is a "phones" jack output - car 12volt in socket - DC/AC switch - AC plug socket and on/off switch. The amp is fitted with an internal lead acid motorbike battery that recharges whenever the amp is plugged into the mains. Battery life is good - I've played for 4 hours with a band on battery power - you should get 8 hours out of it for busking sound reinforcement at lower levels. There is no battery level indicator, the sound clips at higher volumes when the charge starts to fall - recharging takes 10 hours. The speaker is a 25 watt 4 ohm 8" Hiwatt own brand. No bells no whistles no microchips.

The amp has 1960s sounding background hiss and mains hum (how do they manage to build that into a new amp!?)- in other words it is a bit noisy. The overall range of colours available from the tone knobs are very good. It is easy to get a clean, rich vocal sound alongside guitar. It works well for acoustic reinforcement if you busk with acoustic instruments. But it also has another couple of strings to its bow (sorry about the English metaphor - particularly if you are French - remember Agincort 1415). I have used it quite successfully for harp (with a Sure Green Bullet) and Fender Strat when gigging with a small band (half drum kit). It was OK for this before I upgraded the speaker but is even better now (see reliability and overall rating). It may be because it has been wired together in China, probably by hand, using basic analogue components that it sounds so good. Even the boost switch and gain control work properly and warm the sound up gradually - but don't go past 70% as there is an exponential kick into unusable mayhem at this point (the disadvantage of cheap components). Difficult to rate the sound - if you are looking for a clean PA then this is a "7". If you want something that will be a part of your overall sound (particularly 50s or 60s stuff) then this would score "8" or possibly "10" with a Jenson speaker upgrade.

It pops and whizzes when you turn it on (like amps used to!) so keep everything turned to zero for 5 seconds or so for it to warm up. For some reason I have to plug in headphones before the amp is turned on to use that facility or it just cuts the speaker without working through the phones. I bought the amp originally for my partner to use as sound reinforcement for her semi-acoustic bass guitar playing at friends houses, in the garden and while we were away on camping trips. However, there was a rattle that I thought was coming from the speaker drive unit. I changed the speaker for a 8" Jenson 4 ohm 25 watt unit (the C8R 4 ohm) which dropped straight in. The tone improvement in the amp has been simply dramatic. The rattle was still there - it was coming from under the peizo bridge of the guitar ! By the way, the amp copes quite comfortably with acoustic bass reinforcement in the above scenarios.

So nothing has actually gone wrong with the amp so far! But I'm not going to give it a "10" until it's 20 years old!

The amp came without a handbook as this particular batch had been printed in Manderin. I emailed Hiwatt Max and they emaild me an English version, although it didn't give the technical spec I was after (the ohm rating of the speaker). I again emailed Hiwatt Max and they found out the info from the factory in China then emailed me back. The early versions of this amp had an 8 Ohm unit but the 2005 onwards have a 4 Ohm unit. Check before you upgrade! Would score "10" if Hiwatt Max put more info in the owner's manual.

I've been playing for 25 years. I have a fondness for this quirky little amp - it looks, feels and sounds 40 years old and has all the pros and cons of that generation. I love the chicken head knobs, its shape and size, its versatility, its multiple input capability, its battery powered portability, and its kick-ass retro sound. I dislike the fact that the battery rattles when you carry the amp around (not when playing thankfully).

I tried the Pignose 30 ??? in fact I had 3 delivered all of which were damaged in transit! The Hiwatt is more versatile, robust and better thought out for busking. I haven't tried the Crate Taxi - too expensive for what I wanted - the ones I have heard being used for busking have been very clean, more of a "PA" than a major contributor to the tonal colour of the music. But then that is what some people want. If you want some thing that is going to be an integral part of your sound, rather than just making you louder, then the Hiwatt Max Busker is a good option.

Additionally, I am very, very impressed with Jenson speakers and would certainly consider using them to upgrade amps in the future.

Overall - a powerful and versatile little amp with a reto vibe that is prime for a speaker upgrade (though is good without) and shouts "get out busking" rather than "sit at home and practice".