THE HIWATT STORY -ONLINE-

The History of HIWATT AMPLIFICATION, includes interviews,reviews, and comment from original HIWATT Staff from 1967 to 1983.

Technical and Historical questions answered about readers particular HIWATT units.
Pictures and graphics from Historical files,Staff and fans archives.

If it’s HIWATT, it’s here!

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Come and see our rankings of Guitar Amps for Practicing

36 thoughts on “THE HIWATT STORY -ONLINE-”

    1. Re: How much is a Hiwatt OL103 worth
      Xavier S.-Dufour

      I don’t know exactly but as they are, i think (haven’t visited Hiwatt dedicated websites enough) those are PCB-built amps, unlike the trad Military PTP that makes Hiwatt reputation. And as Hiwatts are usualy inexpensive i don’t think you will get too much out of the amp. I would be willing to pay 500 canadian $ but I expect you to refuse and try for more, in this case good luck, otherwise my e-mail is [email protected]

  1. Re: Amp Heaven
    Al Paul

    I personally know of Amp Heaven recently offering someone in Aberdeen, Scotland, £40 for a late 60’s Hiwatt 4×12 cabinet (which I bought instead!), and he advertises them on the site for $750…some markup!

  2. Confused? 1980 hiwatt with plenty of labelling in marker
    James Cain

    I have a 100 watt FL-112 that I bought a few years ago. Serial #13578, type AP. The more I look into it, the more I’m confused. The front of the amp looks normal, but the entire back of the amp is labelled with magic marker directly on the chassis. The speaker is the strangest part. I thought the FL meant it had a Fane speaker. If mine ever did it’s been replaced, but the HH Acoustics speaker in there is model 1200E. the E is written in magic marker and I guess it means experimental like how Martin Acoustics uses the ‘E’ suffix. It is 200 watts. Impedence is 8ohms with the 8 written in marker. The slot for the speaker’s serial number has been left blank.

    Any insight anyone has would be greatly appreciated.

    1. Re: Confused? 1980 hiwatt with plenty of labelling in marker
      Paul Sheriff

      :I have also a Hiwatt FL 112, AP type but mine had the original ‘Hiwatt’ 12" speaker (made by Fane). Labelling is also ‘odd’- an aluminium plate which gives type, model and serial (12142). I’ve had this amp for 10 years or so but have never known its origins or year of manufacture…no magic marker on this baby either!

      1. Re: Confused? 1980 hiwatt with plenty of labelling in marker
        Bob Smith

        Well, the 13,000 range are supposed to be 1979 and 12,000 should be 78. If you take out the chassis there’s often a little sticker on it indicating when the wiring was completed. Can’t help you with the speaker…

  3. Amp Heaven or Tone heaven, out of london
    Rick Castleberry

    Look out for these guys as they do not do as they say and are untrustworthy dangerously close to being a total rip off!
    They advertise lots of hiwatt and english gear with no intention of following up after they have your money.
    tread very carefully.

    1. Re: Amp Heaven or Tone heaven, out of london
      Jim Fuge

      Can you give me your specific situation. I’d be very curious – I’m looking at buying a Hiwatt 212 Combo. Thanks.

      Jim

      : Look out for these guys as they do not do as they say and are untrustworthy dangerously close to being a total rip off!
      : They advertise lots of hiwatt and english gear with no intention of following up after they have your money.
      : tread very carefully.

    2. Re: Amp Heaven or Tone heaven, out of london
      Juko

      I live in Japan and I dealt with this company. It wasn’t fun: they tried on purpose to rip me off. Deal at your own risk with these guys.

      Look out for these guys as they do not do as they say and are untrustworthy dangerously close to being a total rip off!
      : They advertise lots of hiwatt and english gear with no intention of following up after they have your money.
      : tread very carefully.

  4. HIWATT STORY SITE ROCKS!
    Joe Ross

    If you are a fan of HIWATT amps, this site is definitely for you.
    The guys that run this site are the "gurus" of HIWATT. They have helped me get historical info on all of my vintage HIWATTs.Check it out.

    1. Re: HIWATT STORY SITE ROCKS!
      rüdiger stamm

      : If you are a fan of HIWATT amps, this site is definitely for you.
      : The guys that run this site are the "gurus" of HIWATT. They have helped me get historical info on all of my vintage HIWATTs.Check it out.

      1. hiwatt 50 custom combo
        rüdiger stamm

        hi,i own an old 50 custom combo from the 1970`s i think.
        the brilliant channel works pefectly but the normal one
        always sizzels and doesn´t work good… I´d like to know what the problem could be or maybe which new tubes could be right. thank you and keep on rockin´….

    2. Re: HIWATT sa 212 combo
      dillon johnson

      i picked up a hiwatt sa 212 combo about 3 years ago now for $600 AUS. from a local pawnbroker. i thought i was dreaming, as it was exactly what i had wanted. when i opened it up, the sticker was dated and tested 9/78 with initials i cannot remember. what makes this amp interesting is the fact that it has two vintage greenback celestions (30 watts) with orange amplification london caps which is apparently what most british companies did. you may be able to answer this quest. was it common for the sa 212 to have built in spring reverb and tremelo because mine has and says custom built in two vertical lines at the side. can you help?

      1. Re: HIWATT sa 212 combo
        adam b

        : i picked up a hiwatt sa 212 combo about 3 years ago now for $600 AUS. from a local pawnbroker. i thought i was dreaming, as it was exactly what i had wanted. when i opened it up, the sticker was dated and tested 9/78 with initials i cannot remember. what makes this amp interesting is the fact that it has two vintage greenback celestions (30 watts) with orange amplification london caps which is apparently what most british companies did. you may be able to answer this quest. was it common for the sa 212 to have built in spring reverb and tremelo because mine has and says custom built in two vertical lines at the side. can you help?

        1. Re: HIWATT sa 212 combo
          David Lanik

          : : i picked up a hiwatt sa 212 combo about 3 years ago now for $600 AUS. from a local pawnbroker. i thought i was dreaming, as it was exactly what i had wanted. when i opened it up, the sticker was dated and tested 9/78 with initials i cannot remember. what makes this amp interesting is the fact that it has two vintage greenback celestions (30 watts) with orange amplification london caps which is apparently what most british companies did. you may be able to answer this quest. was it common for the sa 212 to have built in spring reverb and tremelo because mine has and says custom built in two vertical lines at the side. can you help?

          1. Re: HIWATT sa 212 combo
            David Lanik

            : This amp you have is a great limited production HIWATT. Nobody builds amps like this quality anymore, and if they do you will pay a lot of money for it.
            : Reverb and tremolo were available from the factory. I never had one, but I remember "we buy" guitars on 48th street in NY had one. I think it was a 100 watt amp. Very sweet. The initials inside your amp might be those of the late Harry Joyce, or one of his crew.
            I just got another 50 watt SA-212 from 1973. Great stuff.
            Your amp is a nice limited production unit. Do yourself a favor and do not modify it. Many people play around with the gain in the pre-amp. Tese amps were not made to sound dirty or have lots of grinding distortion. Good luck, and use good n.o.s. tubes for best performance!

          2. Re: HIWATT sa 212 combo
            David Lanik

            This amp you have is a great limited production HIWATT. Nobody builds amps like this quality anymore, and if they do you will pay a lot of money for it.
            Reverb and tremolo were available from the factory. I never had one, but I remember "we buy" guitars on 48th street in NY had on. I think it was a 100 watt amp. Very sweet. The initials inside your amp might be those of the late Harry Joyce, or one of his crew.
            Your amp is a nice limited production unit. Do yourself a favor and do not modify it. Many people play around with the gain in the pre-amp. Tese amps were not made to sound dirty or have lots of grinding distortion. Good luck, and use good n.o.s. tubes for best performance!

          1. Re: HIWATT sa 212 combo
            bobby0

            I own a SA 2-12 combo I bought used back in 1982. I just love the tone and power of this amp. I switched the Fane speakers out with Celestion grenbacks because I felt the Fane’s were a little to thin sounding.I have always kept this amp in a road case but unfortunatly a screw protruding into the case hit right on the serial / model name plate on the back side. This scratched the numbers so their hard to read, but not impossible. As far as I can tell the serial number reads 11954. Can anyone tell me the date of Manufacture for this amp? My email is [email protected]
            Cheers!

            : I have the same amp and I don’t believe it was common to have a spring reverb and tremolo with that amp. I think you have one of the later ones with a definte odd speaker and cap situation…but hey these are 25 and 30 year old amps with a life of their own…. this is an email I received with some info:
            : Hi . . .

            : Thanks for writing about the 1973 Hiwatt DR 504. It’s always nice to hear from
            : fellow Hiwatt fans :-).

            : >Well although I cannot buy your fabulous head,
            : >I can say I am the proud owner of a sa212 combo from the 70’s?
            : >I really don’t know too much about it except that it is really clean
            : >and bright and just magical and I always get compiments on tone!

            : That’s a real coincidence ‘coz I used to own a SA212 back in the 80’s as well.
            : Someone had kinda rebuilt the cab and covered with that ugly carpet covering,
            : but it was a great combo. If your amp has a serial number of 6xxx or lower it
            : is one of the excellent issues before the "distortion-based" transition in
            : 1977. 1976 was 6xxx serial numbers, 1975 was 5xxx, oddly enough there were no
            : 4xxx numbers, but the 74’s are 3xxx. If you’re amp is from one of these years,
            : and is in good shape with the original speakers, it will be worth quite a bit.
            : Even so, it will be a very sought after item.

            : Regardless–don’t ever sell it <gg> :-).

          2. Re: HIWATT sa 212 combo
            chris campbell

            There is a SA212 combo up on E Bay…from the Biacrown era, serial # 0471…what can you tell me about the Hiwatt amps from this period? Thanks

          3. Re: HIWATT sa 212 combo
            Dillon Johnson

            : I have the same amp and I don’t believe it was common to have a spring reverb and tremolo with that amp. I think you have one of the later ones with a definte odd speaker and cap situation…but hey these are 25 and 30 year old amps with a life of their own…. this is an email I received with some info:
            : Hi . . .

            : Thanks for writing about the 1973 Hiwatt DR 504. It’s always nice to hear from
            : fellow Hiwatt fans :-).

            : >Well although I cannot buy your fabulous head,
            : >I can say I am the proud owner of a sa212 combo from the 70’s?
            : >I really don’t know too much about it except that it is really clean
            : >and bright and just magical and I always get compiments on tone!

            : That’s a real coincidence ‘coz I used to own a SA212 back in the 80’s as well.
            : Someone had kinda rebuilt the cab and covered with that ugly carpet covering,
            : but it was a great combo. If your amp has a serial number of 6xxx or lower it
            : is one of the excellent issues before the "distortion-based" transition in
            : 1977. 1976 was 6xxx serial numbers, 1975 was 5xxx, oddly enough there were no
            : 4xxx numbers, but the 74’s are 3xxx. If you’re amp is from one of these years,
            : and is in good shape with the original speakers, it will be worth quite a bit.
            : Even so, it will be a very sought after item.

            : Regardless–don’t ever sell it <gg> :-).

            Thanks for your reply. I know time has passed and I’d almost forgotten I’d even posted that message. It is definetely not a distortion based amp, but I found out the story behind the odd speaker combination. Apparently amp co.’s would buy the celestion greenbacks and request their own brand to be printed on the caps. So although you would presume the speakers were made by any particular co., they were all the good ol’ greenback 30’s.Thanks again!

          4. Re: This popular thread has been given its own page :... adam b
            adam b

            I have the same amp and I don’t believe it was common to have a spring reverb and tremolo with that amp. I think you have one of the later ones with a definte odd speaker and cap situation…but hey these are 25 and 30 year old amps with a life of their own…. this is an email I received with some info:
            Hi . . .

            Thanks for writing about the 1973 Hiwatt DR 504. It’s always nice to hear from
            fellow Hiwatt fans :-).

            >Well although I cannot buy your fabulous head,
            >I can say I am the proud owner of a sa212 combo from the 70’s?
            >I really don’t know too much about it except that it is really clean
            >and bright and just magical and I always get compiments on tone!

            That’s a real coincidence ‘coz I used to own a SA212 back in the 80’s as well.
            Someone had kinda rebuilt the cab and covered with that ugly carpet covering,
            but it was a great combo. If your amp has a serial number of 6xxx or lower it
            is one of the excellent issues before the "distortion-based" transition in
            1977. 1976 was 6xxx serial numbers, 1975 was 5xxx, oddly enough there were no
            4xxx numbers, but the 74’s are 3xxx. If you’re amp is from one of these years,
            and is in good shape with the original speakers, it will be worth quite a bit.
            Even so, it will be a very sought after item.

            Regardless–don’t ever sell it <gg> :-).

        1. enseignement
          aristie

          Bonjour cher monsieur
          Je viens vous demandé si ce possible de m’enseigner le cours de schema electrique à partir de mon adresse e-mail.

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