HIWATT - DR103 1971
All Original - 35 years of patina.
Svetlana EL34's
Serial No. 1527 Made in the New Malden Workshop - ENGLAND 1971
True Military Point to Point Hardwire Craftmanship. Notice the simple turret tag
and carbon board design. All original mustard caps except the one purple cap on the
left. Replaced by Tony Bruno when the amp was tuned up in 2005.
Notice how HIWATT's right angle bends on all of the white hardwire connecting the pots are done. Precise, and correct point to point craftmanship was the standard at HIWATT.
The wire harness is bound with precise winding.
The amp sleeve was made out of high quality birch. Assembled with propper joints and screws.
The bottom of the sleeve has a tin sheet that is used as a "faraday" shield for the amp chassis.
This shield reduces edi-current noise. Hiwatt Amplifiers are extremely quiet circuits. Ideal for
recording and playing LOUD.
Original screws throughout, with original patina.
Notice the framing inside the sleeve. HIWATT was top quality construction and assembly.
Original Rubber feet, worn like erasers...
The chassis mounting bolts. 3 Originals, and 1 missing. The only thing missing on the amp. Incredible for 35 years.
HIWATT 100 watt Amplifiers are Incredible for clean tones and real real loud natural distortion.
Pink Floyd, The WHO and many others' music was/is graced by HIWATT Amplifiers and speaker
cabinets. Solid reliable amplifiers that deliver clean tones like no other. Ideal foundation for a
effects and pedals. A very "true grit" amplifier. This one is very authentic 1971 and has been
in good care for 35 years. The original owner must have been "Greg Hamilton" as you can see
his name engraved lightly on the back of the chassis, and lightly above the power switch and standby.Finding original old HIWATT equipment is a treat. Amoung the HIWATT collectors, not many but a fair
amount of good complete component amp untis do exists. However, most collectors are not parting
with them.The purchase of a HIWATT amplifier from a reliable source typically can insure you are getting a quality amp unit, that is timeless.Original Harry Joyce amps were/are of course just as serious as the HIWATT. Harry Joyce has passed
away leaving another "name" in amplification to lay claim to by an industry absorbed by individuals that
know not even one chord on a guitar.A few companies in the UK have tried making reissue HIWATT equipment. None of the reissue manufacturers use the original transformer in the horizontal format or the precise hardwire craftmanship is no where close to what Dave Reeves sought perfection from Harry Joyce and his stealth military grade crew.
Apparently FERNANDES own the HIWATT Trademark in North America, Canada and Japan and have made great legal efforts Global, with success, shutting down the illegal activity of shops in the UK that have made bootleg HIWATT amplifiers and cabinets for backdoor distribution. Apparently HIWATT UK manufacturer items for all trademark owners, USA, Japan, and the UK.
Hiwatt was created under controversy by an engineer working for yet another amp company. In 1964 the
first HIWATT that Dave Reeves built had a script logo just like the company he worked for called Vortexian.
Dave started with VORTEXIAN in 1962. In 1964 Dave Reeves jumped ship to become the main engineer
for SOUND CITY. In 1966 Dave Reeves started HYLIGHT ELECTRONICS [ HIWATT ] while still working for
SOUND CITY. In 1967 Dave decided to make 100% dedication to his own product, leaving SOUND CITY to
work from his couch in his New Malden home living room.It seems common ground that British amps and cabs that were created and built by thier original owners,
leave a crowd of people in the wake that lay claim to the next generations production of amps based on the deceased originator's name.HIWATT and HARRY JOYCE Amplifiers both seem to have production and trademark ownership on both sides
of the Atlantic, and now with Japan. As a consumer, who could know where the amp or cab is really made?The trained eye in the industry can tell at the difference in production runs that are legally manufactured under Trademark and the ones that are not that still find there way into the market.
A common practice of these bootleg shops is to ship the cabinets seperate from the LOGO badges and
the serial numbers are usually not marked on the item. In the event you feel your item is not an
authentic HIWATT produced item, contact HIWATT HQ in the USA direct or Steve R. Fidler, at
HIWATT UK who is Technical Production and Design for all HIWATT Amplifiers Worldwide. [ 2005 ]He clarified questions floating in the industry, when we asked direct about Matamp UK's production
involvement with legal HIWATT production of Amps and Cabs. In brief, beyond the few prototype speaker cabinets in 2001 that MATAMP UK made for HIWATT UK, Mr. Fidler states that no person at MATAMP UK have legal connection to HIWATT UK amps or cabs. [per October 24th, 2005 - 8:15AM London Time ]Articles about these incidents can be found in several Music Industry Magazines from 1999 to current.
If you are buying a HIWATT item mail order unseen, purchase it from a reliable source in America.
For legit information from HIWATT go to the official site at WWW.HIWATT.COM1971 HIWATT DR103 / CUSTOM HIWATT 100:
-Well sought after and highly collectable
-Great amplifier for all around music, for all venues.
-Loud, clean and Loud.
-Expect to pay more for the older models that are excellent to good with original patina.AMP BLUE BOOK VALUE:
EXCELLENT TO MINT: $ 1800-3500
GOOD WORKING CONDITION: $ 1250-2100
GOOD WORKING BUT BEAT: $ 900-1250
BLOWN but GOOD CONDITION: $ 900
BLOWN but BEAT: $ 400-900
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