Indeed, in groove tubes president aspen pittmans book, the tube amp book, the hiwatt dr103 is listed as one of the top 10 greatest amplifiers of all time. He began using the hiwatts model after using modified sound city l100 sc105 amplifiers with hiwatt badges, which he used beginning late 1968. Hiwatt dr103 experts please help with 2 hole vs 4 hole. This page is my attempt to correct the general lack of schematics and technical information about hiwatt amplifiers. Service manuals, schematics, eproms for electrical technicians.
Hiwatt maxwatt spitfire electric guitar fantastic and powerful hiwatt guitar amplifier. Hiwatt maxwatt spitfire still nice condition, it is a bit worn but apart from that a very nice item. I know the hiwatt soundvoicing is what i require, but i also wanted the awesome cleanheadroom the early 70s heads are known for. One handdrawn set of schematics has been widely circulated, and published in. Hiwatt dr103 custom 100 watt guitar amplifier head sonic circus. Hiwatt cp103 and dr103w pete townshends guitar gear whotabs. Hiwatt style buffer and cathode follower in blackface. Originally posted by fftt these guys build cabs for all kinds of companies. Another possibility for new builds not a dropin replacement is a generic. Hiwattcustom 100 dr103 owners page 4 the gear page. Aug 20, 2016 recorded with a tascam dr 40, no overdrive, just a reverb from my tc electronic nova system. As for drive pedals i think the boss od3 monte allums gt plus mod sounds very nice and also the emma reezafratzitz.
The stage amplifier pete townshend used almost exclusively from 1969 to 1982. Single coils first, humbuckers after 7m00s this dr103 is equipped with a different preamp from most hiwatts. I dont know if they ship to eu, but ill bet someone does. I have a 1977 hiwatt dr 103 and made a small clip this week with a fuzz face and a fulltone mdv 3, its not high quality recording as it was done with my iphone and you hear my strumming. Mar 08, 2014 a modified hiwatt version of the amp page was using during the royal albert hall concert in 1970 rah and a classic hiwatt dr 103 version wiio. Looking for a vintage marshall super lead, 197071this is a beautifully clean 1972 hiwatt custom 100 from the original hylight dave reevesharry joyce era. Mhuss hiwatt amplifier pages hiwatt registry part 3. In the united states especially, hiwatt custom 100 dr103s can be found and bought at a tremendous value. Custom 50 dr 504 style faceplate set select your colour. It works great as either a clean amp or with pedals, since you probably wont have the luxury of turning it up loud enough. Recorded with a tascam dr 40, no overdrive, just a reverb from my tc electronic nova system. Vintage 1970s 1974 hiwatt custom 100 100w dr103 valve amplifier headwe purchased this off of the original owner, who had owned this since new, and had ordered it from a local store back in the 1970s. Sorry for my playing, it was just a test with my new telecaster.
The hiwatt custom 100 features a dual channel preamp with low and high sensitivi. Anyway, while perusing dr103 schematics, it looked to me like the hiwatt preamp wasnt that much different than my ab763. I loves me some hiwatt tone for sure, but id need at least two dr103s to even hear my bass loud enough to tune it. Hiwatt tube amp schematics, hoffman amps tube amp schematic library. Vhr is a good retail outlet for these hammond is now making output transformers with normal 04816 secondaries.
Its a great time to upgrade your home music studio gear with the largest selection at. There is no other amp quite like a hiwatt through a vintage 4x12 cabinet. Fractal audios hipower models are based on hiwatt s flagship product. Reeves custom 100 hiwatt dr103 issue the amp garage. Hiwatt custom superhi 50 head 50watt guitar amp maxwatt amplifier. Hiwatt cp103 and dr103w pete townshends guitar gear. For a low impedance driver like a cathode follower, this is a highlyaccurate assumption. As long as the internal chamber of the cab is open, youre going to get cross bleed between the ev and the fane even if you just mic up the fane. Hiwatt custom 100 dr 103 1972 amp for sale epica music center. Hylight 4input modded amp, owned since 1976, still my main amp. This has been well looked after since new, and it is now ready for a new home. Discussion in amps and cabs started by teh redwizard, nov 17, 2015. Made in kingstonengland, this one has the serialnr.
Im selling a clone of a hiwatt dr103, handmade in florida by gosh sound amps. Roky gives a good tone comparison in the last week or so two of my hiwatt clone customers one has a dr103 clone and one has a 120 watt sound city 120 hiwatt conversion came over to bs and they both plugged into my beater bf showman head wmr springgy reverb pedal thru an avatar 2x12 open back. Hiwatt diagrams, schematics and service manuals download for free. I know v4 is always the pi, but next tube in the signalflow is there v5. Nicesounding and clean 1980 hiwatt dr 103 10watt alltube amplifiers in excellent and all orginal condition. Apr 11, 2020 hylight 4input this dr 103 was found in mint condition,with original mullard tubes from 77,it is the cleanest hiwatt that ive ever seen, one in a thousand. Hiwatt dr103 custom 100 tube guitar amp head musicians friend.
After training at marconi and mullard, reeves worked for mullard in the mid 60s, and built amps for ivor arbiters sound city music store in 6768, but was developing his. It has been serviced with new electrolytic caps, upgraded flameproof screen grid resistors across the tube pins, and was fitted with a variable bias pot since they dont make tubes like. Their model 1650ta is good for a 100 watt and 1650ka for a 50 watt. As with all hiwatt circuits, you can jumper the channels to blend the 2 tones stacks and add more gain. Most notably, the hiwatt features a buffer gain stage with a volume pot for padding and then what i believe is called a cathode follower gain stage between the stage which makes up for eq drops and the phase inverter. Jfet version of the hiwatt dr103 preamp, with a few extra components to hopefully. According to schematics ive perused, hiwatt apparently produced two versions of the dr201. Output circuit wiring was done following any of the old hiwatt dr103 schematics. Hiwatt dr 103, dr 112, se4122 diezel vr4s rivera s120 dr.
Im currently looking for a good attenuator, so i can crank my hiwatt. A modified hiwatt version of the amp page was using during the royal albert hall concert in 1970 rah and a classic hiwatt dr 103 version wiio. The hiwatt name was then sold to richard harrison and his u. Hiwatt dr103 dr504 modulus uk guitar amp parts and kits. These caps are inexpensive, high quality, and rated at 105 degrees c, but come in an odd 1. You can custom order as you wish and the prices are reasonable. I believe this amp has less than a 100 hours of playing time on it. I replaced a transformer and one tube socket in the late 70s. And now, please take a look at this 400 watt power supply schematic on which this amps power supply is modeled on. Hiwatt amps have a sound of their own, especially in combination with the famous fane speakers. The first actual hiwatt labeled models featured the same circuit as the cp103 but did not feature the the who branded. Populated preamp board, using two watt carbon film resistors, and mallory 150 film caps detail of snapin cap mounting. Hiwatt late 60s fourlnput preamp preamp trom dr103 sin 903 drawng rev 1.
Hylight 4input custom 100, original exept for replacement philips el34 tubes, caps and mains toggle. Aiming more for that classic dr 103 tone i started getting parts to build the wiio circuit using a schematic. The stack is also found in sound city amplifiers like the sc105. Hylight 4input, partridge transformers, 200 uf capacitors dated 74. I believe ive currently got 6l6s for power and 12ax7s for the preamps both groove tubes brand. Nice handmade amplifier made in england, the amp has just been serviced and works fine and is very reliable. If you are buying a hiwatt item mail order unseen, purchase it from a reliable source in america. One with six el34s in the output stage, the other powered by four kt88s. Constructed exactly like the dave reeves original dr 103, making this amp sound like no other. To really get into the hiwatt sound, youll need at least 2x el34 and the massive transformers starting at the custom 50s. The hiwatt 200 watt amp does infact follow this type of design and gives the expected 200 watts please see this 200 watt power supply schematic below. Hiwatt dr103112 sch service manual download, schematics. Aug 08, 2014 the hiwatt custom 100 dr103 august 8, 2014 amplifier features, amplifiers 100 dr103, custom, hiwatt david szabados when marshall amplifiers became wildly popular on the music scene in the mid 60s, clone and copy makers soon followed with their own versions of the famous marshall super lead design. The cab is loaded with g12m pre rolas and while im waiting for a fane loaded cab, they did a great job pairing with the hiwatt.
Well sought after and highly collectablegreat amplifier for all around music, for all venues. Hiwatt personalizzati dr 103 modello originale 100, anno 1972, grande epoca hiwatt, con trasformatori partridge. Here is the tone stack from the hiwatt cp103, better known as the amp. Its been nearly four years since they were replaced. Heyboer transformers in michigan, usa, is now making hiwatt style ots, using highgrade lams and winding patterns like the original. Replaced all the tube sockets with the same persisting issue. First, well assume that the driving circuit has an output impedance of zero.
Hylight slave 100w slave amp dr 103 on serial number plate, dated 141174 on sticker. Its factory spec, it was apparently one of about 50 made between 1969 and 1970. The sound of a custom 100 stack at full tilt is truly amazing, with power and responsiveness guaranteed to blow your socks off. Yes, the hiwatt dr 201 is an amazing amp, great for bass, guitar or keyboards. The hiwatt custom 100 features a dual channel preamp with low and high sensitivity input for each, 100 watts of all tube output, and individual controls for brilliant normal inputs, bass, treble, mid, presence and master volume. I bought this hiwatt in 1981 and am only the second owner. I have the reeves custom 225 which is the same circuit in a true 2 channel dr 201 circuit, but a 2 holer configuration. Servicing of a hiwatt dr405 400 watt clone amplifier. I am curious as to how different you would say the 2 and 4 hole models compare as far as the best clean sound possible. Here is the tone stack from the hiwatt cp103, better known as the amp created for the who. Save up for a reeves 225, or get ready to carry two dr103s around.
Hiwatt has proudly crafted truly handmade amplifiers and cabinets, serving the worlds best players since 1966. Hiwatt dr 103 custom 100 watt 1980 black tolex amp for sale. This is the legendary hiwatt circuit that started it all each dr103 is an authentic and faithful reproduction of dave reeves original amplifier. The hiwatt custom 50 dr504 is the original alltube 50 watt hiwatt head that preceded the reissues of the 1990s. One handdrawn set of schematics has been widely circulated, and published in both pittman and webers books, and a few audio brothers schematics have been seen in the wild. Theoretically, the fourkt88 model is more capable of producing the 200watt stated output than the sixel34 version, which would probably be closer to 150 watts. Mhuss hiwatt amplifier pages hiwatt registry part 2. In order to keep up with the times, this collaboration began offering a line of asianmade amps under the hiwatt name that included solidstate models in their bulldog series of amplifiers.
Hiwatt dr 103 tone stack after preamp section we were talking for a long time about different kind of amp circuits, and he suggested me trying to move the tone stack after the preamp section. The hiwatt dr103 custom 100 featured an 11tube chassis pushing 100 watts through two separate channels that used either two or four inputs. Vintage 1970s 1974 hiwatt custom 100 100w dr103 valve. Hi everyone, my 1973 hiwatt dr103 custom 100 is in need of some new tubes. This hiwatt dr103 custom 100 was built for the band by reeves in 69, in the small garage of his house in new malden, surrey, when hiwatt was a oneman operation. To simplify the mathematics, well make two important assumptions. This entry was posted in amps and tagged dr103, hiwatt. Aiming more for that classic dr 103 tone i started getting parts to build the wiio circuit using a schematic i found on the forum and the great layouts by guitarfx layouts. The ev in this blend serves more as a foundational cake, where the fane is the icing on top. Aug 24, 20 the hiwatt name was then sold to richard harrison and his u. Ronnie woods 69 hiwatt 100 dr103 vintage guitar magazine. Circuit simulation modeling vacuum tube guitar amplifiers using spice. It works great as either a clean amp or with pedals, since you probably wont have the luxury of turning it up loud enough for it to break up although im sure it sounds g. Handwired, classic tube sound from across the pond.