New Amp: Hiwatt DR103 Reissue in Red Tolex

I’ve always been curious about the Hiwatt sound - like many others, I’ve heard it constantly on famous rock records and it’s hard to talk about Hiwatt without also talking about Led Zeppelin. These amps are famous for being extremely loud, and clean - really with a unique tonestack and circuit design that gave them very interesting overdrive characteristics.

My first introduction to HIwatt in person was actually a Lead 50R from the 80s. I was pretty new to playing guitar back then and wouldn’t know good tone if it slapped me in the face, but I remember liking the sounds I got out of that amp’s lead channel a lot. There’s quite a bit of fog surrounding Hiwatt going into the 80s era, and sadly I have yet to play another Lead 50R for comparison.

My understanding however, is that the Lead 50R is not the true Hiwatt sound - so I hunted down DR103’s and DR504’s until I came across this very interesting one. This amp was made by “Music Ground” in Doncaster in 2005, and there is some dubious history around this era. Apparently, Music Ground was caught selling and storing stolen guitars, along with rampart rumors of counterfeit amps and so on. That controversy aside, this DR103 sounds, plays, and feels just like a Hiwatt should.

I’ve been told that Hiwatts are loud, I really didn’t expect it to be quite like this - I’ve been told that JCM800’s are loud, yet I can sit here and play my 800 in comfort all day in my home studio. This Hiwatt however can really not be tamed, even with the built in master volume. That true Hiwatt sound - power tube distortion in its purest form - is just not achievable in my tiny space, which is too bad. That said, I can see why these are so well loved - it’s one of the most clear and neutral pedal platforms I’ve ever played through, and the one change I had to really open it up (I stood down the hall with a long cable) I could hear that great, classic tone. Perhaps an attenuator is due to really experience all this amp has to offer in a studio setting - probably required for playing out too at least at any normal sized venue.

New Amp: Marshall Vintage Modern 2466

These always intrigued me, but having owned a “real” plexi like the 1987x and choosing that over the JTM45 type Marshalls, I never made this amp a priority. Well that was a mistake!

I expected it to only do a JTM45/100 approximation, and a mediocre one at that but I am pleasantly surprised. The body and detail controls allow a lot of fine tuning to the sound - just like jumpering the inputs of a Plexi or JTM - but in “high dynamic range” mode engages another pair of tube gain stages what push it into that coveted “modded” territory. While it’s no modern ultra-high gain monster, it’s surprisingly aggressive sounding, the mid boost is very effective at thickening it up for classic sounds, and like all bright Marshalls it excels when boosted too. Of course, it is still focused on the more classic JTM style sounds, so its voicing lends itself more towards those tones and it can be very loose in the bass response compared to more modern cascading gain designs. That means it isn’t a replacement for a high gain Marshall style amp on its own, since it requires pedals to get there, but it excels at classic low to mid gain rock and gets dirty enough for early metal styles too.

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I’m looking forward to doing a few more comparisons between this and my 1987x, and 2203. It’ll be interesting to see which I like the most.

New Amp: Splawn Modded 1987x Plexi

I’ve always loved my Splawns - starting with the 2008, then adding a 2018. Once I got the 2006 though, I was blown away, and I was much more interested in trying out some of the older revisions of the circuit. I happened across this Marshall 1987x modded by Splawn, dating to 2003, and I had to find out.

The core tone is classic Splawn, with thick mids, and it retains the same bright cut as my 2006 Quickrod. It does have noticeably less bass response compared even to the 2006 - which itself is less bassy than the 2008 and in turn the 2018’s I’ve had. It’s cool to see how over time, more and more bass was added to the tone as players tune lower and lower.

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Despite lacking the modern super-deep bass thing, it does have a killer core tone, perfect for 80s hard rock and metal. It has a footswitchable rhythm mode and solo boost, but lead is obviously the focus of this amp. The only negative I can say is that just like all of my other Splawns, the gain control is really more of a “suggestion” and panning it from 3 to 7 is hardly any different, adding a little more compression but not drastically affecting the tone. Couple that with the somewhat odd, Splawn signature mids voicing and it’s really not able to cover classic plexi crunch tones, despite what the head shell might indicate.

New Amp: Ceriatone King Kong 50

I’ve been looking for one of these on and off since the Chupacabra first hit the scene almost a decade ago. I really should’ve ordered one way sooner - but something about waiting 6-8 weeks bothered me. That was a pretty dumb attitude to have because I waited far more than that to get one, and I frequently saw them listed for sale for nearly brand new prices.

I finally located one - priced less than a brand new one - so I jumped on it. I have to say, I am extremely impressed. This may be one of if not the best amp in my entire collection. It can be dialed so many different ways and can really authentically capture classic Marshall tones, flip a few switches and it’s into 80s metal territory or further which is perfect for me. I’m very impressed with this amp and it is certainly a keeper. I think it’s time I looked at a few other Ceriatone models - the DZ30 and AH50 Deluxe both really pique my interest.

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New Amp: Marshall 2555x Silver Jubilee Reissue... again

I felt that I didn’t really give his amp a proper chance, so here I am trying it again… and at a better price than I paid for the first one as an added bonus!

My first impression is that it’s very meh through my vintage G12T-75’s, which I love for most things. However, it comes alive through Vintage-30’s…. no surprise there as it was designed with that speaker in mind and Jubilee cabinets come equipped with those from factory.

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I’ve since rewired my cabinet so I no longer have the G12H-100 connected that I initially played this amp through the first time I had one. I still think that’s a great speaker and I’ll have to try it back to back with the V30’s and see how it performs with this amp. The more I collect amps, the more I am finding that certain amps just don’t get along with certain speakers.

New Amp: 2x Marshall JCM900 Mk III - 50w and 100w

Two lovely new Marshalls arrived this week - a pair of JCM900 Mk III’s. I have had the model 2501 for a while (50w Mk III 1x12 combo), and love it, but I’ve been trying to get away from combo amps and keep the heads instead. I spotted a Mk III for a good price on Guitar Center’s listings, so I pulled the trigger. Then the very next day, another one, this time even cheaper! I figured I could return the other one if necessary, so I ordered that one too.

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The first one arrived and ended up being a 2500 model, 50 watter. It’s in pretty rough shape both externally and has a loose tube socket rivet, which makes it a big question mark even at the price I got it for… I have some time in the return period to decide. I’ve already spent some time cleaning it up and it does sound great, however.

The second arrived a day later, a 2100 model, 100 watter. I have no preference between 50w and 100w, but since I have the SL-X and a 100w JCM800 2203, I think it’d be cool to have all three of them in 100w form, even if just for the sake of comparison. This one is much cleaner condition wise - hardly any rust at all. On a closer inspection, this head shell has been recovered - a few spots lifting on the back but overall a quality tolex job though it doesn’t match the factory Marshall material. The main pause on this unit is the grid resistors for the power tubes clearly burned out internally - there are some burn marks on the PCB and it has had a professional repair internally - the resistors are now mounted directly to the power tubes like a vintage Marshall would have done. A fuse was also moved to a holder for easier replacement - overall good modifications though I wish the scarring inside weren’t so visible, just for the sake of possibly selling it on later.

After some extensive A/B testing, the 50w is brighter but punchier, but overall I think the 100w has a slight edge on the tone - but that might also be related to the replaced/new components internally (it also has several new caps - I checked the values and they are the same as the factory schematic) which warm it up a bit more. The jury is still out on these two but I’m leaning towards keeping the 100w and sending back the 50w, and someone who appreciates these will get a good deal on it.

New Amp: Kasha Rockmod 50 Head

I spotted this online for what seemed like an incredible price for a USA made boutique amp with top of the line components. I’ve had a few smaller name amps and been really blown away by them (PWE) and some that were awful (Kruse) so I really didn’t know what to expect here.

I know it’s a cliche, but all I can say is “wow!” This is a great sounding amp, really amazing tones. Channel 1 is a very full sounding clean tone, not too sparkly but reminds me the Normal channel on a plexi. Channel 2 is crunch, and with the gain about half does a great single channel JCM800 impression with a lot of brightness and grit just like the real one sitting only a few feet away. Channel 3 is the highlight for me, of course, as a fan of high gain tones. It keeps the same core tone going from the previous channel, but now you have a standard “gain” control as well as one titled “post” which effectively is a saturation control. Tweaking these two controls back and forth already results in a variety of great tones before even touching the EQ. Count me a big fan of this amp, and it looks great with so many tubes inside through the mesh front panel, and the HUGE Mercury Magnetics transformers inside.

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Another really awesome feature, which I can’t wait to play around with more, is a switch on the front panel called “OT,” short for Output Tubes. It allows you to select from A or B right on the front panel - and all tubes are running so you can switch while playing and really hear the differences between them. Basically, you can put in two different pairs of power tubes, say 6L6 and EL34, and swap between them. Currently, it has a pair of 6550’s and a pair of EL34’s, and it’s very cool to hear the differences between those. This is what I expected from the Egnater Renegade, but was disappointed in the preamp section of that amp even though the blendable power section was cool. While the Rockmod doesn’t allow me to blend the two tube types, the preamp section is fantastic so I’m totally happy with this feature.