Which is the Hiwatt?

kevlar3000

kevlar3000

Bullet Proof Toneologist
Things are a bit slow today, so I figured I would throw up a mic. Three old amps, one is a Hiwatt DR-504. Just wanted to see who picked what. This is not gourmet recording, used a PZM about 10 feet back and then recorded a simple clip for each amp. Added a lil delay at mix, using a Thinline Tele I threw together with a GFS 50s wind. The cab is an old Vox 4/12 that I have loaded as a 2/15. EV 15B and an Emi Big Ben... Weber Mass in play with all of em...

http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=10411774&q=hi&newref=1
 
Re: Which is the Hiwatt?

Kev, dude, wasssaup !!!!
please give me 6 or 7 hours to get home and to listen to this, I love these blind tests!!
THanks.
 
Re: Which is the Hiwatt?

they all sounded pretty good, nice and ballsy when you upped the guitar volume- i dunno what a hiwatt is supposed to sound like, but apart from the delay, theres a really prominent ringing sound on all three tracks sounds like someone hitting a bottle or a loose tube, but seeing as its on all three, but im sure its just room resonance or mic placement. Also i think i can hear the acoustic sound of your strings.
 
Re: Which is the Hiwatt?

I will keep silent for the Dr.... Gibson, yes the heat came on and was blowing downward onto the PZM, that sucker picks up everything, including the strings as I was back near the mic. Volume was very high. This was not a scientific breakdown, so just rolled with what the moment presented.
 
Re: Which is the Hiwatt?

I would still have no idea which amp was the hiwatt regardless, because ive never played one....but maybe a better comparison would be close mics and no delay.
Oh yeah FWIW i picked up THE BEST tip from a sound engineer i know (this guy used to work for EMI in London and has recorded some ridiculous names like George Benson, John Lee Hooker, and believe it or not none other than Jimmy Page!).....anyway you can file this great tidbit of info away for future reference.....
When close mic.ing
Firstly - you need to be careful when doing this.. make sure noone will accientally knock or play any instruments because you will be wearing phones.
....plug the guitars in but have the volumes set to OFF....max the gain and level on the mic...also max the volume on the gutar amps.....
Put on some headphones as a monitor and (wearing the phones) move the mic close to the speaker - you will hear a lot of swishy white noise. Put the mic close as possible to the grill cloth in line with the center of the speaker, then lock the height of the mic...then move it slowly towards the edge of the speaker until the swishy white noise drops in pitch (pefect spot). If you keep moving the mic, the noise will increase again, so you will know when its right. Lock it in. Turn the guitar amp bac to whatever volume/eq/ whatever that you like.
Go back to the desk and set gain and mic levels back to a more useful level to remove mic clipping. and restore headroom. Take off the cans. Killer sound guaranteed.
 
Re: Which is the Hiwatt?

I'll have to go with #3 as well. I've only heard hiwatts played with as much gain as they could give (a few great bands in Quebec city used 'em for pretty heavy stuff) and the more gainy part of #3 reminded me of it a bit... I could be horribly wrong though.
 
Re: Which is the Hiwatt?

Hmmm two 3s, very interesting... The drama is BUILDING, can you feel the fever pitch?

Many thanks for the tips Gibson, I close mic'd from the mid 80s through 2004 or so and then I fell in love with the slighty ragged, rough around the edges way that a room mic can capture an amp. There is a roundness about that method that I really like, far from pristine audio, but there is a unique personality that comes from it. It just seems to compliment my head these days. When I bring the recording A game, I am very pleased with the results. This clip is far from the major leagues, at best, it is a 33 year old catcher who just got cut from A ball....
 
Re: Which is the Hiwatt?

I like amp #1 with full volume the best. It may not be a Hiwatt, but if I was to imagine the idealized sound of a Hiwatt I would choose #1. Amp #1 had the widest variation of tone with volume. Amp #2 gets darker and mushier with volume. Amp #3 has a midrange spike that is perfectly constant, no matter the volume.
 
Re: Which is the Hiwatt?

I really didn't care for #2, it was too "spitty" and raw for my taste, sounds like a low wattage amp clipped to hell. #3 tone wise kinda nails what I've always had as the "Hiwatt sound" in my head. It's got that openness, that power, but it's got that clarity to boot. The compression in #1 kinda steers me away from what I've always thought the Hiwatt sound was, but I thought that one sounded great as well.

So, put me in for #3 as well and if I'm wrong I'll put my foot in my mouth...hehe
 
Re: Which is the Hiwatt?

A fun thread! Loving the feedback... Amp number 2 is a great amp but this cab is not its fave...
 
Re: Which is the Hiwatt?

its a tie between between 1 and 3, but I will go with 1, I hear Gilmour there ..
 
Re: Which is the Hiwatt?

Cool, Doc got to play! This was not so much about the Hiwatt, as it was about an amp I picked up for 80.00 that has blown my mind... Very good ears out there !! Counting down from 3...

AMP 3 HIWATT DR-504

AMP 2 Sound City 50+ ( great sounding amp,but not represented as well on this clip)

AMP 1, SOLID STATE 80.00 hunk of junk that blows my mind.... So the clip is with the channels jumped, volumes 75% up. When I got it home, I was like holy crap this sounds a lot like a Hiwatt. I agree totally with what Snowdog said, that it is kind of the ideal of a Hiwatt voice. Never in a million years would I have guessed it! Need a Hiwatt? Save up your hard earned 100.00 and buy this! BTW the pic is not mine, but it is a cool pic...
1868.JPG
 
Re: Which is the Hiwatt?

Wow, amp 1 was a Peavey Solid State amp, huh? Now that's an amp well worth picking up! That one's a 260H, right?
 
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Re: Which is the Hiwatt?

Man I hate that I didn't get in before the buzzer on this one. I'm admittedly weak on what compromises the Hiwatt sound per se, but I was going to go with #3 because the bends you did reacted just like the recordings I've heard being performed by some of the greats using the Hiwatt. The Hiwatt gets very distinctive when you do that methinks. It's a little smoother and more "refined" sounding while the other two are kind of in your face about it (but not in a bad way). To my ears, the first amp sounded better than the second and it was closer to the sound of the real Hiwatt.
 
Re: Which is the Hiwatt?

Sorry about not letting you get in on the action Scott... The news was SO big I just...lol

How a SS PV does a good PV imitation baffles me. They should be launching these as their SS line of amps, for those craving vintage sounds... There is a very specific Hiwatt snarl that only the Hiwatt does, but I love some less expensive options...
 
Re: Which is the Hiwatt?

That90'sGuy said:
Wow, amp 1 was a Peavey Solid State amp, huh? Now that's an amp well worth picking up! That one's a 260H, right?
Click to expand...


Yep that is it. Well worth snatching one up! I had the distortion control on zero, this is just using the amps volume until there was breakup.
 
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