Hiwatt, kicked off in the late 1960s under the guidance of former Sound City guru Dave Reeves, gave Marshall a run for their money. With artists such as The Who, Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones and Jethro Tull the brand was at the forefront of guitar amplification for the remainder of the 1960s and much of the 1970s. Dave Reeves’ untimely death and severe licensing problems threw the trade mark into the doldrums for much of the next two decades. Hiwatt’s second coming arrived once new trademark owner Richard Harrison took control pursuing an aggressive marketing policy during the present century. This has been proven with new artists such as Coldplay, The Killers, The Enemy and Arctic Monkeys embracing the truly unmistakeable Hiwatt sound. In short Hiwatt is back amongst the top five amplification companies in the world.
The Hiwatt is the classic British Rock 'n' Roll Amplifier still built to the highest standard. Road tested by a generation of great musicians, British Hiwatt Amplifiers have proven their dependability and durability year after year. Since 1963, Hiwatt products have been built in England to the highest specifications, using only the best components available.
Today, a highly skilled team of engineers continue to custom-build Hiwatt amplification products to those original specifications, providing the power and reliability that the professionals have come to expect.
These are the models that made the Hiwatt name what it is. Constructed exactly like the Dave Reeves originals, with marine ply cabinets, point-to-point wiring and original specification Partridge design transformers making these amps sound like no other. The sound of a Custom 100 stack at full tilt is truly awesome, the sheer power and responsiveness is guaranteed to blow your socks off. Go on! Indulge yourself!
The Hiwatt artists’ roster is still growing at a healthy rate as players from around the world join an already impressive list of acts that have realised the Hiwatt sound allows them to develop their own, unique sonic stamp. The UK's While She Sleeps, After Bailout from Estonia and The Features from the US are the latest additions. Their profiles will be up on the artist section soon.....
The already bomb-proof Hiwatt Custom series of hand wired tube amps will be available with KBO Dynamics’ TubeSync technology from next month onwards. The tube monitoring system analyses constantly the condition of the output EL34s fitted in their amplifiers in real time. Not only will TubeSync micro-tune the biases on each tube, alert the user to any possible problems, in the unlikely event of a tube letting go switch the offending pair out, but will also extend the life of the tubes as a matter of course.....
Four new Hiwatt tube pedals are now shipping following their launch at Frankfurt MusikMesse in March. The Tube Overdrive, Tube Distortion, Tube Tremolo and Tube Phaser are now available through the usual channels and have been warmly received by the press.
Hiwatt were very proud to receive such high marks, in this months Guitar and Bass Magazine, which put us above all other notable amplifier brands manufacturing effects pedals. This review is available to view in the downloads section. ....