Prodigal Hiwatt Clone Returns

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gldtp99
Posts: 226
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 9:21 am
Location: N. Texas

Prodigal Hiwatt Clone Returns

Post by gldtp99 »

I built this Hiwatt DR103 clone @10 yrs ago (more or less) and it was owned by at least two different players--- it saw heavy use as a rehearsal/recording/stage amp and has been used in many different parts of the USA.
It came back to me yesterday for a low price--- all beat up, dirty, road worn but still operational.
I cleaned it up and put in a new quad of EL34's, select old production preamp tubes------ did some service to the tonestack, a 1n cap was leaking voltage and making the Treb control act as if it was in reverse (strange problem here)---- new 1n (M150) and Treb cap (used a 240pF Ceramic Disc 1000V---- epoxy dipped Mil Surplus) and rewired the 22k resistor on the Treb pot---- and all is well.
A friend played it for over 2 hrs with his looper/pedal board and liked it very much----- another player played downtuned Metal (with Metalzone) and was mostly impressed with the clean headroom of the amp (with delay) and not with the crappy Metalzone pedal--- but he even dialed that POS in and got usable tones for his style.
Then later I played it with a Maxon analog delay and an OCD (with the metal guy playing bass) when my drummer friend stopped over (the loudest drummer in the world)----- I liked it a lot, a big headroom, great sounding amp----- fun time playing, I don't get time for playing much anymore.
Here's some pics of when it was first built (the gray Edcor PT died early in this amp's life and it replaced by a custom wound Heyboer, not a Partridge clone):
[IMG:800:600]http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/gldtp99/DR103%20Clone/HiwattDR103Clone007.jpg[/img]

[IMG:800:600]http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/gldtp99/DR103%20Clone/HiwattDR103Clone003.jpg[/img]

[IMG:800:600]http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/gldtp99/DR103%20Clone/HiwattDR103Clone002.jpg[/img]

This isn't the most beautifully built Hiwatt clone I've done and it doesn't have Partridge (or even Partridge clone) iron----- but it does have a big, beautiful sound and takes pedals very well----- plenty of low end: tight and harmonically rich--- lots of headroom in general----- It never has sounded exactly like any of my real Hiwatt DR103's (I have a '72 DR103 now) or even exactly like the many Sound City 120/Hiwatt conversions I've done.
I've posted before that my experience with building this amp (with non-Partridge type iron) was the reason I now will use only Partridge type iron in Hiwatt type builds------- but after getting this one back and with three players flogging it all day today I think it stands on it's own---- it does feel great to play, the other guys all said this and when I played it with the bass and drummer I saw what they meant.
The fact that it was used heavily for @10 years and is still working says that my build was a good job------ the head cab was beaten up pretty severely with tolex missing, many tears that I re-glued today---- handle looked like someone's pitbull had been chewing on it (put on new handle)---- and layers of dirt.
I think I'll keep this one for myself to use in the new band I'm beginning to write material for........................ gldtp99
Last edited by gldtp99 on Thu Jul 07, 2016 11:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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xtian
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Re: Prodigal Hiwatt Clone Returns

Post by xtian »

Damn that's awesome. Thanks for the reminder.
I build and repair tube amps. http://amps.monkeymatic.com
dcribbs1412
Posts: 1377
Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2008 6:56 pm
Location: Arizona Desert

Re: Prodigal Hiwatt Clone Returns

Post by dcribbs1412 »

Great story gldtp99
10 years, multiple owners and still going
a true testament to your building skills
Congrats and thanks for sharing.

D
gldtp99
Posts: 226
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 9:21 am
Location: N. Texas

Re: Prodigal Hiwatt Clone Returns

Post by gldtp99 »

Some changes from the old pics, besides the different PT, are the two 1st stage Filter Caps (brown UCC's on left frame rail) ----- I replaced these with F&T's when I replaced the bad PT----- also the JJ can cap on the right bottom (preamp nodes filter) was replaced by a F&T can at the same time.
The early PT failure is the only "warranty repair" I've ever had to do on any amp I've built/sold----- I lent the first owner a BF Showman head to do rehearsal/shows while I did the repairs and he liked the Showman very much---- he carefully A/B'd this Hiwatt clone with the loaner Showman in my shop when he came to pick it up and said that he preferred the Hiwatt clone to the Showman for bass duties and they were about the same for guitar duties (sound quality/playability--- not that they sounded identical).
On Tues of this week I also serviced another amp I'd built long ago (on the fourth owner now) that is still being used----- this was an earlier build/conversion than the Hiwatt clone----- It is a 5F6A based rebuild of a Bogen CHB50 head-----but housed in a conventional looking guitar amp head cab---- I did many Bogen PA amp conversions of different types back then---- they were intended as a low cost amp to allow the player to "get by" until they could save up for a "real amp" of some type, but I've seen several that are still being used @15 years later (like this one).
On this one, the ground wire for the Vol pot had become unsoldered and was hanging in mid-air----- a new ground wire, clean pots, check and slightly adjust output tube bias and the amp is up and running again----- the owner played it in my shop and it actually sounded pretty good----- a little flabby in the bass when Vol is cranked to "10" but that is a characteristic of this circuit type----- Maybe I should build some amps using this basic circuit, but using what I've learned in the last 15+ years of building amps.
This is the Bogen CHB50 based 5F6A when it was first built/converted:

[IMG:800:600]http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/gldtp99/Bogens%20and%20other%20PA%20heads/CHB50PlexiMule006.jpg[/img]

[IMG:800:600]http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/gldtp99/Bogens%20and%20other%20PA%20heads/CHB50PlexiMule015.jpg[/img]

[IMG:800:600]http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/gldtp99/Bogens%20and%20other%20PA%20heads/CHB50PlexiMule011.jpg[/img]

Black paint on a locally built wooden head cab----- most of the paint is still on the amp but it has faded now----- otherwise it still looks about the same........................... gldtp99
gldtp99
Posts: 226
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 9:21 am
Location: N. Texas

Re: Prodigal Hiwatt Clone Returns

Post by gldtp99 »

dcribbs1412 wrote:Great story gldtp99
10 years, multiple owners and still going
a true testament to your building skills
Congrats and thanks for sharing.

D
Thanks !!!!
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