Hiwatt T40 combo - probably the worst advertised amp ever

Freethenoise · Post by **Freethenoise** » Mon Dec 15, 2014 4:27 am

Hiwatt's marketing baffles me sometimes.
The T-Series kind of went under a lot of peoples radar. A lot of players turned their nose up because Hiwatt was trying to break into the far-eastern made, lower cost, more practical market and when Hiwatt didn't back the amp up with some decent videos or soundclips (or even a full spec list on their website). I bought this amp the other week and had a chance to sit down and record some stuff with it this morning. I'm pretty impressed with it so far. It does what it should do, be loud and clean.

I really don't like the overdrive channel, but it takes pedals just as well as my Princeton so that's how I'm gonna use it at gigs.

[youtube][/youtube]

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Mon Dec 15, 2014 3:05 pm

HIWATT has marketing ?

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Mon Dec 15, 2014 3:10 pm

jokes aside, here is an interview I did with Casey Prestwood for Shortscale.org with years ago.

he talks a bunch about his HIWATT's.

http://www.shortscale.org/wiki/index.ph ... _Interview

ShortScale: You have been a big supporter of HIWATT amps over the years. What is it you like most about them? Tone? Headroom? Rock?

CASEY:They are so clean it makes your teeth hurt. They are for the most part built like tanks and wired beautifully. The partridge transiformers are a custom wound heavy monster that can melt your zipper and lock your jaw shut if tampered with. I don't know....I just love the way they sound. I like that they have head room but barely turn any of mine past 3 or 4. I like to get a clean defined tone out of them and then break it up with a nice overdrive pedal. Townsend, Gilmour.....It was cool with these guys... This is a factor. I love the way they look too. They are very heavy. The cabs are the best. The ones with the sunken in handles(lack of handles), and Fane Speakers. I hope to make an awesome home stereo out some of mine some day. I have a 200 watt head(6 el 34's), a 100 PA head, a 2x15 ported cab, and a 50 watt 4x12 combo.( a monster)

Sloan · Post by **Sloan** » Mon Dec 15, 2014 7:40 pm

robroe wrote:HIWATT has marketing ?

Freethenoise · Post by **Freethenoise** » Mon Dec 15, 2014 11:26 pm

robroe wrote:jokes aside, here is an interview I did with Casey Prestwood for Shortscale.org with years ago.

he talks a bunch about his HIWATT's.

http://www.shortscale.org/wiki/index.ph ... _Interview

ShortScale: You have been a big supporter of HIWATT amps over the years. What is it you like most about them? Tone? Headroom? Rock?

CASEY:They are so clean it makes your teeth hurt. They are for the most part built like tanks and wired beautifully. The partridge transiformers are a custom wound heavy monster that can melt your zipper and lock your jaw shut if tampered with. I don't know....I just love the way they sound. I like that they have head room but barely turn any of mine past 3 or 4. I like to get a clean defined tone out of them and then break it up with a nice overdrive pedal. Townsend, Gilmour.....It was cool with these guys... This is a factor. I love the way they look too. They are very heavy. The cabs are the best. The ones with the sunken in handles(lack of handles), and Fane Speakers. I hope to make an awesome home stereo out some of mine some day. I have a 200 watt head(6 el 34's), a 100 PA head, a 2x15 ported cab, and a 50 watt 4x12 combo.( a monster)

That's so fucking cool...

singlepup · Post by **singlepup** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 3:20 am

Would love to try one but can't do heavy amps anymore.

A 50 watt head would be more up my alley.

Freethenoise · Post by **Freethenoise** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 7:44 am

singlepickup24 wrote:Would love to try one but can't do heavy amps anymore.

A 50 watt head would be more up my alley.

They make a 40 watt head version. I haven't seen one floating around the internet in ages though.

It only ways around 26 KG though, which is perfectly manageable.

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 8:34 am

Freethenoise wrote:It only ways around 26 KG though, which is perfectly manageable.

Post by **Doog** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 1:05 pm

NickS wrote:
Freethenoise wrote:It only ways around 26 KG though, which is perfectly manageable.

I really want to like and to own a Hiwatt, but mainly due to matey from Jesus Lizard using one and his sweet semi-distorted toanz.

Freethenoise, will/have you played this amp in a band situation yet? Curious to see if 40w will hold up clean at band volumes. My Marshall DSL50 managed to stay pretty clean in a 4 piece, but mainy once I slapped some EL34Ls in it, which have a higher plate voltage or some nerd bullshit like that.

Freethenoise · Post by **Freethenoise** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 1:34 pm

Doog wrote: I really want to like and to own a Hiwatt, but mainly due to matey from Jesus Lizard using one and his sweet semi-distorted toanz.

Freethenoise, will/have you played this amp in a band situation yet? Curious to see if 40w will hold up clean at band volumes. My Marshall DSL50 managed to stay pretty clean in a 4 piece, but mainy once I slapped some EL34Ls in it, which have a higher plate voltage or some nerd bullshit like that.

I'll report back to you on Friday with that one Doog, that's our next rehearsal.
I'll put a full demo thing with a lot more soundclips up then too.

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 11:32 pm

Doog wrote:

Freethenoise · Post by **Freethenoise** » Mon Dec 22, 2014 7:01 am

Hey guys,
I finally finished editing and posted my full review of the Hiwatt T40 2x12 combo.

So far I'm still really enjoying it, I used it at rehearsal the other day and it really shines when cranked up a bit. The dirt channel starts to lose a little of the muffled quality and gets a little more usable. I mostly kept it clean with my pedals though.
Definitely has enough headroom to stay completely clean in the scenarios I play in.

[youtube][/youtube]