Ceriatone Forum

I see that the Hey What is a Hiwatt clone, and I am curious how they sound.  Where do they fit in compared to the classic Fender & Marshall tones?

The classic Hiwatt designs are known to be bright and tight with a ton of clean headroom and power available. 

Because of their high headroom, they do feature a Master Volume, which let you get some overdrive at a volume that won't tear a fan's head off at 15 feet; this OD is also very tight, very even and focused and a little too preamp derived for my tastes. 

Probably the most famous users are David Gilmour, who uses his mostly as a clean canvas for his effects, and Pete Townsend wh used Hiwatts from pretty much the post-Tommy era until the original breakup. 

Personally, I find them a little too, for lack of a better word, generic.  They famously had military-spec wiring that maybe consider the cleanest and most professional wiring job of any vintage amp, but the design just seems to lack the organic character of, say, a Marshall or even Vox. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5xPfhFb7AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEVxoniO-uY

Thanks for the info.  Quite an interesting amp, especially as a pedal "platform".  I may well add one of these to my wishlist  ;)

hiwatts have amazing cleans (better  than any fender and the OTS IMO) and when you open them up they get such a pleasant overdrive tone. Im in the process of getting my bright channel turned into a normal channel so i can use it with an A/B/Y box on my hiwatt.

Hello,

  The Hey What family will be bigger soon with more of the classic models coming in. Including the JP model.

  There are just too many of em, however, for me to add all.

Thanks!

Nik

No reports about thier tone yet  :'(

Someone MUST know!

The Hiwatt sound is Clean like a great Blackface fender, with less coloration, but punchy and aggressive like a Marshall.  It however is more dynamic due to its cleaner sound (higher sensitivity).  Think of playing ACDC totally clean and really enjoying it!

The Ceriatone Heywhat is more like an original Hiwatt of the late 60s/early 70s where as a 'Hiwatt brand Hiwatt' is not what it used to be.  The real choices are a Ceriatone or a Reeves.  The dude doing the demo on the NEW Hiwatt above video has a pedal in front of that amp he isn't showing u, a Hiwatt does not have that much gain.  The 1972 demo is very close to the Heywhat, its the best online demo I could find while researching this amp.

I have the Ceriatone 504 version (50watt) and it easily keeps up in clean volume with my Marshall JTM45 blasting its face off thru a 4x12.  The 103 is only 3db louder, which just barely enough to notice.

IMPORTANT: This amp does not work well thru just any speaker type.  Nasty, bright sounds thru Celestion GH30s, Greenbacks, V30s, not that I was expecting these to work.  I went with 4 Webers: Fane Crescendo speakers.  It sounds amazing.  Clean is great and can handle a medium amount of breakup.  Pink floyd to the Who, you got it.  Old Fanes are hard to come by, save yourself the trouble and go with some Webers.  The Cresendo was specifially recommended to me by my cabinet builder instead of the other Fane reissues by Weber such as the 'Thames' or 'Axis'.  The Axis handles more gain, and the Thames is less sensitive than the Crescendo.  The Crescendo is the Middle ground and best for cleans, medium gain. After all, you don't really want a Hiwatt for lots of gain anyway.  Having said this I can get all the 'WHO' vibe out of mine I could have asked for.

I have heard a lot of great things about Reeves, but there is nothing I could imagine changing about the Heywhat 504 I got from Nik.  I got a half power swtich as well, it allows the preamp to be driven a little harder, great for more gain.  The channels sound great slaved, but it is not neccessary like on a 4 input Marshall.  AMAZING VALUE, Nik you are the MAN!!!

That's a fucking amazing first post.

 :chairdance:

hey Guys...am a big gilmour fan...so thinking of buyin a heywhat 503 maybe combo...reeves are great  also for that original 70 tone but lots more expensive...

I got a few questions for JTM 1979...you own a heywhat 503 right? is it a 2 channel amp? by slaving the channel you mean mixing the 2 channels with a short jack right? sorry but english is not my forte...also can you get a line out and effects loop ? does it need one or are these amps just best with pedals in front?

grazie

no slaving is basicly a preamp out so you can use "slave amps" but only have to adjust 1 set of EQ

its a two channel amp Bright channel and Normal. both with separate inputs

It sounds like JTM 1979 is talking about linking the normal and bright channel, not running a slave amp as JD0x0 explains.  As JTM 1979 said, you can link the channels, but you don't have to like on a Marshall.  Gilmour's signature HiWatt has one input for each channel then a separate linked input that acts like linking them with a patch cable.  I just received my Hey what DR504 today and plugged it in.  It sounds incredible at any volume.  And I would disagree with JTM 1979 about speakers.  It may sound more like the classic Gilmour sound with Fanes, but I'm running mine into a Greenback equipped 4x12 and it sounds absolutely stellar.  I don't think this is an amp that requires an effects loop.  It's got way more headroom than a Marshall.  If you're looking for the classic rock overdriven tube amp sound get a plexi.  This amp is best with a fuzz pedal in front of it.

thanks a lot now is all much clearer....well am envious....was planning to get a combo  heywhat 50 with2x12 but don't know if nic can give me the weber fane crescendo soo....what you think better order just the head then get a cabinet but really what are the best speakers for this heywhat....some one says the purple speakers in the reeves are the best

ciao

the webers are great speakers. i would probably mix a ceramic fane crescendo with an alnico axis 12(the other weber Fane)

hey thanks,

obviously there is a good reason to mix the 2.....what is the main difference between ceramic and alnico? excuse my ignorance

ciao

Ceramics are a bit louder and slightly harsher. Ceramics are also usually a bit "punchier" Alnico magnets are a little less loud(which you may want/like especially with a loud amp like a hiwatt) and when you push them hard they compress and get a fatter sound. but alnicos are also more expensive.

that being said the Axis and Crescendo are two different speakers even if you have the same magnet. Mixing them would give a great balanced hiwatt-y sound. Bright yet plenty of bass and punch, but it shouldnt get "harsh"

i think Pickmaster used one with his OTS and really liked it

hey thank you  so much ,

so a Heywhat 50 watt with a 2x12 cab loaded with weber speakers one crescendo-ceramic and one axis 12 alnico.....will let you know if this project is completed.

grazie

 ;D

I understand the 504 runs on EL34, can we swap them out for 6L6s or KT66/77s? Anyone tried it?

Will the 103 work with 2 x EVM-12L speakers?

it will work with any speakers as long as the impedance matches up (most likely it will) its a matter weather the EVM's will sound good or not. my guess is they wouldn't sound bad at all



sorry typo  :)

Yeah I was referring to whether they would sound good with the DR103 :) Did you meant to say wouldn't?

Yes sorry for the typo.

EV's have a big bottom end and are smooth and loud, from what i understand. If someone handed me a pair of EV's for my Hiwatt i would definatly take them. You just need to be careful with the highend(theres alot!  :) ) i play my Hiwatt with the mids full, the treble almost at 0, and the bass at 1-2 o clock and presence below 12 o clock

do they have sample amps at ceriatone factory?
i need to compare those 504 and 103 to measure the volume of the amp.

a 100 watt amp is 3 db louder than a 50 watt amp. theres not much of a difference. its all about headroom and bass response.

hiwatts all are loud and have alot of headroom

already got the 103 from ceriatone.
so i'll post a video in few weeks.

its so loudddd and i play it with 2x12 celestion g12-65.
total balls.

Would a bright amp like this, work with G12-65 speakers (which are quite dark). I'm thinking of getting one in the future. I already have a G12 65 speaker cabinet for my HRM.

This Hey Whay is not really popular in the ceriatone family, am I right? I can't find any soundclips and other stuff on the internet..