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?

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

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

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!!!

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

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.

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

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