http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oZeVKWX4k0

Cool video clip. You really like those Hiwatt amps, don't you? I like their mil-spec wiring. That cirtcuitry looks like the electronics assemblies we build here and hang under our balloons,

I'd like to check out a Hiwatt tape loop echo, but I've never even seen one.

I was given a tour of the Paul Reed Smith factory when I interviewed for a job there in 1996.


Didn't get the job, though.

I do like them. I find anything other than the 50 watt kinda useless. The 100s are too loud and clean. The 30s were made in a non classic Hiwatt period and are okay but, still not a Vox. WW

I always enjoy reading these gear threads ... tho I usually have no idea what you're talking about (my son Alex in NY is now shaking his head in shame)

Speaking of British amps, have you ever tried a Laney? I picked up an LC-15 for my brother at a Computer and Ham Radio Fest (my wife calls it NerdFest) a few years ago. It's loud as hell for a 15-watt amp, even through the stock 10" speaker. It'd probably drive a 4x12 cabinet pretty well.

Webb's 50 watt Hiwatt amp could be classified as a deadly weapon in the hands of someone less experienced. That sucker is LOUD. If you ever wonder why you can hardly hear Webb on a live soundboard recording, it's probably because the sound man thought "Hell, with that thing he doesn't need to go through the PA at all".
Webb also utilizes a nice Fender head when the Hiwatt would be total overkill.
He always sounds the same, though-awesome!

Thanks, tommy! Yeah, the Hiwatt is a gale force wind and it does wind up not in the PA sometime! I like Vox AC 30s but, the combo version is way too heavy to move around. I have a cool 1972 Marshall 50 on consignment at Carter Vintage Guitars which I have used to great effect @ 3rd and Lindsley before but, I think I can live without it....with regret! Glom, there are a lot of old vintage Brit amps that are cool. The vintage Laneys intrigue me. That's the Black Sabbath sound! WW

At that guitar show I was at a couple of weeks ago, I saw one of those way cool Selmer combo amps with the alligator-grain covering and the pilot light that pulses with the tremolo speed. Didn't get to hear it, though. Saw an early British spring reverb unit (can't remember the brand, I think it was some guy's name). The switch, control knobs, and pilot light all looked like they had come off some piece of RAF gear.

Also spotted a beautiful Italian-made Vox Phantom bass. White, just like Fang's.


And from the heartland of the USA, there's nothing like the coolness of those tuck&roll-upholstered Kustoms. There's a book out titled "Baltimore Sounds", that's about local bands from 1950-1980. Lots of photos of local bands playing live, and in the photos from 1968-72, those Kustoms were extremely popular. Not unusual to see bands with all-Kustom lineups, including PA with those column speakers. I wonder if they were that popular nationwide, or did they show up a lot in a book about the local music scene because one of the bigger music stores in the area (Music House) was a Kustom dealer and really pushed them?

we have seen the Tim Lee 3 a couple of times. Couldn't help noticing that Susan Baur Lee, Tin's wife and bass player, had a cool, vintage Kustom bass setup. I asked her about it and she blushed...she has a whole room full of those beasts! Tim said she's not much for jewelry or fancy stuff, so collecting bass amps is just fine with him.
You can just see one of her amps in this photo:
http://www.knoxville.com/news/2012/sep/29/wayne-bledsoe-rock-on-earlier-with-the-tim-lee-3/

Kustom was nationwide. Creedence used them. tTey were in Mississippi whre I grew up for sure. They were made in Kansas by Ross Electronics. Bud Ross? Not only did they have the amps and PA, they even had the tuck and roll combo organ! THEN, there were the Plush amps wiich not only had the tuck and roll covering but, had the button. Not sure what is called Tuck and Roll and what Tuck and Pleat is but, anyway, there ya go. I had a Kustom amp years ago when I played bass in a bad called Firetruck. Was always impressed with the heavy covers that had pouches on the side for accessoiries! PLUSH amps MAY have been tube or partial tube. Kustoms were solid state. The second era of Kustom (slant front) doesn't look as cool but, sounds better in at least the top of the line guitar head model from that era. WW

My brother still has and uses the Kustom 100 bass amp (w/ 2x12 cabinet)that he bought in 1969.

I still see a Plush amp now and then when haunting Atomic Music. I know they had big power tubes but they might have been hybrids with SS pre-amps. I even see the rare Earth amp there sometimes. I think they were all-tube, and were upholstered in a pattern different from the Kustom and Plush amps.