1972 HIWATT DR103 100W Head Class A/B Made in England Vintage Good Condition. 1972 Hiwatt DR103 Custom 100 valve amp in good condition with the original 1 x Partridge transformer and an equivalent replacement by. It has had all the valves changed but otherwise original. There are tears/wear in the tolex overall the amp but it is in good played condition. The serial number is: 3904. This head sounds incredible! The only mod added to the amp is the DI output via a ¼ jack. The Hiwatt DR103 design is also based around the use of four EL-34 power tubes and four 12AX7 preamp tubes. The transformers are set up so that the amp can be used with various line voltages around the world and speaker impedance can also be set to 4, 8, or 16 ohms with two speaker outputs wired in parallel. Hiwatt, along with Marshall and Vox, are largely responsible for shaping the sound of British rock during the 1960s and 1970s. Bands such as Pink Floyd, the Moody Blues, the Rolling Stones, and The Who have all used Hiwatt amps to help create their legendary sounds. With their military-spec chassis, point-to-point wiring, and marine-grade cabinets, Hiwatt amps are also known for being very solidly built. This is the amp that started it all! It is powered by 4xEL34 in the power stage, with 4xECC83 alternatively 3xECC83 and 1xECC81 in the pre-amp, giving a tighter sound. This Custom 100 Head employs the original Partridge transformer and one equivalent replacement by Douglas Louth. Switchable to 4, 8 & 16 ohm output impedance, the DR103 allows you to select from 100, 115, 230 and 240 volt sources. The dual channel pre-amp has high & low sensitivity inputs. Cross patch the Normal and Bright Channels and dial in the required drive and tone. Add your favourite pedals to create your own personalised sound. There is simply no better sounding, looking or engineered amplifier in the world! NORMAL VOLUME, BRIGHT VOLUME, BASS, MIDDLE, TREBLE, PRESENCE, MASTER VOLUME, STANDBY SWITCH, MAINS SWITCH. Back Panel Features: VOLTAGE SELECTOR, OUTPUT IMPEDENCE SELECTOR, SPEAKER OUTPUTS Output Power: 100W. Please note this is an All Purpose (AP) amplifier, which can be used for guitar, bass and even keyboards. Valves: 4 x EL34s, 4 x ECC83/12AX7s Dimensions (Unboxed) L x H x D: 63 x 28 x 28 cm Weight (Unboxed): 21 kg HISTORY. With artists such as The Who and Pink Floyd, the brand was at the forefront of guitar amplification for the remainder of the 1960s and much of the 1970s. A further generation of artists U2, Nirvana, Oasis, Coldplay, The Killers, The Black Keys, Foals, Circa Waves and Japandroids have all embraced the unmistakable Hiwatt sound. The result is that unique Hiwatt sound, rich in third and fifth harmonics, as effective in the studio as it is on stage. These amps sound like no other. The sound of a Custom 100W stack at full tilt is truly awesome. The sheer power and responsiveness is guaranteed to blow you away. Hiwatt is rooted in the British Sound that emerged in the mid 1960s. It was The Whos John Entwistle who first traded in his Marshall stacks in favour of Sound City at the beginning of 1967. Sound City, the precursor to Hiwatt, produced customized L100 amplifiers later that year for Pete Townshend. At this time, Dave Reeves was providing Sound City with OEM amplifiers. The design layout and controls on the customized L100s were identical to the Hiwatt CP103 that was to come. These customized L100s were the first in a lineage of amplifiers that would quickly evolve into Hiwatt. Around this time, Jimi Hendrix and his manager Chas Chandler approached Townshend, asking for his opinion on amplification. Townshend told them that he had stopped using Marshall, as he thought Sound City were better. The Jimi Hendrix Experience subsequently started using Sound City L100s, but set them up together with their Marshall stacks instead of replacing them. In late 1968, The Who approached Dallas Arbiter, the makers of Sound City, asking if their equipment could be modified slightly. This model was named the Hiwatt DR103, which would be modified in 1970 into the CP103 Super Who 100 model, which Townshend used almost exclusively for over a decade. In 1973, the updated DR103W model was created. It has been the central piece of equipment around which Townshends various rigs were built for the next thirty years. The DR103-Hiwatt Custom 100 Head is still Hiwatts flagship amplifier to this day. The item “1972 HIWATT DR103 100W Head Class A/B Made in England Vintage Good Condition” is in sale since Wednesday, March 6, 2019. This item is in the category “Musical Instruments\Guitars & Basses\Guitar Amplifiers”. The seller is “nmpstudios” and is located in London. This item can be shipped to North, South, or Latin America, all countries in Europe, all countries in continental Asia, Australia.
- Number of Channels: 4
- Model: DR103
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United Kingdom
- Impedance (ohms): 4/8/16 Om
- Amplifier Technology: Vacuum Tube
- Type: Electric Guitar Amplifier
- MPN: Does Not Apply
- Amplifier Type: Head
- Brand: Hiwatt
- Suitable For: Performance