rottingcorpse
Well-known member
I never make "new amp day" posts because...well, lets just say it would be ridiculous, and I like weird/unique amps. But this one absolutely lit my candle big-time. $625 shipped for a Hiwatt Big Crunch 350. I figured "Why not?" Worst case scenario it becomes the power section of a pedal platform which I have a bunch of pedals for, but never get around to building a board. And I hadn't acquired a Hiwatt yet. Also note that it came during a binge where I scored a Silverblade preamp/power amp rack setup that had been modded by Kaos amps where both amps arrived the same week.
I finally get over to Juggernaut Mikes house to test/try out the new amps. The Silverblade is first on the docket, because it's 220 volts and I had acquired a step up/down transformer for shits and giggles. I remember wanting one of these when they first popped up on this forum via Moltenmetalburn, a member Mike and myself met via and old bro from my trash days in the 80s. It was one of those WTF moments when we are all sitting at a table having dinner and he mentioned he was on rigtalk, and Mike and myself nearly shit ourselves laughing when we told him we were too. But I digress...the Silverblade rig kicked ass. 2x100 watt power section and a pretty good preamp. This is not my clip, but it's how I acquired it. Sounds way better the way Mike dialed it in during our test session. Dude knows how to tweak an amp. It wound up in the road case with my ultralead.
But onto the Hiwatt. Mike, myself and my other best bro local Bloodrock all love the solid-state Randalls. Hell, I have three of the Randall X2 heads. I didn't even know Hiwatt made a solid-state head. But this one pops up on Reverb cheap and I couldn't pass on it. The moment we plugged it in we went straight to the meat and potatoes and hit the crunch side, and started giggling like kids. The contour knob is the key to this amp. So many great tones from using the contour in conjunction with the mid and treble knobs. Plus a nice tight bottom end on the bass side. Loads of gain, more than the legendary Ampeg 140C. I would rock this amp anytime/anywhere without fear of failure or loss. I sure as hell wouldn't drag my ultralead or Herbert etc around to questionable places like I would this Hiwatt. If you ever see one in the wild, give it a try. Bet you wind up laughing too. Will post pics from my phone next.
Last edit...cost was $900 for the Silverblade rig and $625 for the Hiwatt for a total of $1525 for two rare birds. That wouldn't even make a down payment on the few "most wanted" amps on my list.
I finally get over to Juggernaut Mikes house to test/try out the new amps. The Silverblade is first on the docket, because it's 220 volts and I had acquired a step up/down transformer for shits and giggles. I remember wanting one of these when they first popped up on this forum via Moltenmetalburn, a member Mike and myself met via and old bro from my trash days in the 80s. It was one of those WTF moments when we are all sitting at a table having dinner and he mentioned he was on rigtalk, and Mike and myself nearly shit ourselves laughing when we told him we were too. But I digress...the Silverblade rig kicked ass. 2x100 watt power section and a pretty good preamp. This is not my clip, but it's how I acquired it. Sounds way better the way Mike dialed it in during our test session. Dude knows how to tweak an amp. It wound up in the road case with my ultralead.
But onto the Hiwatt. Mike, myself and my other best bro local Bloodrock all love the solid-state Randalls. Hell, I have three of the Randall X2 heads. I didn't even know Hiwatt made a solid-state head. But this one pops up on Reverb cheap and I couldn't pass on it. The moment we plugged it in we went straight to the meat and potatoes and hit the crunch side, and started giggling like kids. The contour knob is the key to this amp. So many great tones from using the contour in conjunction with the mid and treble knobs. Plus a nice tight bottom end on the bass side. Loads of gain, more than the legendary Ampeg 140C. I would rock this amp anytime/anywhere without fear of failure or loss. I sure as hell wouldn't drag my ultralead or Herbert etc around to questionable places like I would this Hiwatt. If you ever see one in the wild, give it a try. Bet you wind up laughing too. Will post pics from my phone next.
Last edit...cost was $900 for the Silverblade rig and $625 for the Hiwatt for a total of $1525 for two rare birds. That wouldn't even make a down payment on the few "most wanted" amps on my list.
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awesomeness….
