Hiwatt Super Hi 50 blackout

  • Thread starter Thread starter RedPlated
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RedPlated
RedPlated
Well-known member
Grabbed this amp from Itsgoodnow recently. Fantastic transaction, easy deal, and packed to survive an apocalypse.

My thing is blacked out amps. I just like them. Based on how this is a high gain oriented amp, I wanted it be aesthetically unique from all the other Hiwatts, which it isn’t stock.

I pulled all the white piping and replaced with black. I will likely do something with the white edge around the logo as well.

The amp looks good stock, too. And I’m sure a lot of people would prefer that look. But I am not a fan of the white piping at all on amps.

And the amp sounds great. I hit it with the GZ / Griffin Analog 808 screamer and it was some of the best tone I’ve heard in a long time. Super angry and massive. Loving it!

Before:

IMG_3153.jpeg


After:

IMG_3171.jpeg
 
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Sick, looks better like that for sure.

How’s it compare to the Larry?? I remember talks that the circuits were similar(ish).

One came up locally a little while ago at a good price and I regret not jumping on it
 
What a killer amp. I rarely get GAS but this one sets it off.
 
I definitely recommend checking the amp out if you get the opportunity. It’s a little tricky to balance as the regular (3 stages) mode is not real saturated. And the super hi (4 stages) is very saturated. But there is a sweet spot that is great. It also needs plenty of volume to open up. Not a low volume bedroom amp by any means.

The super hi 50 is definitely reminiscent of my Larry Dino. I can really hear the influence of the Larry circuit design.

This amp is extremely sensitive to preamp tubes as well. I rolled tubes with great results. A mix of two Chinese and two JJ’s yielded the best results.
 
Had this one for a minute. Intrinsic tone is good. Nice and angry, as you say.

The FX loop is kinda awful though. Very noisy. Even with two Furman units, Strymon power supply for my pedals, and isolated power outlets in my building, whenever kicking on the loop it would just go nuts with noise and radio stations. Nothing I did helped. Not only that, but the amp retains the original Hiwatt bias circuit which can be a nightmare. You can't just retube with any old set, has to fall exactly within the very narrow band of the amp's adjustment.

I could have rewired it all but didn't feel like it, so sold it. I was THIS close to gutting it and rewiring the entire thing to get it running perfect but I figured it wasn't worth the hassle. I got about 90% through mapping the circuit before I lost interest lol. Thread about it on SLO Clone.

I'd say if your specific amp doesn't suffer from these issues then it's a keeper because yeah it does sound good.
 
FourT6and2 said:
Had this one for a minute. Intrinsic tone is good. Nice and angry, as you say.

The FX loop is kinda awful though. Very noisy. Even with two Furman units, Strymon power supply for my pedals, and isolated power outlets in my building, whenever kicking on the loop it would just go nuts with noise and radio stations. Nothing I did helped. Not only that, but the amp retains the original Hiwatt bias circuit which can be a nightmare. You can't just retube with any old set, has to fall exactly within the very narrow band of the amp's adjustment.

I could have rewired it all but didn't feel like it, so sold it. I was THIS close to gutting it and rewiring the entire thing to get it running perfect but I figured it wasn't worth the hassle. I got about 90% through mapping the circuit before I lost interest lol. Thread about it on SLO Clone.

I'd say if your specific amp doesn't suffer from these issues then it's a keeper because yeah it does sound good.
Click to expand...

Oddly enough mine doesn’t have any of those issues. Haven’t tried a different set of power tubes but I checked bias and it was dead on. It has Ruby BSTR’s which I wouldn’t think are stock. Maybe this is your old one?

I’ve been using the loop and there’s no additional noise at all.
 
FourT6and2 said:
Had this one for a minute. Intrinsic tone is good. Nice and angry, as you say.

The FX loop is kinda awful though. Very noisy. Even with two Furman units, Strymon power supply for my pedals, and isolated power outlets in my building, whenever kicking on the loop it would just go nuts with noise and radio stations. Nothing I did helped. Not only that, but the amp retains the original Hiwatt bias circuit which can be a nightmare. You can't just retube with any old set, has to fall exactly within the very narrow band of the amp's adjustment.

I could have rewired it all but didn't feel like it, so sold it. I was THIS close to gutting it and rewiring the entire thing to get it running perfect but I figured it wasn't worth the hassle. I got about 90% through mapping the circuit before I lost interest lol. Thread about it on SLO Clone.

I'd say if your specific amp doesn't suffer from these issues then it's a keeper because yeah it does sound good.
Click to expand...

Haha, got you, technowizard! No telling me you are regular DIY guy anymore!

Just kidding 😊

So comes out fartin actually made something worthy? Afaik it was told he worked on this circuit.
 
RedPlated said:
Oddly enough mine doesn’t have any of those issues. Haven’t tried a different set of power tubes but I checked bias and it was dead on. It has Ruby BSTR’s which I wouldn’t think are stock. Maybe this is your old one?

I’ve been using the loop and there’s no additional noise at all.
Click to expand...

Could be my old one, I dunno. Don't remember the serial number. Mine came biased directly from Hiwatt with one side at like 80% and the other well over 100%. Killed the tubes and replaced with the same factory JJs. That's when I discovered the bias issue. If you order tubes that are rated exactly the same as the factory ones, not a problem. But Hiwatts are notorious for bias problems because their internal adjustment range is very narrow. Easy to fix with a simple resistor swap. But be aware of that if you decide to retube.
 
CrystalSky said:
Haha, got you, technowizard! No telling me you are regular DIY guy anymore!

Just kidding 😊

So comes out fartin actually made something worthy? Afaik it was told he worked on this circuit.
Click to expand...

Yeah he designed it. Built by Maxwatt (now Hiwatt). The production version is different than the ones he had at NAMM though.
 
CrystalSky said:
Can you tell more? Sounds so interesting!

You visited NAMM?
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No, I didn't go. Tons of videos out there though. The production version was altered a bit and has two switchable gains and two switchable masters. The NAMM version had some other features.
 
FourT6and2 said:
No, I didn't go. Tons of videos out there though. The production version was altered a bit and has two switchable gains and two switchable masters. The NAMM version had some other features.
Click to expand...
And Maxxwat search tells of something chinese.

I am confused 😂
 
FourT6and2 said:
Had this one for a minute. Intrinsic tone is good. Nice and angry, as you say.

The FX loop is kinda awful though. Very noisy. Even with two Furman units, Strymon power supply for my pedals, and isolated power outlets in my building, whenever kicking on the loop it would just go nuts with noise and radio stations. Nothing I did helped. Not only that, but the amp retains the original Hiwatt bias circuit which can be a nightmare. You can't just retube with any old set, has to fall exactly within the very narrow band of the amp's adjustment.

I could have rewired it all but didn't feel like it, so sold it. I was THIS close to gutting it and rewiring the entire thing to get it running perfect but I figured it wasn't worth the hassle. I got about 90% through mapping the circuit before I lost interest lol. Thread about it on SLO Clone.

I'd say if your specific amp doesn't suffer from these issues then it's a keeper because yeah it does sound good.
Click to expand...

IIRC somebody recently posted a full schematic for this over there...
 
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