Pre-Hiwatt Sound City 200 Custom Built revived as my new old studio rig...

[krysh]

...and it is a blast!


tried it the first time with my ampeg portabass 212h cab...
...I love it. clear, warm, mighty, dynamic, a pure bath in sound.
[url="http://soundcloud.com/krysh/sets/rehearsal-120917"]here 2 rough recordings[/url] with my roland r-05 of my 3rd rehearsal with a keyboardist and a drummer. I played the seibass directly into the amp, enjoy!

Edited September 17, 2012 by krysh

[Mr. Foxen]

'Studio' makes it sound like it isn't house demolishing loud when unleashed.

[krysh]

well, our rehearsal room is a studio and the band volume depends on the drummer. I hate loud rehearsals anyway.
But: the ampeg cab has a very low efficiency at 93 dB, so both volume knobs are on 4-5.
since the amp is old and sooner or later will need new caps, I still can run it without blowing it up.
but even at this moderate volume the tube tone is definately audible and sensible.

[Mr. Foxen]

Kind of best to sort the caps sooner, some can take the valves with them when they go, and that can get expensive.

[krysh]

thanks, I know. but my tech said if I don't push the amp I should be safe until I can afford it.

[brensabre79]

Nice amp I used to have a Sound City 50 head that i rescued from the tip!
It was a great sound!

[Big_Stu]

[quote name='krysh' timestamp='1347971287' post='1807344']
thanks, I know. but my tech said if I don't push the amp I should be safe until I can afford it.
[/quote]

I was told that as well by trusted valve amp techs, but it's worth a peek at your caps & if they have bulges on the ends to any degree, especially if they're near the join with the metal sides then they're living on borrowed time.
These two are mild in my Hiwatt 200 (1976)
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/Maddogcole/Caps_LHS_bottom_8789.jpg[/IMG]

It's not unknown for trannies to be taken out with a serious failure and assuming yours has lovely vintage Partridges in it you'd be a lucky guy to find replacements.
This is all stuff I was told by several vintage valve amp specialists across two forums and many emails, some talking from bitter experience - I'm taking no chances with my Hiwatt, it's not getting used at all until the caps are done - you should be talking less than £100 - worth the risk?

Edited September 18, 2012 by Big_Stu

[Pentode]

+1 Re' getting the caps done.

[Mr. Foxen]

You can see the vent nipples in that pic, if there is any white spew there, those caps are done for. If ther eis no white spew, you can probably sell the caps for more than new better working replacements. Because of the way Hiwatts are made, replacing is a DIY job as long as you can solder and know the difference between neg and pos. Suitable caps and about £3-4 each for the big ones, and more for the dual one, I'll be ordering stock of those soon.

Edit: Also, I have spare transformer sets suitable for the Sound City or Hiwatt, be about £500, so you know the odds you are playing.

Edited September 18, 2012 by Mr. Foxen

[Guest]

Lovely Sound !!
Nice playing too.

[krysh]

thanks to all for the hints and kudos.