Mythical Beast?

[Lostgallifreyan]

I think I found one. I have prepared a long post but I don't think anyone will beleive me, so I'll pass on it and try to convince the owner to let me take lots of pictures and measurements before I post that.

For now, I'll say only this (and this alone might convince someone I really saw it):

On the front of a huge black HIWATT amp, it says CUSTOM HIWATT 1000 - "Omun". That name isn't something I could make up, Google knows nothing about a HIWATT "Omun" (or about a HIWATT 1000 for that matter) though the naming scheme is apparently known. I'll also say that from memory, I think it has two rows of at least 5 fat valves each (at least some of which are KT88's, original too). Beyond this I can only speculate or come up with erroneous memory, so I'll leave it at that for now.

Anyone able to confirm the existence of the beast? I feel like I found a dragon's lair. With an actual dragon in it.

[OldSchoolDave]

Welcome to the Vintage Hiwatt Convention Forum!

All I'll say is that you came to the right place. If you are able to secure pictures, there are members here who can comment with unique expertise as to its originality.

Standing by to ogle from the sidelines,
Dave

[ak-47]

It isn't one of these is it?

http://www.chambonino.com/construct/const9.html

http://www.chambonino.com/construct/const17.html

[Lostgallifreyan]

I got a look at it again, with pictures and measurements. It's not as exiting as I thought it was.. (And definitely not as cool as the big kilovolt-anode valve amp linked to above). Being that close to it in the place I worked on other gear ten years ago, I remembered more too. This amp has just six KT88's in a single row, and the plate (and its dimensions) indicate a variant of the custom 400. The two-row amp with more KT88's (eight) was a flat tray I worked on, and I got the memories mixed up. The flat tray is currently doing hard time in the Star and Garter pub in Bristol, England. I took pictures of that when I worked on it, but can't find them.

The HIWATT amp is unusual but I'm not sure what, apart from the name, makes it different from a custom 400. I didn't push my luck by opening it up, but I have something to go on now: 27.5" wide, 11" high, 12" front to back. Weight unknown, but heavier than a 25 Kg bag of sand or cement by a wide margin. It's currently doing what it has been doing for the last decade or two, driving 4 large bass reflex cabs 4 foot high, each with a 400W heavy paper coned 18" bass driver (about ten years ago I fitted new ones and and wired them up for the owner). At least ten years before that I used to go to punk gigs and often heard Amebix and Disorder and Chaos UK, in Trinity Hall, Bristol, using a few KW of PA amps, but this HIWATT amp alone could give all of those a serious run for their money, and sound cleaner doing it too. Actually, I played bass through it today, at lowish volume, and it still punches hard. And it hums horribly, I think the last ten years have seen some electrolytic capacitors drying out inside a bit...

It's definitely an original Hylight build, a later one with the IEC power connector, possibly one specially built for someone, so maybe unique.

And I still have no clue what OMUN means.

[Zells]

Hmm...Interesting amp. C'mon, don't tease us. Let's see some detailed pics of the inside. It looks like a DR405 from the outside other than the 1000 label. The serial tag indicates that it's an 'R405'. The DR405 had peak power of 1000w (400w RMS) according to the old Hiwatt catalogues.

The serial number would date the amp to the early Biacrown era: either late 1981 or maybe early 1982. It's a bit odd that the serial tag says Hylight Electronics because according to serial # registry on Mark Huss' site (hiwatt.org), the latest reported Hylight era serial # is 15209 and the earliest reported Biacrown serial # is 15266.
http://hiwatt.org/RegAmps04.php
http://hiwatt.org/RegAmps03.php

[Lostgallifreyan]

That's all I can do. The owner is old, going deaf (that amp may or may not be a contributor to this, those cabs it drives are in a moderate sized living room), and he doesn't like the upheaval that would be needed to get pics of the insides as well. I used to work on his stuff years ago, but not now, so I can't do it unless he asks me to work on it again, at which point I will try to use that chance IF it ever arises. I wangled a chance to take these pics, but to try for more wouldn't just upset him, it would alarm him as to why it was happening. I managed to get him to understand that my interest now, instead of then, was because the net shows me far more info than I could see then, and I'd seen things to indicate that this amp was extremely unusual. But he's about 70 years old, and if I pushed for a second chance, more invasive of that amp than I was today, it's asking a lot more of him than I think our curiosity justifies. I wanted to open it up but sometimes it is wise to know when enough is enough. I got enough to show that the amp is real, and we'll have to settle for that unless he wants me to open it. Right now he's so deaf he can't hear the loud hum it makes. So unless some spectacular failure occurs he wants to leave it well alone.

The serial number thing is interesting. If there really is direct continuity in numbers between firms and times, this amp needs some explaining... I don't even know what the Ap bit means yet, though I think if I Googled a bit more I might find that much.

I was told that the amp belonged to a guy who was selling it and some cabs many years ago when short of money. The guy I know bought it, borrowing money to get it while it was still on offer, but passed up the offer to buy the cabs. He was apparently told there were only three in the country (UK). That might mean 'Omun' named amps, or it might mean nothing but confused and wishful thinking. It was later used to power his own (home built) bass reflex cabs in small festivals and reggae clubs, and such. And now you know as much as I do about it, if not more.

[riba2233]

Tell him that you need to check bias, as it gets changed by the time.

[Dr.HI-TONE]

AP = All Purpose

Biacrown consisted of former Hylight electronics employees who colluded with the solicitor fo the Dave Reeves Estate to acquire the HIWATT name for pennies.

The serial number sequence continued uninterrupted from Hylight to biacrown.

The control panel could have been replaced at anytime in the last 30 years.

I am pretty sure that the owner has never been here. It is an interesting amp.

I wonder if OMUN is not a name, but an acronym, or abbreviation? A nickname or organization? PA rental company?

[OldSchoolDave]

I wonder if OMUN is not a name, but an acronym, or abbreviation? A nickname or organization? PA rental company?

Kind of what I was thinking. An inside joke that no one knows anymore, perhaps?

My guess is that the original owner knew someone at the factory and got a custom face plate made up for their new DR405. But, that's just a guess.

It is an interesting piece.

Dave

[Lostgallifreyan]

I think it's unlikely that anything got changed since it was made, except a fuse. Its history suggests that it was trusted to do its thing, and it did it. The greatest mystery to me is why someone who cared enough to have it built in some special way later became so unattached to it as to sell it at all. I don't know how many people owned it since, either. I like the suggestion of a hire firm. That might account for the specific design, followed by a lack of attachment. Thing is, a hired amp might likely end up a lot more battered than this one is. It only takes ONE accident between a stage door and the back of a van in the dark, rushing to clear a stage between acts, to do a lot more damage than this amp has. Seems to me it had far too quiet a life to have seen hire. It has put out a bit, but surely in the company of an owner who took care it never saw rough play.

Even if the front panel did get changed, that serial plate didn't, unless someone went to a lot of trouble to fake it without leaving any sign that they'd done so.

I won't give up entirely on the idea of getting asked to work on it again, but don't hold your breaths. :) I just turned down work on some transistor amps for him because I can't see well enough, and quit that sort of work to program Psion computers and such several years ago. People don't usually offer work to someone who just turned it down. I imagine that if the owner dies, his son will inherit it, and it's likely at that point he will ask me for help in finding best use, or a way to sell it for the best price, but the only thing I know now is that he's unlikely to use it himself.. I might even buy it if that became possible, but I don't think I can afford its worth. Might get a 50W one though, if I get good enough at the bass to justify inflicting it on people.

[OldSchoolDave]

Even if the front panel did get changed, that serial plate didn't, unless someone went to a lot of trouble to fake it without leaving any sign that they'd done so.

I wasn't suggesting that.

To me, it has the appearance of an original. The front panel could have been on since it was built. There IS a story there somewhere - and it would be great to learn it. Perhaps a tongue-in-cheek model designation or a commemorative? I've googled "OMUN" and its reverse, "NUMO", but only come up with references to a much more recent hip hop artist.

The stenciling on the back suggests it did travel some. Quite an amp - quite a mystery!

Dave

[Lostgallifreyan]

Even if the front panel did get changed, that serial plate didn't, unless someone went to a lot of trouble to fake it without leaving any sign that they'd done so.

I wasn't suggesting that.

Understood. I just meant that as you say, it looks like it's not been altered at all, so the back plate likely indicates than the front is also original.

This might be how it got named, possibly:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/32660870/London-Burning

A common teaching for Christians attending bible class is the story of Solomon; he is depicted as a wise and god-fearing man…. the question is, which god does he fear? Solomon consists of two words – Sol and Omon. Sol means ‘Sun’ in Latin and Spanish. Omon refers to the Egyptian pagan sun god Amon Ra, he’s name can be spelt Omon, Omun, Omen, Amon, Amun and Amen… yes ‘Amen’ a word often repeated in the bible. Solomon means Sun of Amon and is the Hebrew biblical name for the Egyptian Pharaoh Siamun, which also means Sun of Amun. Now you know why Christians worship on ‘Sun’day. Solomon is not alone; Abraham and Jacob were also Egyptian Pharaohs. Biblical name Abraham Jacob Solomon – – – Egyptian name Amenemhet I Yakubher Siamun – – – Start date of reign (BC) 1991 1655 978

Omun, equivalent to Amon Ra. If this amp had been commissioned during the days when reggae was at its greatest strength, it might have been named this way, as similar uses of ancient names had been used often in reggae and dub circles, and by Rastafarians, and 'Omun' might well be a favoured spelling given a West Indian dialect and accent to say it with. Only thing is, apparently it was a white guy who sold the amp, and the buyer, a Jamaican who played reggae through it, knows nothing of its name! So what looks like a nice explanation probably isn't. >:)

[Dr.HI-TONE]

custom engraving on the control panel is actually pretty trivial. It is just a simple request.

DR405's weren't regular production items. If a customer wanted one it was no problem to have a custom control panel made and ready for installation before the amp was completed.

The serial tag however, has no correlation to the control panel being original.

[Lostgallifreyan]

The problem with that argument is that it divides into abstruse parts. If you want to understand the history of that amp you have to take it in context and take it whole, using all the clues you can get. There aren't many of them, so eliminating the few we have is just a way to end the effort. And to me, not interesting.

[Zells]

Thank you for sharing what you do know about the amp. It's nice to know that there is another working 400w Hiwatt out there in the world even if it's in need of minor maintenance. I've only seen three Hylight era 400w amps in person (I own one of them, Dr.HIWATT has the other two) and another five Hylight or Biacrown 400w amps in pictures.