Vintage HIWATT Convention 2010

[Hiwatt Bob]

^^^big thumbs up!

[Mike B.]

I would like to extend a BIG thank you to Dr. Hiwatt for the convention. He puts an unbelievable amount of time, sweat and money into this.

The collection of vintage Hiwatt gear was mind boggling, it was great to meet the people who came, and I had a lot of fun. One of my personal highlights was Glenn Cornick showing me the 'trick" to the Bouree bass solo. He had a seeming endless supply of stories from back in the day, and he still plays a pretty mean bass.

It's really a shame more people can't make it to Indiana.

--mark

Mark,

Tell me that trick if you don't mind!

Mike

[Hiwatt Bob]

Hey MikeB,

Hopefully we'll both be there next year so i can give that chili-dog.

Love,
Bob

[Dr.HI-TONE]

There are plenty of other forums for other gear. This forum is expressly for Vintage HIWATTs.

[OldSchoolDave]

These just out of the dark room (an OldSchool reference):

The building was SO big, we could unpack in air-conditioned comfort (a real lifesaver!):



Here's Mark, during booth setup:



Special Guest Glenn Cornick, fiddling with knobs:



Saturday Jam pics:







And here's a rare pic of the extremely risky "mid-jam drummer refueling" maneuver (don't worry - it was successful):



Glenn takes us on a tour of his website ( http://www.cornick.org ) to tell us some tall tales (whilst Glynn Reeves admires his new Eminence T-Shirt):



Glenn must have gotten to a good pic, 'cause Glynn came over to check it out:



Now, let's see your pics!

Dave

[Dr.HI-TONE]

awesome pics Dave!
Thanks!

[MrTed]

I'm definitely not missing the next one!

[jcmh1]

Looks like it was a blast .... thanks for the pics, and look forward to sound clips if there were any

congrats on what looks like a great event

john

[mhuss]

We carefully recorded about a dozen cabinets with different modern and vintage speakers using the same early 70's DR103. I have to sort out the tracks when I get some time.

--mark

[Zells]

I give my endless thanks for Dr.HIWATT for making this convention possible. It was truly a grand event with a tragically low number of attendees despite all the great Hiwatt gear, the hype here on the VHC board, radio promos, and a celebrity guest. It was a wonderful time, i.e. the best weekend of my life that didn't involve a woman.

Mr. Cornick was exceptionally friendly and generous in sharing stories. I asked him about how he was involved in the development of the Hiwatt DR201. After jamming with The Who and enjoying their Hiwatt gear, Glenn obtained David Reeves' phone number and contacted him and later visited DR's house in New Malden. Jethro Tull purchase some 100 watt amps, but they wanted more power. DR apparently had built a 200 watt amp, a prototype of sorts, that he kept under his bed. It was a prized possession that DR did not wish to sell, but he did let Tull borrow the amp for time while he was building clones for the band. So, Jethro Tull purchased the first run of DR201 amps. A picture of the borrowed 'prototype' can be viewed in this picture linked from Glenn's website: http://www.cornick.org/gallery/jethro_t ... hive_1/aqz
It's the amp without a control panel above Glenn's bass headstock.

The HI-TONE amps and cabs sound awesome, perhaps even better than the vintage Hiwatts. I especially dig the DR-F clones of the Hiwatt Fane model #155161 from Dr. H's cab previously owned by The Gin Blossoms. The new 150 watt DR-F '142 prototype speakers (apparently cloned from some 1973 cast frame Hiwatt Fanes #122142 that I sold to Dr. H) could seriously roar. It think their may be some tweaking by Eminence to improve articulation in the overdrive tones, but they're close to where they need to be. The quad of 'em handled my 400 watt DR405 just fine...all knobs dimed.

[Zells]

400 Watt Amps are way to much power for guitar (KIDDING YOU ZELLS) But Daaaayyyum!!!!!

Kidding? For most venues and musical styles, the DR405 is too much. It was certainly fun to play and hear others play through the amp. I don't get the opportunity to do so as often as I'd like, at least not that loud. When I first fired up the DR405 at the Convention, I strummed a few chords while slowly turning the volume knobs upward to warm up the amp and speakers. When I reached the desired point of saturation, I turned the master volume a little further before strumming 'Pinball Wizard'. Glynn Reeves said he saw the water ripple in the toilets at the opposite end of the building when he heard me strum that first chord in the intro. I imagine the vibrations in the building increased by the time I got to the chorus...'sure plays a mean pinball...' and cranked the volume knobs on my Epi Les Paul. People in the room seemed a little shell shocked after I quit playing.

[Zells]

A few pics:



'Oh look, someone put chairs here'


The setup for recording speaker comparison sound clips is shown. The mics were in front of my '73 SE4122 cab at that moment. We were only hearing clean strat tones for the comparisons, but to my ears, the '78 SE4123 Gin Blossoms cab loaded with 155161 Fanes and the HI-TONE cab with DR-F clones of the 155161 sounded the best.

[Hiwatt Bob]

damnit. stop posting pics!! stop rubbing it in!

how many people showed up? were the numbers up at all from VHC's past?













just kidding--please post moar pics.

[Zells]

I asked Dave if he'd play my upgraded blue Epiphone Les Paul through my DR405 pushing the new DR-F '142 prototypes. He seemed happy to oblige, and I was able to gage the sound a bit from different areas of the room. What a sound. I have a greater appreciation for that cheap Epiphone since Mark and Dave really raved about. I do recall that it sounded 100 times better after replacing the wires, pickups, pots, tone caps, jack, and switch last year.



Here are the axes that joined on the pilgrimage to Hiwatt valley. They are all tuned and strung differently, and most them were modified or are works in progress. The Epiphone is in standard tuning, but the rest are oddballs...CCEBDF, EbGbDbGbBDb, FFAAFC, EAEABE, DDDDAE, CGDGCD, etc. The Ventures signature Jazzmaster is especially winner through a Hiwatt DR405. Too bad both that guitar and that amp are so rare...I wish more people had the pleasure. I annoyed those in attendance with some feedback drenched originals and cover tunes, some well and some butchered. The light blue guitar on the floor to the far right suffered some Townshend-style damage during my finale late in the evening. It was one of those times when the all knobs were dimed on the DR405.

[Zells]

I took a few shots of the clear case Hiwatt demo amp on display. I presume this amp had been used by Dave Reeves at gear conventions and other events. Check out the shiny, polished chassis.