We all know the facts of what I'm about to post, but it's worth posting anyway. Once my new MOTU comes in I'll do a recorded side-by-side comparison of the amps. For now, let's begin with my two amps. Later, we'll do the Hiwatt and Fender comparison.
Hiwatt vs. Laney:
-Hiwatt is shinier, chimier, with a far fuller sound and overall far more balanced EQ section, with no one frequency overruling or ruining the other
-The Hiwatt's bright is bright, without being tinny or harsh
-The Hiwatt's presence circuit is non-existent until the last quarter turn, then turns to icepicks quickly
-The Laney's presence circuit leans dark, even dimed, serving as a blanket to high frequencies, making its interaction with EQ far more integral
-The Hiwatt's bass is tight, punchy and full; the Laney's is subdued, almost understated, as if it is more of a low-mid/low-high than a true low
-The Hiwatt is clean, sees for miles and miles, and retains its clarity and punch from low volume to high
-The Laney is quick to get dirty and its sound is greatly affected by the interactions of its gain stage and master, with minute details being discovered with but a tiny change in volume or gain. There exists many sweet spots, and they sounds oh so sweet, but they are difficult chase to down
-The Hiwatt's clarity is extremely individualistic, with every chiming note or chord ringing out, easy to identify in a mix, even when dirty
-The Laney presents a muddier, more compressed mix, responds better to humbuckers than to singles and NEEDS a fairly unimpeded signal chain to sound great
-The Hiwatt allows boost and distortion pedals to shine right through, in almost transparency, and truly sounds as if the signal is merely hotter, instead of more gnarly. Doubly so for Muff or Fuzz style pedals, which can turn a normal amp into a muddy mess, but turn a Hiwatt into hell on wheels
-The Laney interacts with boosts differently, almost ignoring any increase in volume (and flat out ignoring compression pedals), and becomes exponentially more dirty with each added pedal due to the cascading gain stage
-The Hiwatt's action is perceived as immediate and its clarity unforgiving, whereas it is easier to hide within the mix of the Laney
-When used with modulation, time or volume effects, the Hiwatt produces an organic sound, with absolutely no hint that this is not the way the guitar sounds naturally
-The Laney, on the other hand, produces a unique, "created" sound out of the very same effects, your ears know that the guitar is being processed, but the amp's gain stage and EQ make it sound "like a Laney", with all parts fitting into the whole (ie, a 335 reverberating into a feedbacking amp, through a Big Muff and a light phaser, sounds completely natural, as only it could through a Laney)
-While both amps have extremely unique sounds, the Laney almost certainly leaves a much deeper impression (a true British sound) upon your tone than does the Hiwatt, which prefers to let the sum of all parts speak as one
-As I have always maintained, together these amps form a beautiful partnership, with each others strengths (as I believe neither amp has any weakness) acting complementary
-I am almost guaranteed to suffer extensive hearing loss when playing the Hiwatt for hours on end, a feat not yet achieved by the Laney
That's all for now. I feel that fairly fully encompasses my observations. I will write up "Hiwatt vs Fender" (and maybe even "Laney vs Fender", though that would be heresy here!) soon. It is actually fairly surprising that I find, despite one being American and the other British, the Hiwatt and the Fender to be more alike than the Hiwatt and the Laney. As always, perception is everything.
Hope you all enjoy reading this!
Bryce
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