Those 50 watters!!
Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 9:27 am
Allright, so I've been a very proud owner of a '74 DR103 for two years now. I was always really happy with the sound although it always sounded too BIG for my band or too LOUD for every stage. The only other time I tried a real HIWATT was probably two years ago - it was a '69/'70 DR201 LEAD which was a monster.
A friend wanted to try my HIWATT (he plays keys mainly) and was impressed, no, wait ... blown away! We found a mint DR504 from '74 and bought it the next day!!! Maaaan, when I plugged in my Telecaster with just the channel jumpered, there it was - the classic HIWATT crunch I always lusted for. I can't seem to get that sound with my DR103 ..at least not with the Tele. Of course, the DR103 sounds much bigger and fuller, but I think the smaller, more 'compressed' (if I may say so) sound of the DR504 might actually work better in a band situation. I really dig that amp!
Now I can't remember if pulling 2 tubes would be similar ... it's been a long time since I tried that, but it's probably not the same...
A friend wanted to try my HIWATT (he plays keys mainly) and was impressed, no, wait ... blown away! We found a mint DR504 from '74 and bought it the next day!!! Maaaan, when I plugged in my Telecaster with just the channel jumpered, there it was - the classic HIWATT crunch I always lusted for. I can't seem to get that sound with my DR103 ..at least not with the Tele. Of course, the DR103 sounds much bigger and fuller, but I think the smaller, more 'compressed' (if I may say so) sound of the DR504 might actually work better in a band situation. I really dig that amp!
Now I can't remember if pulling 2 tubes would be similar ... it's been a long time since I tried that, but it's probably not the same...
