vintageHIWATTconvention.com

My buddy Darin imports the current Fane line. Apparently Fane is getting a little jittery about investing in the vintage reissues right now and he needs some feedback from people that would be interested in these if they become available. The wholesale cost on these will be about the same as the Studio L or AXA, so between $140 - $180ish -- not cheap.

There's also two reissues on the table, "Hiwatt Purple cast frame" and "1972 Crescendo A." I think it would be nice to have a better 'current' Fane available, given that the vintage ones are getting rarer (and longer in the tooth.)

Comments?

--mark

mhuss wrote: There's also two reissues on the table, "Hiwatt Purple cast frame" and "1972 Crescendo A." I think it would be nice to have a better 'current' Fane available, given that the vintage ones are getting rarer (and longer in the tooth.)

Comments?

Can't say that I'm ready to pony up that price for NEW speakers, but here are some thoughts on the subject of a ressurrected Fane:

1) The "Hiwatt Purple" would seem to be a higher percentage play, as they are more known. Crescendos are elusive and may have more limited demand. Not to say that I wouldn't love to have a quad of them...

2) ANY new production speaker should have a legitimate power handling capacity of 75 watts or better. I'm always concerned when opening up a Hiwatt into vintage Fanes (especially in the case of a 2x12 cab). It'd also be great to load up a single 4x12 that could safely handle a DR201.

3) Speakers - especially in this price range - should be ready to go out of the box. If break-in is required to achieve full song, it should be done at the factory.

4) Other than the rights to the name, what makes the current owners of Fane feel they can more faithfully recreate the Hiwatt Purple and Crescendo lines (as opposed to Weber or Eminence)? Aren't all speaker manufacturers pretty much faced with the same challenge posed by modern materials?

Relying upon musicians for one's business model has always been risky. Guess that's why the old Fane also made car radio speakers . I encourage the current Fane company to recapture their reputation. Producing authentic reissues of some of the best guitar speakers ever made would be a great way to accomplish that, IMHO.

Dave

Me want! I'm in for the new Crescendo A's.

Considering how incredibly different the recordings & the votes were from the 2008 Speaker Shootout
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=254&st=0&sk=t&sd=d& ... r+shootout
... I'd not want to be the one to finalize such a business decision.

IMHO the only one I could live with was Clip 6.1 = the '78 SE4123 with rear mounted stamped metal frame Fanes model #122231. I'm planning to own one of these someday and if someone were able to recreate a new one at a reasonable price before I find the real vintage thing, well then they'll get my $.

Thank God for the diversity in tastes to keep life and love interesting but it also takes away from those bean counters wanting to implement cost cutting mass production measures! LOL

Hey good enough for Gilmour it's good enough for me! If anyone has had their choice of Fane speakers it's him. I guess that's why Phil Taylor has a stockpile.

Actually, cheaper speakers -- made abroad -- are Fane's current 'bread and butter' business, . My friend has been pushing them to do the accurate-as-possible guitar re-issues, which they (reasonably) have doubts about, business-wise. They would be expensive because they would be made in England (vs Asia).

--mark

mhuss wrote:They would be expensive because they would be made in England (vs Asia).

As they should be (on both counts).

Forgot to mention, it'd be good if the speakers had slotted or oversized holes, to accommodate mounting on both vintage studs and modern cabinet hole spacings.

Dave

More info, the list price would be around $250, and they would likely be 100 watters. Darin sent them several cast frame original examples to work from, and Fane obtained several as well. (It does pain me to think of a perfectly good Fanes getting dissected -- oh well).

--mark

I think the problem they are facing is the small market for them.

Once the dozen or so Gilmour fans have them, who will be in the market? Same goes for the the one to be "based" on a purple back HIWATT Fane.

What model HIWATT Fane are they to be based on? Every HIWATT Fane in the 1970's had the purple stickers on them?
AFAIK only #122332 and #12390 were 100 watts.

Dr.HIWATT wrote: What model HIWATT Fane are they to be based on?

Therein lies the rub. Even the two most common models (122231 and 122142) are preferred by different players.

Don't know where the economy of scale sits, but a limited production run (100 or so) might be the way to test the waters. And, since it was MY idea, I should get numbers 001 through 004 of 100 at a "consultant's discount" .

Dave

I'll take 97-100!

Very interesting... I think the best thing Fane could do (business wise) is do a trial run, and let musicians "road test" 'em. 100 seems like a good number to start with, that's a quad for 25 people per flavor. Mark, do you know if the Crescendo's will have the aluminum dust caps? I'd be interested in them only if they came w/out.

Also, all it would take for these, as a product, to "take off" is for some good reviews on on the various gear forums; specifically the TGP. And you never know, some of the pro's might get hip to them too... Keith Urban has big thing for the DG tone. However, since these speakers are obviously sitting at the top of the market price wise, they absolutely need to deliver; to be the creme de la creme!

Keep us updated Mark!

Consider me in the "interested, wish I could afford" camp as opposed to "interested, can afford."

Still, interested nonetheless.

Hey Folks,

I have talked Fane into moving forward with the vintage spec reissues of the Purple and Crescendo A models. We have been working on this for about a year and a half, so it has been a long effort that we didn't want to abandon. We are going to release 2 versions of the Purple, most likely the 122142 and 122231, but we are willing to listen to suggestions. The Crescendo A is the 1972 model that Gilmour favors, as confirmed by Phil Taylor. The new release date will be in the spring of 2010 as there is still quite a bit of work to do, such as preproduction prototypes and eventually sample runs, so there may be an opportunity for some here to participate in testing the samples. As well, I am hoping to be able to make the 2010 Convention if everything goes as planned. I was planning on coming this year with some of the new Fanes, however I had multiple scheduling conflicts. It certainly would be super cool to have the Purples and Crescendos in time for the Convention. It would be a great way to compare vintage to vintage spec reissues.

Anyway, I am always available for questions, so shoot them my way.

Great to be here too!

Darin