NGD Gilmour Hiwatt DR-103

[Stone]

Fane Purple back

Going to be using this type of IR for my Upcoming Comfortably Numb
cover

 

[bbarott]

All the way up??! It's weird how you still have your hearing! Ha ha.

Yeah it was. Two 4x12 cabs under the thing. It was directional, probably the only reason I can still hear. Total 'live at leeds' vibe to it but Marshall ruled the roost in the US at the time. Youth is so wasted on the young ...

 

[Roger66]

Gilmour’s and Townsemd’s Hiwatt DR-103s were modified by Frank Levy….so we’re Jorma Kaukonen’s. I have one of Jorma’s in perfect working order. Use an orange or hiwatt (Fane based) speaker…it’ll actually give you an amazingly loud but clean sound.

Oh NICE! Do you know what mods we're done? I'd like to know. This one IS the Gilmour DG-103, but the only mod I know of is only to the input jacks.
What's funny is that an Orange cabinet was the only good Empty Birch Ply Cab I could FIND that I liked to put the 1970 FANEs into.
I had NO IDEA that Orange cabs CAME with FANEs! That's some luck!
I Also had NO IDEA that Rawson Sparfield was making Harry Joyce Hiwatts and (WEM).Starfinder cabinets and FANE Crescendos at the SAME factory, at least with the same machines, same parts and even the same magnetizer that made the originals under the name Rawson Sparfield! Yeah, I'm sick of all that distortion. A bit is nice if you hit it hard, though.
You might be able to get Hiwatt parts from them.
Of course I ordered the Starfinder 4-12 cab. It was less than $2200, shipped to California, but there was other stuff with it too. A NOS WEM badge that they fitted on for me and a couple books he wrote about PF's sound systems. Moron that further down.

Check out the Rawson Sparfield website!

 

[Roger66]

Fane Purple back
View attachment 600059
Going to be using this type of IR for my Upcoming Comfortably Numb
cover

Nice! THOSE we're an option I almost went with! Great stuff, huh?

 

[Stone]

Nice! THOSE we're an option I almost went with! Great stuff, huh?

Well they are the best option to use for comfortably Numb
With my Helix this is the chain / Patch ill be using
IR cab is a Fane Purple Back

 

[StratoMutt]

 

[Butcher of Strats]

I

It's beautiful. Are you running it at 50 watts? I just found out about Rawson Sparfield who now makes Harry Joyce Hiwatts and WEM cabinets with the same machines that produced the old ones.
The info is on my last post.
Yeah, I just bought a new WEM 4-12 cab.
WHO KNEW?

I had been running it with just the pair of el34, but have not run it in a while. Funny I played a Harry Joyce 100 head at a local shop over and over for months, at $2000 used.
Then it sold, and a couple of years later turned up at another local shop but the transformers were bent awayfromthe chassis, and it did not sound as great.
I bet the sound being off was maybe the tubes got replaced after the fallit took,and also I had played it through a real Hiwatt cab beforeand there was none the second time.
It was down to $800 though!!!
Still kinda wish I bought it then, but that is a lot of amp to lug, and I was half worried something else got damaged in the fall that almost ripped the transformers off the chassis.

Years prior I had a 1967 Plexi 100 that came to me with I forget which but probably the output transformer hanging off, two of the four mounting tabs ripped off the transformer bell end.
Hard to kill a hand wired Brit amp!

 

[Roger66]

Well they are the best option to use for comfortably Numb
With my Helix this is the chain / Patch ill be using
IR cab is a Fane Purple Back

Very Interesting. Sounds like you nailed it. The sound AND the notes!
Awesome! I REALLY mean that!
Funny thing. I HATE computers. I do it still the old fashioned way!
Old FenderTweed Reverb Unit.
Fulltone Tube Tape Echo.
EHX Tube English Muff'h.
EHX Electric Mistress.
EHX Good Vibes. W/Expression Pedal.
Through a '65 Fender Twin Reverb.
With a Clapton Blackie which I took the guts out of and replaced them with Active EMG DG-20's, Short Tremolo Bar, 'Secret' Neck Pickup Switch and 9.5- 46 Strings!
Have I missed anything? IDFK!
And NOW I have the Hiwatt DG-103 and the WEM 4-12 Cabinet and the Orange 4-12 with 1970 Fanes.
And of course the Tele that Seymour Duncan built for Jeff Beck to use on Guitar Shop, at least, that's what Seymour told me, and Martin 12-String.
Another funny thing: I have never played in a copy band!
I just like that sound! It does come in handy, playing originals!
Oh, I know how to play Gilmour's stuff and I know most Floyd stuff on piano and organ as well.
I have a ton of other equipment too.
Which I haven't mentioned.
Once I get the Hiwatt, I can probably get close to Pete Townsend and Early Jimmy Page tones as well.
I have tracking numbers for the stuff I mentioned that I don't have yet.
I am 56 years old and stuck in my ways, but sometimes I wish that all I had to do was push a button for that tone, but NAH, This is much more fun! I Try to Use ONLY tubes, but I obviously cannot. The EHX stuff is pretty good, well built and happy together.
I would LOVE to A/B our Gilmour rigs!
I don't know what Pete and Jimmy do for effects if any. Not much I think!
I HOPE that amp has a fresh set of Mullards in it and Czech preamp tubes!
I sure cannot wait to get it!
Again, Awesome job on Comfortably Numb!
I will let you know when I get the Hiwatt stuff.

 

[Stone]

Very Interesting. Sounds like you nailed it. The sound AND the notes!
Awesome! I REALLY mean that!
Funny thing. I HATE computers. I do it still the old fashioned way!
Old FenderTweed Reverb Unit.
Fulltone Tube Tape Echo.
EHX Tube English Muff'h.
EHX Electric Mistress.
EHX Good Vibes. W/Expression Pedal.
Through a '65 Fender Twin Reverb.
With a Clapton Blackie which I took the guts out of and replaced them with Active EMG DG-20's, Short Tremolo Bar, 'Secret' Neck Pickup Switch and 9.5- 46 Strings!
Have I missed anything? IDFK!
And NOW I have the Hiwatt DG-103 and the WEM 4-12 Cabinet and the Orange 4-12 with 1970 Fanes.
And of course the Tele that Seymour Duncan built for Jeff Beck to use on Guitar Shop, at least, that's what Seymour told me, and Martin 12-String.
Another funny thing: I have never played in a copy band!
I just like that sound! It does come in handy, playing originals!
Oh, I know how to play Gilmour's stuff and I know most Floyd stuff on piano and organ as well.
I have a ton of other equipment too.
Which I haven't mentioned.
Once I get the Hiwatt, I can probably get close to Pete Townsend and Early Jimmy Page tones as well.
I have tracking numbers for the stuff I mentioned that I don't have yet.
I am 56 years old and stuck in my ways, but sometimes I wish that all I had to do was push a button for that tone, but NAH, This is much more fun! I Try to Use ONLY tubes, but I obviously cannot. The EHX stuff is pretty good, well built and happy together.
I would LOVE to A/B our Gilmour rigs!
I don't know what Pete and Jimmy do for effects if any. Not much I think!
I HOPE that amp has a fresh set of Mullards in it and Czech preamp tubes!
I sure cannot wait to get it!
Again, Awesome job on Comfortably Numb!
I will let you know when I get the Hiwatt stuff.

Ohhh thats not me lol, thats the guy who created the patch, but i will be doing that cover in 2 more songs down the road
Modelling for me is a god send, i can get so many different tones
for everything i may want to cover
when i get to that cover
i can share the chain and gear ill be using when i get to that song
i know i can do the acoustic parts as well without a acoustic guitar
but you know to each his own i say, as long as we enjoy the road were on

 

[Roger66]

Ohhh thats not me lol, thats the guy who created the patch, but i will be doing that cover in 2 more songs down the road
Modelling for me is a god send, i can get so many different tones
for everything i may want to cover
when i get to that cover
i can share the chain and gear ill be using when i get to that song
i know i can do the acoustic parts as well without a acoustic guitar
but you know to each his own i say, as long as we enjoy the road were on

Ohhh thats not me lol, thats the guy who created the patch, but i will be doing that cover in 2 more songs down the road
Modelling for me is a god send, i can get so many different tones
for everything i may want to cover
when i get to that cover
i can share the chain and gear ill be using when i get to that song
i know i can do the acoustic parts as well without a acoustic guitar
but you know to each his own i say, as long as we enjoy the road were on

That sounds really convenient.
I am enjoying this road though.
If I had Your Job, it would be different!
Totally. Steve Howe uses on of those line 6 modeling things. It works for him too. I had a line 6 Spyder that modeled, with Bogner tubes and I was Hopeless using it! I hated that thing! Lol.
I Do like the smell of old gear though!
I have a 65 Twin.
Oh. Can you get the sound of a Fender XIi on it? Probably, huh. Mine is a 66.
Houses of the Holy, anyone?How about a Ricky 4001 bass?
Just curious.

 

[SIngles Forever]

Hi Guys! Just scored THIS Gem! I Do love Gilmour's tone, but I also like Page and Townsend's as well.
Any recommendations on a 4-12 cab for this beast? I have that Hendrix JTM-45 reissue full stack and I was thinking of using those or one for the Marshall head and one for the Hiwatt head. Someone is selling a reissue WEM 4x12 cabs without speakers with WEM parts for a grand. And the Fane Starfinder Crescendo 100w speakers are pretty pricey, And I don't really NEED to copy Dave's tone exactly anyway.
SO: Is one of my Marshall cabs appropriate or should I dig deeper for a better 4-12? I don't know!
Any advice is WELCOME! (Hiwatt 4-12 cab? If so, which one?) View attachment 599631 View attachment 599632

Not too many people make me jealous of their amps these days because I got some pretty good stuff... but man!!

 

[Robins]

Congrats!
My opinion,
The best sound I got out of one of those was to combine it with a 4x12 cab Marshall with greenback 25W speakers (the real old ones).
Perfect crunch and it was amazing how good that HIWATT sounded.
Combined with my Marshall 4x12 with Celestion blackbacks 30W it just sounded clean as a whistle.
By the way I don´t like those Fane speakers for a dirty sound but they really shine with clean tones.
That was one of the old HIWATT DR-103 (1972).

All the best,
Robin

 

[rze99]

Wow a beauty. I'd get an attenuator for the that beast. It'll sound ground into the Marshall cabs I'm sure.

 

[Chont]

Ohhh thats not me lol, thats the guy who created the patch, but i will be doing that cover in 2 more songs down the road
Modelling for me is a god send, i can get so many different tones
for everything i may want to cover
when i get to that cover
i can share the chain and gear ill be using when i get to that song
i know i can do the acoustic parts as well without a acoustic guitar
but you know to each his own i say, as long as we enjoy the road were on

I have the PodGo but its one of the best investments I've made. Those Fane IRs are fantastic. I've had ok luck faking Gilmour tones in the past with various gear but the Fane IR coupled with the Cortesan Flanger set mild gave it that thing it was missing for me.

 

[Roger66]

Congrats!
My opinion,
The best sound I got out of one of those was to combine it with a 4x12 cab Marshall with greenback 25W speakers (the real old ones).
Perfect crunch and it was amazing how good that HIWATT sounded.
Combined with my Marshall 4x12 with Celestion blackbacks 30W it just sounded clean as a whistle.
By the way I don´t like those Fane speakers for a dirty sound but they really shine with clean tones.
That was one of the old HIWATT DR-103 (1972).

All the best,
Robin

I DO have a Marsh Cab with greenbacks. I'll try it while I am "waiting for the WEM to come"
Hee hee hee. Yeah.

 

[Single Malt]

Well, This will work for now! 1991 Orange cab, Empty, and a matched Quad of Fane 1970-'71 cast frame 50 Watt Speakers. I just can't turn it up all the way until I find another cabinet!
It should sound OK! View attachment 599749 View attachment 599747 View attachment 599748

Yes, it should sound ok... Actually, the combination of the DR103 head with the Jimi cabs might sound fantastic. Clean from the amp into a speaker that sounds woody and has some grit. Glorious.

 

[Bane]

that amp looks dangerous! Congratulations!

 

[spacetraveler37]

ok. I have the exact same 2 amps. My I also build and repair them. So here’s the thing. Your hiwatt may possibly put out upwards of 120 watts. Those Marshall cabs sound amazing. But they have a lower than normal power greenback replica called the G12C. The original g12C was only 20 watts, made in england, one of the best and closest greenback reissues ever made. And one of the best speakers out there for Marshall’s in general. So if you only plug your hiwatt into one of these cabs and the wattage just momentarily peaks over say 80-90 watts. You done ****ed up. Bye bye super rare hard to get, made in england, greenback clones. Don’t do it. Build a cab with fanes. Buy the F70s. Those are the ones. I have a tall Marshall cab, 1982b, with F70s in it for my hiwatt. And it sounds ****in killer and it’s safe. I also have a second with the greenbacks in it for the Marshall. But I’ll never run the hiwatt through only 4 of the g12Cs. Not smart. Know your amps. Know your specs. And know your cabs.

 

[spacetraveler37]

Also. The fanes sound amazing with drive and gain. You just need to crank them up loud as ****. And you gotta break them in. Once fully broken in they smooth out but still have the spank and sparkle of the clean tone. Think like the rhythm guitar of another brick in the wall. It’s funky but it’s not your average. Such a unique tone. You gotta do the fanes man. For safety and just cause that’s the sound. F70s.

 

[NobodyReally]

One of the holy trinity of amplifiers.....