Vintage HiWatt 4x12 cabinet

[Lefty Lou]

I have a vintage straight front HiWatt cabinet in storage that I need to pull. From memory I was thinking that the speaker magnets each had red HiWatt decals, does anybody know what the power rating is for each one of these speakers? Just like the speakers in this picture:

[louis]

I have a vintage straight front HiWatt cabinet in storage that I need to pull. From memory I was thinking that the speaker magnets each had red HiWatt decals, does anybody know what the power rating is for each one of these speakers? Just like the speakers in this picture:

Post this overthere,

http://vintagehiwattconvention.com/forum/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[yngwie308]

They should be Fanes Lefty Lou if I recall correctly. Goodman speakers were used at some point, possibly Sound City though.
Pretty sure they are Fanes though in your cab judging by the way the chassis looks.
As far as the speaker rating they would have to be fairly high for that vintage remember these are Hiwatt heads which are super powerful.
Also look over on Plexi Palace forum, they have a couple of hard core Hiwatt guys over there.
http://vintageamps.com/plexiboard/viewforum.php?f=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
They have a whole Hiwatt section over there if the link doesn't work!
Hope this helps.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/niqqunos/s ... 741588443/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I think they are rated at 75 watts, fairly high for a non-EV style speaker!
yngwie308

[BaronGreenback]

the large magnet hiwatt fanes are usually 50 watters.

if they are 122/142's and you are selling them i might be able to help you out.

[Lefty Lou]

They should be Fanes Lefty Lou if I recall correctly. Goodman speakers were used at some point, possibly Sound City though.
Pretty sure they are Fanes though in your cab judging by the way the chassis looks.
As far as the speaker rating they would have to be fairly high for that vintage remember these are Hiwatt heads which are super powerful.
Also look over on Plexi Palace forum, they have a couple of hard core Hiwatt guys over there.
http://vintageamps.com/plexiboard/viewforum.php?f=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
They have a whole Hiwatt section over there if the link doesn't work!
Hope this helps.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/niqqunos/s ... 741588443/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I think they are rated at 75 watts, fairly high for a non-EV style speaker!
yngwie308

Hey Yngwie308, I got the cabinet either in trade or cash from a now deceased friend. It was in the 80's when I acquired it from said friend. Presently the cabinet is in storage, but the attached picture I found represents my same cabinet. At one time I checked into the specs of the cabinet, and from memory I came up with 35 watts per/speaker? It has been a long time since I've used it, but for whatever reason I remember the (reddish/purplish) labels and you're correct, the speakers are Fanes. I know this cabinet has to be at least a 70's Hiwatt cabinet. Somebody changed the grill cloth for cheapo black stretchy material and the Hiwatt logo was missing however, I located a mint plastic HIWATT logo for the cabinet. The only thing that really needs to be done to the cabinet is to exchange the present grill cloth for NOS original cloth. The wheels also appear to be made of "wood". What it has cost me to be in storage, plus the attachment I have formed with said cabinet partly because of my deceased friend, the cabinet's vintage, and the great sound it elicits make me want to hold on to it longer. I can see the value of this cabinet only going up.

[Lefty Lou]

Here's the answer from the web page link: http://www.legendarytones.com/hiwattfane.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


The Fane tone and response of this speaker in the early ‘70s was clearly different from the most popular Celestion speakers being offered for guitarists, namely the G12M-25 or G12H-30 series. The cast-frame ‘purple back’ Fane (called this because of its purple sticker label affixed to the magnet) built for Hiwatt was tuned and balanced like no other speaker created at that time. Loud, with a darker top-end and mild-compression characteristics, the 50-watt Fane purple back in a 4 x 12 had the power handling ability to support the tremendous output of the Hiwatt Custom 100 DR103 amplifier. Indeed, with the Custom 100’s clean, powerful headroom and large output transformer, certainly provided a bigger clean volume output when compared with a typical 100-watt Marshall produced during the same era (the Marshall of course put out more distortion/gain in exchange!). The 50-watt Fane speaker ultimately provided a tone and feel that retained the Hiwatt’s characteristically punchy qualities.

[yngwie308]

So they are rated at 50 watts then. They make repro Hiwatt grillcloth material ,sounds like a neat project.
Hiwatt cabs are awesome in their solid construction. The original style heavier basketweave style grill cloth will help filter the highs as is the case in Marshall cabs.
The Reeves people, though linked with Music Ground at one point I'm sure have the materials available to restore this cab of sentimental value.
I am the same way about gear myself.
Good luck and good hunting.
http://vintageamps.com/plexiboard/viewt ... =3&t=94190" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://forums.vintageamps.com/viewtopic ... 97&start=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://forums.vintageamps.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=36400" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://forums.vintageamps.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13080" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HIWATT-Original ... 1211248515" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://hiwatt.org/RegCabs.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.musicradar.com/us/reviews/gu ... mbo-572716" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.guitargeek.com/chat/amplifie ... und-85156/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/guit ... iwatt.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.fuchsaudiotechnology.com/tolex.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.reevesamps.com/assets/articl ... r-2010.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://vintage-amp.com/cbrestor.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/paddingt ... 1031048622" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

yngwie308

[Lefty Lou]

So they are rated at 50 watts then. They make repro Hiwatt grillcloth material ,sounds like a neat project.
Hiwatt cabs are awesome in their solid construction. The original style heavier basketweave style grill cloth will help filter the highs as is the case in Marshall cabs.
The Reeves people, though linked with Music Ground at one point I'm sure have the materials available to restore this cab of sentimental value.
I am the same way about gear myself.
Good luck and good hunting.
http://vintageamps.com/plexiboard/viewt ... =3&t=94190" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://forums.vintageamps.com/viewtopic ... 97&start=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://forums.vintageamps.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=36400" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://forums.vintageamps.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13080" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HIWATT-Original ... 1211248515" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://hiwatt.org/RegCabs.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.musicradar.com/us/reviews/gu ... mbo-572716" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.guitargeek.com/chat/amplifie ... und-85156/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/guit ... iwatt.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.fuchsaudiotechnology.com/tolex.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.reevesamps.com/assets/articl ... r-2010.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://vintage-amp.com/cbrestor.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/paddingt ... 1031048622" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

yngwie308

Thanks for the links Yngwie308, are you still into Gary Moore as heavily as before? or was that "Emerald"?

[Majorlead78]

The only thing that really needs to be done to the cabinet is to exchange the present grill cloth for NOS original cloth.

Be forewarned that the original grill cloth will be hard to find. But I will tell you this: The Hiwatt grill cloth from 1969 to around 1977 was identical to the Salt & Pepper Basketweave grill cloth used in the Marshalls from 1968 to 1971 (or '72), but the Hiwatt cloth was Gray & Dark Blue. Here's a link showing both the Marshall grill cloth & the Hiwatt grill cloth.

http://hiwatt.org/DIY/GrilleCloth.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you can't find the Gray & Dark Blue grill cloth, you can always get the Salt & Pepper grill cloth for your Hiwatt cabinet. When you install it, make sure the white ("salt") is horizontal (left to right) & the black ("pepper") is vertical (top to bottom). The Marshall basketweaves are the complete opposite. I installed the Salt & Pepper grill cloth on my '80 Hiwatt SE4123 cab & it looks great. It originally had the thin black grill cloth & I didn't like it.

David

[Lefty Lou]

The only thing that really needs to be done to the cabinet is to exchange the present grill cloth for NOS original cloth.

Be forewarned that the original grill cloth will be hard to find. But I will tell you this: The Hiwatt grill cloth from 1969 to around 1977 was identical to the Salt & Pepper Basketweave grill cloth used in the Marshalls from 1968 to 1971 (or '72), but the Hiwatt cloth was Gray & Dark Blue. Here's a link showing both the Marshall grill cloth & the Hiwatt grill cloth.

http://hiwatt.org/DIY/GrilleCloth.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you can't find the Gray & Dark Blue grill cloth, you can always get the Salt & Pepper grill cloth for your Hiwatt cabinet. When you install it, make sure the white ("salt") is horizontal (left to right) & the black ("pepper") is vertical (top to bottom). The Marshall basketweaves are the complete opposite. I installed the Salt & Pepper grill cloth on my '80 Hiwatt SE4123 cab & it looks great. It originally had the thin black grill cloth & I didn't like it.

David

Thanks mucho Dave. I was thinking the grill cloth was more akin to the early Marshall JTM45/100 4 x 12" cabinet grill cloth. I imagine the regular salt & pepper GC can be aged, or maybe you can get it aged like Mojotone does for their Fender GC.

[chrisom]

Here's the grille for my Sound City cab after I reinforced it and re-apholstered it with a 90-degree rotated salt and pepper cloth taken from a Marshall Hand Wired top cab. Repro Hiwatt badge. (What the hey- Pete Townshend put Hiwatt logos on his old Sound City heads ) http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/guitar/cp103.html

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[Lefty Lou]

I love what you did chrisom, you took the time to make it look good and it shows, looks very nice indeed. On a similar note, my buddy reworked his Fender SFSR baffle and grill cloth. He completely cut out a new baffle board as Fender used cheap plywood which was warping and washed and re-stretched said grill cloth.

[chrisom]

Thanks Lou; They like to charge an arm and a leg for those repro badges... It came with 2 Carvin 12's and 2 ripped original speakers that read: "Sound City, London" which were old Eminence speakers if I researched correctly...

[Majorlead78]

You're welcome Lefty Lou, anything to help out. You could also try Hi-Tone Amps (http://www.hi-tone-amps.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) & see if they come across or have any Hiwatt grill cloth that's not being used.

The grill cloth frame on my Hiwatt cabinet does not have the T-Brackets, they're held on with staples! After seeing Chrisom's second picture attachment, I might have to rework on it again & install the T-Brackets on the frame.

David

[chrisom]

Mine were staples too; I got those t-brackets at Lowe's so it wouldn't break when I stretched the grille. The Hi-Tone website is where I picked up the repro badges. Good eye! Only problem now is the baffle won't fit back in the cab now that I added piping and thicker grille...