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Dinosaur Rock Guitar

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Dinosaur Rock Guitar

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Home » Reviews » Gear Reviews » Amp

Hiwatt Lead 50R (Model

LC 50R) 1x12 Combo
Submitted by Dinosaur David B on Mon, 10/05/2009 -
14:48
Head/Combo:
Combo
Price Paid:
$425 in the mid 90s.
Condition:
Used
Country of origin:
Not sure
Tube Type:
EL34
Features:

Two channel, 50watt open-back combo with

reverb and one 12" 75w Fane. A two button foot
switch toggles between the channels and turns
the reverb on and off. I think it was made in Asia
in the mid 80s. It's class A/B w/2 EL34 power
tubes and 5 12AX7 tubes for preamp/driver/reverb
duty. This combination gives it a very British
sound. The reverb is the classic Accutronics
spring type which gives the amp a great, big
sound without sounding like a "surf tone" reverb.
The tone controls work well and produce the
expected/desired changes. It is pretty versatile for
the price point.

Pros:

This amp has a great British tone for classic 70s

Dino rock. The Rhythm channel is the real heart
of the amp, and it the more you turn up, the better
it gets! It gets that big Hiwatt sound, a real sweet,
brown distortion, but cleaner, and with a bit more
ring than an old Marshall, and no mush. For most
Dino applications, you need a mild boost pedal to
get it in to lead terrirory, and probably a distortion
pedal to make it do metal, but it will sound quite
good if you do those things. However, the amp
definetly leans more to the vintage sounds than
the Metal.

The amp is extremely loud for a 1x12. It can eaisly

compete with just about anything volume wise.
Where I used to live, it was rattling the grout out of
the tile walls in my bathroom. You can also simply
unplug the 1/4" jack to the 1x12 and plug the head
into a different cab such as a 4x12. This amp run
through a closed-back 4x12 really gets those old
Pete Townshend type rhythm tones.

It's not too heavy for a 1x12 combo. Around

60lbs.

Cons:

The two channels are pretty different in character

and volume levels. Depending on the the
situation, I found you basically had to pick one
channel and stick with it. I didn't find a good way
to ballance the volume differences between the
two channels, so switching between the Lead and
Rhythm channels via footswitch is not "subtle"
enough to be practical within the context of one
song.

There's something about the Lead Channel sound

through it's own speaker that doesn't cut it. Like it
only gets preamp gain. Frankly I just used the
Lead channel when practicing at low volume--it's
perfect for that, and I used the rhythm channel
when I played with other muscians.

I will say, the Lead channel actually sounded

MUCH better through a Marshall 4x12.

The amp is pretty noisy. Lotsa hum when your

plugged in but not playing.

Sound Quality:
4
Reliability:

Wasn't the most reliable thing in the world. This is

not one of the old PTP wired Hiwatts, but rather
an early PCB board amp, and as such, it had
problems a few times where things (such as
solder points) had rattled or vibrated loose due to
volume, and had to be repaired. And this was
without the rigors of gigging. It was just sitting in
my room.

Customer Support:

Non existant while I owned the amp. Hiwatt

changed hands many times in the 80s and 90s.

Summary:

If you can find one of these for less than $500, it

can be a good option for beginner players who
want real, EL34 British tube tone under the right
circumstances. While it's a bit noisy, it could also
be a decent studio amp if you want a Hiwatt
sound available as one of your recording amps. It
DOES do the Hiwatt signature tone. The Rhythm
channel sounds quite good, and provides a good
EL34 platform that you can certainly work with it,
or push around as the case may be. The Lead
channel makes for a decent bedroom/practice
amp. Both channels sound better through a 4x12,
but how practical is that? I wouldn't recommend
this amp for regular gigging, as it is too prone to
vibrational damage, and the imbalance between
the two channels could be problematic.

Overall Rating:

Average: 3 (1 vote)

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