Vintage HIWATT Half Stack - If you want BRUTAL TONE but NOT METAL!

I'm playing a 1976 Hiwatt DR103 through a 4x12 with 1960s Fane Pulsonic Purple backs (122/17A) using a Nordin Comet Krystin guitar. I love that this rig (and especially the cab) sounds this aggressive without any Metal vibes!! I'm also playing the cab using a Marshall 1987X and a 2021 Fender Telecaster 1960 Aged Custom Shop.

[@AndyDemos]

Man, even without the Hiwatt head that rig sounds like Live at Leeds! Love those Fanes ❤

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Andy! Yeah lots of character packed in those speakers

[@void_snw]

The Hiwatt tonestack is quite interesting. I like how it accentuates the treble in a metallic way without being only fizz. It's a very pretty clean and nicely aggressive crunch sound to me.

[@paulcowart3174]

Well stated Great cabs too

[@MrHilariousPanda]

Hilarious little guy, reminds me of my nephew! Very cool tones you got out of this Hiwatt. But really, your playing is the reason I keep coming back to your videos! So groovy and always gets me bobbing my head along! Keep it up Johan, cheers from Vienna!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks my friend! Makes my day to hear that

[@kevinmurtagh4996]

Johan, I love that you do a lot of rhythm type stuff. Especially those big open arpeggiated chords, that’s a big part of “the Johan sound”. 😃 It drives me nuts when people do demoes of strictly single note “widdly diddly”. That does nothing to demonstrate the true character of an amp. So thank you!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Kevin! Really glad to hear that.

[@timsmyth9060]

Kevin I think you've just coined a new term..."The Johan Sound"....I love it because it's accurate...Truth 😎

[@MrSheymie]

Nordin sounds great through it. Unruly and gnarly . Very satisfying sound.

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks! Glad to hear it. That’s a killer guitar

[@jcoulter43]

That nephew! 🤣 Looks and acts about like I did at that age Can't wait to hear him bust off some killer riffs one day! Great sounding amp as well. God bless and rock on!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks ❤️ Yeah he’s got the right attitude for Rocknroll! Rock on!

[@woodendoors9532]

If music is still legal after you know who takes over the culture through demographic warfare.

[@randolphcarlisle2976]

​@@woodendoors9532 What

[@woodendoors9532]

@@randolphcarlisle2976 who is taking over Sweden and what is their attitude towards rock music?

[@randolphcarlisle2976]

My friend, I'm an American, I don't have a clue what's happening anywhere, not even in America

[@darrellminx5459]

Nothing like a HIWATT for great tone. Great amplifiers and built like tanks. Military specs. I might build one sometime when I am caught up on the other amplifiers and pedals I am building. Great demo. Thank you Johan. Cheers from Hawaii. Darrell 👍

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Darrell! Cheers from the Swedish west coast

[@yanmetcaluire]

This nephew is a real punk ;-) ! Great sound, I've recently discover Fane loudspeakers and I don"t know why guitarist are so un Celestion since..... They're the big deal in a guitar sound and your video show me that again...... thank you

[@121212Guitars]

I have a 73 DR103 that will get into some fuzz territory at full volume. Will post a demo soon.

[@curtisprice9806]

SOUNDS HEAVENLY THAT FANE SPEAKER CABINET WITH HIWATT AND MARSHALL HEAD!!!! TONE !!!!

[@theyoungamptech320]

I built one of these using a butchered Sound City 120 Head. It is GIGANTIC sounding. I built it for a friend. He runs some pretty gnarly fuzz through it for his doom band and it will mow down the entire audience at our local theater. Great fun to build. Am very proud of it.

[@TheChadPad]

That’s awesome! That’s rock and roll🤘 any footage I can hear of the band?

[@paulcowart3174]

Always the best stuff JS

[@Tools_and_Guitars]

At around the 1:46 mark... that's some killer tone! 🎸

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks! Great to hear it!

[@nixoni.bogaine155]

Yep. These will punch the air out of your lungs! 😂😂😂 I love the midrange.

[@bb_lz9790]

All pretty sweet. The Tele/Marshall/Fane loaded cabinet tones were heavenly! I've shunned Teles for decades and find that I really need to rethink that position. Thanks for sharing!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks! Yeah Tele is the original electric! 🤘

[@bb_lz9790]

@@JohanSegeborn I know, I know....

[@bigoldSupaD]

Dear Johan, have you considered doing IRs and amp profiles? That Hiwatt stack is amazing.

[@jips123]

Super sounds!

[@piotr_szambelan248]

AMAZING - Love this!

[@marksguitars5617]

great sounding amp, used to love playing through these at rehearsal studios in the past. I'm sure the speakers are the best combination with this amp, love it. Nordin guitar sounds really nice, I like the droning riffs you're playing with the Telecaster too. Excellent work, Johan, keep on rockin'!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Mark! Great to hear that

[@seancorker5815]

Damn - the Hiwatt sounds fantastic

[@brandonhupp464]

Sounds very rock & roll all they way bro! Good stuff

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks brother!

[@jpallen3673]

Great tones man 👌

[@qua7771]

10 years ago, I put two H'75 Celestions with two V-30's. I never liked either on their own, but together, it's the most glorious thing. If you haven't tried it, its amazing. You have to try it.

[@user-qt2ok6gd6s]

I still prefer Marshall over Hiwatt as great as they are, Marshall seem to generally have a "richer" EQ overall. Great vid as usual, your nephew has quite a rock n roll attitude....

[@george-st-george]

I love this one !!! Sounds great !!!!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks George!

[@erickchba2]

Nice video and nice tone as always Johan! By the way, on the brink of reaching 100k subs! Congrats!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Erick! Glad you like it!

[@ro307805]

Nice!! Sounds fantastic

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks!

[@vintagetone22]

Amazing amp hiwatts,great demo from the king.🌹👍👍🙏🎸🎸🎸❤

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks! Glad to hear it!

[@andreybrodianski5596]

Fantastic sound!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Andrey!

[@roncarter2188]

Beautiful!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Ron!

[@jonathanpirkle1344]

Classic tone. Classic nephew.

[@nedesnikderpherder7529]

Thankyou for making me aware of a brand of speaker I previously haven't had any knowledge of! I have a mid 90s vs100 combo that I've been thinking of converting into a head unit, and I just came across 2 15" 74 fane drivers, that I'm seriously thinking about making a cab for 🤔

[@TheChadPad]

Coolest uncle award👌🏆

[@pcbullets8726]

Very Rolling Stones sounding. And just a killer vintage sound as well. Cheers!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Glad to hear it, Cheers!

[@DocHoliday444]

I was expecting a bit more BRUAL TONE out of this video, but as always there were some really cool clips in between:) Looking forward to the next one!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks! Yeah Brutal is a relative term of course

[@TristanSmart]

Fun vid, as always...the uncovered cab reminds me that I should finish my 4x12 cab project, so I've got something to put my G12M/G12H blackbacks in. Like the clarity of those Fane speakers: aggressive, but with a nice 'chime' to them. Your nephew has the rock'n'roll spirit, for sure. 🖕😂CHEERZ

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks man 😆 Cheers!

[@paulcowart3174]

Yes I had and early 70's 50 watt...I picked it up after chatting with N Schon Best cabs around too w those Fanes

[@mighty_arceus]

Grüß Gott from Germany Johan! I really like this setup, this has just great Tone-Coloration. What I also would like to hear for comparision, is a Marshall Origin 50C with a Celestion Hempback 50 Watter against the Mojotone British Vintage 60 Watter. Because many Players said, that the Hemp-Cone speakers sort of tame the high end and fizzieness of the Amps. Really want to hear your opinion on this topic! All in all amazing Video!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks! I’d be glad to take a look at the Hemp back

[@jeffallen3382]

This sounds good!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Jeff!

[@jeffallen3382]

@@JohanSegeborn you're welcome sir!

[@ianorourke6320]

Pretty cool old tone. Glad your nephew agreed,Marshall amps are best 😊

[@ItaiIfrach]

Wow those Hiwatt speakers sounds so well overdriven

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks!

[@danielforsberg4018]

The Hiwatt sounds amazing with those speakers! Still the “Hiwatt bark” but more dirt than if one use the purple Fanes (which I also like very much). The Marshall sounds great too. 😊👍

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks my friend!

[@eddieholmes3236]

That Hiwatt and cab great rock combo. You have the crunch and the clarity. I bet you could do some great neck pickup blues as well. I assume your nephew was doing this 🤟?

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Eddie! 😉 Yeah the speakers supports the neck pickup beautifully

[@riangarianga]

We could have some «nephew comparison» video. I have a couple from «different production batches», and the more «vintage» one has similar age and «behaviour specs» to yours 😆 Those Fanes sound great! In general all vintage Fanes sound very special to me. I'm very intrigued even by current-production ones, since they aren't as popular as Celestion, but every test I hear they seem to have some outstanding flavour of their own, too. I wish there were more Fane IRs out there.

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks! Yeah that’s behaviour specs well suited for Rocknroll 😆 Cheers

[@loubydal7812]

Hiwatt is a great amp, it's a pity that is underrated or not popular today. Your playing demos sound wonderful, and no doubt why Pete Townsend used Hiwatts for its amazing tones in The Who most famous songs. Great always, thanks Johan, cheers !

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks man, glad you hear that. Yeah Hiwatt and Fane is still ch a sleeper for many players

[@nullfusion]

!!!! we all love +++JOHAN POWER+++ !!!!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Cheers 😉

[@plumbummusic2051]

What surprised me the most (besides those fane speakers) was how the humbucker guitar into the hiwatt sounded close to the tele into a marshall. Not identical, obviously, but close enough for some applications

[@JohanSegeborn]

I tried to tweak the Marshall to sound like the Hiwatt so basically no treble

[@joelmahan]

That Tele is working for you 😎

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Joel! Glad to hear it.

[@HALWASRIGHT]

Your nephew is a BOSS!!! Straight up punk rock! Hahahaha!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Cheers! He is indeed!

[@christopherbrown6553]

@JohanSegeborn, have you considered releasing IR profiles of any cabs/speakers you've tested? I kind of can't believe I'm saying this, never would have been interested some years ago. I saw Aaron Rash's video about producing IRs to capture the sound of Nirvana's In Utero album, and I've been looking at the Boss IR-200, and thought it would be cool to have some IRs from you. There particularly seems to be a lack of 15" cab/speaker profiles. (There may be some marriages out there that you could save 🤫)

[@dogheadmusic]

Bravo, Uncle Johan! Very cool sounds, as always. Have you tried the Redback speaker yet? Would love to hear how this holds up to some of your other favorites. Cheers!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks! 😉 I haven’t played it myself yet but I like the demos I’ve heard

[@Garflips]

Great tones! Gotta see if I can get close with my pedals and low wattage amps.🙂

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks! Yeah there are many ways to great tone

[@mohamedtlass3842]

Sorry, no substitute for big iron and cabs

[@DMSProduktions]

The sound of RAWK! \m/

[@JohanSegeborn]

Cheers

[@marccarter1350]

Johan, he gave us the bird 🙂 It's that Pete Townsend Max R&B break-up tone. Kind of reminds me of the ill fated short lived Vox UL730 solid-state, Stones/Beatles 1967 to 1970!

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks Marc! Yeah those are super cool amps and probably what Jimmy Page used on Z1

[@marccarter1350]

@@JohanSegeborn Ahh yeah!

[@NINEWALKING]

Very interesting. Those speakers sound great to me. You can hear the difference between the amplifiers really good. BTW, apparently, speakers' parameters of Celestion collide with the Hiwatt amplifiers. Something with the impedance curve doesn't fit the output transformer if I recall good. Fane speakers were the choice because of that, apparently. That's the reason that Hiwatt experts say Fane loaded cabinets only and only pre 75 4 hoke DR103. Or was it 74? Anyhow, this makes me wonder if that recone wad done with the whole cone and the voice coil assembly? Or have I misunderstood that sort of Celestion Pulsonic cones were used? Voice coils were different as well. Fane speakers could handle more power usually. Anyway, those speakers sound great to me.

[@onewiththings]

Hiwatts are hilarious!

[@SkyValleySpaceCadet]

Instant Pete Townshend tones

[@64firebird]

Hi Johan, you should make speaker ir's and tone captures and sell them. You capture awesome tones, cheers

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks! I’ve been meaning to do a video on that. Hopefully soon. Cheers

[@64firebird]

@@JohanSegeborn Awesome, thanks locking forward to see it. cheers

[@SCOTT-ki3ve]

Great vid, great kid, great tones. But there is still a BIG question looming...DR 103 vs Music Man HD 130? No one knows for sure...only you can enlighten us all

[@siegfriedwashburn3484]

Hi, Johan! Sounds nice! I was wrong about this amp. Absolutely good stuff! The boy is your offspring?😊 I am fool fledged father this summer. See you! S .

[@JohanSegeborn]

Hi! He’s my nephew! Cheers

[@johnnybrown9581]

Cool tone, sounds punchy with a lot of headroom. I guess that’s why Pete Townshend liked them. You should include your nephew in more videos, LOL

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks, yeah fantastic dynamics with this much gain. Yeah never a dull moment with him 😉

[@victorbeebe8372]

Aloha Johan! Didn't David Gilmore used the power section of Hiwatt, because of the high headroom?

[@JohanSegeborn]

Hi Victor! He plays a D103 through a WEM/Fane cab

[@timscarrow9151]

I had a Custom 100 in the 80's My Left ear does not work anymore except for the Tinitus.

[@semiforte]

AFAIK this speaker is the one you‘ll find in most Hiwatt cabs specified as guitar or multi purpose cabs. Rated at 50W each cab has 200W. There were some Hiwatt bass cabs rated 300W with different speakers. In my Simms Watts cab there are 122/17G speakers. I suppose the G stands for guitar - so no idea what the A in you speaker stands for?

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks! These 122/17A are 25W each

[@semiforte]

@@JohanSegeborn OK, thanks for correction. I thought 122/17 are all 50 watts. Another lesson learned. However, it is really interesting: the magnets are the same size as the 50 watters - also the Pulsonic cones are the same number than on my 50 watters...

[@RulgertGhostalker]

you have it sounding good though .....where are the tone knobs at there?

[@JohanSegeborn]

Thanks! I plug into the high normal input gain varies. Bass varies and the rest of the knobs on 40% or less for the Tele

[@somethingelsedoesmatter]

I think the Hiwatts are great for certain types of metal. Russian Circles is a good example of a band that uses Hiwatt. If I had the money to get me one, I'd be using Hiwatt for my metal, too.

[@JohanSegeborn]

Yeah you’re right. Metal is a wide genre.

[@gooseabuse]

I was hoping the nephew was gonna shred some licks!

[@JohanSegeborn]

😂🤘

[@user-tb9rw7dh2t]

👍👍

[@dawidwieczorek7425]

you should create a studio with all that gear to record guitarist

[@Rhythmicons]

Should regular folks with vintage amps play them this loud or will we destroy the speakers? '64 6g6b with Oxfords here.

[@JohanSegeborn]

If you’re concerned about the speakers you can use an attenuator.

[@Rhythmicons]

@@JohanSegeborn I read that attenuators degrade the sound and wear out the tubes prematurely. What do you think? I can't figure out which way to go. Is there a small soundproof chamber where folks can drive their amps without getting the cops called?

[@rodrigobelinchon2982]

kicking digital asses like only Johan can

[@JohanSegeborn]

Cheers! 😉

[@markn4526]

Like I've always said...Marshall amps growl and Hiwatt amps bark.

[@JohanSegeborn]

😁

[@anthonylachtara266]

Have an early 70's dr103 modded by Mr Harry Kolbe aka Bill Duffy( the Cult) it goes places...

[@JohanSegeborn]

Cool! 🤘

[@Avalaraeon]

Respecting the Elders I see ... 😂😂

[@JohanSegeborn]

Hahaha! Not anytime soon I’m afraid 😂

[@RulgertGhostalker]

if I had a HIWATT , the first thing I would do is modify the tone stack ( yep, I mod the tone stack before I even played through it ) they are just such weird tone stacks.

[@JohanSegeborn]

Yeah the EQ knobs seems coupled in some way

[@RulgertGhostalker]

@@JohanSegeborn just kind of funny the way the tone stack acts....not to say one can't get a good tone from it....because obviously one can.

[@wabbadu1]

Is this the same kind of amp David Gilmour used?

[@JohanSegeborn]

Yeah he uses a D103 but his version has both channels/inputs combined

[@jdg1279]

Hiwatts not metal? I seem to recall Exodus's first album was a Hiwatt boosted with a Boss SD-1... which, to be fair, is a method that can make many non-"metal" amps quite metal.

[@JohanSegeborn]

Any amp is metal through a Marshall Celestion cab. The purpose of this video was to show that through these Pulsonic Fane speakers you get Marshall style tones without metal vibes which is rare.

[@thallrudedjentstorm1756]

Who else thought that the cabinet was pixelated on the thumbnail? lmao

[@JohanSegeborn]

Only my nephew was pixelated for a brief moment

[@thallrudedjentstorm1756]

@@JohanSegeborn No no I mean the cabinet for sure. A lot of cabinets give off an illusion on some screens on a few resolutions because of the fine detail of the fabric. I would like to show you what I mean but I can't....

[@klepetar]

biggest letdown for me.. it was like playing in a bass amp.. you had to crank the thing until the windows shook to get a little bit of overdrive... totaly useless amp for me..

[@user-du1yk7uk9v]

Metal is for losers as well as Punk