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Hi! I'm in the market for a used guitar amp. I played a Guild Polara through a Hiwatt Custom 50 on consignment today and loved the clean sound of the Hiwatt. It's a pedal platform that really lets the tone of the guitar shine through, which is what I'm looking for. (Not a fan of Fender/Vox/Marshall tones, and also tried the Jazz Chorus which was cool but not what I'm going for.)

I'm not looking to get a huge wattage amp, and can't spend more than around $750, more realistically $500. Does the Hiwatt Hi-5 or T series compare? Any other clean pedal platform combo amps I should be looking into? Ideally 5 tube watts, but can do up to 15 or 20.

I used to own a Hex Micro T and loved that amp as well. Not in a place to shell out $1k rn, though.

Hmm.. ever tried any of the Ampeg jet or rocket models? I’ve had a J-12t forever.. they have that same piercing dry clean that Sunns and do.

I once owned an Ampeg GVT-15 that I didn’t like haha. Are the Jet/rocket models built and sound differently?

If you aren't averse to solid state, the current iteration of Hiwatt has released some Leeds amps that seem like they'd be good "pedal platforms".

I haven't tried one, but would like to. They have a 50 watt combo and 150 watt and 300 watt heads.

https://reverb.com/ca/shop/hiwatt

pelican9 wrote:I once owned an Ampeg GVT-15 that I didn’t like haha. Are the Jet/rocket models built and sound differently?

I looked up your old amp.. no, you can’t compare them. The jet/rocket stuff is early 60s designs. My amp is class A and has no eq, only a tone control like a guitar.. these were amps made for jazz/western/surf. Cranked to distortion you get a nasty garage rock sound.. think Link Ray grind vs Eric Clapton self-creaming.

Nice thanks I’ll check em out! They’re pretty affordable so might just get one and A/B with the Hiwatt on consignment. Would you recommend the jet or rreverberocket more for the feel I’m aiming for?

@Seance haha I’m definitely averse to solid state haha. part of what I love about tube amps is how expressive, emotive, and responsive they are to guitar playing

That’s a tuff one, depends on what features you want in terms of eq, power, trem &verb control. I always recommend trying at least so you get to know the vibe and if you like the response with your playing. Also I recommend these because you don’t seem to be after a super loud and powerful amp… these start to breakup around 3-5 range.. but they are pretty loud for their size at the point.. the one I have is 15 watts and I’ve played a rocket or 2 in that same size.. but it’s been too many years for me to make a comparison. Back when was looking for this type of amp… 97… the it did not sound like a fender was a big part of why I got it.. but I think you will either love or hate them… it’s all about the sound in you head and we can point at things hoping it will be helpful, but you are looking for you.. personally for a long time I’ve used a bass amp (fender bassman 20, it’s kind of like a poor man’s portiflex) for all my low volume pedal platform needs both bass and guitar… I could see a lot of guitarists not digging that but I like the evenness across the spectrum….

pelican9 wrote: @Seance haha I’m definitely averse to solid state haha. part of what I love about tube amps is how expressive, emotive, and responsive they are to guitar playing

I think of the difference between playing a tube amp and playing a solid state amp as being like the difference between painting with watercolors versus drawing with Rapidograph mechanical pens.

If you can't draw well the Rapidograph is going to reveal every clam and uncertain line. If you don't know how to crosshatch it's going to look hashy.

A tube amp is squishy. There's a far amount of bleedover. It's possible to control that sag and recoil (mechanical defects as the amp "inaccurately" amplifies the signal from the guitar in a way that has been and generally continues to be found aesthetically pleasing) to great effect.

But IMO and IME there is nothing more expressive or emotive about tube amps compared to solid state amps. Every amp "responds" in a slightly different way to a person's guitar/pedals/playing technique.

And it's also possible to combine watercolors and Rapidograph pens.

I mostly play a Sound City 20 which is in the Hiwatt lineage. I guess that's a bit out of your price range.
When I was shopping around, I was looking at the newer Hiwatts and reactions are mixed. People are disappointed when they compare the build quality to old ones but that's always going to be the case.
I haven't seen the Leeds and that price is tempting but it might not be as clean as you want. I was considering the T20 and T40 combos when I found a deal on the Sound City.
Maybe look into the Hiwatt T-series. They have heads and combos at about your price point.

leaving the through-hole vs. circuit board question aside, how do the new Hiwatts sound? if i could get an affordable head i'd be willing to live with modern stuff.

i checked out a lot of demo videos of the ampeg jets and rockets, and i can understand their appeal but it's quite the vibe i'm going for.
back to the drawing board i guess!

if you weren't set against solid state, i saw a 1970s Polytone jazz amp with 2 10s in on Facebook Marketplace that was supposed to be the bomb as far as clean sound went c.1974. i'm kind of thinking about it for my looping setup, where character is kind of a drawback as far as the amplification goes.