# Barn find....seriously....and sorry..no pics.



## DrHook (Oct 28, 2013)

**UPDATE: pics posted on page 2**

It was a pretty quiet long weekend for me, save for the fact that a friend was moving and being Thanksgiving he wasn't offered a lot of help. I have this huge "sucker" tattoo on my forehead that I've never been able to fully hide, so of course I offered to help. It was a long and tedious move and after the house was emptied I noticed something sitting in the corner of the moving van that looked like an amp head...it was crusty, the chassis was rusted in spots and the dust on the tubes had to be older than some people's kids. I couldn't see the front of it because of the way he packed it in, and it was already in a spot where I couldn't climb to in order to see the manufacture plate. Well....when we got to the other end and unloaded....I missed seeing it again...but made a point of asking what the old tube amp was. He replied that it was his old stage amp and once it didn't power on he just carted it around with him wherever he went, meaning to fix it one day but never did.....and because he was grateful for my help...I could have it if I wanted. I figured...free tube amp head...heck yeah!... So I went to grab it and swing it around and noticed under the dust on the 
tubes that it said Marshall EL34 ...but it didn't look like any Marshall I'd ever seen...so I swung it around...and lo and behold

HIWATT CUSTOM 50 

The reason I don't have pictures is that I couldnt wait to get that bad boy into the shop...and even they were speechless...not only at the "barn find" rough condition it was in ...but that I had just scored a free HIWATT. It'll probably be 3mths on the restore....new transformer, caps, etc....gutted and rebuilt from the ground up. I'm thinking a 4x12 with a Union Jack grille cover  

The moral of the story...you never know when karma will smile down on you....so be good to each other.


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

Love it! That's awesome. Good luck with the restoration. Please post progress pics!!


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## bluzfish (Mar 12, 2011)

Nice score! I can recognize that Hiwatt sound immediately when I walk into the room. It has a unique bite and tonal quality like no other. I'm sure you'll be dreaming about it every night for the next 3 months, you lucky bugger. I'd love to be there to see your face on that the first power chord!


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## LydianGuitars (Apr 18, 2013)

Why gut it and replace the trasformers? Most people tend to want to keep vintage transformers and some components.


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## DrHook (Oct 28, 2013)

LydianGuitars said:


> Why gut it and replace the trasformers? Most people tend to want to keep vintage transformers and some components.


I can understand your sentiments, maybe this is where pictures would have helped....the transformers are rusted pretty badly. They'll power it up slowly using a variac in the shop to see what kind of shape everything is in and then let me know where we go from there..I was just thinking that it's something I wouldn't want to chance by keeping the originals.


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## Steveman31 (Oct 9, 2014)

Wow that is awesome. Very interested to see how it will turn out


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

If you do need new iron, which isn't a given at this point, but anyways...Heyboer make replacements that are supposed to sound great and aren't (well, exchange is falling daily but anyways) supposed to be too expensive. Congrats on the find/acquisition.

Who's doing the work for you?


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Nice, congrats!

Keep us updated on the progress. 8)


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## DrHook (Oct 28, 2013)

Keto, I was recommended to give either Lyndsey at Edmonton Audio Works or Chuck at C4 a call if the guys I took it to were too busy with the nod being given to Lindsey if I wanted a meticulous resto job done. Darcy and Josh at south side L&M will take a crack at it first, they've both worked on my amps before and I've been very happy with the work. I'll give them a call tomorrow and see if they can take some cell phone shots and text them to me so I can post them here.


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## Chitmo (Sep 2, 2013)

Not that it compare in magnitude but my V4 Big Muff was found wrapped in newspaper in a wall! Stuff like this is always cool, for some reason having a cool story makes gear sound better. Congrats on the find!


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

DrHook said:


> I can understand your sentiments, maybe this is where pictures would have helped....the transformers are rusted pretty badly. They'll power it up slowly using a variac in the shop to see what kind of shape everything is in and then let me know where we go from there..I was just thinking that it's something I wouldn't want to chance by keeping the originals.


1) Congrats! (although now you have the obligation of remaining the "nicer guy" that it couldn't have happened to!  ) I played through a Hi-Watt once, sometime in 1977 or 78, and it left a lasting impression.

2) This probably represents the very worst of what the web results in, but I recall reading somewhere that rust in a transformer is not necessarily a bad thing, and may even improve performance. And while I cannot remember the specific source, I do remember that it was a pretty reputable and considered one.

Naturally, the recommendation was NOT that one should soak transformers in water and leave them exposed to the elements, for mojo. But rather, unless it was causing shorts, the rust itself was not intrinsically a bad thing...up to a point. So yeah, first, safely verify that the transformer functions properly as one.


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## Guest (Oct 15, 2014)

You'll love it once it's up and running. I used to have a Custom 100
(highlight era). It was difficult trading it off, but, it was barely used.


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## urko99 (Mar 30, 2009)

Great Find and Reward for good Karma! Well done and looking forward to the Pics on the restoration. Keep us closely posted.


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## bzrkrage (Mar 20, 2011)

Nice work! That's what happen when you help a friend in need.
Going to look on the web for HiWatt 50 to see what the dealio is.
Reminds me of the Marshall 412 cab under the apartment block I lived in in Sydney. Wasn't into guitars then, but it was there for the taking!
Man, someone scored.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk -& All Round Nice Guy.


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## Rideski (Feb 25, 2009)

Holy crap! That's awesome! Congrats of that sweet score.

That would look killer with a Union Jack cabinets.


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## Schmart (Jun 7, 2011)

Rust is supposed to be good for transformers! Check this out: http://www.mercurymagnetics.com/pages/news/VGmag/VGAug09Hamernik.pdf


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Thanks. That is _precisely_ where I read it.


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## DrHook (Oct 28, 2013)

By the time I got to the shop today, I was surprised to see that the teardown had already commenced. The chassis was removed from the cabinet and a lot of crud was cleaned off, including rust, mouse droppings, and exploded capacitor guts. What's left doesn't look too bad and even the transformers look pretty good. The board is in great shape and even the EL34s tested good, but the preamp tubes were less than desirable both in shape and brand. So, from the cursory inspection it looks like a few capacitors and preamp tubes and a lot of elbow grease.


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

YOU sir....are one lucky SOB.....just sayin'
PS those Partridge trannies look great!


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

DrHook said:


> View attachment 10622


The inside of the chassis looks great!!

Impressive wire dressing and and layout in general.

Cheers

Dave


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## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

lucky you!!

that thing sure has some mojo


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

What a score - good for you. Enjoy that succa!

Except for a bit of corrosion on the caps, the inside is very nice. The outside? Well, if your buddy's name was Murphy, you'd pay about an extra $1k for that look.


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## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

Thanksgiving it is!!

You got it for having 'good person' on your forehead, not 'sucker'. Cool amp. Did someone 'make' the lettering red?


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## DrHook (Oct 28, 2013)

smorgdonkey said:


> Cool amp. Did someone 'make' the lettering red?


Yeah, I'm not sure if they used a sharpie or model paint, and they did half the white piping in red too. I'll try some naptha gas (lighter fluid) first with a fine scotch brite pad on the piping and see how easy it comes off. Depending on how that goes, I have a few different means of cleaning off the lettering...or I can just grab one off eBay...but considering the new Hiwatts use a slightly smaller logo plate, I'll most likely do whatever I can to clean up the original. The square looking things on either side of the name plate are actually stickers for a head shop in Calgary. I'm surprised they didn't find any roaches or a small stash in the head


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## notjoeaverage (Oct 6, 2008)

Maybe they did and forgot to mention it accidentally on purpose.

Nice find


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Congrats! That's awesome find.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

The red looks cool. It could be a one of a kind. Like a special run for you. Problem is that if you start to remove it you'll have to committ. 

Also it's likely that the red ink or paint has bled into the white plastic. I'd say it's very unlikely that you'll have a perfect white upon removal of the red. 

Good lunch either way.


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## dcole (Oct 8, 2008)

I heard there was an increase in barn robberies recently in the Alberta area.


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## Tone Chaser (Mar 2, 2014)

I would do what it takes to get it working soundly, and not disturb the mojo that it came with.

Can the heavy iron be serviced or treated chemically; then resealed, in any way?


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## Lemmy Hangslong (May 11, 2006)

Great story with a great moral thats true... great amp as well... a 50 watt custom would be the Hiwatt amp to own IMHO. Congrats and enjoy


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## DrHook (Oct 28, 2013)

Tone Chaser: I thought about that..and more than a few have mentioned the mojo aspect of it...I'll leave the cab the way it is for now...after all it can be cleaned up another time. As for the Iron being cleaned up...it's outta my hands right now...but I have the feeling as long as everything works as it should, minimal cleaning will be the order. If it ain't broke...don't fix it.

Sambonee: You're probably right about the red not coming out of the piping or nameplate completeley...as stated above...I'll leave it for now.

Continuing in the pay it forward vein, the same fella also had a Fender Bassman 4x10 reissue that looked 1000yrs old. He was playing through some less than ideal solid states and I took it upon myself to grab the bassman from him and take it in for servicing as it was another one of those "turns on, but no sound" deals. I'll get it fixed up for him and give it back as my way of saying thank you.


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## Tone Chaser (Mar 2, 2014)

Sorry, I tried to give a thumbs up on the smartphone. It did the opposite


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## DrHook (Oct 28, 2013)

I guess the phone wasn't so smart then...it should have known what you wanted LoL. No worries, I have huge hands and while apps and texting aren't a problem, web pages are. Cheers!


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