SG John
Ambassador of Cool Guitars and Amps.
While Jeff Swanson (the “S” in DST Engineering) was making me a 2x12 cab that would be a match for my DST U84-TNT head, we started discussing the possibilities of a Hiwatt style cab in British Racing Green to go with the prototype DST Solera head that I got from Bob Detorre a few years ago. After Jeff made made the 2x12, he mentioned he had an empty undersized 4x12 Hiwatt style cabinet and the prototype of the U34-CL head that he and Bob took to the amp shows (both in British Racing Green) that he was willing to sell me.
When I dropped off the little U84 to have recovered, Jeff gave me a package deal price that was very easy on my wallet, so we made the deal.
The U34-CL is what Bob has described as “The amp that brings 50 watt Marshall’s to their knees.” On one side, it’s a 50 watt Plexi, on the other a 50 watt Hiwatt. Both circuits are active with their own EQ, and a blend knob sends the signals to the power stage. It is not foot switchable the way the Solera is. It has four 12ax7s and two EL34s.
I have not had much time to play with it due to work and my wife’s convalescence after hip surgery. The little I have used it has been a bit of fun. All the knobs in the EQs are very responsive. The Marshall side sounds a little compressed compared to the Hiwatt side. When dialing the blend knob around to get different sounds, it goes from raw to huge.
I can’t wait until we can jam at Tom’s again, so I can bring this along and try it out at volume. Also need to think about what speakers to get. Jeff has a couple pair of Warehouse Speakers he’s willing to sell me. I will also need to see if I can get some tech info from Bob. We’ve been trying to get together for a while, but can’t make it happen.
The amp can be seen at the end of this video.
When I dropped off the little U84 to have recovered, Jeff gave me a package deal price that was very easy on my wallet, so we made the deal.
The U34-CL is what Bob has described as “The amp that brings 50 watt Marshall’s to their knees.” On one side, it’s a 50 watt Plexi, on the other a 50 watt Hiwatt. Both circuits are active with their own EQ, and a blend knob sends the signals to the power stage. It is not foot switchable the way the Solera is. It has four 12ax7s and two EL34s.
I have not had much time to play with it due to work and my wife’s convalescence after hip surgery. The little I have used it has been a bit of fun. All the knobs in the EQs are very responsive. The Marshall side sounds a little compressed compared to the Hiwatt side. When dialing the blend knob around to get different sounds, it goes from raw to huge.
I can’t wait until we can jam at Tom’s again, so I can bring this along and try it out at volume. Also need to think about what speakers to get. Jeff has a couple pair of Warehouse Speakers he’s willing to sell me. I will also need to see if I can get some tech info from Bob. We’ve been trying to get together for a while, but can’t make it happen.
The amp can be seen at the end of this video.
Last edited:
....without even trying.