The "Canadian" Hiwatt (De)Mod

May 2008

During the late 70s, the Canadian Hiwatt importer modifed many of the (then current) two-input amps coming into Canada from the Hiwatt factory for higher gain, something like the Marshall JCM800.

Many people don't care for this mod, or inherited it by accident when buying an amp second-hand. This page shows you how to restore one of these modded amps back to stock.

The "telltale" signs of this particular mod are the extra 470k resistor and coax wire connected to the input jack, and the little yellow coil of wire under the turret board:

Restoration

(1) Carefully uncoil the yellow wire. Remember, this is solid-core wire, and won't tolerate too much bending around.

(2) Solder this wire to pin 3 of V2. Carefully stow the extra wire under the board.
Make it a neat right angle for the 'factory' look. :)

(3) Unsolder the added 470k resistor from the input jack, and remove it from the coax wire.
Solder this coax wire to V2 pin 2.
Use the small lug to secure it firmly to the chassis.

(4) Finally, solder a small piece of wire from V2 pin 1 to pin 6.
Blue wire has the best tone. ;-)

That's it! Now the amp is stock, as it came from the factory.

Thanks to JR for the use of his amp!