Townshend SG Sound

[An Abiding Dude]

Hiwatts are famous for their high headroom and The Who were famous for their stage volume, so you know Townshend was running those amps at insane levels. Listening to "Young Man Blues" where he goes to that little clean section around the three and half minute mark, it sounded like he had the neck pickup rolled off and the bridge pickup maxed so he could go clean to dirty with the flick of the pickup toggle switch.

 

[Decadent Dan]

Do you remember the specs on that cab? 100 watt, 200 watt? Was it a 16 ohm cab??

I’m not sure, it was 30yrs ago. It had tons of headroom and would bury a greenback cab.

 

[Norton]

70's traynor's can get you there for sure!

Hiwatt's don't distort like most amps and when you combine that with their unique almost hi-fi tone controls and their gigantic output transformers you get something pretty unique. both in sound and feel.

funny how page, Townsend and gilmour all played hi watt's and they all used them for very different sounding things. Page's were heavily modified did he marshall-ize them???

Traynor's are really similar in some ways... and maybe even more versatile?

 

[Maguchi]

I'm always seeking the Holy Grail, the distinct clean guitar sound on
The Who's Live at Leeds but never quite achieve it.
Whether it's the amps, the stomp boxes, strings, or the SG set up.

So anyone know the wiring details, the cap and pot values
of the bog standard 1966-70 SGs that
Townshend favoured , Or if he modified them ?
Or will I have to shell out $5000 for an original ?

Pretty sure the mid to late '60s SG Specials like Townshend played at Leeds had two .022 uF caps, four 500k pots and two P90 pickups with a 3 way switch and standard Gibson 2 pickup 4 pot wiring without any push pull or out of phase or anything like that. Did Townshend have anything custom done to his SG? I'm not sure where to look for that info.

Pics on the internet show Pete was playing through Hiwatt amps at Leeds. Without buying a vintage Hiwatt, the closest you could get today, is a Gibson SG Special and maybe a Sound City SC-30 reissue amp or something like that. The Sound Cioty reissues are copies of the amps that preceded the Hiwatt and supposedly sound a lot like Hiwatts.

who live at leeds - Google Search

 

[DrBGood]

Pretty sure the mid to late '60s SG Specials like Townshend played at Leeds had two .022 uF caps, four 500k pots and two P90 pickups with a 3 way switch and standard Gibson 2 pickup 4 pot wiring without any push pull or out of phase or anything like that. Did Townshend have anything custom done to his SG? I'm not sure where to look for that info.

Not much you need to do or for that matter, can do, to a set of P90. They are what they are and you play them as is. Push-pull were a thing in early 70's ?

 

[Daphne Gruntfuttock]

I think the only add on Pete did with his SGs was to take off the
pesky whammy bar !
Some great info, I am by and large a guitar fan and of the [ mistaken ] opinion that an amp is just the faithful slave, a mere reproducer, of the output of a pickup and has no major role in the timbre, or sonic quality of the guitar, and a Hiwatt uses the same components and raw materials as a Marshall or Orange.
Always willing to learn, thanks guys.

 

[DrBGood]

I think the only add on Pete did with his SGs was to take off the
pesky whammy bar !

So it was an add off ?

... I am by and large a guitar fan and of the [ mistaken ] opinion that an amp is just the faithful slave, a mere reproducer, of the output of a pickup and has no major role in the timbre, or sonic quality of the guitar, ...

Amp settings with speaker/cab choices are most influential in overall tone; then guitar and everything in between. You can have a great tone with a crap guitar in a great amp, but never a great one with a good guitar in a crap amp.

 

[smitty_p]

So it was an add off ?

Amp settings with speaker/cab choices are most influential in overall tone; then guitar and everything in between. You can have a great tone with a crap guitar in a great amp, but never a great one with a good guitar in a crap amp.

Very true. And speaker/cab choices have a much larger effect on an amplifier’s tone than many people think.

 

[shreddy bender]

SG Special, Hiwatt amps. Everyone has missed one key ingredient...

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

and the other 10 ingredients, his 10 fingers

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

SG Special, Hiwatt amps. Everyone has missed one key ingredient... View attachment 50203

Good to see you post, even though I missed you, Shreddy Shaun.

 

[shreddy bender]

Good to see you post, even though I missed you, Shreddy Shaun.

Every so often. Hope you are well!

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

Every so often. Hope you are well!

Likewise, Shreddy. Hey, look for a PM

 

[Decadent Dan]