Hiwatt Hiwatt Soundcity Sc105 preset

Verified · 80/100 confidence. Complete schematic. All component values readable. Parameters derived directly from the circuit.

The Sound City Lead 105 is a pivotal artifact in British amplifier history — designed and built by Dave Reeves before he left to found Hiwatt, it represents the first full realization of his vision for a supremely high-powered, high-headroom British amplifier. The circuit topology, with its careful point-to-point wiring and premium Partridge transformers, produces extraordinary clarity at high volumes: the Brilliant and Normal channels articulate every note of a chord cleanly, with a punchy, authoritative low end and a top end that never hardens or breaks up under load. Pete Townshend used customised examples during The Who's explosive 1967–68 touring period, and the amp's capacity for high-SPL clarity without compression made it the logical choice for players who needed to fill large venues before PA technology could do it for them.

Known for: Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, David Gilmour.

Heard on: I Can See for Miles — The Who (1967); Won't Get Fooled Again — The Who (1971).

Tags: british, vintage, clean.

Schematic-derived preset files for 16 Fractal and Line 6 modelers: Axe-Fx II/XL/XL+, Axe-Fx III, FM3, FM9, and the full Helix family (Floor, LT, Rack, HX Stomp, HX Stomp XL, Native).

Gridleak extracts amp parameters from original circuit schematics using AI vision — component values, gain staging, tone stack topology, tube types — then generates native preset files for every supported modeler. Every extraction is scored 0–100 and the score is published.