MEZZO FURIOSO Presents...The Peter Hook 1974 Hiwatt Custom 100 DR103

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Few bass players have made the bass guitar sound quite as unmistakable as Peter Hook. From the stark, melodic lines of Joy Division to the expansive electronic post-punk of New Order, Hook turned the bass from a supporting instrument into something much closer to a lead voice.

His sound wasn't created by one piece of equipment alone. It was the result of an unusual playing style, relatively unconventional bass choices, loud amplification and, eventually, a carefully developed approach to effects and tone. But among the amplifiers associated with Hook's early career, the Hiwatt occupies an important place.

From Sound City to Hiwatt

Hook's early equipment was hardly glamorous. In interviews, he has explained that his first serious amplifier was a Sound City 120, and that its limitations played a surprisingly important role in the development of his style.

Because the amplifier struggled to reproduce his bass clearly, Hook discovered that playing higher up the neck allowed the notes to cut through the band's sound. Bernard Sumner's guitar occupied the lower frequencies particularly strongly, while Hook's higher-register bass created a completely different musical space.

Hook has repeatedly described this as something that developed almost accidentally. Ian Curtis noticed the effect and encouraged him to continue playing high on the neck. What began as a solution to an equipment problem became one of the defining characteristics of Joy Division. It was during this early Joy Division period that Hook moved from the Sound City to a Hiwatt Custom 100.

The Hiwatt's reputation was very different from that of Hook's struggling early amplifier. Hiwatt amplifiers were known for their powerful, clean and articulate sound, making them particularly well suited to a player who wanted his bass to remain defined at high volume.

According to equipment histories of Hook's rig, the Hiwatt was used with a Vox Foundation 1x18 cabinet, before Hook's setup evolved to include a 4x15 Marshall cabinet fitted with Gauss speakers.

That combination is significant because Hook wasn't trying to create the conventional idea of a bass tone. He needed enormous volume, clarity and enough upper-mid presence for individual notes to remain audible alongside Sumner's guitar and Stephen Morris's increasingly powerful drumming.

Why Hiwatt Worked for Peter Hook

A major part of Hook's sound was his insistence on making the bass audible as a melodic instrument.

Listen to songs such as "Disorder", "Shadowplay" or "She's Lost Control" and the bass isn't simply reinforcing the guitar. Hook's lines frequently occupy the foreground. The guitar can be relatively sparse while the bass supplies melody, movement and harmonic information.

That approach requires an amplifier capable of reproducing the instrument's attack and dynamics without turning everything into indistinct low-frequency noise. The Hiwatt was a natural fit. Its high-powered, relatively clean character gave Hook the headroom necessary to push a bass hard without immediately collapsing into mushy distortion. Combined with a loud speaker cabinet, it helped create the physical presence that made his bass lines such a prominent part of Joy Division's sound.

But it is important not to attribute the Hook sound entirely to the amplifier. His playing technique was the crucial ingredient.

Check out our Peter Hook owned 1974 Hiwatt Custom 100 DR103 at MEZZO FURIOSO