Hawk HR-203 - Spring Reverb

Another great vintage Japanese spring reverb - serviced and in excellent working order. We like the Hawks and this model gives some particularly nice distortion when overdriven with beats or guitar.

Dating from the 70s or early 80s, the HR-202 and 203 "Echo Units" are virtually identical, and can be described as being roughly a single input channel version of the Hawk HR-45. The HR-203 has two channels both of which are switchable between mic and line level input (an upgrade on the 202 which just had one line and one mic socket), Echo Level pot and Phase switch, as well as Master Output - all of this gives some useful flexibility (hear some of that in the demo below). Quarter inch input sockets for Mic and Line are on the front panel with stereo inputs/outputs on the rear via RCA phonos.

Overdriving the Mic input with guitar yields a meatier distortion than the HR-45 - this one really snarls and growls. Yet another flavour for the sound palette: we could (easily) justify keeping this one and the 45…

Condition is very good with a few minor signs of age. See photos for details.

We've really got into these Hawk units – read all about them in our Hawk/Mirano tape echo and spring reverb blog post.

Demo of another of these units we had through:

For sales in UK/EU the price will include VAT. VAT-free sales are possible to businesses and individuals in the EU (outside the UK) with a valid VAT Number - please get in touch if you wish to buy this way.

• It is a 100v Japanese model and will run fine on North American mains 115/120v without a transformer (we run all our tests using 120v power); however, a step-down transformer is recommended for extended use.
• A step-down transformer is required in the UK/EU - it will require a minimum 100va transformer, more if you want to use the internal amp to drive speakers (please ask you need advice on this).
• We do not recommend using cheap generic Chinese mains transformers and can supply a high quality UK-made unit if required.

Please note: it is always possible with vintage equipment that some crackly pots/sliders may develop over time when equipment has not been used - even during a short delivery period - this should clear with use or with a bit of switch-cleaning spray.