The Watkins Dominator
Celebrating fifty years of the legend.
This iconic reissue is NOW built by and is available from
Amp-Fix.
07747 104 703
Amp-Fix had the honour of carrying out a hands on appraisal, in the Amp-Fix workshop of the very first prototype, UK built Watkins Dominator Reissue amplifier. A recreation fully approved by the legendary Charlie Watkins. Hand built in the traditional way, right here in the UK where it was first borne way back in middle of the last century. The new Dominator features a birch ply cabinet loaded with Celestion vintage 10 speakers. (Reissue Elac alnico speakers now available as an optional extra ) The amplifier is of course all valve and hand wired with the components mounted on a traditional style turret board. The Dominator, a two channel amp with two inputs each. Channel 1 is the normal channel with Volume and a single tone control. Chanel 2 the tremolo channel has Volume, Tone, plus Speed and Density controls for the tremolo. The valve complement is Rectifier EZ81 - Preamp and tremolo ECC83 / 12AX7 X 3 - Power amp EL84 X 2 Push-pull running close to class A in cathode bias, and no negative feedback loop.
Tested with both a Stratocaster and Telecaster, sorry I'm a
Fender man! The first thing that struck me was the sheer volume of this
baby. Ample for a small gig, retaining great tonal qualities at all volume
levels. As expected the Dominator saturates nicely producing a pleasantly
smooth distortion, reaching a point where it gets no louder, but compresses to
stinging sustain qualities rich in harmonics. The single tone control (
one per channel) has good sweep from a bright treble to a not too boomy bass.
A good tonal range from a nice bright clean Shadows sound to creamy bluesy
overtones. I imagine a guitar fitted with humbucking pickups would
really make the amplifier sing.
There is something about EL84's that when
pushed hard, for such a small valve they really do deliver.
The tremolo is among the best I have heard, good range and depth from a nice slow Duane Eddy Rebel Rouser sound to the faster Searchers sounds.
Shown here in a new livery enhancing the golden anniversary of this highly desirable Dominator, an amplifier from an era when 17 watts of power brought horror and fear to the faces of many a promoter.
Available to order. The price just £1200.
£1320 fitted with optional EL-AC 10" 15Watt speakers.
Special colour options available to order, see further down the page.
A two part review by a highly acclaimed young guitarist by the name of Kyle Hall. He bought his reissue Watkins Dominator amplifier serial number 012/100 from Amp-Fix during August of 2010.
Watkins Dominator Review Part 1 - YouTube Watkins Dominator Review Part 2 - YouTube
The link below is a promotional video from top rated guitarist Mr Joe Ortiz
Watkins Dominator "Golden Anniversary" reissue - YouTube
All IE tests approved. Available right now It is likely that just 100 of these amplifiers will be produced, and may be offered with an option of reissue ELAC Alnico speakers, at an extra £120. All will be issued with a certificate of authenticity personally signed by none other than the legend himself, CHARLIE WATKINS. To avoid disappointment, interested parties are invited to register their details with amp-fix contact Amp-Fix Unless we have a huge rush on them, it is most likely an amplifier will be available for immediate despatch. If not you can place an order for which to prove your commitment we may ask for a 10% deposit, to secure the next available Dominator Amplifier. We will ask for the balance when your Watkins Dominator is ready to ship or for you to collect.
The Reissue Watkins Dominator stock speakers are Celestion Vintage 10's. Alnico magnet EL-AC 10" speakers available as an optional extra.
EL-AC speakers are also available individually at £ 99.99 each
Slip covers from £40
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| Turret board and components | Control panel | Grill cloth |
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Charlie Watkins enjoying a nice cup of tea (how British is that?) whilst signing the first of the New Dominator's storage boxes. |
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| The New Dominator fitted with EL-AC speakers | The new EL-AC as it is. |
This new 10 inch 15 watt speaker meets the original "ELAC" specifications, the cone still produced by the original supplier, possibly using original tooling.
Please note: The basic Reissue Watkins Dominator comes fitted with CELESTION VINTAGE 10 speakers. The EL-AC 10" speakers above are offered as an optional extra. Based on the original British made "ELAC" speaker, fitted to many British amplifiers during the 1950's through to the mid 1960's including the Watkins Dominator. At the time of ordering, adding £120 GB to the overall cost of the Amplifier. Available individually at £99.99 each, as an after market upgrade.
(If you need an original ELAC speaker re-coned talk to Amp-Fix about it)
Please note that Electro Acoustic Ltd (EL-AC) of England are not connected in any way to the makers of high quality HiFi speakers and equipment - Electroacustic GmbH of Germany (abbreviation ELAC).
WATKINS DOMINATOR GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY REISSUE.
Now available as a special order option in custom colours, Blue & Off White or Red & Off White at £150 extra, as long as material supplies last.
We have a very limited amount of Blue, Red, and the White vintage 60's material possibly enough for 20 -25 amplifiers in Blue & White and 6 - 8 in the Red and White. When it's gone there is highly unlikely to be any more. Currently the blue is by far the most popular colour and is offered strictly on a first come first served basis. All amplifiers will now be supplied with a slip cover included in the price. Also available as an after market item.
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| £1350 | £1200 | £1350 |
Prices are as fitted with Celestion Vintage Ten speakers. Other speaker options available on request and priced accordingly.
The reissue alnico 10" EL-AC speakers are also an optional
extra, and again are by far the most popular.
Depending on availability. £120
extra for the pair instead of the Celestion Vintage 10's if ordered and fitted prior
to delivery.
Quality handmade slip covers available in the regular Brown. Also available in mottled custom colours, Red with white piping. Blue with White piping. Black with white piping. Also fits the original MK 1 Watkins Dominator.
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| £40 | £42 | £42 |
The cabinets are individually handmade from high grade Baltic birch ply, by our local craftsman Mr Warwick Webb.
Here's one he made earlier. Prior to covering of course : )
This blue & white Dominator number 024/100 was sold to a vintage guitar dealer from Austria.
This lovely red & white version (my favourite) number 023/100 was sold to a London customer.
Sadly, these two amplifiers were the last Dominators built by Barry Spong of British Amplifiers, both were sold by Amp-Fix.
If you are local to me, passing Junction 28 on the M5, or are anywhere near Exeter, I have a demonstrator here which you are welcome to come and see and put it through its paces. Just give me a call first 07747 104 703 or email me.
Shown below is the brochure for the original Mk1 Watkins Dominator, the reissue is a Mk1- series 2
Miracles have been worked to make the re-issue as close a replica as possible, but I'm afraid we just can't match the price!
Or can we?
FACT. The average unskilled workers wage from Oct 1959 - Sept 1960 was £7-18s- 5d for a 46 hour week. Today the UK minimum wage for a person over the age of twenty two is £5.73 per hour. £263.58p for the same number of hours a the basic rate. Thirty four times more now than it was in 1959
On that basis the Dominator In 1959 at £38.50 X 34 (the difference in low paid wages) comes out at £1309.00.
Therefore the relative price today, before tax is less than it was way back in 1959.
It is likely that just 100 Reissue Watkins Dominator amplifiers will be made, do not miss your opportunity to purchase one of these highly respected and collectable amplifiers. Order yours now, or register your interest with Amp-Fix, with no obligation to buy until a confirmed order is placed.
A minority of people have led me on having agreed to purchase a Dominator amplifier, often exchanging many emails on the subject only to make all manner of excuses as to why they cannot find the funds, when the time comes. One was a youngster still at school. As we are currently building to order this wastes hours of my time and causes great inconvenience, and the waiting list to genuine buyers longer than it actually is, causing me a possible lost sale as well as their own. My intention is to eventually supply from stock, thus avoiding waiting time for the amplifier of your choice. Until I am able to do so, because of these previous time wasters, for confirmed orders I now have to ask for a deposit of £25% before committing to build, with the balance due on completion.
Home and overseas enquiries welcomed.
Announcement 20th October 2011
Barry Spong, of British Amplifiers / Electro Acoustic Ltd. who was the builder and instigator of the The WATKINS DOMINATOR Golden Re-issue project, sadly passed away in his sleep during the early hours of 3rd August 2011 at the age of 62. Barry built just 25 of these limited edition run of 100 amplifiers.
Any one who has one of these superb fully licensed Watkins Dominator re-issue's will know how much dedication my good friend Barry put into this project and that his attention to quality detail was second to none.
I could not standby and see all Barry's good work go to waste. You could be forgiven for thinking these incredible amplifiers were made in a modern high tech factory unit. This couldn't be further from the truth, Barry built and assembled these amplifiers from a double garage at his home on the outskirts of Colchester right here in the UK.
Barry's wife, Christine, partner and director of British Amplifiers, Charlie Watkins, of w-e-m, and myself reached an agreement whereby Amp-Fix will continue to build the remaining 75 Watkins Dominator run of this limited edition series of iconic British handmade amplifiers.
I feel highly honoured and excited to be in this position, and am truly grateful to Christine for allowing me in this sad and stressful time to take over where Barry left off.
I wish to thank the legendary Charlie Watkins, for trusting me with his good name, by allowing me the license to continue with this, one of the most sought after pieces of British Rock-n-Roll history. Also my thanks go to Charlie's lovely wife June Watkins for her part in making all this possible.
My promise to all is to maintain the high standards and, where possible, improve the build quality of the Golden Anniversary Re-issue Watkins Dominator.
Barry will be sadly missed.
Yours Sincerely
John Beer
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