Hi John,
We tested the amp out in all details. And we have here several original Fender Tweed amps, Vox amps and a lot of WEM-Watkins amps. Also you know we have here the same 100% original Westminster, I guess from 1962.
First the amp arrived...wow it was so professionally packed in the box.... this amp in this colour is a beauty, no words for it but amazing. A jewel !!!
Now the test (and thanks for building in the extra speaker output). So I took several vintage Fenders and Gibsons (like SG, ES 335, Les Paul) and also our Gosia guitars. The test started : first we compared both the Westminsters with their built in speaker.
Immediately I noticed that "typical Watkins" sound....so your reissue has all the same character as the vintage one. Only the speakers sound of course very different. The Jensen speaker, although good is maybe not my personal choice but matches very well to the amp. The tremolo is exactly like the vintage. The volume, treble and especially how the breakup reacts is the same as the original...you can get so so many sounds with the amp (from 0-10 using volume).
The breakup is incredible, also the amp loves pedals, like Ibanez 808, Sansamp, Klon Centaur, BJFE Baby Blue and others....simply heaven. Also that "fat" sound (Watkins use a conjunctive filter I guess to avoid those annoying high eq) is right on.
Now we tested both amplifiers with the same external speaker : result is simple : they sound "exactly" the same (we tested this with my trusty Vox blue bulldog speaker). And if we say no difference, it is complete true. We only noticed that yours had a "little bit" more dynamics in a good way. Watkins was spot on concerning "that" sound.
John, we love this amp, it is built like a tank, it gets 10/10 for quality, design, and colours and will be my main amp, although we have here 20 vintage amps which are very expensive. There are so many boutique amps which try to make things better....but this one just "has" it and doesn't need extra features. Personally I think the extra speaker output is a perfect option. You can't believe how different a Westminster sounds in a good cab. Its like a bee that becomes a lion. And point to point made by hand , what do we need more ?
We are so happy we bought this one and it's never gonna leave us !!!
Gosia