WATKINS / WEM GUITAR AMPLIFIERS 

- CHARLIE'S ANGELS !

 

Phil Avelli's Watkins Collection (New York, USA)


This site, like the Selmer Amplifier Website, was initially a joint collaboration between Tim Fletcher and myself, Steve Russell. We both felt very strongly that the old British amps like Selmer, Watkins, and Fenton Weill together with a few others, had been pushed into the shadows by the admittedly well deserved publicity heaped upon Vox and Marshall, and these webpages are our attempts to redress the balance a little.

There are other websites now which deal with Watkins/WEM gear, the most notable of which are Charlie Watkins' own site of course, Gordon Healy's WEM Owners Site, and Reg Goodwin's excellent Watkins Guitar World website. We therefore did not go too deeply into the history of the Watkins Electrical Music Ltd, as we had done on the Selmer site, because this is already well covered elsewhere.  We also decided not to stray off too far into the realms of the WEM PA systems that were so famous in the late 1960's and 70's. We were both guitar players, and so concentrating only on instrument amps made sense. What this website therefore has attempted to do is to produce a record of the various guitar and bass amplifier models, their specifications, and their many variations throughout the period when Watkins/WEM were at the height of their fame.

As with the Selmer website, the philosophy that was adopted with this website was that we first concentrated on putting down our joint knowledge on the subject. This relied on us using memory going back nearly 40 years, together with old catalogue entries and magazine articles. Since then, Tim has bowed out and I have continued to expand the site using further information in the form of discovered catalogues, particularly from the famous mail-order company in the UK, Bell Musical Instruments, and of course Watkins/WEM marketing, Also used has been old Watkins adverts placed at the time in such publications as the Melody Maker, Beat Instrumental. and NME, together of course from the photos and memories kindly sent to me by many of the Watkins enthusiaists throughout the World.  

 

COMBINATION AMPLIFIER MODEL RANGES

 

AMPLIFIER HEADS FOR GUITAR & BASS

 

SPEAKER CABINETS

  

TAPE ECHO MACHINES

 

GENERAL

 

My own c1963 Watkins Dominator Amp & c1961 Watkins Copicat, together with my 1959 Hofner President.

 

1963 WEM Advertisement, courtesy of Brian Watters, UK.

 

The Dominator is back!!

(.....as is now also the Clubman and Westminster!! )