Sewell Wampus Cat 15

Mine is an early Doug Sewell creation, 2001 maybe? Serial "number" is "Joe Bob", believe it or don't. For a an amp with only 3 knobs, this thing has a surprising richness of features. low/high "jazz" switch, which affects gain. A 3 way presence switch, one off position and two on, presets, which seem to affect mostly the high end. Then there's the footswitch activated volume bypass, which I never use. I added a couple features -- a fixed/cathode switch, also external bias probes and an adjustment pots. Those mods made a great amp even better, at least for me. It's around 27 watts cathode, maybe up to 35 fixed. One channel only. Came stock with a Weber Cali ceramic, paper dome.

Reverb is, of course, an option I'd love to have on this amp. Outside of that, the simplicity of Doug Sewell's design contributes strongly to the character of the amp. I'm thinking here of the single channel design, also the simple but highly effective tone controls. For such a simple amp, remarkably versatile.

If you like tweed pros, you'll like the WC. The previous owner referred to it as a "mo' betta Pro." He's right. It gives you in one channel the basic character of a vintage 5E5/5E5A Pro with both channels jumpered, only with more of everything. Tone is subjective, kinda hard to describe, but let me say this amp sounds PERFECT. I've heard people describe amps as having "milkshake tone." This one has it for sure. A thick, juicy sound, feels like it's a mile wide when you crank it up. Deep warm, PHAT. The treble knob should be labelled "gain." It's like that with the 35 watt fender tweeds, even more so here. Turn up the treble for the real fun.

One of the brilliant touches Doug added was the efficient speaker. The circuit is so compression rich. You get to hear all of it with a powerful ceramic speaker. I've switched to a Weber 15F150. As good as the Cali is, this one's even better. The biggest, warmest sound.

On stage, through an outboard reverb and some analog delay, you really don't need boost pedals. The amp is a boost pedal. I play an old strat, a G&L ASAT Classic, a '66 335, lately a Dearmond M75T and Godin LG Signature. The WC loves them all equally. It's a rare beast -- a real strat amp that sounds just as good with anything else. The first time I played it live, cranked the ASAT Classic on neck p/u. This fat howl of a tone. Sustains forever, you can let the notes start to feedback and just hold it there, completely responsive to attack and right hand position. Cleans up nice with guitar volume only. I'm playing mostly blues, roots stuff, primitive rock and roll with lots of open tuning and slide. At home, I prefer the cathode setting, has a dense, hot and swampy kind of sound. On stage, it's set to fixed. More volume, more headroom, somewhat more clarity and tighter bass. Same basic sound, just a little louder and more refined.

I could rave on and on. You get the idea. The WC is one of those amps I have trouble turning off, it sounds so good.

Simple, built like the proverbial tank. It inspires confidence. If it breaks, I'll fix it.

No warranty or other. But Doug S. is one of the real gentlemen in the amp world. We've corresponded back and forth about the amp. He was most helpful, a very knowledgeable guy. Doug is known for his supportive, helpful nature, so I have no doubt he would deal with me honestly and fairly if the need ever arose.

I've been playing for 40+ years. No stranger to good amps either. Aside from the Brunos, Victorias and Matchless amps I play often at studios, I have a Twilighter 260, Magnatone M10A, Clark Tyger and late 50s Gibson GA40 at the house. The tweed pro was the one that continued to tantalize me. I've heard a few, really liked the feel and sound from the 15" speaker. Based on word of mouth -- never having seen or heard one -- I picked up the Wampus Cat, hoping it would scratch the Pro itch. Man, does it ever. It has the tone I like so much from the old tweeds, but with its own unique flavor. And all this at a truly affordable price, seeing as I bought used.

I'd love to hear a 50 watt version of this, also the Texaverb 45/50 Doug makes. Doug has the touch. I love playing the Wampus Cat, do not plan on letting it out of my sight.

Rating this is kind of pointless, as everyone has an idea of what the right amount of features is. I'm happy with Volume, bass, treble, lo/hi gain, and bright. Not to mention the blowout pedal that lets you have cranked volume with a stomp. So I'd give it a 10. Perhaps a Mesa Bogneroid would give it a three, since there are not 22 knobs.

First let me say that I was a little disappointed when I got this amp, as it sounded a bit dead. I suspected it might be the power tubes, as they were the ones the amp was shipped with (Ruby-branded Svetlanas), and I am at least the third owner of this amp.

Well, long story short: I got some JJ Tesla 6L6s from Bob at Eurotubes (also check out JJ EL84s, they are unbeatable), plugged 'em in, and the amp came alive. I mean fucking smoking. Right now, I'm playing a USA strat with Dimarzio Class of '55 and Hs-2 tuned to Eb and A Yamaha cheapo Mike Stern with the stock neck HB and a Bill Lawrence L-290 bridge. I couldn't be happier. It's like a 25 watt Champ. What I mean is, it has a beautiful lush clean tone, and then above the half way point the balls start to drop. The treble knob adds gain, so you can go from smooth to biting. This amp likes fuzz pedals too. I keep it switched on the high-gain setting all the time, as it seems to be more dynamic. Doug Sewell said that the low gain setting introduces negative feedback, so maybe that is why my ears don't like it as well. I keep the bright switch off, too.

The cabinet does resonate beautifully, and the ceramic Weber California 15" is always musical and tight. (As an aside, this amazing speaker sounds awesome plugged into my Dr. Z Mazerati head. More about that in the Mazerati section.)

Don't know yet. Only had it for a few weeks. It's heavy, because of the Weber 15", so I wouldn't want to drop it from a great height.

Doug Sewell is easily reached on his cell phone, and he's a real cool guy. He lives in Dallas, about three hours away from me. He has several different amp designs, and I plan to dip into them as soon as I get some serious cash flowing.

This amp is a work of art, and I got it for a very good price. I would buy Sewell again, definitely.

Certainly not a feature-laden amp. The exciting aspects of it are it's overall simplicity (cosmetic, control layout and circuit) tied to a very versatile tonal range that is super responsive to my playing technique (or lack-thereof). The secret-weapon is the "flat-out" switch that is NOT a typical boost switch. When engaged, it takes the signal from the volume pot as if it were cranked. This amp holds together wonderfully wide-open and is just the right volume increase to truly allow you to get by without a pedal crapping up your input. This really is a BIG sellig point for me. It has the features I am interested in and no others. I give it a 9.

I met Doug for some amp repair on a homebrew - just so happened to get the chance to spend a few hours having a ball with several of his amps. The Wampus Cat was the one that I connected with - and very easily, I might add. Sounds like a big, round American amp that still can get the upper mid-detail to pull off some "chirpy", ringing chord stabs (that sound so cool on my Matchless). Great for strat-lead, enough headroom for "wind Cries Mary, airy enough to not need reverb, clear enough in overdrive (with humbuckers) to do ZZ Top. A great balance between raw, tweed tone and classy, full tones. Doesn't sit too far in either direction.

Not mine, so I can't say - but I saw much pride in the workmanship. He is currently doing it all himself and the components, wiring, soldering, cabinetry and tolex application are top notch.

Again, can't say - but he is a hell of a cool guy to have taken the time out of his weekend to help me troubleshoot my homebrew. He'll take care of you.

Quick rundown is this: it sounds great, it looks great, the components are great and the builder is super-cool. Far from on the high-horse. He knows he hasn't reinvented the wheel - but he has tweaked a time-proven simple circuit into a versatile, tonally-varied work of art that will certainly be my next amp purchase when funds permit. My only concern is how the 15" Weber will sound in the band context. It sounded fantastic on it's own, but you never know until the rehearsal/gig.

This is a pure case of 'less is more'. 3 knobs, volume treble and bass, a footswitch which bypasses the volume control and allows you to go flat out for a compressed lead sound, without too much jump in volume at gigging levels and a fender style bright switch. Whether this simplicity makes it a 1 or a 10 in this category depends on your point of view. For me its magic. Mine has a 12 speaker in (my option). Beautiful pine cab. Top class point to point construction. Special order trannies from the best in the business. I would rate the amp at around 25 watts from my experience.

I've used the amp with humbuckers, P90's and singles, to my ears, it likes single coils the best because of the sheer wonderful compression available. No overdrive or distortion pedal is needed with this amp. Low down it is sweet and clear like the best vintage Fenders. The volume rises up to about half volume or a little more, then it just compresses more and more all the way to the top. The notes stay clear but just sustain and sing. So responsive to touch and to the guitar volume and tone controls. Simply the best tone and breakup I have ever owned in 25 years. It has the lot. Because of the compression style described, the footswitch is really neat. The volume just doesnt jump too much, it just thickens the sound and sustains it more. Think smooooooth! This amp is a must for blues / blues rock players. It kills all vintage Marshalls - and is built 10 times better

Built like a tank. Simple. Not much can go wrong. I've used it flat out twice a week for 6 months, no hint of any problem.

Doug is just the best and most friendly guy I have ever dealt with.

I have two Sewells, I now use nothing else. I have owned almost everything vintage and tube over the years. They just 'do it' for me.

3 controls, volume, bass, treble. With only 3 knobs, this thing has a huge range of tones! There's a low / high gain switch in the back of the amp. The amp is about 35 watts through a 15" California Weber speaker.. Open back, solid pine cabinet. There's a footswitch that allows for some extra volume, to cut through the rest of the band.

I use nothing but Fender Stratocasters, a stock 1965 and a 1980. The amp sounds uhhh AWSOME!!! Very dynamic! I play rockin' blues and jazz. This amp can go from pristine cleans to full out "In your face" blues overdrive! When "cranked" (past 6) the amp is very compressed but never muddy. Tight lows, throaty mids, sparkly (but not piercing) highs! I roll down my guitars volume when I am singing and playing chords, when I want to lead out, I crank the guitars volume up and there's the tone I have been looking many years for! The amp is more of a responsive "INSTRUMENT" than any other amp I have played through, and I have played the best! When I pick a string softly the amp responds softly. When I pick a string hard with a bend, this amp reaches out and slaps you in the face with hard singing sustain!

No problem yet! Built to last!!

I haven't had to use the customer support. Before I bought the amp, I talked to Doug Sewell on the phone, he was very helpful and friendly!!

I have been playing for 22 years, 10 as a pro. I have played Matchless, Bad Cat, Top Hats, Vox, Budda, Boogies and many Fenders.. This Sewell amp is simply great sounding! Before I bought the Sewell, I was playing BF Super reverbs and Vibro-Kings.. These are also great amps but I really prefer the Sewell to them for the responsivness and versatility!

Single channel 35 watt all-tube, point-to-point handwired boutique amp...debuted BIG at NAMM 2000. Based on a Tweed Pro, this amp is tube rectified, with 2 Svetlana 6L6 power tubes, and 3 preamp tubes. The Wampus Cat 15 has a 15" California Weber speaker at 8 ohms. The controls are volume, treble, and bass, and it is incredibly wersitile. As on the old Tweed Pro, the treble is also a gain, so it can go from smooth to bitey crunch with a slight turn of the treble knob. The amp breaks up around 5, and the clean tone is PLENTY Loud...the crunch is amazingly smooth, but raunchy...like my FD2. The footswitch option utilizes the other side of the volume pot to really open the amp up. I find it can do everything from blues, to jazz, to slide, to rock, and beyond. Maybe not for metallers, but this amp is Tone to the bone...and I'm comparing it my BF Pro Reverb!!

I've found the amp doesn't really prefer pup configuration...it'll rock with buckers, single coils, and P-90 type pups...P-90's really growl and humbuckers are creamy! Single coils give a vintage all the way vibe. It is suitable for many styles...very versitile amp that'll blow away your friends. The full out crunch is fantastic, and the clean is full of sparkle, shimmer, yet tight, punchy bass...the amp is incredibly responsive to pick attack and playing style, and it really picks up the subtlties and nuances.

Can't say yet, but this amp is top-quality construction...all solid wood...very stylish, too. I have heard from another owner that he's had it 4 years with no troubles....I'm sure it'll last a lifetime...you should see this thing!

Being small, the folks at Sewell can still take ob issues personally. A chat on the phone, speedy email replies...they are the some of the nicest folks I have dealt with in my musical history of 14 years.

I've been playing for 14 years. I've had many BF Fenders, among others...and I loved those. But this Sewell is amazing. There is no reverb....but the cabinet is so finely constructed that it sings with natural reverberation...it's SO resonant. I wouldn't change a thing, and if it was gone I would replace it without hesitition...it is REALLY that good! Plus I got to choose my own covering aned grillcloth colors!