Simms-Watts MKII Head

Early to mid 7o's hand wired valve amp, very vesatile, i play mostly post rock, hardcore, some doom metal, jazz, rock... it can do it all.

2 channels with 2 inputs each, can be bridged as mentioned before to give a more balanced and full sound. normal channel is more bass heavy and warmer while the brilliant channel is higher treble and top end.

This amp is loud... very loud, i use it with an old sound city 4x12 and it makes the earwax fall out of my ears.Not too many features i.e no effects but i use external ones anyway, the eq works well.

Stays clean even when cranked up although by bridging the channels you can get some vintage overdrive. Distorts well and can create some superb fuzz and feedback.

No problems, it's been gigged plenty of times and i've recorded with it. Never replaced the valves which is a bit naughty but basically this amp is going to outlive me and my children.

Warranty?this is over 30 years old and Simms watts wasn't around as a company for that long as far as i know.

I use a 77' Fender musicmaster, 75' Gibson sg1, a Peavey raptor with a seymour duncan Jb in the bridge and a 70's Ibanez silver series P bass. I use a variety of pedals including a marshall guvnor overdrive, boss mt2, rv5, bf2, eq, dd3, and the amp performs superbly using all.

If it were stolen... I would hire a private detective to find the person who did it, then i would take it back and watch as the ninja i also hired snapped them in half.

Much better than any solidstate amps iv'e played. I've tried a Peavey 5150, various marshall stacks and other amps this is the one for me.

check other reviews i'm too lazy to write it all down again.But the features rule trust me.It's an early seventies classic valve amp.Will kick any marshall jmp 1's ass.

sounds divine for anybody wanting classic guitar sounds.Obviously the amp has no own distortion unless you bridge the two secondary inputs of the two channels.Other than that I suggest putting a rat or a big muff stomp box before it and you'll see what happens....it's amazing!!I've recorded a couple of albums with different producers and every one of them wanted to buy this amp off me.I guess that says it all.

Only thing to ever happen was tubes saying good bye and going to tube-heaven but that'll happen to any tube amp every couple of years (yes I know you're supposed to change them more often than that).

Company doesn't exist anymore but I guess that just makes this amp more rare.

Amazing amp.I've played Gibson sg's,Gibson Les Pauls, and tele's and strat's over this baby.Currently playing a PRS CE24 over it.I've never played a more honest amp.I use it in a two amp set up, my other amp is a Diezel Herbert which is the best amp for high gain distortion you can buy.I use the Simms Watts and the Diezel with an A/B switcher to go from clean and vintage distortion (tube screamer, rat, bis muff work best) to dirty heavy distorted sounds from the Diezel.This setup basically gives me everything I could ever want.
Buy the Simms Watts if you want the type of amp anyone in the seventies would have killed for.Plus it's always interesting when people see you're getting amazing vintage tone from an amp other than an old marshall or highwatt or orange.

As said before the amp is made in England 1971. This was told to me by the original owner who's family bought it. I play bass and use a Fender Jazz Bass with flatwound strings with my Simms-Watts Mk II head + 4x10" cabinet. Mainly I play blues and rock'n'roll music.

I use the normal channel when I wan't a strong low-end, and sometimes the brilliant channel for busyer tunes. You can control the middle section with presence-button, but a separate mid-button would have been nice. I think this is the only fault of SW. It has a lot more power than my Marshall 100 W head, and I like the sound twice as much.

The sound is smooth and has that strong tube-feeling in it. It is very suitable for my kind of setup and I must be lucky 'cause my SW doesn't buzz or humm. You can do a lot with the EQ, and it has a nice mellow low-end when I turn the bass up. Turning the bass-control down a little bit, or switching to the brilliant channel, gives a nice attack at the middle section for more rock'n'roll songs.

Before SW I have had Yamaha, Trace Elliot, Peavey and Marshall amps, but this one is going to be with me for the rest of my life. It's heavier and larger than the avarage but it sounds better than most!

Two channel valve head. Beatiful I must say.
Mainly I play rock/indie. This amp works perfectly for me.
I suppose it would do fine for other styles.
It has a magnificent clear sound.
No switching. You either plug into one channel or the other. You can also bridge them for saturation.
No reverb on it but I couldn't care less.

I've used a few different guitars with it. An old Tele worked the best but I also enjoyed a Washburn N2. Tried a Les Paul but that did make much sense to how I play.
Together with my Dean Markley Overlord pedal i can tear the roof of any small club. I also sometimes use a MXR Dynacomp wich adds sustain.
So far I've only played through the normal channel since it sounds way better than the bright one.
It hums a little bit thus not the perfect thing for quiet home recording. Anyway it's definitely not built for that.

I was lucky to get a 412 cab made in Portugal by a small company that no longer does them. It has 4 celestions and it's very similar to a marshall 412 cab. Head and cab sound massive.

It is a VERY LOUD amp. Even on a big stage you won't have problems hearing yourself.

So far so good.
Altogether I must've giged with it 3 or 4 times since it is not the most portable one. Specially with the 412 cab...
I've used it in a stadium gig here in lisbon a few months ago.
That was special. It was the only time I played it as loud as want to.

At home it has worked well for the past year, since I bought it. It got new valves and it was all rewired by a tube expert. I spent some money on it but it paid off.

Manufacturer no longer exists so...
I got it checked by a valve amp wizard. He tried to buy it off me. ehehehe. no luck there.

Amazingly enough, I found him in a small shop in Lisbon, Portugal, and bought it for 100? euros. The 100w head plus a 412 cabinet!!!
It probably looks like I'm making it up but no, I just got lucky.

The woman at the shop told me her husband had ran away with a younger girl and so she was selling everything he left behind. I also bought about 50 vynil records from the 60's and 70's for almost nothing.
Everytime I remember how I got it I tend to laugh alone...

Conclusion: it is a great amp and I won't sell it for sure. The only thing that I might say against it is that it weighs too much for small gigs.

2 brigdeable channels, normal and bright. Vol, treble and bass controler on both channels, bright channel also features presence. Master vol controls both overall vol. Never used the presence controll, it makes the sound to bright for me.
This amp fits perfectly for my need. I play indierock, and rock/blues music. It has enought power to blow your head off!!

I use the amp with a either a CMI kab with 4*12" Greenbacks or mostly a coustom made Volvo kab with 2*12" Vintage 30. I play Fender Tele and Jazzmaster and from time to time a Epi 335 and my pedalboard.
This amp sounds GREAT!! I bridge the channels (2. input normal -> 2. input brigth) and i gives me all the power and tone I need. It has an very clean tone with alot of bass and some very sweet mids the only buzz sound is from my old drive pedal.

This baby will never let you down!!
One owner before me and he only sent to service check once. I'm planing to have it checked some time soon, only because I want to change the tube (4*EL34, and 4*12AX7) to the new GT reproduction of the Mullard tubes.

Unfortunatly the company was bought out and closed down in 1976 so no help there.

But then its always good to have a amp guru near by. ;0)

I've been playing for 9 year, and have had varius amps but this is the one.
I really love this amp, its the heart of my setup. Don't know what I would do of this amp got stolen. This is a "finders-keep". This baby is staying with me until the day i die!!

2 channels, normal and bright.Bright is way too bright and very tinny sounding.Normal channel is OK but again quite tinny.Got it on ebay for #130 and spent a further #250 on restoring it.I stripped it to the birch ply and waxed it.Looks nice.Very heavy amp.Hand wired.

This amp is very loud but buzzes quite a lot.I know it's an old amp but I prefer buzz to be minimal as I do home recording and drift into a lot of quiet parts in songs.The buzz kills the atmosphere and I just feel like smashing it to bits ! this amp doesn't give enough bass for my liking.I am now playing through 2 amps with a 'Y' lead, a Mesa boogie M2000 Bass amp through a powerhouse 1000w cabinet for the bottom end and a Rivera TBR-1 M stereo played stereo into a stereo Mesa boogie Standard rectifier cab.One channel I set with a little crunchy overdrive for a darker sound.I use an Eventide DSP 4000 effects for reverb and chorus / delay effects.I can get incredible panning delays going on between the 2 amps.This is my ultimate set up and couldn't imagine anything sounding better although I would like to try some lexicons for the reverb to see how it differs sonically to the Eventide.My 63' Jazzmaster goes into a Matchless hotbox preamp for my drive and I also use a Roland CE-1 chorus / Boss DD3 Delay and an MXR Flanger.
If I go back to the simms watts now I will just throw it out the window ! so I've got to sell it quick before i do this.There's just no bass.

Used it for 10 mins so I guess it's pretty reliable.I would never gig this amp.I was expecting more from a vintage valve amp.I'll stick to the Rivera, it's incredibly versitile and sounds meaty.

No chance !!

Not enough bass and too trebly and harsh sounding.Not really warm in that respect.For my music, It doesnt work. Headache inducing ! It might be good for Punk ! Money better spent on a good American amp from the US for peanuts.Amps in England country a overpriced like everything else.

1971 MKII 4 EL34's 3 12ax7's 100 watt
4 input bridgeable channels

insaneley good amp. if you ever have the chance to get one, do.
it had that good british constant drive supporting the clean sound.
NOTICE: IT HAS GREAT GAIN!!!!!! no one thinks it does, BECUASE YOU HAVE TO BRIDGE THE CHANNELS!!! best gain: 2nd norm channel input to 2nd brill. channel input, channel vol's all the way up, control with the master.

seriously made.

simms watts is a very rare company that made amps for about 6 years. they made both SS and tube amps, cabs, PA's etc. the company was bought out and dismanteled in 1976.

i collect vintage british heads as well as make vintage british design cabinets. www.ukcabinets.com i have a line of cabs specifically for simms-watts.

This is an early 70s amp. It is the MkII with the plexi panel. It has four channels setup as 2 normal and 2 brilliant.

Each pair of channels has a vol, treb and bass, but the brilliant channel also has a presence. Master volume control also.

This amp is loud beyond all reason! It is, of course, a valve amp, but even amongst other valve amps it will leave them for dead!

It does not have a reverb, which is the only thing that I think that it needs.

Great, clean sound. Simply the best. You can get some reall clear, bell like tones from this amp. There is no distortion, or overdrive to speak of. This is a ultra linear amp. Very clean. Using something like a tubescreamer in front of it though, it simply sounds devine.

This is a hand wired, point to point amp. It has been very reliable. They seem to have been made to a very high standard.

The company has long gone the way of the dinosaurs.

I have been playing close to 30 years now. I have had my share of amps in the past (still do) but I have to say that this is one greatly undervalued amp. It deserves a lot more respect than it gets. It is a classic British, hand wired amp which delivers a tone that is so superior to Marshall (clean) than there is simply no comparison. They are rarely on the market, but when they are, grab it!