WEM/Watkins Dominator MKII 112 Combo

The amp was probably made late 60s as it still has the tremelo controls of the MK1 V Front and tube rectifier although the electronics use a heavy duty PCB which looks very robust and much more substantial than those found in modern amps; the valves are chassis mounted giving 15 watts class A power. It has 2 Guitar I/Ps and 2 mic I/Ps although they only differ in that the mic I/Ps don't have tremelo. Both channels have volume and tone controls so I set them up for rhythm and lead and switch using a foot switch. The speaker is a single Goodmans Audiom 12 inch. There aren't many features but it is vintage spec. It has only limited features and I don't even use them all so theres nothing I miss. I don't miss reverb with this as it somehow seems organic enough, sounds like I'm talking bollxxxx but honestly its true.

It sounds Fxxxing great. I use a Guild Nightbird (Active EMG HB) Gibson L6S (passive HB) Fender Thinline (SC). Real vintage tone that my Marshall 100W JMP couldn't produce unless so loud you weren't close enough to enjoy it. Really basic setup that lets you concentrate on playing. Apparently used by Marshall as the circuit design for the 18watt but really I don't care as why waste my money on a brand name when I can get the quality and sound at a sensible price. I have more versatile amps (jack of all trades, masters of none) but none compare to the raw feel that this produces no matter how much I tweek the others. Goes from clean to crunch but if you want really modern or mental metal don't waste this amp although it does take a wah (old crybaby) and an overdrive (old Rozz) really well. Scored it as a 10 based on what I do with it.

Its probably over 40 years old and although it looks fairly abused it appears original and still going strong. WEM still exist and various forums suggest that they are helpful so I'm sure someone out there could fix it should it need tlc.

I'll let you know when I need them.

Been playing so long I should have been good ages ago. Still have some big name gear but frankly it doesn't get used as this amp suits my needs so well. This amp proves that you can get THAT sound without a mortgage. Anything I'd like to share.... Use forums wisely, they can sometimes inform but rarely make you a better player, unfortunately that takes practice.

The amp was made in Great Britain in early 70's. Two clean channels; eevery channel has own volume, bass & treble knobs; first channel has also "bright switch". 15W in 12'' Goodmans speaker. All-tube amp with two Mullard EL84 tubes and two (or three) Mullard ECC83 on pre-amp. This is the amp I was waiting for!!! WOW!

I'm using a Fender USA Stratocaster (1993), the neck pickup was replaced with Seymour/Duncan HotRails humbucker. Wow. It sounds really great! You may think "uuh... only 15W - it's very quiet" But NO!!!! Some time ago I packed it into my car and got to place when I rehearsal. (There was few H&K 120W solid-state, but I wantedt to try this combo). When we started to play I changed the volume knob to "7" and the amp was luder than a drum set and other instruments!!!!! Yeah! The sound is great. At that position "7", the amp gets a little distortion when playing on humbucker position. But I like it - I got the sound almost like Jimi Hendrix (with my Boss BluesDriver effect)

I will use it on my upcoming gig, I'll how it sound in a big club. It never broke down. It's always great, never got it repaired!

I never dealt with them, but they have a nice webpage http://www.wemwatins.co.uk - and you can talk with they guy (Charlie Watkins) who made this amp his hands!!!!!

I've been playing it for few months now, and it's simly GREAT amp. If you have a chance to buy it, BUY IT. I had before all-tube new LAney LC50-MKII (50W - 2x 6l6) and this amp sound really better! I'm rating overall "9" because of one thing: I always wanted to have a distortion channel too, but I can't find it in this amp.

Made in the late 60s/early 70s, judging by other models in the line. 2xEL84, no valve rectumfrier. four preamp valves dedicated to the two channels, which both have two inputs, tone and volume, and there is a tremolo for the instrument channel. Nothing more of great interest.

Goodmans speaker, indicating a fairly early design before they started buying Celestions to put in these amps. Incidentally, this is a flat fronted, tall black amp with a red logo, not the V-fronted early dominator.

Produces roughly 15 watts in Class A/AB1 Push Pull. Not hugely loud, and certainly not blessed with a vast amount of headroom, but will keep up with a sensible drummer.

4 for features is not necessarily a bad rating!

Used with a Guild Bluesbird, Big Apple and California Fat strats, mainly, it produces a midrange thick, British tone. Not a high gain amp (indeed, with only a volume control), but the drive sounds at higher volume settings are remarkably full and ballsy. Lacks a little in the bass when chugging away with volume up past 5/10, but this can only be expected of a 1x12.
The output drive at high levels is satisfying, both for lead and rhythm, because it holds together very well and you can tell everything that you're doing. None of that nasty american splattery midrange that pervades most modern amps, but not a smooth high gain sound with no cut.
Again, one could be surprised by this amp's versatility if you had never owned a NMV amp before, because it really responds to your playing and guitar, unlike a high gain preamp. Perhaps the only criticism that could be levelled is that the clean at low volumes isn't all that cutting, but the brightness gradually sort of rolls in as you up the volume. Distortion is apparent from as low as 3 on the volume with hummers, more headroom with SCs, but there you go. Would never expect it to be a clean machine.

At its best with just a guitar plugged in, it also functions for me as a low volume practice amp, because there is plenty of character in the tone even at lower volumes, even if not top end sparkle.

However, I would favourably compare this amp soundwise with a Mesa Boogie heartbreaker, in so far as the power drive is more responsive to playing and guitar volume knob changes. So, for what it does well, a definite 10, but for what it doesn't do, it gets only a 9.

Occasionaly fry-ups seem to occur within this amp, but it does have a screw in voltage selector which often needs a bit o' the old switch cleaner. The original preamp valves are still in there, but the power amp valves are new. I would use it live with a spare set of o/p valves. It hasn't ever cut out completely, only been a bit noisy, so a fairly high rating.

Charlie Watkins is still alive, remarkably, so the occasionaly e-mail is answered, usually in fairly brief and stunted prose, but there you go. I don't think he'd be up for fixing it, somehow.

As a utility amp alongside my others (Orange, NMV Marshall and the heartbreaker I mentioned earlier) it stands up as being my most used amp. If it were lost or stolen (lost as in 'I lost my keys'? What are we talking here? It fell out of the car boot and the lorry driver accidentally ran over it eleven times?) I would seriously think about another, because it works so well for what it needs to do. I wouldn't get another for this amount of money, though.

The fact that the sound it excels at (British rock drive) is produced both at manageable volume and with more satisfying results than a much more expensive amp, means that the rating is obvious. No, I didn't give it a 10 for sound, but then, I was highlighting its limitations.

I bought this over and above Marshall's DSL201, Orange's AD15/12, Laney's LC15 and LC30, and indeed Fender's Blues Junior. Why? It sounds better than all of them when pushed hard. And indeed costs less than any of them. For the price I paid, I could have a couple, with a Twin Reverb thrown in for clean, and some ABY boxes, for the amount the Heartbreaker costs.

My ultimate amp would be one with the sounds of this one, and the flexibility of a really clean channel. But then, that's what that ABY box is for, isn't it?