WEM/Watkins Westminster 15

For some reason the Westminster hasn't had as much limelight as other WEM combos, despite sounding just as good as your Clubmans and Dominators. It fitted nicely in the range as the 10 watts it produces come midway between the 6 watts of the Clubman and the 15 watts of the Dominator (more powerful Doms were produced too). 10 watts is enough for rehearsals, small gigs and annoying the neighbours.

They've been built since the early 60s and have been through lots of cosmetic changes, but the basic amp hasn't changed much. The Westminster 15 (NB still only 10 watts) is from the late 70s. They are valve amps - 1xECC83 in the pre-amp and 2xECL82 in the power section. ECL82 is an unusual power valve for guitar amps, but this makes it much cheaper to buy good vintage parts - you can buy Brimar and Mullard ECL82s for a few pounds if you can find them.

It's main feature is the most important one - it sounds good. On top of that you get hi and lo i/ps, volume, bass, treble, plus a treble boost switch. It has a solid state rectifier (earlier models had valve rectifiers). It has a single channel and a 12" speaker.

The output transformer is specified for a 12ohm load, and WEM mostly fitted 15ohm speakers. 16ohm works fine. I know people who have run theirs into 8ohm cabs for long periods without problems, seems to be safe.

I think they stopped production in the early eighties. Here's a useful link: http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/britamps/watkins/westminster.html

Good, honest, vintage valve sounds. It sounds great with a tele or 335. Gives me the delicate cleans I need plus great british crunch bordering on Marshall roar when opened right up. Lots of people are giving 10s in this section for kit that doesn't deserve it, even taking value for money into account. This is a genuine 8. There are better sounding and more versatile amps around, but a like-for-like comparison with my handwired ac15 shows that this isn't outclassed and might even have the edge on pure cleans. (NB This comparison was made A/Bing both amps into the same cab, but to achieve this I've had to mod the Westminster to give it a speaker out - they don't have this as standard.)

They don't look like they're built that well but they really last. The most obvious corner that's been cut is the way the pots and valves are mounted onto the circuit board. But having said that, they really last. It's never broken down. Mine has a scratchy volume pot but it's 30 years old so I'll forgive it.

WEM are long gone (although I think Charlie Watkins may still be out there doing some stuff?) but there's a fair bit on the web about them (schematics etc) and they're simple, straightforward valve amps so any amp tech would be able to help you.

You can buy these in the UK for ??100 if you're lucky. At this money they're a steal, especially if you get one with the original Mullards or Brimars and the original Celestion or Alnico speaker.