Watkins Dominator Reborn ? Any Interest

Dear Forum Members,

I'm trying not to put the cart before the horse so to speak, but
I have news that I think is now timely to share with everyone.
Over the past few months I have been having a steady dialogue
with a Mr. Charles Watkins of WemWatkins fame. I think he is
now at a point where he is seriously contemplating stepping
out of retirement and back to the workbench for a limited time.

Charles Watkins was the inventor of the Copicat, the 1st tube
tape based echo unit, but more importantly his crowning
achievement was a 2 EL84 4 input 2X10" V front 17 watt combo
called the Watkins Dominator. This was the amp of the British
Invasion. On an average day in Charle's shop you would find the
likes of Page, Clapton ,Beck, Harrison, Richards, Wood, Gene
Vincent, Hank Marvin etc.... and later, the likes of Moore, May,
Blackmore etc....

This amp helped define a generation whose music was a mix
of blues and rock, or maximum R&B as one group phrased it.
The Watkins Dominator was the amp most used not only live
but more so in the studio by the many legendary artists
mentioned above. There was no 18watter with such a history,
if you know what I mean. The Watkins Dominator is the sound
you hear on most of the classic British rock albums of the 60's
and early 70's.

Anyhow, I'm posting all this to try and get a gauge of the level
of interest there would be in the possibility of players and
collectors to be able to have one of these amps reproduced
by Charles Watkins himself and purchased directly. I'm in no way
a business partner, but am acting solely as an advisor free of
any charge whatsoever. I have no idea of cost or delivery time
as I've only just gotten to the point where Charles is seriously
considering a trip back in time to his workbench. I would like
to be able to give him as much motivation as possible, hence this
post.

Here is a short description of the Dominator from Charles:

This is the delectable and nostalgic WATKINS "DOMINATOR" My theory was that it would dispense sound equally to left and right. Whether that was true or not I never found out. But nobody cared, anyway. They'd plug their Basses, Rhythm, Lead and Vocals in to its four inputs and give it some stick. This amplifier took the fancy of the day just right. Colourful, reliable and slightly spectacular with a sound that only a couple of raw EL84's in push pull can give. I used to call it 17 watts for want of a better guess. I think it was more like 15 with a theoretical potential of 17.

Below is my email of earlier today from Mr. Watkins:

Dear Cliff,

Suppose you're wondering why I've held on to your E. mail after rather brusquely, perhaps, not attending to your words.

Something keeps buzzing me the way you speak.

So I have to offer you the courtesy of saying that I am beginning to have 2nd and 3rd thoughts about what may transpire to be a lovely trip to the past.

I'll let you know if I can surmount the other problems attending my current situation.

Best regards

Charlie Watkins

(I have omiitted a few personal details from the email out of
courtesy to Charles).


I know that if I could show Charles letters and emails showing
him the recognition and interest he so rightfully deserves, it
would only help to motivate him to make the next step and just
maybe, a good bit of history will repeat itself.

Please feel free to email me your thoughts and feelings as I will
pass them on to Charles ASAP and hopefully supply him with
the motivation to approach his workbench one more time, health
permitting.

 

This is the amp that Mo's book is named after.

 

Trisonic, my best guess would be that Charles is now in his
early to mid 70's.

 

There is indeed a modern Wem Dominator available, but what
we are talking about here is a faithful reproduction of the
original Dominator, made by Charles himself.

I am by no means dispelling the virtues of the Vox AC15 or
any Marshall that may have come down the line, as they were
all fine amps, the AC15 being one of my all time favorites, and
am not trying to make any comparisons. I'm simply excited by
the fact that this particular amp that played such a crucial role
in the developement of rock music may once again be available
by it's originator.

 

Doug, Charles does indeed still own the name but has not
actively been involved for a while due to age and health issues.
His shop continues to produce both versions of the Copicat,
the regular and the Shadows version and they are also making
a 36 watt amp, not very true at all to the Dominator, and they
continue to pump out his line of accordions and PA equipment.
They even have a midi accordion.

I'm hoping this all comes together. The great news is that a good
deal of his old buddies are ready to step to the plate, and that
should be a wonderful source of motivation for him, but I
would still love to see support from the general population,
like ourselves, who reaped the musical and sonic benefits of
his work.

Doug, I'm sure you're aware that this was the amp all over the
Faces "A Nod Is As Good As Wink..." album which was a major
influence on the Crows and many other bad boy rock bands.

I'm also lucky in the sense that I've gotten to work side by side
with producers such as Andy and Glyn Johns who combined
produced the bulk of the great Stones, Zep, Who, Kinks etc....
albums and have been fortunate enough to tap into their
knowlegde base.

 

loverocker, as you can see in his letter from earlier today it
seems as if he is welcoming the thought of a "lovely" trip to
the past. I know he has a great deal of fondness for the good old days in his shop. Who wouldn't with that history. I wish I had
been there.

 

Raz, so true. The weak point of the Dominator was on the
live front where volume was definitely becoming an issue
and the higher powered stacks eventually took over. The real
beauty and importance of the Dominator in this chapter of music
lay in the studio and recording front, where it's saturated sounds
graced many a classic album. I'm sure there were sonic issues
and imperfections in the amp but just as we deal with those
issues on current production amps so did the players of that era.
They were all experimenting with pedals, speakers etc.....
finding tips and tricks to get the sounds that were in their head
out of their affordable Dominator.

 

Robal, the idea would be for Charles himself to build the
original handwired Dominator with some better quality
parts and speakers. This is not a situation where he'd be
tooling up for a significant run of product, in fact, I would
imagine that the entire run of product, should this happen,
would be fairly small when compared to the numbers being
put out by today's boutique builders.

In terms of price, it's way too early to get a handle on that.
Charles would first have to step to his bench and drawing
board, finalize the layout and then we can cost it out.

This is an opportunity for a great piece of history to repeat
itself. This is one project that I believe truly blurs the lines
between collectors, players, producers etc..... I want one
for all 3 of the prior mentioned. As a producer and player, it
would be dream come true to have one of Charles's hand
made amps in my studio, and although I'm not a collector by
any means, I would have to admit that this is one piece that
I would treasure as a centerpiece or conversation piece in
my studio or home.

The bottom line is that we would have an opportunity to have
one of these classic amplifiers built by it's original designer. This
opportunity will never happen again in regard to the Dominator
as age and health factors are playing a huge part in all of this.

This would be the last great Hurrah and I certainly want to be
part of that should Charles be able to overcome a few last
hurdles and get back in action. I have been the one coaching
and coaxing him to this point and now it's entirely up to him
to take the next step. I'll be there regardless of cost or time,
as I could not put a price tag on this. Charles is one of the original
bad boys of boutique building and he will have my support 100%

Where would we be if we abandoned all our mentors and elders?

I'm posting all this just to get a gauge and see how many people
would be interested in being part of this strictly based on the
possibility of owning one of Charles's creations. This is not about
bang for the buck or which amp is better than that amp, it's
purely about history here. A good amount of star players, old
friends of Charles, have committed their support and I'm simply
trying to extend this offer/possibility to others. If this happens,
we could be looking at 10 amps, 100 amps or who knows what.
Again it's too early to tell, but logic dictates that this will be a
rather limited event.

Robal, I'd like to thank you for your input, interest and support. It
means a great deal to me to have somone with your knowledge
giving me some additional perspectives on all this. Please hit me
with any further ideas and thoughts you may have as they will
all certainly be taken to heart and I will keep you posted on any
and all updates from Charles. Thanks so much.