Classic 1970s WEM valve goodness £1000 Harrow

[Happy Jack]

 

I've been an afficianado of 1970s WEM combos for many years but my on-going de-clutter requires me to cut down to just a single unit (a Clubman, since you ask) which means that these two lovely things are now on the market.

 

Both are 50-year-old combos that have lived a life so, although they are both in very good condition for their age, neither is pristine or as-new. The Dominator (on the right) is deffo in better cosmetic nick than the Westminster (on the left) but both work perfectly and exactly as their maker intended.

 

Both sound excellent regardless of what you plug through them - bass, guitar, keys, Mongolian nose-flute.

 

 

WEM DOMINATOR 25, late 70s, £600.

 

Arguably one of the finest products of the British valve-amp industry, the Dominator was always in the running for nearly 20 years straight. Read all about it here: https://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/britamps/watkins/dominator/dom19.html

 

Often described as a 15W amp, this was in fact more nearly 17W (which is why Mo Foster chose that as his title: https://www.amazon.co.uk/17-Watts-British-Musicians-Sanctuary/dp/1860741827). Mine is the truly wonderful Dominator 25, which is also a truly wonderful piece of Marketing tosh. The '25' was neither 25W nor did it sport a 25" speaker ... it was uprated from the standard Fane 12" speaker on a Dommie to a 15" Celestion to make it sound even better for bass. The '25' thing was the WEM Marketing Dept's equivalent of, "yeh, but this goes to 11".

 

 

Twin inputs means you can plug in two different instruments simultaneously, or come up with all sorts of weird bi-amping scenarios to puzzle your guitarist with.

 

 

 

 

All original and unmolested.

 

 

So what does it sound like? Well none of Zoom's excellent product range can really capture just how good this sounds in the studio (or live), let alone the gorgeous, creamy valve break-up at very sensible volumes. If you want to experience that then you'll need to come to Harrow and plug in your own bass. But here's a crude approximation ...

 

 

Any excuse to show off my God-like abilities on bass, eh?

 

 

WEM WESTMINSTER, 19777/78, £400.

 

 

The Dominator was top of the range and not everyone could afford one, so the Westminster was always the better seller and went through far more cosmetic 're-fresh' experiences. Mine was a very short-lived variant in terms of looks, only being made for two years. Read about it here: https://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/britamps/watkins/westminster/west13.html

 

 

Still twin input for all those pub-rock gigs back when that was a new thing, usually starting just after the stripper had finished. Notice the economy measure of a single set of controls, though.

 

 

Side-mounted carry handle is very practical.

 

 

 

Again, all original and unmolested.

 

 

If I could play guitar then I'd have used that for these sound clips - the Westminster handles bass perfectly well but it's always going to come off second-best when compared to the Dominator 25.

 

 

Put a guitar through this, though, especially something over towards the Les Paul end, and it's something else.

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by Happy Jack

[rwillett]

Now that is how you advertise something for sale...

 

 

[Beedster]

I think I can be confident in saying that despite having owned some of the more highly regarded tube amps - B-15, SVT-II &III, DB-750, and pretty much every model Mesa ever made - I never heard a bass I was playing at the time sound better than it did through my old WEM Dominator 👍