UK (July 21, 2010) -- British Amplifiers are pleased to announce a limited edition reissue of the Watkins Dominator V Front guitar amplifier.
To celebrate 50 years of the Watkins Dominator, Charlie Watkins of WEM Watkins has licensed a production of 100 of these amplifiers to be built by British Amplifiers in a "Golden" livery. Each of these special Dominators carries Charlie Watkins' name personally signed on both the chassis and a letter of authenticity made out to each new owner. It is expected that with such provenance, these reissue will themselves become highly collectible pieces of musical history in the future.
Reissue Dominators are identical to the original with the only exceptions being those required to comply with modern safety standards. Small cosmetic details have not been overlooked, even the control knobs have been re-molded to be identical and custom made transformers cloned from originals ensure that both the look and the sound have been faithfully re-created.
A Mk1 series 2 Dominator (pre-printed circuit board) type has been selected as the model for the reissue. It is a valve tube amplifier using the original classic Watkins 17 Watt "Push Pull" circuit which has been utilized by many other makers and DIY amp builders ever since it first came out. What sets the Dominator apart from other combo amps is the unique V front cabinet design. Charlie's idea was to allow the sound to be dispersed around a room, rather than being in a single direction.
To compliment the '60s vintage valve tube amp sound, Electro Acoustic Limited has also developed a hand built 15 Watt 10" speaker with an AlNiCo magnet based on the original ELAC speakers as fitted to the '60s Dominators. These can be ordered as an upgrade to the regular Dominator, which is fitted with Celestion G10 Vintage speakers.
Reissue Watkins Dominators are available as either 230 Volt or 120 Volt versions.
MSRP: 1199 GBP (approximately $1824)
Optional extra upgrade to 2 x 15W Alnico Electro Acoustic speakers: 100 GBP (approximately $152)
For more information:
British Amplifiers
Source: Press Release