Wem Amps Serial Numbers
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WATKINS / WEM AMPLIFIERS
- CHARLIE S ANGELS.
Phil
Avelli s Watkins Collection New York, USA
INTRODUCTION
WATKINS
AMPLIFIERS
GENERAL
NOTES
MAIN
SITE INDEX
This
site, like the Selmer
Amplifier Website, is a joint collaboration between Tim Fletcher and
myself, Steve Russell. We both feel very strongly that the old British amps like
Selmer, Watkins, and Fenton Weill together with a few others, have been pushed
into the shadows by the admittedly well deserved publicity heaped upon Vox and
Marshall, and these webpages are our attempts to redress the balance a little.
There are one or two other website now which deal with
Watkins/WEM gear, the most notable of which are Charlie
Watkins own site of course, and Reg Goodwin s excellent Watkins
Guitar World website. We therefore do not intend to go too deep into the
history of the Watkins Electrical Music Ltd, as we have attempted to do on the
Selmer site, because this is already well covered elsewhere. At the
present, we do not also want to stray off into the realms of the WEM PA systems
that were so famous in the late 1960 s and 70 s. We are both guitar players, and
so let s concentrate on instrument amps only for now. The PA s and speaker
systems may come later. What we are therefore attempting to do is produce a
record of the various guitar and bass amplifier models, their specifications,
and their many variations throughout the period when Watkins/WEM were at the
height of their fame.
As with the Selmer website, the philosophy that
was adopted with this
website was that we put down our joint knowledge on the subject. This relied on us using memory going back nearly 40 years,
together with old catalogue entries and magazine articles, etc, so please accept
our apologies if you find any errors. .
RECENT ADDITIONS TO THIS WEBSITE
Mid-60 s WEM
Copicat 17 Oct 2015
c1960
Watkins Copicat 17 Oct 2015
Mid-1950 s
Watkins Westminster 16 Oct 2015
1970 s WEM
Dominator 15 Watt Combo 15 Oct 2015
1970 sWEM Monitor
50 Watt Combo 15 Oct 2015
c1956 Watkins Clubman 14 Oct 2015
1963 Watkins Joker 14 Oct 2015
2014 Watkins Westminster
Amp-Fix Re-Issue 6 Feb 2015
2014 Watkins Clubman Amp-Fix
Re-Issue 23 Sept 2014
c1956
Watkins Westminster V-Front Combo 4 July
2014
WEM
Starfinder 1 x 18 Bass Speaker Cabinet 4
July 2014
Late 60 s WEM BR60 Bass Amplifier Head 3 July
1963/64
Watkins Westminster 10watt Combo
26 April 2014
WEM Copicat
Super IC Model 17 April 2014
1961/62
Watkins Westminster 14Watt Combo
10 March 2014
AN INTRODUCTION TO
WATKINS AMPLIFIERS
By Tim FletcherThe name of Charlie Watkins will forever be synonymous with two things :
The famous Watkins Copicat, which he launched upon an unsuspecting world in 1958
in perfect time for Hank Marvin to come along soon afterwards albeit with a
Meazzi EchoUnit resulting in every young guitarist of the time rushing out
in order to buy Charlie s cheaper model, and
The master/slave PA rigs he invented
and which were behind all the big outdoor UK pop festivals of the late 60s and
early 70s.
His guitar amplifiers are less well-known, with the possible
exception of the legendary V-front Dominator of course. He chose to position them at
the budget end of the market, perhaps wisely recognising that competition was fierce at the top
with Vox, Selmer and later Marshall vying for position.
Watkins later Wem amplifiers were well-made, sounded great and still do and
easily undercut the prices of his competitors. Consequently they sold in countless thousands to young musicians, as did the Watkins guitars
made by his brothers Reg Syd.
Now for a potted history - very abridged as it s covered
elsewhere:
Serving in the Merchant Navy during WWII, Charlie learnt to play the accordion and upon his discharge
became a semi-pro player, often accompanied by a guitarist. In 1949 he opened a record
shop in London as a side-line with his brother, and in 1951 moved into selling accordions and guitars. He made a first batch of 20 amplifiers in 1952, but
that enterprise was near-disastrous as he had to recall them upon hearing of a
guitarist being electrocuted by a similar AC/DC unit. Undeterred, by 1954 he had commenced production of the Westminster, a plain grey model at that time,
and by 1956 when the skiffle rock n roll guitar boom hit the UK, he had added
the Clubman and V-front Dominator to his range. Demand became huge and the fledgling
company expanded : in 1958 the Copicat became an instant best-seller, and by 1963 a dozen models of amplifier were offered.
In 1963/64 the Watkins company re-branded itself as Wem : the lovely two-tone coloured amps disappeared in favour of
the ubiquitous black coverings which were more or less compulsory by then. Throughout the 60s Wem offered a range of combos
including updated Clubman, Westminster and Dominator models and various piggy-back head cab set-ups. The big development came in 1966/67 though, when
Charlie developed his pioneering master/slave PA systems which for the first time
made possible power ratings of 1000 watts and literally set the stage for all
the major outdoor pop festivals which followed. Wem catalogues quickly became showpieces for state-of-the-art PA systems, and guitar amps took a back seat.
Despite a proliferation of new names in the guitar amp market in the late 60s - Sound City, HiWatt, Laney, Carlsbro etc. - Wem soldiered on throughout the
70s offering a wide range of guitar, bass and PA amplifiers. In 1982, the
company re-located from 66 Offley Road, London SW9 to Tritton Road, and then
afterwards to a small factory close to his home in Upper Norwood, London SE19.
Here Charlie
operating on a smaller scale selling accordions, amplifiers and Copicats.
Retirement was apparently an option which never seemed to have
occurred to him.
Charlie Watkins, the grand-father
of British guitar amplification, passed away on 28th October 2014. His legacy
lives on and he will not be forgotten.
SOURCES:
The Wem Story by David Petersen The Guitar Magazine,
May June 2000
Seventeen Watts by Mo Foster
The Watkins Electric
Music Website
GENERAL NOTES ABOUT WATKINS WEM AMPLIFIERS
The development of each particular model is, we hope, covered in it s
specific description, but some general notes may assist the visitor in identifying
and dating amps.
Little is known to us so far, anyway of the very early Watkins amps c.1952-55 : they apparently had plain grey coverings, and according to Manchester s
Johnny Reno who encouraged Charlie in his venture they had a pre-war look about them. It seems that by 1956/57 the Dominator, Westminster and Clubman were
established in much the same styling they kept until 1963, early models in maroon cream coverings followed by
turquoise cream. Interesting snippet : the turquoise is the same
pattern as the fawn covering that Vox used in the early 60s - probably a
Rexine leather-cloth.
The process of re-branding into Wem in 1963/64 seems to have been a gradual one. First
day-glo orange Wem logos replaced the brass Watkins logos, then
black cream coverings appeared, and finally by 1964 the whole range was re-styled into plain black cabs with red/gold diamond pattern
grill-cloth, a cosmetic
appearance which lasted well into the 1970s.
THE
WATKINS ELECTRIC MUSIC AMPLIFIER INDEX
COMBINATION AMPLIFIER MODEL RANGES
THE CLUBMAN
THE WESTMINSTER
THE SCOUT
THE DOMINATOR
THE WARRIOR BASS
THE MUSETTE ORGAN/ACCORDION
THE CUSTOM 15 MERSEY SUPER
15
THE MONITOR
THE JOKER
THE SAPPHIRE 100
AMPLIFIER HEADS
THE PICK-A-BACK PICK-A-BASS HEADS
CABINET OUTFITS
THE ER 15 AMPLIFIER HEAD
THE ER 30 AMPLIFIER HEAD
THE HR 30 AMPLIFIER HEAD
THE ER 40 AMPLIFIER HEAD
THE GR 60 AMPLIFIER HEAD
THE BR 60 BASS AMPLIFIER HEAD
THE ER 100 AMPLIFIER HEAD
THE MONITOR REVERB AMPLIFIER HEAD
SPEAKER CABINETS
THE DUAL 12 CABINET
THE SUPER DUAL 12, SUPER 40,
SUPER 80 CABINETS
THE STARFINDER 100 TWIN 15
THE STARFINDER SUPER 80 4 x 12
THE STARFINDER 1 x
18 BASS
THE SUPER STARFINDER 200 4 x 12
TWIN 15 REFLEX BASS
ECHO UNITS
THE COPICAT
SCHEMATIC WIRING DIAGRAMS
FOR WATKINS/WEM AMPS AND ECHO UNITS
VINTAGE
AMPLIFIER LINKS
VINTAGE UK AMPLIFIER
REPAIRERS
c1963 Watkins Dominator
Amp c1961 Watkins Copicat, with 1959 Hofner President.
1963 WEM Advertisement, courtesy of Brian Watters, UK.
The Dominator is
back..
. .as is now also the Clubman and Westminster..
Return to SELMER
AMPLIFIER SITE INDEX
Go to BIRD AMPLIFIERS SITE INDEX
Go to FENTON-WEILL AMPLIFIERS SITE INDEX
Go to GRAMPIAN, DALLAS/SHAFTESBURY,
ELPICO INDEX
Return to MAIN VINTAGE HOFNER SITE INDEX.
Steve Russell Tim Fletcher 2003/2015
All rights reserved.
Dedicated resource for Watkins / Wem / Wilson guitars and wem amps. Information on guitars, renovation, amplifiers and much more.
Watkins Guitar World - Miscellaneous
This
site is dedicated to Watkins / WEM / Wilson Guitars and WEM amps
Pink Floyd were great enthusiasts for WEM gear as can be seen here from the cover artwork for their album Ummagumma
Jimmy Page playing with Led Zeppelin next to a rare WEM Ultimus amp at the Supershow 1969 still taken from the Led Zep DVD
What a surprise to find a Rapier Bass featured in the sleeve notes for Mark Knopfler s album Kill To Get Crimson
Mark also has a Rapier 33 in his large collection of guitars just right of camera below
Paul Weller in The Jam playing The Roxy Club in London 1977 with a Rapier 22
Alan Lovell of The Swinging Blue Jeans kindly allowed me to use a few of his early photos when he was in The Limits. Alan is far right above with the Rapier 33, centre is another Rapier and on the left is a Dallas Tuxedo see History page for more on Tuxedos. A fine collection of early British guitars. Alan has met almost everyone in the business and has a great collection of photos on his website
More of Alan s early Limits photos below
1964
1965 The Limits now sounding better with a bass player.
2009 Alan Lovell reunited with an early Rapier 33 just like the one his mum first bought for him in 1962
Picture above is Cornish band Circuit 5 in action in 1965. Note the Watkins Circuit 4 guitar in use by Keith Vingoe on the left. They played their first gig in Heamoor Scout Hut and had this picture published in The Cornishman newspaper. By the next year the kit had improved - The photo below taken at the Gremlin Club Penzance shows Malcolm Perry with the Pearl drum kit bought in specially for Malcolm by James Music Shop. Dave Berryman had graduated from using an old Vox guitar to a WEM Rapier Bass guitar. Many thanks for all the info from Tony Smith. Keith and Tony are still rocking and gigging around the Cornwall/Devon border in a band called Delta Skelter www.deltaskelter.co.uk
Photo above L to R : Keith Vingoe lead guitar Malcolm Perry Drums Brian Ableman Vocals Billy Oxenham Rhythm Dave Berryman Bass
Spot the Watkins Rapier 44 in this illustration from an article in The Independent on Sunday Newspaper
20th July 2008 - Thanks to Tim Cooper
Could this be the youngest Watkins Rapier player. Young Jimmy aged 10 is a guitar pupil of Rapier enthusiast Mick Herbert
Remember you saw him here first when Jimmy is famous.
Watkins
Rapier goes Punk.
Thanks
to David Crozier for pictures of his brother Neville playing a heavily
modded minimalist Rapier which was originally Red 1777. Neville
used the guitar with the Fruit Eating Bears. Their moment of TV
glory came in 1975 when they were the token punk entry in A Song
For Europe. Neville comments:
Here
are a couple of pics of the Fruit Eating Bears Rapier
serial no 1777. One was taken for the 1998 compilation CD. The other
was taken in 1978 at Jackson studios Rickmansworth whilst recording
tracks for the said album. It was used for the solos and overdubs
on Flirt in a Skirt Shop Door Squeeze and
Indian Giver because I needed to use a tremolo on them.
I used it all the time on gigs as a back up guitar, when strings
went on the telecaster, the most notable occasion being the Chelmsford
Rock punk festival when John Peel took photos of me playing it with
blood dripping from my fingers. I mean the action s not that bad.
He says he still has the photo, but can t find it. Anyway the Rapier
still looks the same today, 25 years on.
Is
that Buddy Holly with a Rapier 33. No - it was my buddy, the late Geoff Gaskell,who used to be one of my valued website contributors with his friend Jack
Nuttall father of Gary Nuttall, guitarist with Robbie Williams
Taken
in 1962Geoff
had some illustrious company at the Liverpool Institute. Paul
McCartney was in the same year and George Harrison a year below.
TRIBUTE TO GEOFF GASKELL
10th July 2009 - Today I received the sad news that Geoff died yesterday. It s hard to imagine that I will never get another e-mail from Geoff. We had been in regular contact since 2003 and had met a number of times. Of course we shared an interest in Watkins guitars and amps and exchanged spares whenever possible but Geoff had wider musical interests and was extremely knowledgable about all makes of guitars. Latterly with the help of Mike Crittenden he learnt to build and repair valve amps. In his younger days, Geoff had great success playing country and western on the club circuit, with his stage name of Jim Bodene. He was extremely proud of his Liverpool roots where he had a number of Beatle connections through his contemporaries at the Liverpool Institute. There wasn t much he didn t know about the Beatles and he was great friends with Neil Aspinall, The Beatles business manager. Geoff was one of a diminishing number of true gentlemen - people with principles and complete integrity who would never let you down. I greatly valued his friendship and will truly miss his wisdom and love of life. My sympathy goes out to his devoted wife Freda and his two grown up daughters, Julie and Karen.
Neil Aspinall and Geoff Gaskell right in 2004
Manuel Capurro played this Wilson
semi Acoustic bass in his band Ablegem. This picture was taken around
1970 in Hammersmith Town Hall. The bass had a very nasty accident
when it was dropped by airport baggage handlers but after repair Manuel
traded it in for a Fender Mustang. In memory of Manuel who sadly died 2008.
Trevor Williams kindly sent me some early sixties pictures of him playing his beloved Watkins Vibra below. He reckons it had one of the best tremolo systems he ever used and he was very sorry when he traded up to Hofner Verithin which was always going out of tune with temperature changes.
Count Boris and the Backbeats
Paul Ferris and the Firebrands
Trevor and the Backbeats
The Rapiers don t play Rapiers. But they play great Shadows-type music and the lead guitarist is a Hank Marvin doppelganger. Check them out live or on CD if you get a chance.
They did do this publicity picture many years ago with a very nice Rapier 44 in the front of the van.
Here s a picture from Allen Wells which puts his Rapier 33 into its time frame. Remember Quadrophenia, Mods and Rockers. The scooter is Allen s 1966 Lambretta LI125
A Message from Mick Herbert, a Rapier owner since 1960
I have been playing guitar since I was 11 years old.
My mum bought me my first guitar which was the Rapier 33 which I still own to this day, all be it needing a bit of TLC.
I remember going on a 107A bus from Enfield Highway to Berry s music shop in Tottenham High street to purchase this magnificent guitar on my 12th birthday in 1960. The trip on the bus took about an hour with a change.
How proud, I walked, in Ponders End on the change between buses, returning home with my Watkins in its box. I must have stood at least 12ft tall on that day. It still plays well after all these years. I have since moved on to Fenders but I will never part with it. It is part of my life and part of me. It was been gigged vigorously during the 60 s and unfortunately the lacquer finish has checked. Too many hot gigs and cold nights in the van in thosedays. - If I only knew then what I know now.. It has 2 gold type adhesive letters on the top horn which are my initials - Inspired when I saw Hank Marvin with his initials on his red Fender during the 60 s I was contemplating having the guitar re-lacquered many years ago, but I was told to leave it as manufactured as it would devalue it Any way onto the guitar. It was purchased in April 1960 Serial number 1731 - looks as if it was stamped into the wood by hand as the number 3 isnot as indented as the other numbers. Place of Purchase : Berry s Musical Shop -Tottenham in North London Still has its original Tremolo arm, push fit The back of the neck is a faded red to natural and back again at both.
Head and Body - The Watkins emblem although worn on the scratch plate states Watkins Musical,
Rapier 33 in a scroll type script. I guess all this could be reinstated if required with some silk screen ink or something.
All the electrics work very well, as does the trem which will always return to set pitch.
Trem body just has the Watkins name. No Hi Lo
Glued neck and No truss Rod. All Chrome work is A1 just dusty
WEM memories from Graeme Park
I had an ER 40, bought with a 2 x 12 WEM bass cabinet from a 2nd hand shop in Bishop Auckland for about twenty quid. What struck me was the speaker connection was hard wired from the amp. My mate Paul s more modern ER40 had a jack socket speaker output, while mine was a four foot lead with a white plastic plug on the end. This was about 1968/69.
Later on we bought a Starfinder 4x12 for thirty quid and we used this as a PA cabinet to match . the single 4x12 WEM column on the other side. The PA amp was a croc skin Selmer TB50 and there was a tape Copicat for reverb. Paul made his own tape loops to save money.
The band was named Lame Gypsy and consisted of Paul Ainsworth then a grand old age of 19 on lead and vocals; Graeme Park me, at 15 on bass and Don Ashton, also 15 on drums. Paul had a Gibson Les Paul Custom - cost him 600 quid rich grandma. I remember the could get all sorts of sounds out of his ER40 - no delay, reverb or overdrive - just pure rock tone. We played Cream and Hendrix covers, blues and rock and roll and we played at Working Men s Clubs all over the North East of England. I later bought a Shaftesbury Les Paul Custom copy, which I still have.
Paul got bored with us we wuz only kids and split, leaving us with a full gig book and no guitarist. We divided the gear up - he took the 4x12 and gave me his 2x12 in payment. What Paul didn t know was that the night before he came to pick up his Starfinder, I had accidentally swapped its 4 Celestion G12s with the four Fanes from the 2 x 12 cabinets and in doing so managed to accidentally yer honour put a screwdriver through one cone. It was only a little hole. And it was an accident, I m not that vindictive. I went back to lead guitar and Pete Flint came in on bass and vocals. We did an audition along with another 20 or so bands for Mickey Most at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 1972 - thanks boys - get off. - next. Don had the honour of standing next to Mr Most in the Gent s and splashing his shoes with a careless movement.
I saw Paul again about a year later when his band Amoeba came through my home town. He said he d sold the Starfinder as it started sounding crap. Oops. The sellotape I d put over the hole must have come off.
I kept my ER40 for a few years more before putting it in part exchange for a SIMMS WATTS 100 watt valve amp and cabinet from Bells Music in Newton Aycliffe. This was the northern offshoot of Bell s Surbiton shop and a veritable oasis of music. I had to use a fuzz box with the Simms as I couldn t wind it up enough to overdrive. The Simms was good, but not a patch on the WEM.
I wish I d been able to afford to keep the WEM gear though - as a plug it in and switch in on type of amp it was unbeatable. The amp top and two 2x12 cabs set up in a kind of mini stack had cute appeal and it was a third of the weight of that ruddy ten ton Simms Watts monster.
I left Lame Gypsy and joined Merlin in 1972, leaving as year later when my career took a turn and I went to sea in the Merchant Navy. The drummer from Merlin Mick Goodings joined White Spirit with guitarist Janick Gers, who then was poached by Iain Gillan, then by Iron Maiden. So in a way, I have a distant connection with Rock Royalty.
Now I live and work in Dubai and my band mate Pete Holyoak has a WEM PA40 that he bought new in the 70 s and has kept in good nick ever since. That black red and silver box with the ultra cool WEM logo still looks a damn good piece of amplifier. We don t use it though as everything goes through the 1000 watt stereo PA now. That s technology for you. As a kid the band got paid thirty quid for a night - now we get three hundred. That s inflation for you.
I still wish I d never sold that ER 40 rig though.
Best regards
Graeme Park
The late Bo
Diddley did some promotion work for WEM
FUZZ BOXES AND EFFECT UNITS
This mid 60s two transistor Fuzz Box was designed by Pepe Rush an Italian electronics engineer. I m indebted to fuzz sound expert Graham Green for the pictures of his Rush Pep and the Project V fuzz boxes below. Graham also owns an interesting prototype called Fuzzy which probably evolved into the Rush Pep.
John Lennon using a WEM Rush Pep fuzz box at Abbey Road. This box was possibly used on Paperback Writer
Below is the Project V similarly cased to the Rush Pep but a whole world away in terms of electronic sophistication. This 8-transistor circuit was probably a spin off from the Project IV guitar See Solid Guitars page. Graham Green reckons that it is one of the best fuzz boxes he has ever heard and he has heard and used them all.
Inside the Project V pedal below
Below - Fuzzy, the Pepe Rush prototype for WEM s first fuzz box
Most of the Fuzz box photos above are courtesy and copyright of Graham Green
Lennon photos courtesy of Dolphin Music website
Anyone
remember freaking-out or getting a Hand-full
If
so, please keep it to yourself.
THE WEM NIGHTSHADE SYNTHESISER
This model was produced in the late 70s and only about 30 were made. Charlie Watkins has vivid memories of the Nightshade. He nearly lost two fingers in a planing machine when working on some end panels for the prototype. This would have seriously affected his accordion playing repertoire One Note Samba maybe.. Sorry for the cheap joke, Charlie - glad you fully recovered from the nasty accident
Teisco Teischord C Combo Organ made under the WEM brand name
The WEM WAH Pedal
In
this heavily fortified trade stand you can just make out some Circuit
4 guitars on the left and the ill-fated Fifth Man guitar/organ on the
right.
Strictly Copyright
2010 c Reg Godwin and individual contributors.
The Gibson logo on the L-6S Deluxe is a decal, and in between 1975 and early 1977 the serial number was a decal too. This is an eight digit number with the first two.