Re: Micro-reviews of Gear You Just Bought
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2023 11:55 am
I've been able to spend some time with the WEM Dominator MK III over the past month or so. It's phenomenal.
After identifying a microphonic preamp tube, it's running so quietly that I haven't done the caps yet. I fixed the treble boost switch and now I keep it engaged all the time. There wasn't a usable 110v tap on the PT so I'm using a step up. It came without knobs but I found some NOS winged knobs with the brushed aluminum insert online for cheap and you'd never guess they weren't original.
18 watts, 3 ECC83, 2 EL84. Old Mullards in the power section and in the channel 1 preamp. 12", 20 watt Celestion. The speaker and electrolytic caps date to 1976. Everything is original except for the tubes in the PI and channel 2 preamp positions. Playing through this amp is a true pleasure. The sweet spot for me is between 5 and 6. Very overdriven at 10. I had a friend over a few weeks ago who is the best guitar player I know, worked in shops for ages, and has played pretty much everything under the sun. I lured him down to the basement, put a Mustang in his hands and turned on the WEM. I could have listened to him all day. He just kept hitting a chord, letting it ring forever and looking at me with an "are you kidding me?" expression on his face.
It does everything I could want a British amp from the 60s or 70s to do; thin, brittle early Kinks stuff, snarly overdriven stuff, muscular Townshend stuff. A lot can be dialed in with the minimal controls, no pedals needed. The 18 watt output is perfect for getting grit and breakup at practical volumes. It's still plenty loud though, the open back cabinet is oversized (approx. 23"x23"x10") and can hold its own with a drummer. As someone who has been obsessed with tube amps since junior high, I could pare down to this and my Deluxe Reverb and pretty much have every base covered.
After identifying a microphonic preamp tube, it's running so quietly that I haven't done the caps yet. I fixed the treble boost switch and now I keep it engaged all the time. There wasn't a usable 110v tap on the PT so I'm using a step up. It came without knobs but I found some NOS winged knobs with the brushed aluminum insert online for cheap and you'd never guess they weren't original.
18 watts, 3 ECC83, 2 EL84. Old Mullards in the power section and in the channel 1 preamp. 12", 20 watt Celestion. The speaker and electrolytic caps date to 1976. Everything is original except for the tubes in the PI and channel 2 preamp positions. Playing through this amp is a true pleasure. The sweet spot for me is between 5 and 6. Very overdriven at 10. I had a friend over a few weeks ago who is the best guitar player I know, worked in shops for ages, and has played pretty much everything under the sun. I lured him down to the basement, put a Mustang in his hands and turned on the WEM. I could have listened to him all day. He just kept hitting a chord, letting it ring forever and looking at me with an "are you kidding me?" expression on his face.
It does everything I could want a British amp from the 60s or 70s to do; thin, brittle early Kinks stuff, snarly overdriven stuff, muscular Townshend stuff. A lot can be dialed in with the minimal controls, no pedals needed. The 18 watt output is perfect for getting grit and breakup at practical volumes. It's still plenty loud though, the open back cabinet is oversized (approx. 23"x23"x10") and can hold its own with a drummer. As someone who has been obsessed with tube amps since junior high, I could pare down to this and my Deluxe Reverb and pretty much have every base covered.
