Guitar Amp Heads - Making a WEM More Marshall?

[rodabod]

[quote author="Gus"]try the fender value of 38K.[/quote]

Got it - plate resistance in parallel with the anode resistor. Cheers Gus.

 

[dabo]

The .68uF cap will give the stage a bit more gain, but mostly you'll notice a treble tilt. Partial bypassing is often used to increase treble in guitar amps. Fully bypassing the stage will give you more gain still, but you may not want the added bottom if you like the marshall/vox sort of tone. It's easy to try though. Just add a 22uF to the .68uF and see what it does. If it's not to your taste, undo.

Another thing to try is replacing the 8.2K mid resistor with a larger value. That will raise the whole tone stack and give you more gain. It'll be mostly in the mids, but you might like that. Check that mod with the duncan calculator. You'll see what I mean.

 

[CJ]

that amp was Ritchie Blackmores first amp.

save it.

1)put the WEM in the living room, get a rockman, and plug it into a h=ghetto blaster for the perfect bedroom amp, or
2) get a fuzz box, i like the old tone bender that hangs on the git.
3)change one channel to grid leak, two solder joints and you are done
4)put in a Rivera top secret mod, like the had on the 80's
fender silver face channel switchers. only one stage, but
tones O Gain, bra!


get a stomp boxdo a vox "top boost"

 

[dabo]

I hasten to add that I concur with the point CJ makes here.
The amp is a really cool one.
I only offer my suggestions presuming the choice to modify has been made.

 

[CJ]

rb goes elvis>

What kind of guitar were you playing once you began playing in bands?

I got a pickup for my birthday, and I wired it up to the Framus, along with volume and tone controls. I eventually put a total of three pickups on it, and then I got a Höfner Club 50 when I was about 15 or 16, and I also got a Watkins Dominator amplifier. We worked maybe once a week if we were lucky, and the amplifier looked really good, but every time I plugged it in, it would blow up during the first or second number! I’d have to carry on playing through someone else’s amplifier.

I had to trudge all the way back into London whenever the amp blew up. I carried it three miles to get on the tube, and it weighed about 30 pounds. The shop would give me another amplifier, but the same thing would happen again the next time we played. As soon as I began playing, I’d blow the amplifier up again.

How many times did that happen?

Six. I went to the shop once a week for six weeks. They finally asked me to bring in my guitar as well, and when I did, they asked me to play something for them right there, and I blew the amplifier up in front of them!

They finally gave me an amplifier that lasted for a couple of months before it blew up. But I think that model of amplifier had been designed to be played at half-volume, and I was playing at full volume.

hush with englebert humpledink on the mic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L58M88CweFg&mode=related&search=

here is a forum for amps, this is the british section:

http://www.vintageamps.com/plexiboard/viewforum.php?f=10

http://www.ampcabco.com/dominator.htm

Dominatrix forum Thread:

http://vintageamps.com/plexiboard/viewtopic.php?t=53330&highlight=dominator++front

 

[CJ]

Roddy, before you start hackin:

"The amplifier uses 65 watts in to give you 17 watts out.

That is a beautiful first series Dominator. That is in great shape.
I would say on the open market it would get well over 1000 American dollars. Maybe 1500
to 2000. Really hard to say."

:shock:

orig schen]matic

http://www.schematicheaven.com/bargainbin/wem_dominator_1965.pdf

You know the solo on Too Hot to Handle by UFO and Michael Schencker-Sore?

Well, it wasn't done with a Watkins Dominator.

 

[rodabod]

Guys,

Thanks again for the advice. Don't get too worried -I'm just going to do a few reversible mods which is partly for learning.

[quote author="dabo"]The .68uF cap will give the stage a bit more gain, but mostly you'll notice a treble tilt. Partial bypassing is often used to increase treble in guitar amps. [/quote]

Having checked the Marshall schematics, I reckon I would need a 1.2uF bypass cap in order to get the same roll-off (-6dB @87Hz). I will try.

Another thing to try is replacing the 8.2K mid resistor with a larger value. That will raise the whole tone stack and give you more gain.

Yes, I took this into account in my tone stack calculator. I will try this too.

[quote author="CJ"]You know the solo on Too Hot to Handle by UFO and Michael Schencker-Sore?

Well, it wasn't done with a Watkins Dominator.[/quote]

Hah!


Cheers,

Roddy