What do you make of this 1bl?

lee_UK · Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2006 11:16 pm Post subject: What do you make of this 1bl?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WATKINS-DOMINATOR-30-WATT-VALVE-COMBO_W0QQitemZ190028900949QQihZ009QQcategoryZ10171QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And no swearing please..

1bassleft · Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2006 3:06 pm Post subject:

F

k me, I bought it Laughing

I'd been keeping a quiet eye on it from the moment it appeared on the Fleeb. Yes, it's tatty looking and not working properly but I reckon that's fixable. My plan is to sort it out (IIRC, the preamp layout is as with my earlier Doms but the power is 4xEL84 in parallel push-pull layout) and sell off my tidy Dom III which should clear £150. I'm hoping that the 30W is still cathode-biased but I have a matched quad of Teslas (Roznov, not JJ) if it turns out to be fixed/variable bias.

Not much is known about this era of WEM (Steve Russell's site is so scarce on info that I'll probably have to send him pics and details to upload). Still, I think the Emminence speakers are possibly original. Charlie Watkins is still going and has a very high opinion of them. He may well have switched to them from the earlier Celestion-Rola and Goodmans once the output was raised. I'll keep you posted on the outcome - seeing as you're fascinated Razz

1bassleft · Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 1:36 am Post subject:

Judging by amateurish soldering, the Emminence drivers are non-original. Amp looks OK, should be simplish to get running properly:

lee_UK · Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:54 pm Post subject:

1. are the valves good?
2. what brand are they?
3. is the O/T in good shape?
4. is that really your carpet? Laughing

1bassleft · Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2006 11:22 pm Post subject:

1) I'll try it this w/e. The valves may be one reason why it doesn't work as it should. The other is that it hasn't been played for eight years. The seller said it was improving with each plug in and there's no puff around the filter cpacitor so it may have dried out a bit but not terminally so.

2) 3 of the EL84s are Edicron-brand and have a Philips-plate style but no etchings. It's very likely they were made by Ei in Nis, Serbia. The pre-civil war Yugoslav valves are decent enough but it's no setback if I have to replace them (at least Mulls etc should be a straight swap without any change of grid resistor required). The 4th EL84 is the most hideous junk I've ever seen. Never clapped eyes on the like so it would have to be some early Chinese rubbish. This may not perform at all in this circuit and may be a part of the amp's problem.

3) The OT should be OK, seeing as the seller has got it playing. I'll find out this weekend.

4) It's a rug, Lee. Polished floorboards and a rug. Smile

1bassleft · Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 5:36 pm Post subject:

Having just removed some spam, I thought I might as well update this thread. Replacing the ugly Chinese EL84 got it running. Replacing one of the ECC83s got the "normal" channel working. Easiest fix ever and this is now very much my goto practice combo for bass. The 30W is more than ample and distortion-free, plus the 2x10" suits the bass better than the standard 1x12".

lee_UK · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:20 pm Post subject:

you forgot to mention the 2 meters of tolex and a lot of TLC.

I can forgive the rug, but 16 amps in the house? unforgivable.
As well as the amps you have in exile around the world.

1bassleft · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 5:06 pm Post subject:

Oh, it looks uglier than a Bull Terrier sucking a lemon, but I've left that alone. If ugliness ruled out band usage, there'd be a lot of people out of work Laughing

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