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A quick bit of history. The Watkins Dominator is extremely rare and collectable today. It's the stuff of legends, just about every famous British guitarist in the 60's used one, or yearned for one before they were famous. In 1964 Marshall designed their renowned version of the Dominator, the '1974', and released it in 1965. In 1968 a 20 watt version replaced the 18-watter, but had a significantly different flavour. The series was discontinued shortly after in 1969. Larger and louder 50 and 100-watters ruled the stage. Into the early 70's solid state amps become the norm and valve amps lost interest. However, beginning in the 80's and continuing through the 90's guitarists sought once more the now elusive sound of the valve amplifier. And so vintage amps from the 60's regained value and small boutique companies began to offer clones of vintage designs. Being only made for a few years, there was never a lot of 18 watt Marshall's. Enter, this amp.

The 1974, the 18 watt Marshall, is the Marshall sound. The 1974 is the model that Marshall's current production reissue '1974x' pays homage to. In its history it has been nicknamed the Bluesbreaker Jnr and the Baby Bluesbreaker. It has enough headroom for clean sounds but is also pushed into overdrive at reasonable volumes, and this is where it comes into its own. The classic Marshall crunch and drive sings out; thick crunchy chords and sweet smooth single-notes. Being 18 watts gives it versatility, gig-able, recordable and suited for practice alike.

 

 

 

Classic 18 watt combo based on the late sixties Marshall model '1974'. This amp is about tone. Pure and simple.

2 channels and 2 inputs (Hi and Lo) for each channel

• Normal channel has just 2 controls, volume and tone, exactly like the original.
• The tone control here acts as a treble cut, all other frequencies are untouched.
• The TMB channel is slightly hotter than the Normal channel and has a more versatile tone stack; Treble, Middle and Bass controls, and a separate volume control.

 

 

Assembled with components supplied by GDS Amplification. The very best components available have gone into the making of this amp. All housed in an aircraft quality aluminium chassis.

• Handwired Point to Point assembly.
• Military-spec fibreglass eyelet board for durability.
• GDS designed output and power transformers.
• Custom made by Heyboer in the USA. Vital components in an amplifier; transformers influence performance, sound and feel. These have been religiously made to vintage specifications.
• Sprague Atom and Orange Drop capacitors.
• Sprague capacitors are made in the USA, and are the finest capacitors around, the best for any and all audio applications.
• Authentic Cliff input jacks.

 

 

• 1 x NOS (New Old Stock) EZ81 rectifier valve
• For that authentic valve 'sag' yielding to touch dynamics, offering hints of compression and sustain, and a warmer, less harsh sound than a solid state counterpart.
• 2 x JJ EL84 power valves
• The power valves used in the Watkins Dominator, the amp that Marshall designed its 18 watt amp after, and the '1974' itself.
• 3 x Sovtek 12AX7 preamp valves

 

 

Known as the 'Greenback' the Celestion G12M ceramic speaker's fabled 'brown tone' is characterised by a warm and controlled bass response, a rich and vocal mid-range and a delicately detailed high-end. The one 12" Celestion G12M in this amp is built to the precise original specifications and delivers the legendary Marshall sound; crunchy chords and sweet smooth single-notes.

 

 

Hand fabricated by Reason Amplifier Company in St Louis, Missouri, USA and especially imported.

• Combo design
• Solid high quality construction. Made from 100% pine, with dovetail jointing.
• Covered in genuine black Marshall levant tolex
• 'Salt & Pepper' speaker grill cloth
• White and gold detail piping
• Gold hardware

 

 

Cranked drive at quieter and even bedroom levels are possible with the included attenuator. Completely removable and positioned between the final circuit stages and the speaker the attenuator allows both the preamp and power tubes to be pushed to the point of natural distortion whilst cutting the volume and matching the impedance to the speaker. This gives a natural smooth driven sound, unlike modern 'master volume' amps whose overdrive can be muddy and uninspiring. Attenuation is the closest thing possible to playing at wide open throttle, the only thing missing is the loud pressure waves pumping out the speaker.

The control works on a reverse logarithmic dB scale of attenuation. When the dial is fully clockwise the attenuator is disengaged and the volume is untouched, when fully anticlockwise the output is completely silent. Connected via a jack into the amplifier chassis, the attenuator can be easily disconnected and reconnected at will, or removed completely if not desired.

 

 

You are welcome to try before you buy!