AMWATTS AMPS & CABS HISTORY
My name is Mark Watson and I am the owner and builder of Amwatts Amps and Cabinets. I have been interested in electronics since childhood when I discovered tube radios I found in my Dad’s garage. A year in my family’s furniture business also taught me cabinetry skills. I also have over 20 years experience in the film industry, where I have honed my electrical skills in lighting.
Throughout my musical career as a guitarist, I have been drawn to, and played, the style of amps that came out of Fullerton, California in the 40s, 50s and Brownface era of the early 60s. I have access to, and own, some fine early examples - see the VINTAGE AMP COLLECTION page.
HOW AMWATTS CAME TO BE - IT ALL STARTED WITH SPEAKER CABINETS . . .
As a keen collector of amps and a tone hound, I required a speaker cabinet for various types of tube heads. I needed a big, rounded, full sound. I decided to build a 2 x 12” speaker cabinet that would reproduce amp tones at their best.
I went back to early fifties materials and used pine for the cabinet. Dovetail corners were used for strength. Larger than normal bracing was used for baffle board mounts and Birch ply for the baffle board. I tuned the back panels for optimum resonance, resulting in a semi closed-back cabinet. A friend borrowed the cab for a gig. When he returned he said it sounded bigger, rounder and fuller than his ply cabinet and would I make him one. Shortly after that word of mouth spread and I was building cabinets for an ever-growing number of musicians.
NEXT CAME THE AMPS . . .
I owned some 60s American amps, but was unable to afford 50s ones. Whilst visiting a friend I said to him how expensive vintage amps had become. He said: "You know electronics, build one". That was all it took. I researched early Tweed circuits and built a 15 watt replica. As great as it sounded it had a few issues: it flubbed in the bottom end and had a parasitic oscillation that the original circuit was known for. I changed the layout to eliminate the oscillations and adjusted different values of components in the circuit to eliminate the flubbiness. I strived to keep the amazing tones that the circuit is famous for, but eliminate its faults.
UPDATE (mid 2010) . . .
Unfortunately, due to the large amount of Tweed Kits that have flooded the market in recent years, I have decided to discontinue the Tweed range from the Amwatts Amps catalogue. We are concentrating on the earliest of the Fullerton range: the 1946 Woodie and the split front beauties from 1947 and 1949. For more information see the '46 Woodie, '46 Split Front and '49 Split Front amps' pages.