Watkins Scout

[geoff 1965]

piston footswitch, cool!

[katopan]

Nice Dd!

[Daviedawg]

I needed a switch for the trem and my eye landed on the piston which is age related from a 650 Triumph. (Its mate had a much bigger hole in the top when I got them in a Tiger engine). The original footswitch is a black pyramid shape. I need to find one but it seems like those who have them are guarding them.

This is a very useable amp. I have been using it daily since it was up and running. The only concession is that I have taken out the Mullard EL84s as they had been given a hard time by the failing caps. Well run Sovteks are there just now. The original rectifier and ECC83s are good.

Dd

[geoff 1965]

now you've been playing the amp Dd what in your opinion are the differences between that and the marshall 18W which was derived from the watkins? i.e. tone,breakup etc

[Daviedawg]

The "normal" channels on both are hard to tell apart played through my 2x10 main cab. The alnico speaker diminishes the volume on the Scout but also gives it a little bite the 18 watt normal does not have. It is very addictive. I have not played the 18 watt through the alnico as it is 16 ohm v my 2x10 which is 8 ohm.
The trem channel on the 18 watt is brighter than the Scout which is also quieter even allowing for the speaker. The coupling caps may be responsible for the tone. The plate voltages are similar so the volume is a surprise which I have not yet investigated as I have used the normal channel almost exclusively after the initial running in period. The tremolo itself is nicer on the Scout. There seem to be various routings and wiring of the same components in the Scout/Dominator/Custom 15 tremolo circuits. The Dominator one is in the 18 watt original. But as we know they can be temperamental so maybe these were attempts to achieve reliability. I briefly contemplated rewiring my 18 watt to work the same as the Scout trem.

Dd