Watkins Electric Music (WEM) was established by Charlie Watkins in the 1950s. He and his brother opened a record shop in London with his brother in 1949. In 1951, they moved across town and started to sell guitars and accordions. Charlie's brother opened up his own shop in 1957 to build and design an electric guitar. In the late 1950s, the first amplifiers, the Westminster and Dominator, were built. In 1958 the Watkins Copicat Echo was developed. They produced thousands of these units and many of them are still in use today. In the 1960s, Watkins continued to produce the Copicat as well as their line of amplifiers. In 1966, the Slave P.A. system was introduced. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, WEM started to appear on the products instead of Watkins. There were a wide variety of WEM amplifiers produced in the 1970s that were offered at an affordable price.
The Watkins Dominator amp and Copicat Echo unit are now being reproduced. There are no current U.S. prices on them, just British pounds. Visit www.wemwatkins.co.uk for more information on Watkins, WEM, and new models. Information courtesy of Charlie Watkins.
Amplifiers currently produced in England.
