WEM PA/ER (40?) SS

LastMantra

Anyone have any experience of these things?

I've got one here, don't know what model it is as it's been worn off. I'd guess it's a 40w going by how loud it is.

Questions are - It has a 8 and two 16 (actually 6 and 12) ohm outputs. Can I use a single 16 ohm speaker?

Also, what is the extra socket on the front panel for?? Scared to try it, not even sure if it's input or output!

Anyone...anyone...

ESchap

There's limited info here http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/britamps/watkins/er40.html 

LastMantra

Thanks mate. I'd seen that but it doesn't really help much.

ICBM

You can definitely use it safely with a 16-ohm cab, although you'll get less power.

Is the socket on the front a 'stereo' (TRS) jack? You should be able to tell without taking it apart if you slowly push a plug in and feel for a triple click as opposed to double with one of the other jacks. If so it's an 'echo' send/return - a crude FX loop.

LastMantra

Thanks very much IC.

Interesting. I just tried sticking a plug in and it did feel slightly different to the other sockets but I wouldn't like to say for sure. Easy enough to take the front off and check, going to have a play through it for a bit first though. 

I've hooked it up to an old cab with a 15" "spiderback"  (or whatever they are called) and plugged the bass in and...well...it sounds really good!! 

ICBM

Spider Frame . Great speaker, particularly for guitar. A bit lightweight for bass though, be careful not to overdo it!

LastMantra

It's for the home "studio" (in the loosest sense of the word), so it never gets that loud. At lower volumes it sounds pretty sweet. 

Mainly I'll have my looper pedal in front of it so bass and guitar loops coming through it while I jam through my main guitar amp.

Cheers!

57Deluxe

Oooer - always reminds me of Pink Floyd at Pompei

http://personal.inet.fi/surf/lorse/bellcatalogue/45.jpg

ESBlonde

Ha Ha, that brings back memories. I had a WEM 40w PA head into a 6 x 10" cab as my guitar rig when I first left school in the 70s. I never saw anyone else use one like that for some reason.
WEM gear is well put together and likely provides a clean if slightly notchy sterile sound. For home use it will probably last forever.

57Deluxe

Gilmour still uses his WEM cabs... here they are on a little holiday in Italy though...

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0xo55GQWu1rojnp8o1_500.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v20/Pebble/Pink Floyd/pompeii19.jpg

LastMantra

ESBlonde said:

Ha Ha, that brings back memories. I had a WEM 40w PA head into a 6 x 10" cab as my guitar rig when I first left school in the 70s. I never saw anyone else use one like that for some reason.
WEM gear is well put together and likely provides a clean if slightly notchy sterile sound. For home use it will probably last forever.

Little trip down memory lane eh.

Compared to my Dominator (Mk111) it's not got the warmth/distortion but it does have a bit of character IMO, might be partly the speaker. A quick guess suggests it's '72. A little bit of cleaner/lube on the pots/switches and it's working fine!

If the socket is for an "FX loop" how would that work? I can understand a stereo cable but what would that go into? The "copycat" obviously comes to mind.

LastMantra

I think the thing with the WEM is they were the first to make a decent PA system for rock music, so every big rock band of the time would be beating a path to their door. Before then they would only really be able to play small-ish venues.

ICBM

LastMantra said:

If the socket is for an "FX loop" how would that work? I can understand a stereo cable but what would that go into? The "copycat" obviously comes to mind.

Usually you need a Y-cable unless the FX unit also has a TRS in/out jack (of the right polarity!).

LastMantra

ICBM said:

LastMantra said:

If the socket is for an "FX loop" how would that work? I can understand a stereo cable but what would that go into? The "copycat" obviously comes to mind.

Usually you need a Y-cable unless the FX unit also has a TRS in/out jack (of the right polarity!).

Thanks IC. I wonder what they had in mind when they made it. WEM stuff is a bit wacky to be sure.

ICBM

That arrangement was fairly standard practice around that time - it goes back to the studio desk 'insert point' jack for FX or sidechains.

If I remember rightly Matchless still use it!

LastMantra

Ah OK, yeah it's starting to make a bit more sense now.

Now to figure out what *I* can use it for.

Cheers! 

musicegbdf

Ahhh memories . My first band I used a dominator mk III and our PA was a 100 w Wem Bandmixer amp , I seem to recall it had eight inputs. The pa speakers were columns around 5 foot high with horns on the top .
I always rated WEM as very under rated .