[NAMM] Goodsell Amps

Super 17 MkIII

The Super 17 MkIII is an evolution of the original Goodsell 17, which at the time was being made on leftover Hammond organ chassis and iron. It features a pair of EL84s, a solid-state rectifier, and 3 12AX7s – one of which is the long-tail phase inverter while the other two take care of pre-amp, reverb send & return, and tremolo oscillator. Speaking of tremolo, all Goodsells so equipped use the same bias-vary design. They all have a speed and depth control and can be operated with the included footswitch. On the 17, the single gain stage (comprised only of 1/2 of a 12AX7) is controlled by the GAIN knob and the single TONE control.

“The tone ranges from a bright-ish, harmonically complex chime, to a soft, approachably polite overdrive, ” according to the company.

Pricing:

• Super 17 Head: $1199.00
• Studio 5/17 Head w/ trem: $1299.00
• 17 Express 1×12 combo: $1499.00
• Super 17 MkIII combo: $1999.00
• 1×12 ext cab: $499.00
• 2×12 ext cab: $699.00
• 4×12 ext cab: $999.00

Dominatrix 18

The Dominatrix 18 is packaged in the same venerable 5E3 cabinet as the 17 MkIII, and takes it’s inspiration from the Watkins Dominator series made in England in the '60s and '70s. At first glance, the Dominatrix appears to be structurally similar to the MkIII: 2 EL84s and a trio of 12AX7 dual triodes – but there’s an EZ81 tube rectifier where there was a solid-state one on the MkIII.  The six knobs serve different functions; the tremolo is replaced by a tone stack that includes a mid-range control.  Volume, master volume, and the Goodsell reverb round out the knob complement.

Behind the faceplate dwells a 2-stage pre-amp, a departure from the 17's single-stage configuration. This pre-amp is followed by a phase inverter that is physically similar to the one in all the other Goodsell amps, but with different component values, mostly taken from the Watkins recipe.  Like all other Goodsells, the Dominatrix is cathode-biased, however the bias resistors and grid resistors differ significantly, the company says.

The result is a new amp that has all of the physical attributes of the MkIII with improvements on the original design (hand-wired, reverb, mid-range, master volume, rectifier).

The sound is described as “browner than the 17, with quite a bit more gain on tap.”

Pricing:

• Dominatrix 18 – 112 Combo 16” x 20” 9.5”: $1999.00