On
the heels of the surprising popularity of the vintage Univox-inspired
Unibox 10, comes a new Goodsell model - the Dominatrix 18.
Packaged in the same venerable 5E3 cabinet as the Unibox and 17 MkIII,
the Dominatrix 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 then there's an EZ81 tube
rectifier where there was a solid-state one on the MkIII.
Further scrutiny reveals that the six knobs serve different functions;
gone is the tremolo replaced by a tone stack that notably includes a
mid-range control. Volume, master volume, and the
now-familiar Goodsell reverb round out the knob complement.
Behind the faceplate dwells a 2-stage pre-amp, a significant 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 completely 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 result is a new amp that has all of the physical attributes of the
MkIII (light weight, compact size) with improvements on the original
design (hand-wired, reverb, mid-range, master volume, rectifier) that
is different enough from it's predecessors to warrant it's own model
designation.
The sound is browner than the 17, and there is quite a bit more gain on
tap, perhaps not as much as a Black Dog, but way more than other
Goodsells. Distinctly British, but leaning more in the
direction of Marshall rather than Vox - but plenty of good cleans on
tap as well. The overall vibe is early British Invasion - a
pint short of full-on Mersey, like Page on a Herman's Hermits session.

