A Major Horsepower Boost Vox introduced their "top of the line" V118 Westminster bass amp in 1966. The V118 made way for the second generation V1181 Westminster in 1967. The V118 and V1181 both combined a two channel, 60 watt RMS solid state amp head with a 1x18" speaker enclosure. These "made in the US" Westminster amps replaced the JMI Vox Foundation Bass that Thomas Organ had previously imported from England. The V1181 was as well dropped in the summer of 1968 when Thomas Organ introduced the third generation Westminster, the V1182. The V1182 received a major horsepower boost. Thomas Organ installed the

A cardboard protective panel covered the open bottom of the Westminster power amp chassis. It bolted to the back side of the amp chassis and to the bottom of the cabinet (see photo above). This cardboard panel guarded against the possibility that the power cord or AC plug might slip under the power amp module, potentially causing damage to electrical components on the bottom side of the chassis. Thomas Vox guitar amps such as the Buckingham, Royal Guardsman and Beatle did not require this protective panel as the reverb pan blocked access to the bottom of the power amp module.

Westminster Speakers
The V1182 Westminster head was originally coupled with the V4182 Westminster Bass enclosure. This enclosure featured a roller trolley and one 18" two ohm Vega speaker rated at 100 watts .

Thomas Organ dropped the V4182 Westminster enclosure out of the 1969 Vox line up. The V1182 head was then coupled with two 4x12 "stack" enclosures, each rated at 4 ohms, yielding a two ohm total load. The new amplifier was named the V1261 Westminster Power Stak.

No FET Transistors for the Westminster
Thomas Organ also introduced their third generation Viscount, Buckingham, Royal Guardsman and Beatle guitar amps in the summer of 1968. The updated versions of these amps included a new modular preamp circuit board (Thomas part number 25-5373-2) that featured low noise FET (field-effect) transistors. Thomas Organ did not incorporate either this new preamp circuit board or FET transistors into the V1182 Westminster.

Modular Construction
Modular construction allowed Thomas to trim costs by sharing certain subassemblies over a number of amp models. Such sharing would trim the required number of inventory items and subassemblies that needed to be stocked to produce a line of amplifiers. It also offered the opportunity to reduce part costs through what is known as the "economy of scale." Part prices often decrease as consumption (and order size) increases.

A good example was the steel preamp chassis found in the V1182 Westminster amp. This chassis was not unique to the Westminster. It was also used in the Viscount, Buckingham, Royal Guardsman, Sovereign, Super Beatle and Beatle amplifiers. While the same metal chassis was utilized in each of these amps, the number of features in the amps varied by model, as did the number of controls, switches and jacks. The standardized chassis included all of the component mounting holes required to build any of these amps. A model specific control panel covered any unused chassis holes. The photo of the V1182 chassis at the top of this page reveals a number of such unused control and switch holes.

When the Tone-X control was rotated fully counter-clockwise, the tone was very deep. When rotated clockwise, the tone was brilliant and thin.

The pedal amplifier circuitry, located on the preamp circuit board, worked in conjunction with either button on the foot switch to electronically simulate the effect of turning the Tone X control to the fully clockwise, or treble position. One of the foot switch buttons was a momentary switch (hold the button down to operate), the second was a latching switch (click "on," click "off").

A slide switch, located on the rear control panel, turned on the G-Tuner tone. The external portion of the circuit was mounted to the upper left inside corner of the head cabinet and was connected to the preamp by a cable with a plug (see photo at left). The Normal channel volume control adjusted the level.

If a serviceman neglects to reconnect the G-Tuner to the preamp after service, the Normal channel will be dead.

The switch had three positions: "Off," "Standby" and "Operate." The switch also had three individual circuits. The main power switch circuit was located in the back of the switch assembly and supplied 120 VAC to the amp. A second circuit supplied 28 VDC to the red and green pilot lamps. A third circuit completed the circuit between the power amp and the speakers.

When the switch was rotated from the "Off" position to "Standby," the main power switch turned on the AC power to the amplifier. The pilot lamp circuit in the power switch illuminated the green Standby pilot lamp. While in the Standby mode, the speaker switch did not complete the circuit from the power amp to the speakers, allowing the amp to be powered up without hearing a "thump" from the speakers.

When the power switch was rotated from "Standby" to "Operate," the main power switch continued to supply AC power to the amp. The Standby pilot lamp was extinguished and the red Power pilot lamp illuminated. Lastly, the connection between power amp and speakers was completed, enabling the amp for performance.

It is not unusual for the phenolic wafer in the rotary power switch that completed the connection from the amp head to the speaker cabinet to snap off and break. Such damage to the power switch was ironically often the result of prior amp service. The damage can happen if the two conductor plug that joined the wires coming from the phenolic speaker wafer on the power switch to the XLR speaker output jack is not disconnected when removing the back. If one neglects to disconnect this plug, a tug on the removable back panel can exert enough pressure on the speaker wafer of the power switch to cause it to fracture.

At left is a photo of the three position power switch that has lost the phenolic wafer that controls the speaker standby function.