Walter Woods Amp repair

[78bass]

Your a Richard (sorry to other Richards).

[61pollmann]

I have one of the earliest WW sandwich amps. It was reliable for almost thirty years. When it finally malfunctioned about six years ago, I called Walter. He said that it had lived a long, full life, and that it most likely needed parts which he no longer had. I now use an Acoustic Image Focus, but the Woods was a fantastic little amp.

[MR PC]

Well that's Walter for you. A really down to earth, helpful, and nice person ime. I've had my WW Ultra going towards 10 years now, no major problems, and it's still sounds excellent. Very strong amp. If you've ever looked inside one, you know that it's pretty much up to Walter to service if you want it done right. That's the one drawback of his amps at this time. Only Walter is qualified to service WW amps... that is, if you need it done right and in a timley, professional manner.

Now, I wouldn't be surprised if Walter comes up with a new design, with the "current marketplace and economy" in mind.

[Rockmore]

To state that WW is the only one to "service" his MI series amps is a complete misnomer. Obviously none of you ignorant threatened users have ever even merely popped the cover and took a look at his engineering. Schematics included.

Last time gentlemen, and i use that term loosely in here... recapping this Mi-800-8 was a one day job, with a mere 4 days worth of common sense research. Replacing anything on the main board is childs play. Most of your myth infused paranoia or flat out lack of common sense is something I will not dispel or waste any more time for in this forum.

Pro upright jazz bass player couldn't be happier. Having the ear myself I too think it sounds better than new, especially with all the new audio grade caps. 30 hours on the burn in and use now for those of you that don't understand English.

It's hilarious, if not seriously scary, that most of you don't realize "service" on these amps is mere parts replacement most of the time. The transistors and old school sound from them rarely need replacement unless they've been burned to a crisp by owner/users who refuse to recap them now and provide better internal ventilation.

'Youtubevideo' 'pics' lol lol.. Go work on one yourself.

[fdeck]

You still haven't explained what you fixed, i.e., what was wrong before you recapped the amp. If there was something wrong with the sound, it would have justified looking for the root cause rather than prophylactically replacing the caps. The caps might not have been the problem -- it could have been a solder joint or an intermittent caused by a worn out pot.

Virtually all capacitors are audio grade if the appropriate type is used for the application.

"Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence." On the one hand, if you were merely reporting a successful re-cap job and offering friendly advice on how to carry it out, then your comments would probably have been added to the general body of useful knowledge with no controversy.

When you start accusing people of incompetence or negligence, then the stakes are a bit higher, and it would help to provide some evidence to support your claims: A brief summary of your credentials, some before-and-after measurement data, etc. Since the amp is back in the hands of its owner, all of that is probably water under the bridge.

For my day job, I often get involved in maintenance of gear that is "of a certain age." If somebody proposes replacing major components without showing me evidence of a root cause, then it's usually time for some coaching and mentoring.

In my view, your results in terms of the longevity of caps, remains inconclusive.

[MR PC]

I've looked inside my Ultra. I've also let some highly respected and well known amp techs look inside. No schematic anywhere inside the amp.

[robgrow]

I think that only the MI xxx-8 series amps (MI 100-8, etc.) included a schematic (although it didn't include details of the power supply). The current Electracoustic series amps do not include a schematic.

Some field repairs are possible on Walter Woods amps by a reasonably competent tech. The older amps use discrete class A preamp circuits and class AB output circuits on the low power amps, all of which are fairly straightforward. The power supply circuits and proprietary "digital" output circuits used on some amps, however, are not documented to the best of my knowledge, making field service more difficult. In some cases, parts are not marked in these proprietary circuits, making field service really difficult.

FWIW I've owned four WW amps with the newest being 16 years old, and none have ever required any service beyond cleaning pots and contacts. They're really very well-made and reliable amps.

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by robgrow

Some field repairs are possible on Walter Woods amps by a reasonably competent tech. The older amps use discrete class A preamp circuits and class AB output circuits on the low power amps, all of which are fairly straightforward. The power supply circuits and proprietary "digital" output circuits used on some amps, however, are not documented to the best of my knowledge, making field service more difficult. In some cases, parts are not marked in these proprietary circuits, making field service really difficult.

+1 I think because of all the components packed into that little box, a Woods amp would be pretty difficult to repair without a schematic, especially the higher powered MI series, and even then, with that vertically mounted preamp, it's pretty tight inside that chassis, if you have to access the components to repair them. At least that's what it looks like to me. The Electroacoustics seem to have less components, so I would think they would be a little easier to work on. This is all a mote point, since there aren't any schematics available. I'm sure at one time there were lots of hackers, trying to copy the first Woods amps, but I'm not sure that's still the case.
Frankly, after all the effort, expense, and time it would take to do that would yield an amplifier that cost more than a Woods. I really don't see why anyone would bother, but that's just my take.

Ric

[MR PC]

Originally Posted by Rockmore

We had a 15 year old 9th grade student assist in the simple and basic recap of the Mi-800-8.

"We"?

[breadbaron]

Originally Posted by MR PC

"We"?

Yea, I'm not handling the money, driving the car, and talking on the phone at the same time...

[MR PC]

Originally Posted by breadbaron

Yea, I'm not handling the money, driving the car, and talking on the phone at the same time...

Really, it must be hard keeping track of all those kids in the back seat with soldering irons too!

[GrowlerBox]

Originally Posted by breadbaron

Yea, I'm not handling the money, driving the car, and talking on the phone at the same time...

Perhaps we should wait for some new sh!t to come to light before passing judgement, dude ...

[Tom Baldwin]

Originally Posted by Rockmore

To state that WW is the only one to "service" his MI series amps is a complete misnomer. Obviously none of you ignorant threatened users have ever even merely popped the cover and took a look at his engineering. Schematics included.

Last time gentlemen, and i use that term loosely in here... recapping this Mi-800-8 was a one day job, with a mere 4 days worth of common sense research. Replacing anything on the main board is childs play. Most of your myth infused paranoia or flat out lack of common sense is something I will not dispel or waste any more time for in this forum.

Pro upright jazz bass player couldn't be happier. Having the ear myself I too think it sounds better than new, especially with all the new audio grade caps. 30 hours on the burn in and use now for those of you that don't understand English.

It's hilarious, if not seriously scary, that most of you don't realize "service" on these amps is mere parts replacement most of the time. The transistors and old school sound from them rarely need replacement unless they've been burned to a crisp by owner/users who refuse to recap them now and provide better internal ventilation.

'Youtubevideo' 'pics' lol lol.. Go work on one yourself.

As an owner of an MI series amp, I am interested in respectfully voiced opinions on the servicing of these or any WW amps. At some point, Walter will no longer be able to perform the repairs himself, so others will have to step in. TalkBass (the DB side) is a long standing forum where people from various areas of expertise come to share and gain knowledge on a wide array of subjects - music, technique, instrument building and repair, the music business, electronics, the physics of sound, etc.

You may or may not have a valid point (I'm not an amp tech) but you simply cannot burst into an established community and expect anyone to respect what you have to say, right or wrong, if all the while you hurl insults at large numbers of people who you don't even know.

I and some others here might be interested in what you have to say, as long as you say it in a respectful manner. Be informative without being condescending, argue without being belligerent. Read the forum rules for more specifics: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/faq.php

[Treyzer]

This was a fun read. I know, my sense of humor is a bit strange! I've owned a few Walter Woods amps. I took one around the world in the 70's while on tour with Jose Feliciano and then Joe Cocker. I met Bob Magnussen at Walters at that time. We both loved the portability and sound. I currently own the Electracoustic model and it sounds GREAT! I've owned it about 13 years and after a 10 year hiatus, I started using it again about 2 years ago. To my ears, it seems to be better sounding and more powerful than anything else I've tried in the past 5 years.

Isn't it interesting that some people make them selves known in such obnoxious ways. These are the dudes that walk into a neighborhood bar, pick a fight with a regular patron and then promptly get their A$$ handed to them. It's kind of entertaining , but also pretty Stupid/petty/senseless!

To all the regular patrons of this establishment, Kudos for trying to keep the discussion from turning into a complete urination distance contest!

[61pollmann]

My beloved early WW "Sandwich" amp stopped working a couple of years ago(see my earlier post). I talked to Walter and he said not to send it to him because he didn't have parts anymore. So, I kept it. I have decided to part with lots of equipment, including this. If you own this amp, and want one for spare parts, it may be useful to you. Check the classifieds.