1970's walter woods min amp 1 channel

Do you mean the original "ice cream sandwich" amp? Like this one?



I'd say $500 or so off the top of my head.

 

$500.00 sounds about right, but I'd call or write Walter. I'm not entirely sure that he can still repair that model.

Ric

 

I've had a few original WW Mini Amps, and they can sound wonderful. In good condition and good working order, they are worth at least $500. They certainly can't be replaced with a new one though. With Walter it depends on what day you talk to him, but they can be repaired. Most or all of the parts are still available. To get the most out of one of these amps, it's best to use it with a 4-ohm speaker cabinet with a fairly high sensitivity rating (around 100 dB SPL w/ 1 watt @ 1 meter), since they aren't very powerful by today's standards. I'd love to find another Mini Amp someday.

 

Nice to know that the parts are still readily available, now if I just had a schematic for my MI-400-8 and Electroacoustic Ultra, life would be complete. drool

 

Ric,
Parts availability is only one issue. Even if you had schematics, there aren't many people these days who could actually repair a WW amp. If a class D module fails in a modern amp, the module is just replaced rather than repaired. With Walter's amps, it's not as easy as replacing a module. Good luck finding someone who can troubleshoot one of these on the component level. It's virtually a lost art. The WW Mini Amp is a wonderful relic of another era. None of the modern amps that I'm aware of sound as warm and musical.

 

Ralph Hamperian has one of these, I don't know when, if ever, it's been repaired. But it still works fine. How often do you have to worry about repair? I kind of get the feeling mine is going to outlive me....

 

Good point Ed. WW amps are, to say the least, very well made and use very high quality parts. My current WW amp is 18 years old and is as good as new. Of course the longevity of an older model depends, to a large extent, on how it has been treated during its lifetime. I've seen a few older WW amps that were simply worn out because they had a tough life.

 

Ryan, I think this has already been answered. The consensus seems to be they are worth about $500 (in good condition of course).

 

QUOTE="robgrow, post: 16783192, member: 42154"]Ric,
Parts availability is only one issue. Even if you had schematics, there aren't many people these days who could actually repair a WW amp. If a class D module fails in a modern amp, the module is just replaced rather than repaired. With Walter's amps, it's not as easy as replacing a module. Good luck finding someone who can troubleshoot one of these on the component level. It's virtually a lost art. The WW Mini Amp is a wonderful relic of another era. None of the modern amps that I'm aware of sound as warm and musical.[/QUOTE]

+1
I realized that issue, right after I replied to your post, glad you pointed it out. I'm really lucky that I have a pair of Woods Amps, that I've kept in good condition. Even though I love Walter's Amps, I'm not sure if I would not purchased a used one, at this point.
They are very reliable amplifiers, when taken care of. My one major repair, occurred only because of water dripping down into one of the top vents and landing on the circuitry. It was not a component failure issue.

Ric

 

A little personal history: The only two amps that have failed me on gigs (2x each) in my 45 years of bass playing were a Mini Brute 4 and an old WW two channel.

 

Eric,
Good to know, fortunately for me, that hasn't been the case. My thoughts are that I'd like to go with the Demeter Minnie 800D, and the Headway EDB-2 that I already own.

Ric