Double Bass MI-100 on the Evil-Bay...

[Ric Vice]

Let me just defend Walter Woods a bit here guys. Yea all you say is true. But Walter Does pick up the phone and he does fix the amps and they ARE his design and there ARE a whole lot of creepy thieves out there who would steal his designs and take his living away.

I just sold my Woods M100 8 to Bob (above) and I miss it. There is something in that sound that just makes you feel good when you are playing. And the fact that every damn one is made by his hands. He'll take care of his customers when he retires, don't worry. Meanwhile send the amps back to him for repair and let it go at that.

Piro,
I would wholeheartedly agree with you. My first MI-100-8 had a defective switching power supply when I got it in 1979. Walter had me express ship it to him, and I got it back in less than three days. He payed the entire cost of shipping and replaced the defective part. He has always been cordial and provided excellent service on my amplifiers.

Ric

 

[Jeremy Allen]

I don't think anyone here is knocking Walter.

Indeed not. Like I said in my own little anecdote, he eventually picked up the phone and had my amp fixed and back to me within a week; and, because he had to do the repair multiple times, he finally fixed it with higher-grade parts than he usually uses and told me it would "never need to be repaired again." (And it was three pounds heavier when I got it back; I reckon I've got me a one-of-a-kind Walter Woods.)

As he put it to me, he just has to take long periods to work during which he doesn't answer the phone, or else he'd never get anything done.

 

[Jeremy Allen]

And the fact that every damn one is made by his hands.

Well, his hands and those of his wife. She was "sitting on the living room floor wiring circuit boards" last time I talked to him...

 

[Wilbyman]

Still no luck, any of you goobers decide to sell me one yet? I think at least one of you guys needs more power, WWU style.

 

[mje]

...because he had to do the repair multiple times, he finally fixed it with higher-grade parts than he usually uses and told me it would "never need to be repaired again." ...

Of course, if any of us had to send an amp back to (say) G&K three times, we'd be screaming about crummy engineering and poor repairs ;-)

 

[SlapHappyPappy]

Hi guys, great thread about the M100 8 on e-bay. I too had my concerns about this head. But WOW! It is now my favorite purchase of all time. Punchy, toneful and plenty of power. The only hit I took on the head was that I feel it was overpriced for a late 69/early 70 head. Honestly thee best sounding head I've ever had. (and I've had a few) It arrived Very Clean and fully operational (pots we a little dirty and cleared right up with a little contact cleaner)
SlapHappyPappy

 

[Jeremy Allen]

If you mugs are selling one, hook a brother up!!!
I would really like to get something from a nice safe TB'er as opposed to the dark denizens of the bay.

PM, alas, sent.

 

[DonBox]

I had both an MI-100 and an MI-225 when I was a kid (I now have a WWU).

The MI-100 is still running fine today ~20 later with no repairs ever. I did have the original 2-ch preamp replaced with the 4-ch, but that was "elective surgery."

The MI-225 stopped working once (I was playing metal and it blew) and Walter turned it around pretty fast (~1 week). I foolishly sold it in the late 80's to get a Trace Elliot rig - exceedingly stupid move probably induced by overdoses of aqua net.

As I recall, the MI-100 had a single sheet of paper folded up inside that carried the schematic for at least the preamp section and maybe the power amp section as well (fuzzy on that part). Again, as I recall, the power amp stage of the MI-100 wasn't rocket-sciency, unlike the MI-225. I also seem to recall that either the MI-100 or the MI-225 had much better high-end (>10Khz) support (I think it was the MI-225).

The power supply was described in the schematic as an opaque black box. Given that Walter was (and probably is) hand-winding the transformer, the PS schematic is a lot less useful.

I haven't opened my Ultra so I have no idea whether there's any schemo inside - given that I haven't touched a soldering iron in 2 decades, I don't know that it would make much sense to me at this point anyway...

As for reverse engineering, I think the quality of materials and painstaking hand-labor are a big part of the product - having GK turn out the same circuit design wouldn't yield the same quality product IMO. YMMV.

DB

 

[fdeck]

Reverse engineering can backfire, when you are talking about a maker with WW's reputation. I mean, imagine that someone comes out with an amp and says: "This is a copy of the WW." They could be telling the truth, or maybe not. Either way, there would be enough doubt about their claims that it would be a tough sell. And even a perfect copy could be affected by people saying: "I heard one of those amps and it doesn't sound like a WW."

And, in any reverse engineering situation, the newcomer doesn't necessarily know things like the parts selection process and what tests are necessary to guarantee reliability. It would be a recipe for disaster.

Even when a maker hints that the product is a copy (e.g., by copying the look and feel, and letting the rumor mill fly), you have no idea if it is a real copy or if the design has gone through the process of making every part just a bit cheaper.