Double Bass Walter Woods advice

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

James,

Last year I saw X on their goodbye tour and immediately noticed John Doe was playing through a Woods.

So, one audience member did notice, but I’m a geek. You know I couldn’t let that slide.

 

[james condino]

You and me both brother.

Maybe we should start making big bright red WW overlay stickers for our other amp faces so we can look like the cool kidz.

 

[dylanjohnson]

I want to say that after trying both an MI 225, an MI 100, and I own an Electacoustic Amber Light, that although these are awesome amps that have a special niche with their two channel setup, I don't find them to be some kind of magic unicorn.... Your time is better spent practicing. They are very interesting amps that were remarkably unique for the time, and it's my hope that somehow they remain useful, though that does not seem too likely. I just like to help when I can because I did lots of research on them. Carry on. Make those stickers, @james condino

 

[crd]

Get one. It will make for additional great storytelling while you are trying to explain that you don't play the cello....

Beyond that, not a single person in the audience will notice.

This was a 15 years ago but when I upgraded from a workingman's 15 to a WW everyone I was working for noticed.

(A tenor player I work with once told me there are two types of bass players: ones you can hear and the ones you can't...)

 

[Don Kasper]

Maybe we should start making big bright red WW overlay stickers for our other amp faces so we can look like the cool kidz.

All right, James....Now you've crossed the line! NO "LIKE" button for you!
We are no longer "virtual friends"... (if we ever were.)
(smiley face emoji here.)

 

[Ric Vice]

……………I own an Electacoustic Amber Light, that although these are awesome amps that have a special niche with their two channel setup, I don't find them to be some kind of magic unicorn.... Your time is better spent practicing. They are very interesting amps that were remarkably unique for the time, and it's my hope that somehow they remain useful, though that does not seem too likely. I just like to help when I can because I did lots of research on them. Carry on. Make those stickers, @james condino

Over time, Dual Channel Bass Amps that are DB and EB friendly have become less of a priority for U.S. amplifier manufacturers. Thanks to Dylan for locating an actual complete schematic of the MI-100-8. Walter simply doesn’t have any interest in sharing his intellectual property. That’s his right.
GR Bass AT Cube Acoustic is as close as I’ve gotten and so I’m fortunate to have what I have.

 

[jjcarswell]

Are you finding that the preamp really gets close to the WW voice?

In my opinion, it’s better….but beauty is in the ear of the beholder……

 

[Ric Vice]

I talked to Fuchs (on their TB thread where they first introduced the Woods Clone and touted that they could repair Walters Amps. They weren’t all that interested in building a Dual Channel, probably because it would end up being very expensive to sell. They also eliminated the Vari and Ballance controls so it it’s IMHO missing some important Walter Woods EQ shape ing

 

[Jeff Kissell]

Now the “Walter Woods” inspired models look identical to the models they are touting as being “SVT” inspired…

 

[Michael Glynn]

Now the “Walter Woods” inspired models look identical to the models they are touting as being “SVT” inspired…

It looks like the main difference is the preamp. Tube in the "SVT", solid state in the "WW." Why would they spend time and money to design a new chassis and front plate if the only difference is on the inside?

 

[Ric Vice]

Added to that the SVT uses 3 12AX7’s one in each stage of the preamp.

 

[Jeff Kissell]

It looks like the main difference is the preamp. Tube in the "SVT", solid state in the "WW." Why would they spend time and money to design a new chassis and front plate if the only difference is on the inside?

I went back to their site to see if I missed something and it's just that they have the same photo for both models.
shrug emoji

 

[Michael Glynn]

I went back to their site to see if I missed something and it's just that they have the same photo for both models.
shrug emoji

I guess they're saving money on pixels, too!

 

[dylanjohnson]

I went back to their site to see if I missed something and it's just that they have the same photo for both models.
shrug emoji

Hmm. They only gave one Fuch?

 

[Jeff Kissell]

On their shop direct page, they give the breakdown between the models.
SVT style induction switch for mid frequency selection and a tube in the preamp for SVT (obviously.)
Continuously variable mid and solid state preamp in the WW version.
Same chassis and power for both.

Caveat, I only ever played through a WW once, it was awesome but I’m really happy with a Subway D-350. The feature set is perfect for my needs and it was made 100 miles from me. Completely repairable.

 

[dylanjohnson]

On their shop direct page, they give the breakdown between the models.
SVT style induction switch for mid frequency selection and a tube in the preamp for SVT (obviously.)
Continuously variable mid and solid state preamp in the WW version.
Same chassis and power for both.

Caveat, I only ever played through a WW once, it was awesome but I’m really happy with a Subway D-350. The feature set is perfect for my needs and it was made 100 miles from me. Completely repairable.

That's awesome.

 

[dylanjohnson]

James,

Last year I saw X on their goodbye tour and immediately noticed John Doe was playing through a Woods.

So, one audience member did notice, but I’m a geek. You know I couldn’t let that slide.

In all the performance clips in this video from SF Jaco is playing a WW.

 

[FUCHSAUDIO]

Thanks for the feedback and comments. We had a glitch with our account here (now fixed), so I'm sorry for the delay.

Yes, we DO share chassis and faceplates. As a small operation, we're frugal when it comes to sizes and shapes. That impacts everything like packing supples, boxes, foam inserts, shelf usage, and cash tied-up in stock.

Each model gets a badge calling out the model it is. The SVT version has a stepped mid switch with -/+ knob for boost cut the Woods has the variable frequency sweep and +/- knob. The Woods version we prototyped originally had the slope knob, but I spoke with a number of players who more or less said they "could live without it". The SVT version is 2 12AX7's running 350 volts with a high voltage FET in the front end (in place of a tube section), which sounds the same, feels the same, and is lower noise with zero chance of microphonics. We also replaced the 6C4 cathode follower in the original circuit with a FET as well. We carefully A/B'ed them and if there are audible differences with the all-tube version, our evaluators didn't hear it.

With regard to a dual channel version, we've had an excellent response to both our bass models and our ODH guitar hybrid. Of-course that brings about feedback from end users, which has got us planning something dual channel in both the bass and guitar platforms sometime next year. In the case of the bass amps a dual channel has been asked about pretty regularly. In the guitar versions there are also a bunch of ideas being kicked around, but a larger chassis would be made as universal as possible, just like the current chassis. Maybe at (or at least close) to a standard rack size.

 

[FUCHSAUDIO]

Thanks everyone. I have really everything I need but I expected that Walter Woods had still something special and unsurpassed to this day

I had a heavyweight pro in here with a Woods, and we A/B'ed to our amps. He bought one of ours, but we both did agree that Walter's amp was truly special in a few (subtle) ways. I tried reaching Walter numerous times about selling the brand, the intellectual properly, anything....he doesn't answer the phone, he doesn't respond to e-mails. He's apparently still alive, remarried, and the only guys I know who had amps repaired in the last few years were Will Lee and Lee Sklar... everyone else apparently can pound sand. Sad really.

 

[FUCHSAUDIO]

Dig this.

Pretty cool someone traced this out. Sadly, the magnetics here are the key to the power supply (as is the case with switch mode supplies in general). The amp itself is pretty common solid state fare from the day, and the preamp has a few unique twists to it. Thanks for posting.