Walter Woods Amps History and Development

[KJung]

The only amps I've played in recent years that come close to the sweet, musical upper mids and highs of the Woods amps, are all MUCH bigger and heavier. MUCH heavier!

I agree there (not about the bigger and heavier, but that the Walter has a unique and beautiful voice from 1K on up)... but it is the lows that are the problem... and we play bass

Edit: Of course, for DB... zero issue... its actually a good thing in many cases to have things chopped of quite high... EB playing... for many contexts... not so much!

 

[B String]

I agree there (not about the bigger and heavier, but that the Walter has a unique and beautiful voice from 1K on up)... but it is the lows that are the problem... and we play bass

Edit: Of course, for DB... zero issue... its actually a good thing in many cases to have things chopped of quite high... EB playing... for many contexts... not so much!

Walter used to do a number of preamp tweaks. I wonder if he could work any low end magic if asked to?

 

[KJung]

Walter used to do a number of preamp tweaks. I wonder if he could work any low end magic if asked to?

Again, they sound great... gigged them for years and years. My feeling, from many conversations with Walter back in the day, is that his amps 'are what they are'... airy, crisp, accurate throughout the range, plenty loud, but pretty much not much going on under 100hz or whatever (at least the Electracoustics... of course, those old ones had TOO much going on down low).

I remember talking with him and telling him I used his Ultra for virtually everything, but when I wanted to wump way down low in a loud funk or rock setting, I had a big Mesa at the time. He thought that was cool and made sense.

Of course, with the amazing low end response of the micro's I'm using now (again, appropriately driving a relatively large 4ohm cab), I no longer need the big Mesa for anything

 

[Tbirdbassist]

I played through a 1990's Mi 100 last night for the first time through some random 15" cab jamming at my drummers friends house( he's also a drummer, dad is a KILLIN guitarist have bootleg quality recording coming). I was using my fretless Jazz with Nordy NJ4's.

I was playing with my Fulltone Bassdrive and never thought to turn it off and let the amp go a bit cleaner. It was plenty loud for only 100 watts and sounded great/ The low end didn't seem lacking to me, I actually had the bass knob around 1, and it was sufficient. Cut through the drums and guitar.

We were jamming fusion/rock/funk stuff and from what I was told these things are more of an upright/jazz players friend. But it seemed to hold it's own well. I'd love to own one. Spend some more time and mess with the EQ, I was too busy playing.


If you can find one, how much do they go for? I think I've only heard people speak of them, haha, Never saw one in person, let alone play until now. I'd imagine the prices aren't wallet pleasing.

 

[KJung]

I played through a 1990's Mi 100 last night for the first time through some random 15" cab jamming at my drummers friends house( he's also a drummer, dad is a KILLIN guitarist have bootleg quality recording coming). I was using my fretless Jazz with Nordy NJ4's.

I was playing with my Fulltone Bassdrive and never thought to turn it off and let the amp go a bit cleaner. It was plenty loud for only 100 watts and sounded great/ The low end didn't seem lacking to me, I actually had the bass knob around 1, and it was sufficient. Cut through the drums and guitar.

We were jamming fusion/rock/funk stuff and from what I was told these things are more of an upright/jazz players friend. But it seemed to hold it's own well. I'd love to own one. Spend some more time and mess with the EQ, I was too busy playing.


If you can find one, how much do they go for? I think I've only heard people speak of them, haha, Never saw one in person, let alone play until now. I'd imagine the prices aren't wallet pleasing.

Not many of those old ones come up for sale, and I'm not sure Walter even has the parts to service them any more (based on a couple reports from owners of these older heads). Many other micro heads out there now with superior performance to those particular models. They do come up for sale on occasion though, and I believe are going for around $700 used, from those I'v seen in the classifieds. They are much fatter down low and warmer sounding than the current Electracoustic models IMO and IME.

 

[Bassflute]

I agree there (not about the bigger and heavier, but that the Walter has a unique and beautiful voice from 1K on up)... but it is the lows that are the problem... and we play bass

Edit: Of course, for DB... zero issue... its actually a good thing in many cases to have things chopped of quite high... EB playing... for many contexts... not so much!

through the horrible 2x15 Peavey cab loaded with JBL's at the Yale Hotel in Vancouver...house rig...that WW made that wretched cabinet that I've played hundreds of times come to life, it was amazing...and the tone controls were SO powerful and perfectly placed on the musical spectrum, it was amazing. This was an older, 400 watt into 8 ohm 2 channel head, no name on it. It had a - 0 + bass boost switch that was like 20dB, and one for the treble as we, that were just MAGICAL. Never heard that horrid, clanky old Peavey cab sound SO good.

Walter Woods amps are great, from my limited experience with them.

Cheers,
Cameron

 

[KJung]

through the horrible 2x15 Peavey cab loaded with JBL's at the Yale Hotel in Vancouver...house rig...that WW made that wretched cabinet that I've played hundreds of times come to life, it was amazing...and the tone controls were SO powerful and perfectly placed on the musical spectrum, it was amazing. This was an older, 400 watt into 8 ohm 2 channel head, no name on it. It had a - 0 + bass boost switch that was like 20dB, and one for the treble as we, that were just MAGICAL. Never heard that horrid, clanky old Peavey cab sound SO good.

Walter Woods amps are great, from my limited experience with them.

Cheers,
Cameron

That was one of the pre electracoustic models... quite different from the ones produced in the last 10 years... much bigger low end, much warmer, less airy top end. Again, all good stuff, and very dependent on the cab and bass pairing.

 

[Munjibunga]

I agree there (not about the bigger and heavier, but that the Walter has a unique and beautiful voice from 1K on up)... but it is the lows that are the problem... and we play bass

Edit: Of course, for DB... zero issue... its actually a good thing in many cases to have things chopped of quite high... EB playing... for many contexts... not so much!

Ken, I've never had any problem getting plenty of bottom end out of my 2003 Ultra. I've run it through my HT322 and D-410XLT with excellent results. I don't even crank the lows on my EQ. Maybe mine is special.

 

[CDweller]

There's a definite difference in low end between the Electacoustic line and the previous models. I get enough low end (in highly technical engineering terms: way more than enough, aka "plenty") from the Ultra to serve my needs, but you can hear the fuller bottom with the earlier models.

 

[KJung]

Ken, I've never had any problem getting plenty of bottom end out of my 2003 Ultra. I've run it through my HT322 and D-410XLT with excellent results. I don't even crank the lows on my EQ. Maybe mine is special.

Yeah, you've said that before. I don't quite get that, but again, we all have different tone goals. I did have 'the best' luck with my Walters and my 's' stack (virtually identical to the HT322). That cab was a good fit for the Walter, since it is a bit scooped in the mids, and has an inherent deep low end. However, the Markbass F1 sounded better to me with that cab... just as deep, but at the same time, more low mid present and punchy, and pretty much just as loud.

Also, it is not as issue with true low end. Cranking the bass control on the Walter Electracoustics is not a very useful thing to do. It's more a lack of upper bass and low mid punch that isn't really remedied by the semi-parametric low mid control (which seems very narrow Q). It isn't a lack of deep low end, but a lack of push and thump and balls in that key 60-200hz range. IMO and many years of IME.

I thought my Ultra sounded awful with a 410XLT... a middy, congested, compressed mess to my ears, and so different from the HT322 that it surprises me that you would dig both, or equate the low end response of one with the other.

 

[Munjibunga]

Yeah, you've said that before. I don't quite get that, but again, we all have different tone goals. I did have 'the best' luck with my Walters and my 's' stack (virtually identical to the HT322). That cab was a good fit for the Walter, since it is a bit scooped in the mids, and has an inherent deep low end. However, the Markbass F1 sounded better to me with that cab... just as deep, but at the same time, more low mid present and punchy, and pretty much just as loud.

Also, it is not as issue with true low end. Cranking the bass control on the Walter Electracoustics is not a very useful thing to do. It's more a lack of upper bass and low mid punch that isn't really remedied by the semi-parametric low mid control (which seems very narrow Q). It isn't a lack of deep low end, but a lack of push and thump and balls in that key 60-200hz range. IMO and many years of IME.

I thought my Ultra sounded awful with a 410XLT... a middy, congested, compressed mess to my ears, and so different from the HT322 that it surprises me that you would dig both, or equate the low end response of one with the other.

Maybe my XLT is special, too.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Ken, I've never had any problem getting plenty of bottom end out of my 2003 Ultra. I've run it through my HT322 and D-410XLT with excellent results. I don't even crank the lows on my EQ. Maybe mine is special.

My '01 Super must be special, too. I have never lacked low end from it, no matter the cab I use. Sometimes I find my F1 to have too much bottom end, of course all the usual yadayadayada applies.

 

[KJung]

My '01 Super must be special, too. I have never lacked low end from it, no matter the cab I use. Sometimes I find my F1 to have too much bottom end, of course all the usual yadayadayada applies.

Well, I guess we hear the same thing. Again, I try to accurately describe these amps without getting too much into my preferences. My whole point is the bottom end/low mid punch of these amps (as has been noted by many others), is, as you point out, significantly less than most of the current batch of micro amps, like the F1. Now, if that sounds better to you, I totally respect that. But, it is what it is

 

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[JimmyM]

can't the bass knob be used to add more low end to it?

 

[Dynacord]

can't the bass knob be used to add more low end to it?

Has always worked for me.

And I can get that others might be looking for something more specific in that regard but I've not found it lacking. Heard Richard Bona playing a 5 string through one not that long ago and it couldn't have sounded much better to me - though he would sound great playing just about anything.

 

[bwoodman]

A quick story. I just bought a WW Ultra on ebay after spending the last couple years trying several different micro heads - and not liking any of them. I had a WW High Power? (green light) that I purchased direct from Walter in 1995; had it upgraded to a 900W in 2006; it was stolen in 2007; at the time, the wait was a couple years and I was told by Walter that the current price was $3500; could not afford that, nor could I wait that long for an amp. The first amp I tried was the AI Focus - it failed - had it fixed - failed again - sent it back for a complete refund. I then bought a Carvin BX1200 - sounds great and I still have it, but it's not a micro. I bought a SWR 750X - it wasn't it - sold it. Had a Genz 9.0 - didn't like it either. I currently have the SWR Headlite and GK MB Fusion 500 - they just don't have the headroom / power / punch / tone of my old WW. Long story short, I've wasted a lot of time and money trying out all these new micros. I admit, I didn't try out any of the MarkBass stuff and a lot of folks like their stuff. While trying out these other amps, I've watched various WWUs show up on ebay - you know the deal - they show up every couple months or so. I wish I had snagged one sooner! I'm not going to get my hands on it until next week, so I have to be patient now. More info - my main cabs are a pair DIY 210 slot port cabs with Eminence Delta 10s like the SWR Goliath Jrs basically. I used a pair of Goliath Jrs with my original WW head and it was a great rig. Main bass is a Tobias Killer B5 - pre Gibson, of course. My previous complaints about the WW are the lack of a built-in limiter and no XLR out, but these are no longer complaints as long as I can get my tone back. I have a limiter on my mini pedal board and I carry a direct box - no worries. No amp has all the features you want anyway, as we all know. So, I've gone full circle here. Anyone else gone full circle with the WW amps?

 

[Jeff Scott]

I keep debating with myself on whether to sell my Super or not, I bought it new from Walter early '01. So, I can't really answer you question, except to say I have had a couple of earlier versions over the years and I did eventually sell those. I have a Markbass F1, great amp, just a little different sounding than the Super, but depending on my mood I prefer one or the other.

 

[mark107]

In case anyone here has gotten the bug for an Ultra, there's one in the TB classifieds right now (mine).

 

[robgrow]

Frankly I don't find the low end lacking at all with my '97 WW Electracoustic M300 (green light). In fact I almost always end up rolling off the low EQ a little bit with both bass guitar and upright bass. If this amp had more low end, it would be too much.

I've also owned and used many other amps, such as Acoustic Image, GK and Markbass, just to name a few, and none have any more lows than my Walter Woods amp. They just each have their own sound.

I do think that each Walter Woods amp has its own unique sound. The differences can be subtle, but still unique. Part of the charm of a hand-made, one-at-a-time amp I think.