• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Double Bass Walter Woods Electracoustic Preamp Voicing?

Jeremy Allen

Jeremy Allen

Supporting Member
Mar 18, 2002
2,345
555
Bloomington, IN
#1
Here's a strange question, maybe: what does the EQ curve on one of the recent model Walter Woods amps look like when everything is set at noon?

I was playing at the Blue Wisp last night, which has a WW house amp, and although I was using my IP112/Summit TD100 I thought I'd swap the WW (as a preamp only) for the Summit and see what happened. The sound was...unbelievably good. Whatever irritates me in the sound of the Realist went away, and it was very "woody" and natural sounding.

I owned an Electracoustic for several years, and I never recall it sounding that good. Something about the combination of that preamp with the EQ curve/compression on the IP112 power amp was bee-yoo-tiful.

Well, anyway.
 
#3
Eric Hochberg said:
WW house amp? Freaking unbelievable!!!!!
Click to expand...

Yeah! Eddie Felson, the new owner of the Wisp, was a bassist prior to becoming a lawyer/club owner. I mean, he still is a bassist, just not full time obviously. I think it's his amp.

When I was there last weekend there had been a high school group in before us, doing an afternoon "young lions" thing; I noticed that the amp was connected to the speaker cabinet via a regular old instrument patch cord. So there may not be a WW house amp for much longer, if that's going on!
 
#4
The approximate "flat" EQ setting on my 1997 WW Electracoustic green light, which is basically just like Ed Felson's amp, is Bass -1, Balance 0, Treble -2.5, Middle +1.5, Vari +1 (L of low mid). What this means is, with the EQ set at "noon," the amp's built-in voicing gives a small bass boost in the 60 to 80 Hz range, and a treble boost in the 6000 to 8000 Hz range with a small dip in the mids in the 800 to 1000 Hz range. Although they are not large, these peaks and dips are quite broad (low Q).
 
#5
I've got an Ultra WW Ultra from 2002. I love it. I think you might have the same experience using just the WW power amp with your favorite pre. It's just a great piece of gear.
 
#6
MR PC said:
I've got an Ultra WW Ultra from 2002. I love it. I think you might have the same experience using just the WW power amp with your favorite pre. It's just a great piece of gear.
Click to expand...

Mr. PC
I've actually done that with a Headway EDB-1 running into the effects return of my WW Ultra and it sounds great! I was informed by Robgrow however, that when you do this, you aren't running directly into the power amp, but into a later stage of the pre amp. In any case, it makes for a very expensive "power amp". It is a great peace of gear, I'm very lucky to own one myself.

Ric
 
#7
I normally use my "greenlight Electro Acoustic" with the output full on, and the preamp section controlling the volume. Seldom past 10 o'clock. Normally start out flat, which works most of the time. But there are places which need real tweaking because of the acoustics of where the speaker (and I) are located. Always amazes me, when I perceive that the sound I'm hearing is coming directly out of the speaker, how much adjustment I occasionally need to compensate for the space I'm in.
 
#9
Jeremy Allen said:
Eddie Felson, the new owner of the Wisp, was a bassist prior to becoming a lawyer/club owner. I mean, he still is a bassist, just not full time obviously.
Click to expand...
"When I was but a lad" at New England Conservatory, Ed Felson and Steve Johns were the "A" rhythm section. Ed was a fine, fine player then -- a few years older and sporting the bushy 'stache too. His WW MI-100 was The Shtuff. His TIME was The Shtuff, no fooling.

(George Schuller and I were the . . . well, "Not The 'A' Section" is certainly accurate. I was hauling an Ampeg B-15 around at the time, on the factory wheely-rig, and running my Underwood through the MXR 6-band battery EQ. And I didn't know jack about how to pull a sound without an amp.)
 
#10
Sam Sherry said:
"When I was but a lad" at New England Conservatory, Ed Felson and Steve Johns were the "A" rhythm section. Ed was a fine, fine player then -- a few years older and sporting the bushy 'stache too. His WW MI-100 was The Shtuff. His TIME was The Shtuff, no fooling.

(George Schuller and I were the . . . well, "Not The 'A' Section" is certainly accurate. I was hauling an Ampeg B-15 around at the time, on the factory wheely-rig, and running my Underwood through the MXR 6-band battery EQ. And I didn't know jack about how to pull a sound without an amp.)
Click to expand...

That's cool to hear. Good ol' NEC! I haven't heard Ed play; he's very self-deprecating about his playing, but then most nice guys are. ;)

I'm a little haunted by the sound of that WW through the IP112. I can't replicate it with the Summit stuff, although the quality of that signal chain is superb and the sound is great. I have an old Ashly PQX-571 parametric EQ unit coming tomorrow, so I'll spend some time fiddling and see if I can dial some nasties out. (I had given up trying to do this long ago, when I realized the nasties were in my fingers and not the pickup! but oh well.)
 
#12
Jeremy Allen said:
When I was there last weekend there had been a high school group in before us, doing an afternoon "young lions" thing; I noticed that the amp was connected to the speaker cabinet via a regular old instrument patch cord. So there may not be a WW house amp for much longer, if that's going on!
Click to expand...

Man, that's a shame. Last time I was at the Blue Wisp (with the Morehead State ensembles) we had a guy playing with the Guitar Ensemble in between big band sets that fiddled with the WW the whole time, complained afterwords about not being able to get a good sound and so on. Then, during the second big band set, we were having some very distracting feedback problems.

Some people have no respect. :scowl:
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back