I've always wondered how players use the vari and balance controls on these. I almost always have my eq flat on my Electroacoustic.
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Double Bass Walter Woods? Or not...
- Thread starter Foxrock321
- Start date
I use them quite a bit but not to any extremes. The Vari contro works in conjunction with the midrange control, it’s essentially a one band semi parametric equalizer. The Balance control is a low cut/hi boost or low boost/high cut. It’s a pretty subtle control, unless you have the bass and treble past 5. But you can hear a difference by moving it around in conjunction with the bass and treble controls.
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I wish the balance knob on the WW was more like the Room Balance knob on my A.M.P. heads. It's a "tilt" EQ but it works even when the rest of the EQ is at 12:00. At 9:00 it's an instant reggae tone 
A.M.P. heads sound amazing. That balance knob is all you need to set to a room. I’ve heard nothing like it in another amp, including Thunderfunk and WW.I wish the balance knob on the WW was more like the Room Balance knob on my A.M.P. heads. It's a "tilt" EQ but it works even when the rest of the EQ is at 12:00. At 9:00 it's an instant reggae tone
I wish the balance knob on the WW was more like the Room Balance knob on my A.M.P. heads. It's a "tilt" EQ but it works even when the rest of the EQ is at 12:00. At 9:00 it's an instant reggae tone
brianrost,
Talk about a “blast from the past” I haven’t heard or seen any mention of the A.M.P. line for years. They never made it to the midwest in any
of the music stores I haunted back then. I’ve only seen the pictures that were in Guitar Player magazine. ( might have been Bass Player) Next thing you’re gonna tell me is that you had a Jordan bass amp. Which I only saw once when the “Association” came to Emens Auditorium in my home town of Muncie, Indiana.
I still have two A.M.P. heads (a 400w and a 260w), had a third and two of their unusual fliptop-inspired cabinets that I sold. Piezo friendly with a 4.7Mohm input impedance. The only reason I switched to WW was I wanted a two channel preamp for doubling.
Hard to believe I once thought of them as "light", 25 pounds for the 400w, the 260w is a slim 16 pounds
Of course, I was lugging around tube heads before that.
There's an old A.M.P. owner's thread on the slab side of TB. Brad Johnson who's no longer an active TBer also posted a bunch of A.M.P. info in varioous threads over there.
BH-260 on top, BH-420 below.
Hard to believe I once thought of them as "light", 25 pounds for the 400w, the 260w is a slim 16 pounds
Of course, I was lugging around tube heads before that.There's an old A.M.P. owner's thread on the slab side of TB. Brad Johnson who's no longer an active TBer also posted a bunch of A.M.P. info in varioous threads over there.
BH-260 on top, BH-420 below.
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FUCHSAUDIO
Commercial User
I had the slope (balance) control on both my tube and solid state prototypes, and the general consensus (electric players) was that it wasn't all that functional. It was subtle unless the bass and treble controls were at max. In average use, many players turned it end-to-end, and asked "what's this supposed to do ?"....
That being said, Walter may have changed this over the years. I've had a few units where that control did a little more than on other units. I've not yet explored what that circuit change was.
In any case, there's no reason that we can't add this function down the line if we decide to or user feedback points us that way.
That being said, Walter may have changed this over the years. I've had a few units where that control did a little more than on other units. I've not yet explored what that circuit change was.
In any case, there's no reason that we can't add this function down the line if we decide to or user feedback points us that way.
Hi Andy!
I am definitely in line for one of your 2 channels...just gotta gather funds! Starting a new orchestral director position next week, so...$$!
I am definitely in line for one of your 2 channels...just gotta gather funds! Starting a new orchestral director position next week, so...$$!
FUCHSAUDIO
Commercial User
I believe Steve Rabe (who was with Acoustic, later SWR who made the GT stuff), was part of ART. I've seen them, but never saw one on my bench nor played one.
Andy,
With Electric Bass the Balance Control doesn’t impact the EQ, mostly because active electric basses have preamps for just that purpose. However with Double Bass it’s immediately apparent that it functions as a low frequency cut to tame boom stages and clubs while at the same time gently boosting the treble to increase the clarity. Thus Walter branded his revised amplifier as “Electroacoustic”.
The Doubler II was EA’s best design before they shuttered their doors almost two years ago now. It incorporated microphone inputs alongside,
low cut filter and variable phase control. Additionally, it uses an IcE Power module, so repairs are easier to accomplish. Alas, there are no longer
available, so the EA amps are relegated to owners who love them and the few owners who are willing to part with them. With the closing of Acoustic Image
DB players are now relegated to using preamps like the Headway EDB-2 H.E. or the Grace Designs Felix along with a group of full featured combos and imports that are costly to repair should they have to be sent overseas.
Steve designed A.M.P.'s first product, the SL-1 preamp which mated to a 400w/ch stereo power amp. He left to start SWR before the integrated heads hit the market. Put an SM-400 side by side with a 420BH and it's obvious that the controls are almost identical except SWR used sliders rather than knobs for the four sweepable mid bands, removed the tone balance and added a knob for the "aural enhancer" instead of an on/off switch. The preamps in the Eden WT series, the Gibson GB-440 and the Thunderfunks all have similar control layouts.
The A.M.P. designs are really interesting. There is no finned heatsink, the metal case is the heatsink and there is no fan. Mine get warm by the end of a gig but not hot like my SWR Baby Blue used to get. The venting is on the side not the top like most amps, good for players who spill their drinks a lot
The power amp schematic is fascinating, both the 260w and 400w use the exact same components. The only difference is the voltage rails (and of course the power supply, which is how the 260w model shaved off 9 pounds).The only reason I own more than one head is I wanted a spare in case the first one died. It's been rocking about 35 years so far with the only repair being replacing one of the input jacks.
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Thank you for this, Ric! If you have scans of the whole manual I'd be happy to archive them in my Walter Woods documentation folder. I've been collecting any manuals and or ads I can find for these amps (schematics, too). Walter Woods Manuals and Doc - Google Drive
If you look earlier in this thread, I mentioned that a TBer named @Goooler spoke to him late last year. Nobody else seems to have spoken to him for a while.
By the way, according to a post about communications with Walter from 2020, he would be 82 right now, about to turn 83. Not in his 90's. Hopefully he is still in good health and has just been incommunicado.
By the way, according to a post about communications with Walter from 2020, he would be 82 right now, about to turn 83. Not in his 90's. Hopefully he is still in good health and has just been incommunicado.
Dylan,
I’ll be glad to send it to you. Calling these instruction leaflets Walter sent out to his customers a Manual would be generous.
at best.
(Warning: rant)
The renewed talk made me bring out my old WW MI 225 "Sweeper" model, which had long been replaced by a Quilter BB 800.
The Quilter has more preamp level, so I can plug in dynamic mics, or condenser mics with just a Rolls 48V supply, directly (thats what I do).
Also I love the two-knob tone shaping of the BB. The Sweeper is a 3 way semi parametric eq. Too many knobs for me. Especially the "mid" used to drive me crazy. Because even with the "level" centered, the sound would change when turning the frequenzy dial. I used to wish my amp came without the "mid" section.
But inspired by a thread here, I bought a TritonAudio Fethead Phantom preamp, which plugs into the Rolls, giving 18 db lift, plus sending 48V on to the condenser mic.
So now I am enjoying ample headroom on the WW. Plus the sweeter sound of it.
And comming to grips with the eq section. With bass and treble turned all the way down, it works as a variable HPF and LPF with a semiparametric mid. I used to think the mid was about removing "ugly" frequenzies, which might well be true for piezo pickups. But now I see it as a way to add "meat and potatoes" to the acoustic mic sound.
So I am back to a Countryman small condenser mic mounted on the bridge -> Triton -> Rolls > WW Sweeper -> MAS 16.
I will probably keep on going in circles...
The renewed talk made me bring out my old WW MI 225 "Sweeper" model, which had long been replaced by a Quilter BB 800.
The Quilter has more preamp level, so I can plug in dynamic mics, or condenser mics with just a Rolls 48V supply, directly (thats what I do).
Also I love the two-knob tone shaping of the BB. The Sweeper is a 3 way semi parametric eq. Too many knobs for me. Especially the "mid" used to drive me crazy. Because even with the "level" centered, the sound would change when turning the frequenzy dial. I used to wish my amp came without the "mid" section.
But inspired by a thread here, I bought a TritonAudio Fethead Phantom preamp, which plugs into the Rolls, giving 18 db lift, plus sending 48V on to the condenser mic.
So now I am enjoying ample headroom on the WW. Plus the sweeter sound of it.
And comming to grips with the eq section. With bass and treble turned all the way down, it works as a variable HPF and LPF with a semiparametric mid. I used to think the mid was about removing "ugly" frequenzies, which might well be true for piezo pickups. But now I see it as a way to add "meat and potatoes" to the acoustic mic sound.
So I am back to a Countryman small condenser mic mounted on the bridge -> Triton -> Rolls > WW Sweeper -> MAS 16.
I will probably keep on going in circles...
Yes,
For a brief time before I purchased my Grace Design Felix preamp I used the Walter Woods Electroacoustic Ultra as a preamp for my Jule Monique M700 it worked great. Years ago I tried my Woods MI-100-8 as a preamp for a powered Gallien Krueger 200MK extension cabinet. It worked but it was not a good match.
Admiral Akbar,
It might be OK to use the effects send to a power amp, but the direct output with the pre/off/post switch is mike level, down about 20dB from the input level.
It might be OK to use the effects send to a power amp, but the direct output with the pre/off/post switch is mike level, down about 20dB from the input level.
