Walter Woods Report

[Raywatt]

Well I've had my Ultra High Power Woods Electracoustic for about a month.
Some of my observations and questions.
This is a great little amp and the WW has defiantly removed weight from my rig moving. This was a BIG issue with SVT head.
Last weekend I used WW on a low to med volume jazz gig with one Bag End. The articulation and tone were very pleasing and I enjoyed the amp. It does very well with one cab.

This weekend I played a loud R&B casino gig and used two Bags(S15-XD + S15-X) Although the amp had plenty of power, it seemed to have a tone some what compressed sounding . I'm not sure if this was just the room and volume, but I've played there many times with my SVT and Bags and not experianced this. Has any one else noticed compressed type sound with a Ultra Hi WW.
I've been setting send knob at between 10-12 oclock to get more lows and fullness. But the sound guy said He was getting very week signal from direct out from amp to DI and wanted me to turn up the send knob. We compromised at 3 oclock.
All the gear at this venue is top of the line and the sound guy knows his shi*, so I don't belive it was operator error.
But I didn't like the fact I had to change my tone just to get signal level to acceptable output. Maybe that had something to do with my percieved compresstion.
Sure I could of plugged dierctly into DI and jumped to main amp imput (like I've done for years with my SVT), but I always found I lost a slight amount of signal/tone to DI's two 1/4" jacks and inner workings of DI, plus an extra cord and in signal path. One cord to amp is z prefered method.
How do you WW owners deal with and patch DI's?
I find it strange that Walter would design the output jack send in such a way as to effect tone and have to serve as a output level, which if you want off for tone purposes produces no line signal.
Overall I do like the WW amp but miss the tube warmth of the good old Ampeg. Has any one out there experimented with tube pre's. I bought a Sadowski pre a few years back and returned it as it defiantly compressed sound. Are there any pre's out there that sound natural and open?
There I go adding cords and stuff again. poopieola!

 

[Joelc73]

Hi,

I've had a WWU for a long time and really enjoy it for it's ease of use and simplicity. I've had a love/hate relationship with it relative to cabinet choice. It sounds amazing with some cabs (Bergs, EA) but not so great with others (Epifani comes to mind). I don't have enough Bag End experience to have any real input their.

Regarding the DI, I always use an outboard DI with the WWU. The Direct Out never cuts it on gigs. Plus the Send knob is a big factor in the the sound of the amp. I keep it between 1:00 and 3:00.

It's a great amp with tons of tonal options and lots of flexibility. It's an uber clean machine though... which may not be your thing if you're coming from an SVT.

Hope that helps.

Joel

 

[r379]

A buddy of mine (full time player) used to tour with SVTs but is no longer willing to move the SVT/8X10 setup around for one-nighters He's currently using an Ag DB 659 through a SS power amp to two Ag GS112s. Obviously it's not giving him the tone of an all-tube head but it works for him.

Other preamps to consider might be Ampeg's SVP Pro or the SVP-CL (or is that SVT CL?). I own an SVP Pro but am currently leaning towards the Alembic F-1X I own. The F-1X does not sound like Ampeg gear but provides a warm, tubey tone based on the old Fender Showman tone stack. I think of the F-1X as being the "Swiss Army Knife" of preamps. You can find a tone to suit almost any sort of music you might be playing. I can't imagine ever selling my F-1X.

 

[bucephylus]

I have used an ART Tube MP with my Green light for the last 12 years or so. It fattens up the tone a lot. The Woods' inputs have so much headspace, you can put a really hot tube pre signal into them no problem.

I recently discussed this with Walter. He basically just said, "yup, that ought to work well."

I'm sure the Alembic would be even better. It's just bigger than my Mooradian bag will take.

 

[KJung]

Well I've had my Ultra High Power Woods Electracoustic for about a month.
Some of my observations and questions.
This is a great little amp and the WW has defiantly removed weight from my rig moving. This was a BIG issue with SVT head.
Last weekend I used WW on a low to med volume jazz gig with one Bag End. The articulation and tone were very pleasing and I enjoyed the amp. It does very well with one cab.

This weekend I played a loud R&B casino gig and used two Bags(S15-XD + S15-X) Although the amp had plenty of power, it seemed to have a tone some what compressed sounding . I'm not sure if this was just the room and volume, but I've played there many times with my SVT and Bags and not experianced this. Has any one else noticed compressed type sound with a Ultra Hi WW.
I've been setting send knob at between 10-12 oclock to get more lows and fullness. But the sound guy said He was getting very week signal from direct out from amp to DI and wanted me to turn up the send knob. We compromised at 3 oclock.
All the gear at this venue is top of the line and the sound guy knows his shi*, so I don't belive it was operator error.
But I didn't like the fact I had to change my tone just to get signal level to acceptable output. Maybe that had something to do with my percieved compresstion.
Sure I could of plugged dierctly into DI and jumped to main amp imput (like I've done for years with my SVT), but I always found I lost a slight amount of signal/tone to DI's two 1/4" jacks and inner workings of DI, plus an extra cord and in signal path. One cord to amp is z prefered method.
How do you WW owners deal with and patch DI's?
I find it strange that Walter would design the output jack send in such a way as to effect tone and have to serve as a output level, which if you want off for tone purposes produces no line signal.
Overall I do like the WW amp but miss the tube warmth of the good old Ampeg. Has any one out there experimented with tube pre's. I bought a Sadowski pre a few years back and returned it as it defiantly compressed sound. Are there any pre's out there that sound natural and open?
There I go adding cords and stuff again. poopieola!

Hello again!

I never had luck with that 1/4" DI with the Walter, for the reasons you describe. I always used a DI in between the bass and the Walter when I needed to go direct.

I and many others have also posted that the Walter is somewhat lacking in low end ooomph. It's not really meant for that.

Yeah, as I've posted before, the Walter is all about clean, crisp, almost hi fi tone. I am still quite shocked that Walter would have suggested that the sound of his more recent amps (early 90's or later) had anything to do with 'tube warm' tone.

I hate to say this, but you might consider selling the Walter and getting a relatively lightweight head that has a more tube oriented tone. The good news is, you will get every penny back (and maybe more) that you paid for the Walter, and an amp like the Markbass R500, The Mesa MPulse600, or even the Eden WT550 would cost a fraction of the Walter's cost, would be louder, and while not sounding like an SVT, would give you much more warmth, low end punch, and mid character. The Mesa stuff is REALLY tubey sounding, and I've heard good things about the Markbass R500 if that's the tone you are looking for.

You might even try the Markbass LMII. While it surely doesn't emulate a tube amp, it has a lot more warmth and low end punch than the Walter, and is actually lighter and just a touch bigger... and... $599.

That being said, putting a tube pre in front of the Walter will work fine, but that kind of eliminates the 'small and simple' part of the equation to me.

The Walter Woods is a WONDERFUL amp, but IMO and IME, it really shines in a jazz/fusion/light pop context when used with an EB, and also benefits from a big sounding, organic instrument like a Roscoe or Fodera. It's a quick, clean machine, known more for it's articulate upper mids and beautiful treble response than for punch in the low end.

 

[Hoover]

Sure I could of plugged dierctly into DI and jumped to main amp imput (like I've done for years with my SVT), but I always found I lost a slight amount of signal/tone to DI's two 1/4" jacks and inner workings of DI, plus an extra cord and in signal path. One cord to amp is z prefered method.

You need to find a DI with an extremely high input impedance and (if possible) a buffered Thru jack. Buy it and take it with you to every gig; make your DI part of your sound.

Look for a DI with at least a one megohm input impedance, and preferably a lot higher. The Countryman Type 85, Demeter VTDB-1, retrospec JuiceBox, or Radial JDV are several that I've used that won't compromise your tone when inserted between the instrument and amplifier input.

 

[ryanowens]

I thought the send knob controled the amount of signal going out to the effects loop.

If your signal was too weak then you need to increase the input level (far left knob) to get the desired output the the Direct Out Jack.

The Send knob will increase the amount a little going to the direct out but it is not meant to be a Direct Out Volume Knob.

There are others out there who are more experienced with the WWU so I may be wrong but this has been my experience.

Low Di volume = increase input gain
Low volume to pedals in FX loop = increase send volume