# Walter Woods Amplification



## phaeded0ut (Jul 17, 2009)

Dear all,

This has come up in another thread and thought that I'd at least start a new thread in the proper location to talk about thoughts and whimsy of Walter Woods Bass amplifiers. Had a slight "senior moment" a while back when asked about such things (couldn't remember his name for the life of me) and hope to make up for it, now.

Recent thread where it was brought up (to keep this in context, it had to deal with folks who are not fans of the internet as to why it was brought up):
http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/ex...lto-guitars-in-action-and-some-history-2.html

Apparently, these guys sell them:
LstWalterWoods

Here's a site that has some of his model lines through the years:
HUBERT'S TUBE AMPS - WALTER WOODS 

Again, I have to stress, his are some of the most clean and warm amplifiers I've ever had the luck of using in a live or studio (this was the actual case) environment. Most folks tend to use these with uprights, but I found them to work exceptionally well with my Steinberger XP-5A and CR-5. 
Eden cabs work exceptionally well with them. 

This is another moment, where I wish that RMC produced upright bass pickups as these would work incredibly well together.

Hope that you enjoy (by the by, no NASA funding or parts were used in any of this posting).


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## phaeded0ut (Jul 25, 2009)

Here's a site that gives Walter's current phone number: 760-772-7952

Walter Woods | Double Bass Guide


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## TaronKeim (Aug 2, 2009)

A few jazz guys in NYC use his amps for their archtops as well - apparently they have amazing sonic reproduction - Adam Rogers is one such guitarist.

_TJK*


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## TemjinStrife (Aug 2, 2009)

How would you say they compare to Eden's WT series? I have a WT400 and have yet to play anything that could beat it, but I'm a little intrigued by these.


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## phaeded0ut (Aug 3, 2009)

Eden's WT* line are really happening and would recommend these next after a Walter Woods amp. I know in the past I've supported the Euphonic Audio iAmp line in these forums, but have found that the Eden line (which are for some odd reason a bit more difficult to try out/purchase in the DC area) are much better at recreating what is being played on the instrument (have a few friends with Eden's amps and cabs). 

Walter Woods amps are more "subtle" than Eden's ware, if that helps. They seem to have a bit more broad range of what they can and can't handle relative to the few Edens I've tried out a few years back. I loathe using these descriptions, but Walter Woods amps are "warmer" than Edens, too; they have more in common with upper end clean tube amplifiers than they do with solid state amplifiers tonally. 

Where the Walter Woods amps really shine is being able to amplify two channels at one time whether piezo or magnetic pickups and a microphone (this is what the newer models are really designed around, vs. the older ones using two microphones) cleanly with a tiny fraction of the distortion produced by other amplifiers out there. Clean, defined (without a loss in midrange or treble) tones are what you'll get from one of these amplifiers, if you're looking for compression, distortion, phasing, etc. , ... it's best to look elsewhere. 

Another thing to note, is that each amp is "custom" made for the individual purchasing it, think of this as being different tweaks to what type of instrument is going to be used primarily with this amp.

I've re-written this portion a couple of times, as I wasn't happy with how I was phrasing what I wanted to say; if you go from clean to compressed/distorted bass playing then you'll have that flexibility with Eden's amps for gigging/recording. If you play cleanly with little to no distortion, and little to no compression, then I'd recommend going with a Walter Woods amp. Extended range instruments also benefit a bit more from the Walter Woods side with the above caveats, simply because you're not having to go out and buy multiple amplifiers (if you've a multi-output instrument like most Chapman Sticks, Warr Guitars or Stereo Instruments).

Hope this helps.


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