Little Walter Owners Chime In

Ken Fox · Post by **Ken Fox** » 4 Sep 2012 4:07 pm

So right!

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 4 Sep 2012 7:07 pm

I have a cathode biased Fender Pro from the mid 50s, and it sounds nothing like a Little Walter. The LW has way more clean headroom, and the tone stack is much different.

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 4 Sep 2012 7:32 pm

IMHO, amp makers would be much better served by trying to figure out why great players like the Little Walter so much, rather than running it down. For example, Brad Sarno has been working with octal preamp designs to figure out how much of that mojo he can capture on the preamp side. I bought my Little Walter (as a professional endorser) because on the same day Paul Franklin, Vince Gill, and Andy Reiss told me I needed to try the amp. These are three of the pole stars in the tone universe, who have completely different sounds, but are super picky. I don't think Andy has ever loved an amp that was built before 1962. I have never bought an amp sight unseen, but I did based on my personal experience with the endorsers.

I know that there are established benchmarks in the amp world: 1957 tweed deluxe, 50s low wattage twin, 1959 bassman, 1964 vibroverb, 1965 blackface twin, all the various marshal amps. Phil has built a different benchmark that has resonated with many great players. It's not for everybody. If your benchmark is a 65 twin, then you probably won't be crazy about it (no way to get that twangy).

An amp is an instrument. Does anybody care about the component cost between different guitars?

Scott Truax · Post by **Scott Truax** » 5 Sep 2012 4:13 am

Dan,

The first line of your post says it all.

Just like it should have been said.

Well done Sir !!!

Scott

Tim Marcus · Post by **Tim Marcus** » 5 Sep 2012 7:22 am

if that first line refers to me, then its slightly off base because I co-developed my amp with Greg Leisz who is a fantastic player and has a great ear. I did exactly what you suggest - figured out what Greg liked and went with it.

and yes, people go crazy over guitar components too. No one wants inexpensive wood or pickups - there has got to be a thousand posts about pickups on this forum alone. People want quality - and reliability.

Sorry to harsh on your LW mellow a little, but I need to understand the mojo and sometimes that requires stirring the pot.

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 5 Sep 2012 9:01 pm

Hey Tim,

I'm not suggesting that you didn't develop your amp without consulting great players (and Greg is another of those pole stars in the tone universe that I mentioned). I'm sure your amps sound great and are well built. What I'm saying is that if you want to understand the mojo behind the Little Walter amps, you should maybe try one out and also talk to players who love them to figure out the appeal, rather than speculate on 'celebrity endorsements', or trash the quality of the components. I (and most players) could care less about 'quality' of the transformers in the amp. I just care about what the amp sounds like.

T. C. Furlong · Post by **T. C. Furlong** » 6 Sep 2012 3:43 am

I have been fortunate to be able to spend some quality time with Phil Bradbury and Little Walter amps. We shared a demo room in Dallas at the Texas Steel Guitar Association show in March. I also spent a day last month with Phil and his amps in Nashville at the Musician's Union Hall rehearsal room. He has fairly regular demo sessions there. I heard some unreal tone there from guitar players, lap steel players and the incomparable Travis Toy playing steel through a VG50. I heard a new design that Phil conjured up with four 6V6's that was fantastic sounding for guitar and lap steel.

So here's the deal. Phil is a great guy. He makes really great sounding amps for guitar and steel. I think he charges a fair price. What really matters is that players, I mean real players, like them -correction- love them. I've talked to them. They really do love their Little Walter amps. I have owned a Little Walter 50 watt for more than a year and I love it.

In my experience, Phil Bradbury doesn't have a big ego, and doesn't claim to be the most brilliant amp designer ever. In fact, he's very humble. He's a super nice guy with a lot of real experience finding out what real players like and then he builds it. Phil is so cool, he'll tell you he's just lucky to have these designs.

In my opinion, Phil is more of an alchemist than an engineer or a scientist. When it comes to inspiring tone for a musical instrument, I'll take an alchemist over an engineer or scientist any day... and I'm an engineer and scientist.

TC

Jay Ganz · Post by **Jay Ganz** » 6 Sep 2012 4:50 am

I don't think there's any other amp makers these days using 6SC7 preamp tubes...are there?
Just about everything else is still using 12AX7 (or 12AT7) tubes. Am I wrong about this?
I would think that's a major reason for the unique tone (to begin with anyway).

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 6 Sep 2012 5:25 am

Using these octal type preamp tubes is nothing new. Classic Ampegs and early Fenders were loaded with them and there's a good handful of modern boutique amps using them as well;

http://www.65amps.com/apollo.html
http://www.bcaudio.com/ammo-can-amps.html
http://www.siegmundguitars.com/MS.html
http://www.ampeg.com/products/heritage/b-15/

Two-Rock has dabbled with them, and there are plenty more. It's also a very popular tube among audiophiles. I've been working on an octal based preamp for a couple of yeas now designed for bass players and inspired by the old '60s Ampeg B-15 fliptop. I've even got one worked up like that classic Ampeg circuit but instead uses a simplified (bass/treble) tone circuit from my Revelation preamp so it voices better for steel and guitar.

But Phil seems to have stumbled on a magic and winning combination, largely based on some very early Fender circuits but with improvements here and there where necessary. The octal preamp tube factor is part of it, but his robust power supply, the cathode biasing, his choice of components, the voicing, whatever he did I'm not exactly sure, but the result is just really good sounding. And like TC said, we wouldn't be seeing this class of players so enthusiastic about them if there wasn't something special about the sound. I've had a chance to hear and play thru a LW a few times and even in a big comparison, shoot-out, the Little Walter was among the very best sounds I heard.

B

Rick Johnson · Post by **Rick Johnson** » 6 Sep 2012 5:35 am

Phil and I grew up together back in
eastern Kentucky, I happened across
the Little Walter Amps website a couple of years ago and we became reaquainted. He has a excellent product
and he deserves all the success he gets,
I agree with TC, he is very humble and realizes
people have choices and he's has found
his "Glory Hole" and I might add he is a very accomplished musician and knows what he wants
to hear.

Rick

www.rickjohnsoncabinets.com

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 6 Sep 2012 6:04 am

There's a lot of great old amps with unique preamp tubes. It takes lots of time and a good ear to tweak them to a good sound for pedal steel or any other partuicular instrument.

The Gibson GA-40 amp uses a 5879 sharp cut-off pentode for a pre-amp:

GA-40 with pedal steel

The Gibson BR-9 uses an octal dual triode 6SN7 with a separate cathode for each section:

BR-9 with pedal steel

Greg

Tim Marcus · Post by **Tim Marcus** » 6 Sep 2012 7:33 am

Greg - this is because they have a different frequency response than their noval equivalents. You can not simply pop an octal tube into a preamp with a tone stack built for a 12AX7 - the Fender stack, for example, was designed to correct the midrange spike in an RCA tube. Leo used the same tubes in every amp, and back then tubes were made so well they all had a tight frequency tolerance so he knew he could get a flat response.

Octal tubes require a totally different tone stack - sounds like Phil has that on lock down.

I imagine that he is also using DC on the heaters. Octal tubes do not have a humbucking filament, which means that with an AC heater voltage, they hum a lot more than noval tubes.

But the big reason Fender abandoned the octal tubes is because they are extremely unreliable in a combo amplifier. The vibration of the speaker causes them to become microphonic and rattle much more than a 9 pin miniature tube. I believe this is why Phil only sells his amps as a head with a separate speaker cab. This is also why you rarely see them in a combo amp - Ampeg is an exception, but notice that they are flipped upside down (or right side up) on the B15 to get as far away from the speaker as possible.

One other thing to consider - NOS octal tubes are much less expensive than NOS 9 pin tubes! This is because they were kind of written off as fussy and noisy. The trend in boutique amps is to start using them again - mostly because they are available in large quantities for far less than 12AX7's and such. The military spec tubes are much more reliable and do not rattle as easily.

Tim Heidner · Post by **Tim Heidner** » 6 Sep 2012 8:28 am

he does make combos:

Charlie Powell · Post by **Charlie Powell** » 6 Sep 2012 8:48 am

I'll put my 2 cents in here. I understand the "want to know what's in it" mindset. I am an electrical engineer with a license in several states, a ham operator that loved to home brew. I have built quite a few things including a couple of my own amps. I bought a Little Walter 50. I love it. It makes 50 watts just like on old twin makes 85. So what? It is just Fender math! I have been too busy enjoying playing it to bother pulling the chassis. Looking in the back, nothing is super special. The tubes are all current production, not NOS. 6sc7 is a sovtek, 6sl7 a tung-sol reissue, ruby rectifier, and groove tube 6L6s. Hammond transformers. Each individual part is good but may not be best in class, but the total package, the sound it makes is Very Special. Before I bought it, I really wanted to see inside the chassis. Now that I own it, I am not sure I want to pull the chassis. I am afraid the magic might fall out.

Brett Lanier · Post by **Brett Lanier** » 6 Sep 2012 9:24 am

I've been using a 6SL7 in my twin, via an adapter that my amp repairman gave me. Its not any noisier than a 12ax7. It's in V2 right now, but the plan is to put an octal socket in V1 since my first channel is a two knob tweed tone stack.

I like the octals a lot. Have them in the fyd steel amp too. In a twin, it softens the highs more than a 12ax7 or other lower gain nine pin tubes. It's nice for guitar playing too. More clean sustain, which could have something to do with the combo arrangement/ proximity to the speaker. It's amazing how much better we've gotten my twin to sound for steel. Changing out the 4-6l6's for 2-6550's made the biggest difference. The bass is much deeper and tighter sounding.

Tim Heidner · Post by **Tim Heidner** » 6 Sep 2012 10:05 am

what is the ohm out situation on the back panel? I've been looking for pics but can't find a back panel pic anywhere.

Travis Toy · Post by **Travis Toy** » 6 Sep 2012 10:10 am

Thanks TC.

The bottom line is that Phil has stumbled onto the magic combination of components, research, etc, that truly make his amps one of a kind. It absolutely blew me away the first time I recorded with mine. The tonal space it lives in has a very unique ability to cut through a mix like nothing else I've ever played. As far as celebrity endorsements are concerned: You will see a list of players that own, can get/can afford basically anything that they choose to. They are some of the most sought after players for tone, etc that are currently living. They choose to buy and play Little Walter amps. When you play through one, you will understand. Enough said.

T. C. Furlong wrote:I have been fortunate to be able to spend some quality time with Phil Bradbury and Little Walter amps. We shared a demo room in Dallas at the Texas Steel Guitar Association show in March. I also spent a day last month with Phil and his amps in Nashville at the Musician's Union Hall rehearsal room. He has fairly regular demo sessions there. I heard some unreal tone there from guitar players, lap steel players and the incomparable Travis Toy playing steel through a VG50. I heard a new design that Phil conjured up with four 6V6's that was fantastic sounding for guitar and lap steel.

So here's the deal. Phil is a great guy. He makes really great sounding amps for guitar and steel. I think he charges a fair price. What really matters is that players, I mean real players, like them -correction- love them. I've talked to them. They really do love their Little Walter amps. I have owned a Little Walter 50 watt for more than a year and I love it.

In my experience, Phil Bradbury doesn't have a big ego, and doesn't claim to be the most brilliant amp designer ever. In fact, he's very humble. He's a super nice guy with a lot of real experience finding out what real players like and then he builds it. Phil is so cool, he'll tell you he's just lucky to have these designs.

In my opinion, Phil is more of an alchemist than an engineer or a scientist. When it comes to inspiring tone for a musical instrument, I'll take an alchemist over an engineer or scientist any day... and I'm an engineer and scientist.

TC

Charlie Powell · Post by **Charlie Powell** » 6 Sep 2012 10:17 am

4 ohm OT. I have parallel output jacks on mine and usually use one 8 ohm , 12 inch speaker plugged into each jack, which gives it the matched 4 ohm load. I occasionally use a single 15, 4 ohm speaker..

And I have (once, in a low volume situation) only used one of the 12" cabs which would be a mismatch. It seemed to do ok without getting excessively hot, etc.

Tim Heidner · Post by **Tim Heidner** » 6 Sep 2012 10:53 am

thanks, Charlie!

Thomas Ford · Post by **Thomas Ford** » 6 Sep 2012 2:20 pm

I have known Phil for a couple of years and he is one of the nicest guys I have ever met. He went out of his way to help us out many times and lets us use his amps in our booth at the Summer Namm show in Nashville so we don't have to ship any down there. Everyone who played one of our Lap Steels through his amp loved the tone. Why can't people just be happy for someone who worked hard and found success. I for one am thrilled that Phil has found the formula for a great sounding amp kudo's to him!!!

Todd Brown · Post by **Todd Brown** » 6 Sep 2012 2:36 pm

Will someone please pull the chassis and show some pics of the guts. I'm no amp builder, but I'd sure like to see how these are built without a circuit, tag, or turret board.

It seems top secret so far, but surely the builder doesn't force customers to sign agreements not to photograph the inside of his amps.

Mike Archer · Post by **Mike Archer** » 6 Sep 2012 3:14 pm

what I said back 15 posts ago.....
you got to play throught it to hear the great
tone and cut through the amps have
ive never heard a 50 watt tube amp sound that good
you can argue over the tubes/transformers/
and everything else it still comes down to
HOW DOES THE DAM THING SOUND
ive never been a big fan of fender tube amps for steel they always sound brittle to me harsh even
the LW amp sounds like a real amp ort to sound
so what if it costs 2500.00 I cant aford one but
im not going to knock it cause I cant
IMHO Mike

Mike Archer · Post by **Mike Archer** » 7 Sep 2012 4:58 am

there is one fender amp ive played through
that sounded great and that was Charles Powells
fender twin with one 15
But Charles is an amazing amp tech who knows how to
set a fender up to sound good for steel
but that the only one

Ford Cole · Post by **Ford Cole** » 7 Sep 2012 6:56 am

What is the recommended speaker(s) to use with a Little Walter? Has anyone tried the light weight Eminence 15" with the LW?

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 7 Sep 2012 9:29 am

I think it works great with a variety of speakers. I've used an 8 ohm JBL E-120, an 8 ohm JBL E-130, and an 8 ohm Furlong speaker (in a Furlong cab). My favorite is the E-130 along with the Furlong (for a total load of 4 ohms, which is the rated impedence of the amp).

In Dallas, I though that Paul Franklin's speakers sounded great (a black widow 12", I forget the model), which were in both a Furlong unpowered cab and a Little Walter cab. Those are 8 ohm speakers, which works fine with the LW.

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