Little Walter Owners Chime In

[Tim Heidner]

Anybody using just the VG 50 for steel and telecaster?

[Jeff Valentine]

I've got one on the way, but can't say just yet. I have no doubt it will sound great.

-Jeff

[Scott Truax]

Tim,

If you take a look at the website, there is a lot of
info there that might help answer your question.
Or, just give Phil a call. He's a busy man, but
will call you back & answer all your questions.

He did for me. And, I too, have one on order.

Scott Truax

[Gary Skelton]

Hi Tim, yes it is a great amp for both. The difference between the 50 or PF twin 50 and the VG 50 is the VG has a bass roll off and a longer roll for the treble side of the tone stack and has 6550 power tubes. Its designed for the style of playing Vince Gill does. Now that said, I will tell you how a average old guitar player uses it. I have both a 50 and VG50 but use the VG the most because its very versatile. If you set the bass roll off at 12 o'clock then you are back to a basic 50 with the ability to get a little more high end. The VG has 6550 power tubes but can also use 6L6's. With the bass roll off you can also use it as a small venue or recording bass amp with a good bass cabinet. These aren't amps as we have known them, I have Peavey and fender(69 twin) but never use them anymore. I use two1-12 BW cabinets and i use 1 12'' BW and 1 12'' celestion for guitar but either combination will work for steel or guitar. It's hard to explain the difference between LITTLE WALTERS and other amps. As Paul Franklin says they are a instrument. If you have more questions you can call me at 423-914-2436 I am a dealer for Little Walter.

Thanks Gary

[Tim Heidner]

Thanks Gary, I appreciate the info. I can't get one just yet, but will in the near future. Can you PM me a price on a VG 50?

[chris ivey]

why is everyone afraid to post the price of these on here?

[James Quackenbush]

They are very simple amps , with high quality components , and carry a high enough price that it will scare a lot of people on the forum .......Most folks on this forum would ever spend even $1,000 for an amp never mind the cost of a Little Walter ....Jim

[Tim Marcus]

there is a forum rule against posting prices.

we manufacturers are allowed to post prices in the new product announcement area, and then after 30 days the moderator locks the post and it eventually drifts to the bottom and away.

Selling new products on the forum means no price listing - this applies to dealers and manufacturers.

Not a terrible thing - but I agree with James and can confirm this from experience: Most folks balk at boutique amp prices around here. Not sure what thats about considering how expensive a good pedal steel is. Why play a $4000 hand made US instrument through an under $500 overseas built bass amp?

But thats another topic altogether

[Ken Fox]

There is no rule aganst posting full retail pricing:


From the For Sell Section:

Regarding "new" items, the Forum Membership Agreement states:
Quote:
Posting of discount retail prices for new merchandise in the Classified Ads section is prohibited. Readers can be directed to call or email for a discount price instead. Prices may be posted for "used" merchandise.

This rule was created to prevent public price wars among vendors. If you bought an item at retail and never used it, you can advertise it as "like new" and post any price you want. But if you say that it's "new", you aren't allowed to post a price lower than the manufacturer's suggested retail price unless you are the sole source of the item.

Therefore Tim, you can post your prices and I can as well, as we do not have distributors. However I am out of the amp business and retiring at the end of this year. Just trying to make a little more room for Chinese products

[Tim Marcus]

ahh - thanks for clearing that up Ken!

sorry to lose you to retirement. Hopefully you'll still hang around the forum and chime in from time to time

[Richard Sinkler]

Just trying to make a little more room for Chinese products

Now that there is funny. Of course the reality of the situation is not funny.

Many of us balk at the prices of boutique amps for a couple of reasons:

1. We don't need one.
2. We have very little money left after that expensive guitar purchase.
3. That $4000 amp won't get me any more work than my $500 Peavey.

[Lee Baucum]

Surely the Little Walter amps can't be too expensive. They only have two knobs on them.

[chris ivey]

good one lee. how much per knob?

i love vince gill, so i respect his choice. and paul.. must be a great amp. but vince always had special tone through anything anyway.

[Bill L. Wilson]

These Little Walter amps ain't nearly as expensive as a 25,000 dollar Dumble Overdrive Special. But I'm stickin' with my Marshall, Fender and Peavy amps, cause they're paid for and cheap to operate.

[Steve Lipsey]

Some folks are perfectly happy with canned peaches.....and some will pay extra for one fresh off the vine....each to his own. I feel perfectly happy with every one of the many dollars I sent to Tim Marcus....because there just ain't nothing like a just picked peach.

I may be stretching the metaphor a bit far here, but you know what I'm sayin'....life is too short to play through an amp that doesn't give you the shivers every time you pluck a string...and that don't come cheap.

All of these boutique guys have something special going for them, nothing plain vanilla anywhere, and they each have a unique personality...finding the one that says it they way you hear it in your head is a true joy. (Sure, it has to be in the fingers and guitar also, everything plays a part...)

[chris ivey]

peaches grow in trees.

[Steve Lipsey]

Chris...you are absolutely right! And I wish boutique amps did also!

[Tim Heidner]

and money, too!

[Dickie Whitley]

First off, I'm not disrespecting "Little Walter" amps in any way, for those who can afford and like them, more power to you.

I tend to agree with Richard that the cost of your equipment doesn't guarantee that your gigs (or your paycheck) are going to increase. Most of the time, your choice of equipment is going to be determined by personal taste and budget. The best you're ever going to sound is determined by the weakest link in your audio chain (hopefully that's not you).

I also believe that there is a point where there is a diminishing return of investment for money spent. In other words, you may spend X number of dollars for an amplifier that sounds really good, but there may be others that cost more but for the sound quality difference, is it really worth it?

No disrespect intended for the "boutique" amp owners, it's a personal choice, but I don't think it should be the end all goal in one's career to obtain one.

[Greg Cutshaw]

Little Walter retail prices can be seen here:


http://www.destroyallguitars.com/little-walter


Every time I play through my vintage blackface Vibro Champ (got it free for repairing some stuff) or Princeton Reverb ($700 for combo used) I get chills. They're no good for steel but for guitar they are so good I don't need anything better. I've heard tone to die for coming out of a Walker Stereo Steel (Doug Jernigan at the PSGA) and a Webb (Jim Murphy in NYC) and I guess those setups would go for over $1000 new if still available and a bit less used.

In the really large venues where the PA system and hall acoustics dominate, being part of a band, your just a part of the mix. In this type of venue most any amp will do. In smaller clubs or at home practicing, the better sounding amps are so much more fun to play with as their sound dominates the whole sound-scape.

It's nice if you can afford it to own something exclusive!

Greg

[Richard Sinkler]

I will also go out on a limb (got my asbestos shorts on), but I watch the you tubes of Paul, Vince , and everyone else that has switched to the expensive boutique amps, and I really hear very little difference in their sound when I go back and listen to them prior to the boutique amps (not just picking on Little Walter, but others as well - I'm too sick right now to go find every one).

BUT!!!!The person playing and maybe others on stage or up close may hear a difference and that is what is important to the player. Honestly, how many people do you think would walk out if Paul or Vince were playing Carvin or some other amp? How many in the audience would even know the difference. If you have the money and it makes you play (or think you play) better, then have at it. Be be assured that maybe 90% of the people listening won't know if you are playing through a $4000 boutique amp, or a $200 Radio Shack amp (the 10% being other musicians). This all pertains to my views about them in a live situation. In the studio is a slightly different story.

[Tim Marcus]

as a builder of boutique amplifiers I can say this for sure:

its not so much the sound of the amp, its the feel of the amp.

This is what Paul, Vince, and everyone else is so excited about. Its also why its really hard to sell an amp based on sound clips and youtube videos - players need to experience that feeling and response of the amp firsthand to really see why we amp builders are not smoking crack when we list prices

I can't speak for Little Walter or Ken or whomever - but I can tell you that each one of my amps is hand built, one at a time, each wire laid down carefully, and I measure each component before I solder it in. It gets inspected, tested, and babied all the way down the line until it reaches its owner. Is that true for a $300 amp from China thats been wave soldered in a factory line and is full of IC chips? Definitely not. Do you think an MB200 gets played before you take it out of the box? I would be surprised if it did (unless you buy used, obviously) Part of this extra attention is reflected in the price.

Once an amp is built, I make sure the feel is right. If it isn't, I go back in and make sure that it is. There is just no way to keep pricing competitive with that level of craftsmanship. In fact, I don't want it to be competitive because there is no competition between boutique and mass production. Not everyone has to get on board the train, but those who do are pretty psyched that they bought the first class ticket

[Steve Lipsey]

What Tim said....that is what I meant by each note giving you chills down your spine...I've played a lot of amps, but for me the boutiques (for me, Matchless and Milkman Guitar Amp for guitar, Milkman Steel Amp for steel, and from peoples' comments, Little Walter also) give you a feeling of being physically connected to the notes that come out in a way that the others just don't.

Hard to describe....sort of like what people say about playing an Emmons vs. other steels. It isn't like you are sending a signal to an amp, it is like the amp is feeling what you want and doing it...very responsive to your touch.

And I play in bands where steel is featured, not just "part of the mix", and often in clubs where we aren't mic'ed...when I switched from an MB-200 to a Milkman, I didn't say anything, but people (both band and audience) noticed the difference and commented on it (we have a bunch of fans that come to our gigs).

Yes, it is nice to be able to afford a boutique...but like anyone, I get to decide what parts of my life get the money and what parts don't (my car is 15 years old and I'm not ever getting a new one) - I can't have everything, but I feel that buying an amp that feels this good is a big part of the pleasure I get in life - and I expect that I'll be able to sell it when I am done for close enough to what I paid for it that it isn't even really "spending" money.

Plus, I gig a lot, and it is 100% reliable....no vintage quirks happening, and it actually sideslipped off the hand cart I was wheeling it on and CARTWHEELED down a ramp last week....and played just fine afterward. Amazing....

I'm not saying everyone should run out and buy a boutique.....but I am saying that people who do aren't crazy....it isn't about a tiny quantitative difference in tone, it is about a completely different relationship with your sound.

[Richard Sinkler]

My Nashville 400 is 28 years old, has been gigged excessively and done it's share of travelling around parts of the country. Only one time did it ever malfunction. It would turn itself on and off at random when I first turned it on. Luckily another amp was brought to me by a friend. I contacted Ken Fox for advice. I opened up the amp, touched a few things (nothing was loose), and have never had the problem since (probably a year now). That seems to me to be real dependable.

Not everyone has to get on board the train, but those who do are pretty psyched that they bought the first class ticket

But everyone still makes it to their destination. I am just as happy with my beer or soda in coach as opposed to champagne in first class. Gives me more money left to spend on other things on my trip.

[chris ivey]

ok...around 4 grand ($4000.00) for the amps paul and vince are using...minus the speakers. now was that so hard to say?