The Steel Guitar Forum

Are Webbs still being manufactured?

No. Tom Bradshaw made a few, but it wasn't really feasible to keep it up.

Last I heard Tom was working on a whole new design but his volume pedal and dobro simulator took off and I have not heard any thing else about the new design. He showed me his concept and it looked very promising.

I have so many other "irons in the fire" that I doubt that I'll ever build the Webb amp again. My most recent thought was to offer the amp as a kit, with the buyer being responsible for assembling it. That sounds crazy perhaps, but I think it is a fine idea. Consider this: all the components would be modular and the buyer could simply snap all the components together. The cost of assembling the amp would be a savings for the buyer, since his own labor would be used in the assembly. If a problem developed at some future time, it would just be a matter of swapping out the modules until you the section that had the problem was located. Fixing it would be far cheaper than having a technician trouble-shoot it. I wish I could find someone with electronic knowledge who would want to implement my ideas. ...Tom

Tom, how much electronic knowledge would be required? I use to repair radio and TV's, back in the days they were hard wired. I can trace circuits to find a bad component, and the basic electrical problems. Don't stick your finger in a 110V outlet. haha. I have never played through a Webb amp, I hear they were the best. Thanks

Jim, we're only about 40 miles apart. You're welcome to try my Webb on for size. Shoot me an e-mail if you're interested.

The Webb amp I owned was pretty awesome. Since then there have been so many more options available that are lighter and just as flexible for EQ including the awesome Carvin BX-500, Quilter, Walker Stereo Steel and others. The Webb reverb was to die for but modern stomp box reverbs have caught up with that. The ability with low power digital amps to mate and match speaker cabs and go mono or stereo as needed is quite useful.

Tom and I exchanged a few emails about redesigning the Webb amp to make it lighter, lower cost of manufacturing, adding features like delay, dobro sim and making it modular. It becomes as much a manufacturing and production project as an engineering project. Since that time the advent of modular power amps, a plethora of really good stomp boxes and speakers/cab, a huge array of tube and non-tube preamps means that you can assemble your own custom, modular, light weight system with very little engineering.

I see Tommy and Jim that you both have a Daffin's chocolate store nearby. I get to the ones in Franklin and Sharon a few times a year.

Greg, the next time you visit the one in Sharon, let me know and I'll go with you.

The WEBB with a new Teleonics or EPS 15 C is a dramatically lighter amp. Sounds great with the new speaker as well. Having an effects loop as well as a remote reverb, it really compares well with the other newer lighter amps .

I received a Private Message from a Forumite who asked when a Webb amp would be available in kit form! Here is my reply to him:

"Hi: I knew I shouldn't have mentioned my idea about an amp kit, since I would end up getting inquiries about my idea for the future of Webb amps. No, I don't have such kits. My idea, if pursued, will cost me at least $50,000 to get the design for it finalized. Add to that another $25,000 for the mold for its molded cabinet (one of my ideas to avoid the building and covering of it). With that amount of investment before even one amp is produced, I think you can see that this is a project that needs a lot of study before I move forward and risk failure.

Thanks for asking. However, your inquiry does mean that at least one person likes the idea."