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Walter Woods Bass Amps


DrB
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The ones I worked on were Milt Hinton's (the Jazz bassist) after he passed.  One had tape markings from the settings he used said to be from when he played in the Tonight Show.  Don't know if that's true or not.  Needless to say I did not remove any of those markings. 

They were very small amps, had feet on the ends so they could stand upright. to cool.  The ones I worked on were 100W if I remember.  When i opened them up they were full of tar from cigarette smoke from the Jazz Clubs.

Walter had a small company needless to say you could not just walk into any store and buy.. Many of the parts were sourced from who knows where.  A lot of the transistors were Motorola in those i saw , can't those get any more. 

Some folks said the schematics were enclosed  in the back of the amp frames.  The ones I worked on, not so.  Others said the markings were wiped from the components so you did know know..

They were a very light Amp but with good output. 

When I was asked to work on these I had a lot of research to do.  Was interesting to say the least.

Dave..

 

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2 minutes ago, KWalrad said:

Are they full solid state or did they finagle tubes in there?

Full disclosure, I'm in need of an amp tech and/or advice...) 

Solid State, No Tubes. 

Dave...

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8 minutes ago, KWalrad said:

Full disclosure, I'm in need of an amp tech and/or advice..

Ask away.  Don't know if I can help much.  Been a few years ago since I worked on all that stuff.  I used to work on MCI tape decks, cut my teeth on Ampex 440B's and all that good stuff back in the day.

Dave..

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Nah. I don't want to derail a potentially great thread with technical questions.(other than to say that I've got a Fender Blues DeVille 2x12 tube amp thats been closet stored for a decade and I want to bring it back out of retirement.)

 

So does that basically plug directly into a speaker cabinet? 100w is a lot of sound. Beat suited for any particular speaker setup?

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3 minutes ago, KWalrad said:

Nah. I don't want to derail a potentially great thread with technical questions.(other than to say that I've got a Fender Blues DeVille 2x12 tube amp thats been closet stored for a decade and I want to bring it back out of retirement.)

 

So does that basically plug directly into a speaker cabinet? 100w is a lot of sound. Beat suited for any particular speaker setup?

If I remember correct the Hot Rod DeVille was not just a head end amp but was with the speaker cabinet as well. Plug it in and go........,

Dave..

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Your amp since been in storage so long may have 12AX7 pre-amp tubes . You can swap them with  12ATX7s if you can find. They run at less drive so you don't get as much dirt in the sound. Some like the dirt, some not.  This takes me back in time..

 

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17 minutes ago, DrB said:

Your 2x12 probably means it's 2 -12 inch speakers. 

Dave..

It is. The problem that I have is that these combos were notorious for having finicky master volume knobs. A millimeter of adjustment is brutal in output. That combined with a decade of no use results in an atrocious noise. I've sprayed the various knob pots with contact cleaner but it is still a staticy mess. Plus I have concerns regarding the capacitors being worn out. It was 60 watts of pure bliss when new, albeit obscenely loud, but that classic Fender '59 bassman tone. Now it's more screech than heaven. The tubes are still good - no "red hat" or harmonics. I just can't touch a knob without ruining the feel. Contact cleaner hasn't helped.

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37 minutes ago, KWalrad said:

It is. The problem that I have is that these combos were notorious for having finicky master volume knobs. A millimeter of adjustment is brutal in output. That combined with a decade of no use results in an atrocious noise. I've sprayed the various knob pots with contact cleaner but it is still a staticy mess. Plus I have concerns regarding the capacitors being worn out. It was 60 watts of pure bliss when new, albeit obscenely loud, but that classic Fender '59 bassman tone. Now it's more screech than heaven. The tubes are still good - no "red hat" or harmonics. I just can't touch a knob without ruining the feel. Contact cleaner hasn't helped.

The pots have a carbon film that the wiper resides and rides on that wears.  Contact cleaner is short term but in the long run your gonna have to replace them.  It's not just in that brand amp, it runs across the board with most pots. If you can find old Allen Bradley pots, get those.  Usually if the power supply caps are shot it won't fire up.  They have some small electrolytic caps in the downward circuits that dry out which may need to be swapped out.  If yours has any Orange Drops, they are pretty much good to go as those are foil caps. Any ceramic ones in there should be good also.

Are your output tubes 6L6's?

I forgot on the pots. Make sure you get the correct taper, linear or logarithmic makes a big difference.  Some pots have a audio taper also.

Dave..

 

Edited by DrB
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10 hours ago, KWalrad said:

The problem that I have is that these combos were notorious for having finicky master volume knobs. A millimeter of adjustment is brutal in output. That combined with a decade of no use results in an atrocious noise. I've sprayed the various knob pots with contact cleaner but it is still a staticy mess. Plus I have concerns regarding the capacitors being worn out. It was 60 watts of pure bliss when new, albeit obscenely loud, but that classic Fender '59 bassman tone. Now it's more screech than heaven. The tubes are still good - no "red hat" or harmonics. I just can't touch a knob without ruining the feel. Contact cleaner hasn't helped.

Not sure if this schematic matches up with yours but here you go, if this may help.  It's a PDF file.  Your volume control pot is R6 which is 250K ohm.  I'm assuming linear taper as nothing else noted.

Dave..

Fender-Hot-Rod-Deville-Schematic.pdf

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2 hours ago, DrB said:

Not sure if this schematic matches up with yours but here you go, if this may help.  It's a PDF file.  Your volume control pot is R6 which is 250K ohm.  I'm assuming linear taper as nothing else noted.

Dave..

Fender-Hot-Rod-Deville-Schematic.pdf 383.82 kB · 3 downloads

If you decide to change the pot, I would go with a Log taper.  Since human hearing has a Logarithmic response, it would seem more "linear" to your ear for the volume control if it were Log taper too.  Not so "touchy".

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42 minutes ago, janice6 said:

If you decide to change the pot, I would go with a Log taper.  Since human hearing has a Logarithmic response, it would seem more "linear" to your ear for the volume control if it were Log taper too.  Not so "touchy".

Don't know if the original design used that.  If you want to keep things as original as possible need to keep things close to that.  Musicians can b very picky.  Had one wanted to try three Fender Twins before a show before he decided on the one he wanted.

Dave..

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On 6/14/2019 at 11:12 PM, DrB said:

The pots have a carbon film that the wiper resides and rides on that wears.  Contact cleaner is short term but in the long run your gonna have to replace them.  It's not just in that brand amp, it runs across the board with most pots. If you can find old Allen Bradley pots, get those.  Usually if the power supply caps are shot it won't fire up.  They have some small electrolytic caps in the downward circuits that dry out which may need to be swapped out.  If yours has any Orange Drops, they are pretty much good to go as those are foil caps. Any ceramic ones in there should be good also.

Are your output tubes 6L6's?

I forgot on the pots. Make sure you get the correct taper, linear or logarithmic makes a big difference.  Some pots have a audio taper also.

Dave..

 

Three 12AX7A and two 5881 tubes.

Thanks for the input (no pun intended) on the pots.

Between the noisy pots and potential issues with the caps... I think it's probably best for me to enlist a pro to give it a run through. Even brand new the volumn knobs were finicky. I know there are modifications that can be made to clean it up, I just need to find someone knowledgeable.

Thanks again!

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29 minutes ago, KWalrad said:

Three 12AX7A and two 5881 tubes.

Thanks for the input (no pun intended) on the pots.

Between the noisy pots and potential issues with the caps... I think it's probably best for me to enlist a pro to give it a run through. Even brand new the volumn knobs were finicky. I know there are modifications that can be made to clean it up, I just need to find someone knowledgeable.

5881's were ruggedized versions of the 6LGC's . They were used used in Russian fighter jets among other things.

You can replace the 5881's with 6LGC's That's an upgrade in power rating and plate voltage.  The 6LGC is 30W vs 23 W for the 5881.  

5581's break up earlier so some like that dirt.  If an amp was designed for 6LGC tubes be careful if you try the 5581.  Sometimes it will not work depending and puff go your tubes.

Probably more info. than you wanted..

When I retire I'm going to get my shop back set up again...

Dave..

 

 

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