Little Waltertm Tube Amps

Little WalterTM Tube Amps www.littlewaltertubeamps.com

Amp Model Families

First a note about all the amps: All the Little Walter Tube Amps are hand wired, use Octal (8-pin) pre amp tubes, have no circuit, tag, or turret boards and utilize very high quality signal and filter capacitors. All the models below come standard with a Post-Output Transformer line out jack that can be used with a PA system or as a direct in for a recording board. All the models respond extremely well with effects pedals. 6V6 Family (22 watt, 44 watt)

The 6V6 powered models have a the ability to produce unparalleled natural overdrive tones and allow the player to back off the volume on their instrument to achieve a clean tone with no loss of tone and very little loss of volume. Players claim they have quit using overdrive pedals with these amps as no pedal can match the natural tube overdrive. We attribute this to the interaction between the octal preamp and power tubes. These models use a pair of 6SC7 preamp/Phase Inverter tubes that drive a 6V6 power tubes. These amps use 5Y3 rectifier tubes. The 22 uses a pair of 6V6 power tubes and a 25 watt output transformer. The 44 uses 4 6V6 power tubes and a 50 watt output transformer. NOTE: We offer a 15 watt 10” Combo that uses a pair of 6V6 also.

NOTE: In testing these amps it was observed by Nashville guitarist Andy Reiss that the 44 had the most dynamic response of any amp he had ever played. Andy could set the amp at a level that most people would achieve rich overdriven tone and he could play extremely clean with the ability to have heavy overdriven tones on command.

6L6 Family (50 watt)

The 6L6 powered model is the amp that made Little Walter Tube Amps famous. This is one of the most versatile amps you can own as it is used by producers like Dann Huff in the studio while also being the amp that players like Vince Gill use for their concert tours. This model is also being widely used as a steel guitar amp. This model is known for its “Honest Clean Tone”. It has been said by several A-List performers that this amp lets you hear what your guitar sounds like. This amp with only it’s Volume and Tone controls exemplifies the builder Phil Bradbury’s philosophy “The shortest signal path equates to the purest possible tone” This model uses a 6SC7 preamp tube and a 6SL7 Phase Inverter to drive a pair of 6L6 power tubes. The power is handled by a 5U4 Rectifier tube. You can achieve a bit of “Hair” at higher volumes but this amp stays clean through most of the usable range.

6550 KT Family (VG-50 watt, Super 50 watt, Super 50 Bass, 80 watt)

This model uses a same compliment of Preamp/Phase Inverter tubes but due to larger power transformers can utilize the 6550 power tubes for more clean head-room while still producing the Little Walter tone.

The Super 50: This is basically the same two knob amp as the standard 50 but with enough power to use 6550 or 6L6 power tubes (as well as KT88 and KT90). This will allow the player to have even more clean headroom but still have the ability to switch to 6L6 tubes when that tone is required. The Super 50 Bass: The Super 50 model is available as a bass amp as well. The bass model comes with a three knob tone stack: Volume, Tone, Bass Roll-Off as well as a High/Low voicing switch.

The VG-50: This model starts out like the standard 50 but utilizes a different tone stack to achieve a bit more high range tone. This tone stack was created while working with Vince Gill to achieve more top end sparkle for his touring rig. This model has a Volume, Tone, and a Bass Roll-Off control. The bass roll-off works at very low frequency (almost a sub-bass level) so it has a very small effect on the tone, almost thinning and thickening the tone but works with the tone control to allow more high end frequency. This model also allows the player to use 6550 or 6L6 tubes (as well as KT88 and KT90). This model is known for a beautifully clean tone with little or no distortion throughout the volume range.

The 80 Watt: This model is very similar to the VG-50 design but utilizes a very powerful Power Transformer in order to power a pair of KT120 power tubes. This model uses a GZ34 rectifier tube. The KT120 power tubes were designed to be a tube in the KT family that was impervious to distortion. The characteristic of this tube is extremely good highs and lows. This amp with its clean power is extremely versatile and can be used as a steel guitar amp, a guitar amp, and a bass amp.

The TWIN Models: While working with Paul Franklin, (arguably the top steel player in the world) who was using a pair of the standard Little Walter 50 watt heads due to his Franklin Steel having two independent outputs the idea came to Phil Bradbury to create an amp that had two separate chassis in one head. The prototype was created and presented to Paul for field testing. It was an instant success and an identical head was delivered to Vince Gill for testing. Paul had agreed to join Vince on his 2011 tour and both Vince and Paul wanted to use the Little Walter Twins on this tour. This is when the VG tone stack was designed for Vince’s two Twin 50 heads. Paul stayed with the standard Volume and Tone controls with his.

The Twin 50: This amp has a pair of standard 50 watt amps built on 9” x 8” chassis mounted in a single head. The two chassis are totally independent of one another.

The Twin 50/22: This has become the most popular of the twin models. The guitarist can have the clean tone of the 50 watt and the overdriven tone of the 22 in the same head. This is a great studio tool as you can just about cover all genres with this combination. Vince Gill is currently touring with a 50/22 and a 50/50. The best Stratocaster tone I have ever heard was at a Vince Gill concert where he used a combination of the 50 and 22 sides into independent speaker cabinets.

12” Combo Models: The Little Walter Tube Amps combo comes with a 12” speaker and can be ordered with a 22, 50, Super 50, or VG-50 chassis.

10” Combo Models: : The Little Walter Tube Amps 10” combo is built in a cabinet small enough to fit in an airliner overhead compartment. This amp uses the same tube layout as the 22 watt but is built on an 8 inch chassis. This amp has an extension speaker jack for 112, 212, 115, or 410 cabinets. Use the built in 10” speaker for practice or recording then plug in a larger cabinet for the gig.

Speaker Cabinets: Little Walter Tube Amps offers 4 sizes of speaker cabinets: 112, 212, 115, or 410. The most popular cabinets are the 112 and 212 open-backs. Any of the cabinets can be specially ordered as a convertible (removable back panel to make an open or closed back cabinet). The 212 can also be ordered as a Stereo/Mono configuration. One of the two jacks powers both speakers or using both jacks operates the two speakers independently.