new amp
Nate Najar
wanted to try a WW but i've never run across one. i'm doing these
gigs in DC and the surrounding areas this week and I'm having a
blast. Me, chuck redd and tommy cecil. We're playing tribute
concerts to Charlie Byrd. I brought my clarus with me and Randall
from the Smithsonian was gracious enough to loan me the Smithsonian's
Redstone speaker cab for the week. So last night we played downtown
in DC and I used my clarus and the redstone. Joe Byrd (Charlie's
brother and bass player for a long time) has organized these
concerts. I asked Joe last night if he still had Charlie's Walter
Woods. When he told me yes I got excited and asked if he'd be willing
to sell it. he said of course, it hasn't been used in over 10 years
but what would I want with that thing? and I told him I've always
wanted one. so he brought it for me to use tonight on the gig. WOW.
I'm very fond of the clarus for what it does, but I've always felt the
preamp circuit was lacking. The WW was much more full and
responsive. so we worked it out and now I am the proud owner of
Charlie Byrd's Walter Woods amplifier. suffice it to say I'm pretty
happy.
it gets better. Charlie's wife attended the concerts the last two
nights and she brought me Charlie's Ramirez 1A. It's only been played
twice in the last 10 years, once by Bertoncini and once by Bucky. so
I put new strings on it last night and played a few classical
selections on it in each show. WOW. I've never played a ramirez
before (it's pretty tough to play too!) but ma it has that sound I'm
so used to hearing. what an experience. if you asked me when i was a
kid listening to Charlie Byrd records if i'd ever be sitting in his
chair doing this I never would have thought it possible!
N
ScotGormley
Wow, Nate--congratulations! I'd love to hear some sound clips
comparing the WW and the Clarus, if you ever get a chance.
- Scot
oasysco
Nate,
All I can say is WOW!
When I first started learning guitar and listening to jazz (both
happened simultaneously for me), I had a number of Charlie Byrd
records. Sure, they were the commercial stuff he did, but I loved it.
And the Charlie Byrd records later lead me to the trio gigs he did
with Herb Ellis and Barney Kessel, which were just unreal - the
musical and vocal interplay like old friends getting together over
coffee.
Then much, much later on, I started taking guitar lessons here locally
from a guy named John Griggs who played jazz and classical guitar.
Little did I know that he was great friends with CB and played at CB's
funeral. As an aside, he was also friends with Segovia.
Anyway, you are one lucky man, but from the circles you are playing in
now, I'll bet that if he was here, CB couldn't be happier that his
gear is getting a new lease on life.
Hey, I once had an amp owned by Liberace. It was a 60's Univox (I
think) tube amp that was used at one of Liberace's estates as a
practice amp for other musicians to use during jam sessions.
GregD
Zoran Cvetkovic
thanks for posting this nice storry. I can feel the enthusiasm
concerning you getting involved with Charlie's equipment.
enjoy!
Zoran
Nate Najar schrieb:
lukejazz
Great story Nate - thanks for sharing.
Lukejazz
Nate Najar
hey greg, I never met griggs but I know who he is. My old guitar
teacher Frank Mullen knew Griggs pretty well. They were both students
at Sophocles Papas' place back in the day, along with Charlie Byrd,
Bill Harris and a bunch of others. It's a small world. Ken Hatfield
studied with john back in the day too, so you're in good company!
N
Marc Why
Cool story, and congrats on the new amp! Which model is it -- 100W?
I used to have a WW Stereo 100W amp, which was very nice, and I should
never have sold it (Walter doesn't make it anymore); I've "gone tube"
now for many years, but it would be nice to have that amp again.
As for Ramirez guitars -- you nailed my main complaint withe them --
too hard to play! Their necks are like baseball bats! I know some
cats like that, but I prefer a more comfortable neck on classical. I
had a Richard Brune classical for years, and the neck was a dream.
Enjoy!
Marc
Rick Stone
Congratulations. Those are great amps, and that's a very cool story.
When I saw John Abercrombie at LuLu White's in Boston (circa 1978-79)
his road setup was a Walter Woods, a Lexicon digital delay (which back
then was about 3 or 4 rack spaces, about the size of an ADAT) and
whatever speaker the venue would get for him. His axes at the time were
a 335 and a Fender electric mandolin. We hung out at the bar talking
gear and he said that he felt he could reliably get "his" sound anywhere
with that setup (the Lexicon was huge and heavy, but he was doing those
ECM records back then and they were just drenched in digital reverb).
Rick Stone
email: rick...@rickstone.com
website: www.rickstone.com
epk: www.sonicbids.com/rickstone
Other sites: www.myspace.com/rickstonemusic
www.facebook.com/rickstonemusic www.reverbnation.com/rickstone
www.youtube.com/jazzand www.cdbaby.com/all/jazzand jazzguitarny.ning.com
paul s
Question - can anyone give me a ballpark figure on what one of these
Woods 100 watt heads would go for?
A bassist friend recently mentioned that he's thinking of selling
his, he never uses it. He has no idea what it's worth, it was part of
a package deal when he bought a bass several years ago. I did some
"googling", couldn't find much info on this. I might buy it myself,
if it's affordable.
Thanks,
Paul S
rpjazzguitar
Marc Why
> Question - can anyone give me a ballpark figure on what one of these
> Woods 100 watt heads would go for?
>
> A bassist friend recently mentioned that he's thinking of selling
> his, he never uses it. He has no idea what it's worth, it was part of
> a package deal when he bought a bass several years ago. I did some
> "googling", couldn't find much info on this. I might buy it myself,
> if it's affordable.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Paul S
Paul,
Grab it!
So your friend has the 100W model? Stereo or mono?
Walter makes several models, mono or stereo, and they are anywhere
from 100W to 1500W (or more) for those crazy bass players. The high
power models resell for a lot of money (several thousand dollars), and
the low power (100W) is more like a thousand bucks or so (plus or
minus $200) on eBay. They're not often on the resale market, so
they're treated as "rarities," which helps raise the price. As I
mentioned above, Walter doesn't even make the low power model anymore,
so again, grab it!
Nate hasn't revealed his price, so of course I'm curious ...
Enjoy,
Marc
oasysco
> I didn't know Liberace jammed.
Well, whatever they did when they had people over, this amp was there
and witnessed it :)-
paul s
> Paul,
> Grab it!
> So your friend has the 100W model? Stereo or mono?
>
Marc, thanks for your response, it's the stereo version.
Paul S
drthoma...@gmail.com
You might want to wear gloves when adjusting the knobs.
sheetsofsound
jazz guitar amps, I know...)
Peter Huggins
Guess you never saw the photos or film (probably newsreel footage) of
Liberace and Elvis playing together, 1956. Elvis is at the piano and Lee
has a D'Angelico Excel in his hands...
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