ATT Little Willie

[tkummer]

Hi,

best regards from Germany to you all!
I'm using an ATT (Advanced tube technology) Combo called Little Willie. It is a handmade pure Class A Combo , 30 Watts with 2 x 12AX7 and 4 x EL 84, Celestion Vintage 30 inside.
Unfortunately the amp creator has closed down his shop, so no new Willies will be available.

Does anybody of you know Willie?
This stuff sound incredible.

So far my first post ....

[Lordathestrings]

Welcome to Guitartricks, tkummer. If that amp sounds as good as the description does, you have a great piece of kit there!

[tkummer]

Yeah, thanks, man.

Usually I combine it with a Vintage 30 equipped extension cabinet (2 x 12 inch).
You can easily get malcolm young sounds or AC 30 related stuff, it's unbelievable, such a punch.
And if combined with a Reussenzehn Paulie Tube booster, Willie is always there, regardless in which corner of the stage you play (and rock like hell).

Ciao!
Thorsten

[garlach]

Hi Thorsten!

I have got hold of a Little Willie, second hand, just a few days ago!
I found your post doing a Google search for any info I could get on the amp. I saw the thing in a junk shop and thought it looked a high-quality amp - I'm not disappointed, it's a real winner. (Actually I'm a bass player not a guitarist, but I can't resist a bargain!)

Any idea what they were priced at when new? I'd be very glad of anything you can tell me about the amp or the company, as there's no manual and I've come up with nothing on the Internet...

For instance, the 2 input sockets - are they active/passive or both the same?

Cheers

[PonyOne]

This sounds very interesting, since I'm an AC30 obsessee, yeah, if you could post more info, or even better, a couple sound samples, that would be killer. I need a new amp... what did you guys' amps cost you?

[tkummer]

Hi everybody,

glad to hear that there are some Wiliie-interested musicians out there.
Tomorrow I'll collect all information I have and publish it here, OK?

It's too late in Germany now, so stay tuned :-)
And if you want me to send some pictures via email attachment, feel free to send me you email addresses. Mine is:
Thorsten.Kummer@gmx.de

best regards
Thorsten

[tkummer]

Hi,

let me say some words about the amp.
These amps are hard to find even in Germany. The company ATT was located near Saarbrücken (southwest Germany).

My amp:

A friend of mine (Jockel) has met Mr. Erkel, the amp designer of ATT, in 1996 at a music exhibition in Frankfurt/Germany.
He tested a little Willie and ordered a custom model. It had a 12 inch Celestion Vintage 30 Speaker
and a snakeskin tolex cover. All other features were like in the standard version. In 1999 Jockel ordered an extension cabinet.
Mr. Erkel has built a custom 2 x 10 inch cabinet with Cel. Vintage 10 Speaker. Jockel sold the amp + cabinet last year to me because he mainly used a Crate vintage club halfstack.
Mr. Erkel has closed down the ATT company around year 2000. He now runs a tube shop, look at http://www.tube-shop.de.

The ATT Little Willie product line:

I contacted Mr. Erkel by phone and e-mail and got the following information about the ATT Little Willie amps:

- he has built approx. 200 amps at all

Amplifier:

LW15/8 : 15 Watt,2*8 inch speaker

LW15/12 : 15 Watt,12 inch speaker

LW 30/8 : 30 Watt,2*8 inch speaker

LW 30/12 : 30 Watt,12 inch speaker

LW 5 : 5 Watt, 8 inch speaker

Rockhead : Top with 30 Watt and a lot of Gain

Reverb-Head : Top with 30 Watt and tube driven reverb

Cabinets:

- 4*8 inch speaker
- 1*12 inch speaker
- 2*12 inch speaker
The 2*10 inch cabinet was built only two times at custom order (one of them is mine).

All combos and cabinets were shipped with eminence speakers except for special custom orders and with black/green tolex.


Sound example:
Jockel's Band called Lousy Lovers did some professional recordings in 1996. If you listen to "Time don't wait" you'll here Willie performing the hookline of the song (the main theme).
You can download the song at http://www.lousylovers.de/story_files/time_dont_wait.mp3

My band
On my website (http://come.to/jailbreak) all sound samples are made with a Marshall JCM900 Combo mostly. "Up to my neck in you" was made using the ATT Little Willie. I sold the Marshall because it was too rough in combination with my guitar. This a live live recording taken from a video camcorder, so not a good quality at all. But new recordings will be available next year.

My buddy Rocco plays a Marshall bluesbreaker combo. Together with Little Willie we have the pure rock sound on stage. No effects or anything else. If I'd like to add some attack to the sound I use a Reußenzehn Paulie Tube Booster.
My main guitar is a Gretsch 6131SMY. It is the Malcolm Young signature model. A wonderful easy to use guitar. As a backup I have a Fender Telecaster, but normally I do not use it.

The price was 1200 German Marks for the LW30/12.

Long live Rock & Roll!
Bye bye
Thorsten

[Keith Freeman]

I am pleased to find information on the Little Willie at last. I bought one a few years ago (the 30W 2 x 8" version): it was a bargain secondhand at just under 1000 Dutch guilders. I had just come from the shop over the road, where I had tried the Gibson Goldtone, which was twice the price and half the wattage!

I use it for jazz with a Hofner Jazzica, and it attracts a lot of complimentary comments for its warm, bluesy tone.

-Keith Freeman, Den Haag

[scarface84]

Litlle Willie? LMFAO :D

[6strngs_2hmbkrs]

Litlle Willie? LMFAO :D
real mature there buddy...

anyways, that really sounds like an interesting amp. though, this thread was made 2 years ago... still sounds interesting though, not quite my taste in tone however (going by that sound clip)

[PRSplaya]

real mature there buddy...
Come on, you know you were thinking the same thing... :rolleyes:

[16andlifetogo]

Come on, you know you were thinking the same thing... :rolleyes:
I was..........

[6strngs_2hmbkrs]

Come on, you know you were thinking the same thing... :rolleyes:
ok... ok... you caught me :cool:

[scarface84]

real mature there buddy...


Excuse me for having a sense of humour, no really...i'll try to be more mature from now on, more like....hmmm.... jolly?

[6strngs_2hmbkrs]

Excuse me for having a sense of humour, no really...i'll try to be more mature from now on, more like....hmmm.... jolly?

ok... ok... you caught me :cool:
I was only kidding there with you. no hard feelings bro

[Akira]

so no new Willies will be available.I have got hold of a Little Willie, second hand, just a few days ago! He tested a little Willie and ordered a custom model.


....

ha....

haha....

....

*dies of laughter*

[6strngs_2hmbkrs]

....

ha....

haha....

....

*dies of laughter*
dude, LMFAO

[Akira]

dude, LMFAO

Real mature there buddy... :rolleyes:

[6strngs_2hmbkrs]

Real mature there buddy... :rolleyes:
same to you! :p

[scarface84]

I was only kidding there with you. no hard feelings bro

Really? I'll go call off the hit then, if it's not too late :p

[scarface84]

glad to hear that there are some Wiliie-interested musicians out there.

I can't help it, it's still funny.. :D