Eden WT-550 Head

Was persuaded to buy this "superior" sounding amp rather than purchasing another SVT.......sounded great but has already crapped out on me at a practice..... running medium volume and at 4 ohms. It has been in the shop for a month now while their authorized repair service in Raleigh NC waits on parts.

As good as the Alembic tube pre-amp setup I ran back in the 80's......That rig was stolen

Not-dependable.......I'll have to have a back up when I get this thing back.......may have to sell it and get another SVT after all......those things are not as fancy but other than the replacement of one tube in my first SVT they are war horses compared to this thing.

I just got an Eden WT550 bass head from Sam Ash. It is brand new (built on 8-3-2007). This is, by far, the best solid state bass amp that I've ever heard. It features a single channel with a tube preamp. It has a built-in automatic compressor (which is also defeatable). Other features on the front panel include a input gain with optional 20 db pad, Enhancer control, Bass (+ or - 15db boost/cut @30hz), a 3 band semi-parametric with + or - 15db boost/cut, treble+ or -15db boost/cut @16K, master output and a headphone jack. It also features auto output limiting should you exceed the amp's capabilities. It has an input clip led,an EQ clip led and an output limit led as well.
The rear panel includes send and receive jacks, a tuner output, 2 1/4" speaker jacks and a speakon speaker jacks, left and right aux in jacks, direct out XLR with variable output and a ground lift switch.

It is rated at 500 watts RMS @ 4 ohms and 750 watts RMS @ 2 ohms. Other features are too many to list.

I use every type of electric bass imagineable through it. From Hofners, gretches, Rickenbackers, Fenders, Alembics, Gibsons and Musicmans and it sounds awesome with all of them due to it's extreme versatility in it's eq and gain sections. I have not heard any distortion from it yet, even at high volume levels.

Don't know yet, but it is built like a tank.

No need for it yet.

I've been playing bass for 41 years and own just about every type of bass amp and bass that you can think of. If it were lost or stolen, i'd definitely get another one. Other than it's simplistic cosmetics, is not one thing that i don't like about it. The other solid state amps that I have directly compared it to are a GK 800RB, a Genz-Benz 600B, a Yamaha BT500H, an Ampeg SVT 4 Pro, a Hartke 3500 and an SWR SM500 and it blows away all of them easily. The only bass amp that I like as much or better is my vintage (1972) Ampeg SVT.

Although it is fairly expensive, it is still an excellent value since it sounds so amazing (full, round, puncy and smooth!). If you get one of these, you won't be sorry or disappointed in any way.

The only feature that I wish it had is a mute switch on the front panel.

A 2006, and having spent numerous hours on my friends WT 800 I find that this small but mighty head lacks nothing. The factory twin diodes (12ax7's) are still the stock tubes that came with the head but have heard using hi-end NOS tubes makes a huge difference.

This catagory is why I bought this head. It doesn't matter what you put thru this amp, it all sounds superb. I currently have mine hooked up to a Peavey TVX Classic 4X10 (8ohm), so it's idling along at 300 watts but would be enough to gig with with minimal clipping/farting out. With minor fiddling of the EQ I can get this setup to growl beautifully. I play an Ibanez Roadstar II p-bass with an antiquity PU and a stock Geddy Lee Jazz bass and both sound great! I don't play heavy metal rock but the Eden 550 is well suited to any and all other genre's and does so with ease.

I haven't had a lick of trouble with mine but have read on the Bass Forum of horrid customer service and quality control issues.

If you believe what you hear and read Fender/Eden's customer Service rates worse that a 1 since Fender took control. It used to be among the best in the business when Dave was the captain. I would not entrust my 550 amp to one of their "authorized repair" facilities. They are full of low paid flunkies who couldn't give a crap, least in my neck of the woods.

I've been playing stringed instruments for 30 years six of those years semi professionally and worked in a boutique tube amp shop for a year and a half. I've had the good fortune to own lots of really top notch gear. If I had to start over again from scratch building a bass rig I would opt for the tone I'm accustomed to in the Eden amp but portability the paramount focus. Perhaps a more portable cab is in order because I tickled with the Traveler 550.

Made in 2005. I play many stleys and this fits the bill.

I have a quiver of Basses. From Alembic to Yamaha. This is a head that faithfully reproduces the sound of your Bass. Usually amps have their own sound color. This is a first with me. My EQ's are flat. That's new to me too. Clean and loud. No sloppy playing with this.

I've used it quite a bit and never had any problems. I have run it at all it's rated ohm loads and no problems. I do carry a backup amp. There is no perfect world. But I have never owned an amp that never broke down for one reason or another. So far no problem with this one. It is very well built. Military spec. It's a tank.

I did accidently break the input jack. I found customer support very helpful with my problem. They immediatly shipped me a new jack at no charge and I had a local authorized tech repair it. I was without the head for only a day. That's support. I do find the online forum a big help with qustions and always get answers from many knowledgeable users. Makes life a little easier.

Been a playing pro a long time. This is one of the best. It fits my modular goal perfectly. Small, powerfull, great sounding head, well built. Does not get any better.

Purchased wt550 new in 2005.Excellent low end and a very lightweight.Has plenty of power at 2 ohms. I run 2 kustom dual 15s. I play mostly bars and outside venues.

I play a musicman 5 string. Country and old school rock n roll.Amp is very clean and I never turned the volume past halfway, would blow your ears out !

Worked great for 11 months and then one night out of the blue started sounding like a popcorn popper. Thank god it had a 1 year warrenty. Shippped it in to Eden and they fixed and had it back in 2 weeks. I dont trust it anymore, once one quits you never can.

Eden was friendly and covered everything except shipping to them. I sent it in to the factory, I filled out my warrenty first thing!

Overall was a great amp. Have been playing a long time and would buy another. I love the sound but I dont like the breakdowns. Wish it had some more lights for dark stages.

Made in January of 05, It is the most versatile amp I have ever used, I play mainly rock,R&B. The only feature I wish it had is a mute button. The amp has plenty of power for my needs.

I play mainly G&L basses (L-2500,ASAT,SB2)and they all sound great with this head. With the EQ section it is possible to dial in any tone you need. You will not however get any overdrive type sound.

I have logged many hours on this amp over the past year and it has performed spectacular. I push this amp to it's maximum (750watts@2ohms) all the time and it has never let me down

Never had a problem with there customer support and there forum is about the best I have seen from a manufacturer.

2003 MODEL WITH SO MANY FEATURES I DON'T HAVE TIME TO LIST. VERY VERSATILE WITH INPUT PAD, BYPASSABLE COMPRESSOR, ENHANCE, PARAMETRIC EQ, SHELVING BASS AND TREBLE, MIXABLE EFFECTS LOOP. VERY NICE FEATURE IS THE CLIP LIGHTS FOR THE PREAMP, EQ AND OUTPUT SECTIONS. NICE TO KNOW WHERE THE CLIPPING IS LOCATED. NICE FEATURE ON THE BACK PANEL IS THE SPEAKON JACK. ALSO LOVE THE ADJUSTABLE DI WITH PRE AND POST EQ SWITCH AND GROUND LIFT. MAKES THE SOUNDMAN VERY HAPPY.

STILL TRYING TO GET USED TO THE SOUND. LOTS OF LOW END AND CRYSTAL HIGHS. EQ IS VERY POWERFULL AND REQUIRES ONLY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS. STILL WORKING ON DIALING IN "MY" SOUND. I'LL GET THERE. IT SEEMS WITH ALL OF THE EQ OPTIONS THAT THERE IS GOING TO BE ANY TYPE OF SOUND I COULD POSSIBLY WANT LOCATED SOMEWHERE IN THIS AMP. THE TUBE PREAMP ALSO ADDS QUITE A BIT TO THE SMOOTH, WARM AND VERY TIGHT OVERALL SOUND.

HAVEN'T HAD IT THAT LONG. SO FAR SO GOOD. WOULD FEEL BETTER IF I COULD GET MY HANDS ON THE CASE THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE AVAILABLE FOR THESE HEADS. PART OF THE REASON I BOUGHT IT WAS FOR ITS SMALLER SIZE. I DON'T WANT TO PUT IT IN A RACK BECAUSE IT WOULD DEFEAT THAT PURPOSE. EDEN MAKES A "GIG BAG" WITH A SHOULDER STRAP TO FIT THESE AMPS. THIS WOULD BE IDEAL EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT THEY HAVE BEEN ON BACKORDER FOR QUITE SOME TIME AND WITH THE INFO I KEEP GETTING THEY MAY NEVER BECOME AVAILABLE. UNTIL THEN I AM TOTING THE HEAD AROUND IN MY BOOK BAG AND GUARDING IT WITH MY LIFE. i AM VERY UNEASY ABOUT THIS SINCE THE KNOBS ARE EXPOSED. EVEN A HANDLE MOUNTED DIRECTLY TO THE HEAD WOULD MAKE IT EASIER. OH WELL, I GUESS I'LL WAIT IT OUT UNTIL THE CASES ARE AVAILABLE. THIS AMP IS DEFINATELY WORTH THE TROUBLE.

THEY REALLY NEED TO GET IT TOGETHER AND START PRODUCING CASES FOR THESE HEADS. THE MAIN IDEA BEHIND THE TRAVELLER SERIES SEEMS TO BE PORTABILITY. WITH NO HANDLE ON THE AMP AND NO CASE IT ISN'T VERY PORTABLE. FOR THAT MATTER THE CASE SHOULD BE STANDARD EQUIPMENT AND INCLUDED IN THE PRICE. JUST A THOUGHT. I FOUND OUT THEY WERE ON BACK ORDER SHORTLY AFTER I BOUGHT THE AMP. FIRST IT WAS GOING TO BE A MONTH, THEN TWO. I JUST FOUND OUT THAT IT IS GOING TO BE 6 MORE WEEKS.

GREAT AMP I AM JUST WORRIED ABOUT DAMAGING IT UNTIL I CAN GET THE CASE FOR IT

Made in early 2002; very versatile-I played a show where I had to play everything from 20's European popular music, swing, early blues,
more-or-less straight ahead jazz, rock and r$b-also had to back up an opera singer on a couple of numbers. Obviously, in a show setting, one doesn't have time to spend a lot of energy changing settings, but the WT-550 worked quite well for everything I needed to play. One input, headphone jack, D.O. with gain control & pre-or-post switch, Eden's very flexible EQ, volume-master volume; the only thing that would'a been handy would be a second input. With 550 watts into 4 ohms, 300+ into 8, and over 600 into 2 (this WT WILL load to 2 ohms), I never needed more power.

I use a variety of basses with this rig; a late ('98) US-made Fender Jazz with Lindy Fralin stacked humbuckers (the lights of the show made noise-cancelling a must), a MIJ Jazz with Bartolini stacked humbuckers, a SQ-series Squire P-bass, a Lull 5-string (with Bartolinis, unfortunately the stock, better sounding Seymore Antiquities were too noisy in this setting), and several Guild Pilots. The bass I used the most at the show was an "advanced" Guild Pilot with Barto.inis in the P-J config with the Bartolini active pre.
This particular Pilot also had a D-Tuner which I used on several of the numbers, especially the ends of the opera pieces. I have never explored the disorted sounds-it sounds great clean, though. I've played it through an Eden 212-XLT with stock speakers and replacements from Bag End, an Eden 112CX (coax 1-12 cab, great for fretless) and an Aguilar 112 cab (the "Bass Player" overall winner, a pretty good cab, not great.)

I used this amp for over a year, averaging 5 nights a week, without a backup. I'm sorry the other guy with one had bad luck. I never had a single issue with the amp-so in my case, I have to rate it a 10.

I contacted Eden once to ask them about something-it had to do with the Eden Metro I have (also a great amp), and they were most helpful and sent me a bunch of stuff right away, including an opportunity to purchase an extended warrantee which included yearly servicing. I did not opt for it, but it looked like a good deal. I probably should have, in retrospect, although I've had no issues at all.

I think this is an exceptionally high quality, versatile, fairly light (about 25 lbs), compact, sonically pleasing amp head. I'd buy abother if I lost this one somehow. as mentioned before, I also have an Eden Metro. And an Ampeg SVT Pro III. All good pieces. I had a WT-400 for a brief time before the 550; it was a great amp, too, but it wouldn't load to 2 ohms so when I had the opportunity to get the more powerful 550 I went for it. No regrets. I've been playing music professionally for just under thirty years.

This is a 2003 model, nice powerfull eq, a auto-compressor which I don't use, lots of power ! 300w/8ohm - 500w/4ohm, nice enhancer, can filter out most unwanted frequencys. Lightweight alu chassis, but fragile, don't stack anything on top of it ! This is not an Ampeg.

Sounds very clean crisp and powerfull low end, especialy with the build-in enhancer engaged. I use a 1x15" and 4x10" cab, 4ohm combined. Sound great, clean at all times, haven't heard it distort.

NOT, it died on me after 6 md, an hour into rehersel at low-medium volume ?!?? No smoke, no lightflash, just started to sound like an old AM-radio and 1/10 volume. Dissapointment !!

Don't know yet, I expect them to bring my amp back to perfect working order, we'll see.

I have been playing for 20 years, and this amp is the first that died on me, I had a cheep Hartke for a number of year's, never any problem, ran like a swiss watch, didn't sound as good as the wt550 of cause. I like the sound, I play mainly pop at small cafe type jobs, so the clean sound is perfect.
If it were stolen or lost ?? .... Hmm, I would think very hard before getting another. I'm not convinced.

2003, 500 watts @ 4ohms. all the same features as the WT400. Nice upgrade was the speakon output jack and the extra 100 watts.

This amp sounds great with my limited edition(1of70) warwick, dual p style active preamp & active pick-ups. Also play 1974 jazz and 1980 usa fender bullet thru it and I love the sound for each.My cab is Eden 4x10XLT and 18in. bag end cab. Amp is very quiet and has tons of head run. the head room was most important to me other than tone. Sounds amazing.

I received it new two weeks ago, and hope for the best. If not I'll re-post.

I called eden for some info on the WT500 in aug. of 2003. They were very helpful and easy to get hold of. I don't like there web site. it lacks any real detail and info. The warranty is 2 years.

I won't say how long i've been playing, because it makes me feel old. But I will say I owned 100watt marshall bass head and SVT 300 watt head in 1974. My last amp was SWR workingman 15 combo, it lacked tone and head room. Also I play thru 1972 Traynor YBA-3 100watt tube head that sounds great. I like how the 550 sounds live and loud, I play in A blues band, 3 piece guitar, bass, and drummer, some jazz rock stuff. The Eden sounds great for all styles. I also liked the aguilar DB 750, but never had A chance to demo that at about $2300(out of my league) I'm just A week end warrior. If stolen and it holds up I might buy another or try something else, I love gear and lots of it. I compared it to the Ampeg svt3, mesa 600(I love my Mesa Blue angel) and some SWR's at the same price range and the Eden Wt550 won my ears.