Winfield Thomas Amps Brat Head

I believe I own the first Brat ever made. There's a picture of it on his website I think. It's purple with white trim and no Winfield logo on it. The controls are simple with three EQ knobs Bass, Mid, and Treble respectively, and then a volume knob. I have EL84's in mine. I am the third owner of this amp which originally came from upstate NY. Now it lives in NC with me.

I typically use a Gibson ES-335 with 57 classics or a Les Paul Classic -> a variety of Delays, phasers, wah, and a boost pedal -> into the brat. I typically use this amp for smaller gigs so I can get my crunch from the amp without blowing people out of the room. I feel like it's a little hard to get a clean tone out of it, unless you turn way down and ease up on your right hand a little. Aside from that, the amp is amazing. I love the clarity of my driven guitar through it. The amp breaks up nicely and is really warm. The distortion the amp produces is thick and creamy and doesn't have those harsh overtones on the top end. I own about 15 amazing vintage amps and this one is at the top of my list for smaller rooms. For a bigger room I use an Ampeg VT-40.

I have never once had an issue with this amp. Even after I used it in the studio and the assistant plugged the speaker cable into something he wasn't supposed to and I saw a little puff of smoke come out of the back, the amp still worked perfectly and I never had any problems with it. I would be completely comfortable using this amp at a gig without a backup.

I have never had to call for support, but from what I hear from my friend who owns a Winfield, he is a pleasure to talk to and is extremely helpful.

This is a great amp. If you're looking for an amp that will break up early and give you a British rock sound, this will do it for you without shattering your ear drums.

Custom ordered from Winfield Thomas amplifiers in late 2005, this is a review for a Brat head with octal sockets for 6L6's or 6V6's and tube rectifier.
This is a non-master volume type of amp, so the controls are simple: bass, middle, treble and volume. There is 1 channel, no reverb or effects loop.
There are quite a few options available for the amp: EL-84's or octal sockets, solid-state or tube rectifier and Mr Thomas provided 2 speaker outs for different impedances for me.
Features-wise, this amp has all that it needs, no more or less than what it's supposed to be.

The head sounds fantastic.

Mine is loaded with 6L6's and cranks out a pretty darn loud 25 watts, at least. There is plenty of clean headroom up to a little past noon, and starts to break up real nicely from then on. At full throttle, the distortion is rich, with no harshness whatsoever, very classic sounding (think classic rock overdriven tubes, NOT multiple-gain stages of brittle distortion). The sound with my guitars - which are all dual-humbucker guitars - I found at first to be a little dark (NOT muddy), so I tend to turn the treble control quite a bit high, which gives beautiful shimmer. The bass response is tight, with 6L6's, and is quite impressive through the speaker I use (Eminence Swamp Thang in a 1x12 closed-back cab).

The amp is nicely touch-sensitive, as one would expect, and cleans up nicely or dirties up depending on picking dynamics or with the volume control on the guitar.

It also takes my pedals extremely well (Keeley BD-2, Subdecay Stupid Box, Euthymia Crucible Fuzz, Barber Tone Press), although running my guitars straight into the amp is tone nirvana, so my pedalboard is mostly reserved for gigs where I need multiple sounds quickly.

The amp is very quiet, I have had no problem at all with buzzes or hums.

The thing survived incredible abuse from the postal service when delivered, plus a few weeks of additional abuse from me when I was building a custom cabinet for the chassis, so I feel very confident in stating that the build quality and ruggedness of this amp is first-rate. As well, an electronics-savvy friend of mine took a look at the guts of the brat and confirmed that the work was well done, which I really had no doubt about.

Dealing with Winfield Thomas amps is a total pleasure. E-mails are replied to promptly and in a very friendly way. For anybody looking for a hand-built, point-to-point wired boutique amplifier, Winfield Thomas should be at the top of the list.

It's really hard for me a look at Winnie's website without aching to try out another one of his creations!

I love this amp, hats off to Winnie for this amp, I certainly hope that his amps one day get the widespread attention and recognition that they deserve.

I just got this head yesterday. Winnie met me half-way between his house and mine and HAND DELIVERED it. What more could you ask for? The "Brat" is a very straight forward one channel all tube, 16 watt amp. No loop, no reverb, no bells and whistles. That might sound very boring to you - on the surface. But after playing guitar for over 40 years (I'm 51 and have been playing since 5th grade), owning almost every make and model of amp made, spending thousands and thousands of dollars - The Brat is the tone I've been searching for. I play it through a 4x10 Marshall 1965A cabinet. At 16 watts, it's planty loud for giggins small to medium venues. This thing cranks!! It's not just loud - the tones are VERY cpmples - almost spiritual. don't laugh - When I first played it yesterday - I could only play it for 5 minutes because my heart was pumping so fast I thought I was going to have a coranary. This amp is a musical instrument in itself. If you are looking to peel paint at 100 yards, look elseware. Winfield Thomas amps are for players who care about TONE, DYNAMICS, NUANCE, FEELING. I just can't believe my ears.

I use several kinds of USA guitars, hardtail strat, tele, gibson LP, and a gibson Blueshawk. The Brat enhances the tonal characteristics of each guitar. As compare to other amps, this amp is dead quiet. I dimed the amp, and my Tele - it barely hissed!! There is enough headroom to play clean and use your volume knob to bring on the most beautiful distortion you've ever heard!

I haven't had it long, but I expect it to live linger than me!!

Winnie is the best there is. He'll make good on anything as long as you own it.

Lets put it this way, I'm now selling my Mesas and Fenders. I'm gonna get another W.T. amp regardless if it is stolen or not!! Here's the link to his webpage!! www.rfd.cc/winampr DO YOURSELF A FAVOR - SAVE SOME TIME AND MONEY - GET A WINFIELD THOMAS NOW before the prices go up!!

The Brat is Winnie's latest creation. Proud to say I've got the first one made. Basically this amp is a cross between a plexi Marshall and a Fender tweed deluxe. The tone circuit is based on a plexi and the power section on a tweed deluxe. 16 watts- 2x el84's and 12ax7's. No reverb or anything else added to this simple original thought which is a good thing. Controls are bass middle treble and volume. Mine is in a head cab covered in purple tolex with white chicken head knobs and weighs in at 16 lbs! 2 parallel outputs and a knob on the back for changing impedance. This amp is obviously not meant to have a million features and does exactly what it is supposed to so it gets a 10.

Like I said it is a cross between a plexi and a tweed deluxe. If you have heard these 2 amps and can imagine the sound of them somehow combined than you can imagine this amp. Cranked classic Marshall tones at a sane volume. At 16 watts it is still quite LOUD and easily giggable or great for a rehearsal /recording amp. Cleans up nicely with your guitars volume control like all great tube amps. The tone controls are effective and the amp yields no "unusable" tones. Set with the volume low it is clean and warm and the higher you crank it the more saturated it gets until it is in full on firey power tube distortion land, and that's where you want to be if you are wanting to rock. Noise wise it is very quiet until you get it around 8 or so which is better than either amp it is combining and even cranked is only what you'd expect from a decked tube amp. This amp is for rock. This amp rocks. I have another of his amps the "November" (you can read my review of that amp here also) which has been my main amp for the last year and a half
comparatively this amp is not quite as loud, gets distorted sooner and is a bit more agressively distorted if you get me. Tonally not a light-year away, but enough different that I wanted to keep them both. I can quit any time I want tho seriously....

I have had this amp a month with no problems and don't expect to have any. I have owned another of his amps the "November" which is now called the "Winfield" for a year and a half and have been using it regularly at gigs, rehearsals and on recordings and have logged maybe 500 hours on it with no troubles at all.

I was pointed in Winnie's direction by some guys on the TDPRI web page. They told me what a great guy he is to work with and that his amps were great. They were right. Under a 10 it says incredibly kind and helpful and that about sums it up for Winnie.

If you would like to hear what my band and Winnies amps sound like you can go to our website at www.super400.com . The live clips and the clips under "songs from the new record" are all using the November. You can compare Winnie's amps with any expensive boutique builder out there and his stuff will win bang for buck against any of them imho.