I bought this amp back in 2021 to replace my trusty Twin Reverb, which I’d been hauling around for years. After all that lugging, I wanted something more portable and easier to carry.

As many of you probably know, this is the amp endorsed by Paul Franklin, with his name proudly displayed on the front. That alone caught my attention, but I did a lot of research to make sure it fit my needs. At the time, I was playing both electric guitar and pedal steel in the same sets, so I needed an amp versatile enough for both. When I reached out to Phil at Little Walter, he assured me it had a clean sound similar to my Twin Reverb, making it perfect for pedal steel and electric guitar. He also mentioned that with a tube swap, it could even work great as a bass amp! That sold me, so I ordered the amp with two 1x12 cabinets. While waiting, I was in the police academy, which helped curb my excitement a bit.

A few months later, it arrived, and Phil even helped me name it “June” in the owner’s manual after my late great-grandmother who raised me. From the moment I powered it up and dialed in my tone, I was hooked. The EQ works a bit differently than I expected—Phil advised me to start with all the tone knobs fully up and use them more as cuts than boosts, which is quite the opposite of the Twin Reverb’s approach. I really like that concept and found it easy to get great sounds right away. The amp stays incredibly clean, even at high volumes. Speaking of volume, this thing is loud—I usually keep it around 20% or less. When playing steel guitar, having that headroom for sustaining notes is fantastic.

All in all, the PF-89 is my favorite amp and one I plan to keep for life. I honestly can’t imagine using anything else. Someday down the line, I’d like to add a smaller Little Walter amp for gain, but that’s a few years away. If you’re interested, definitely give Phil at Little Walter a call—he’ll take great care of you!