Help w/SWR Workingman's 12

[bassjam99]

Hi, I am a newbie and a beginning bass player and I was looking to pick up a SWR Workingman's 12 Combo amp. As I was doing my research, I came upon the comments from sellers regarding pre and post-fender models. My question is what is the difference between a pre-fender and a post fender WM 12? And which would be better assuming condition and price were the same.

[Doug Parent]

Probably insignificant

[JOME77]

+1

It's just another example of the typical attitude that when a small company gets bought out by a larger company the quality always goes downhill.
I doubt that you would notice any difference in the quality of a SWR WM12 combo. It is what it is. Just try to find one that's been cared for.

[bassjam99]

Thanks for the input!

[Frankie Fender]

actually the older ones were 100 watts with a celestion speaker (I owned one) The newer ones do 120 watts and have a more generic speaker, not sure what it is.

Like the others said, no real big difference.

[COBRARI]

In my humble opinion...
Save a couple more dollars and get the SWR Workingsman's 15.
Why? Sooner than you might expect, you are going to get oppertunities to play in a band or "open mic" jams.
The 15 @ 120 watts will push enough air in the room to make you happy. The 12 won't.
The WM 15 is a great combo. The aural enhancer and transparency functions make it a good sounding unit.

[bobcruz]

The only reason I can think of to prefer the older WM12's is that they used 8-ohm internal speakers and had a jack for an 8-ohm extension speaker. With an efficient extension cab, they're usable for moderate volume gigs (I use one with an extension cab in a jazz ensemble). I recently checked the specs on the new Working Pro model and it uses a 4-ohm internal speaker so you're maxed out with the combo and can't add an extension.

[bassjam99]

Originally Posted by COBRARI

In my humble opinion...
Save a couple more dollars and get the SWR Workingsman's 15.
Why? Sooner than you might expect, you are going to get oppertunities to play in a band or "open mic" jams.
The 15 @ 120 watts will push enough air in the room to make you happy. The 12 won't.
The WM 15 is a great combo. The aural enhancer and transparency functions make it a good sounding unit.

Thank you!! That's exactly what I did, I picked up the SWR Workingsman 15 from JumboJack and it's great. I have the equipment...now I just need to learn how to play! Hopefully, soon I'll be able to fill in at my church.

[MODELL]

Originally Posted by COBRARI

The 15 @ 120 watts will push enough air in the room to make you happy. The 12 won't.
The WM 15 is a great combo. The aural enhancer and transparency functions make it a good sounding unit.

My 2004 version has 160 watts with internal speaker and 200 watts with exteral 8ohm speaker. When did they increase from 120 watts to 160 watts? Does this coincide with Fender's purchase of SWR? Mine doesn't have the front "shelve" and the carpeting is a very dark blue.

[Frankie Fender]

Originally Posted by bassjam99

Thank you!! That's exactly what I did, I picked up the SWR Workingsman 15 from JumboJack and it's great. I have the equipment...now I just need to learn how to play! Hopefully, soon I'll be able to fill in at my church.

Congrats! That WM15 is nice. Should be plenty.

[COBRARI]

Bassjam99...
You are set man! You won't need nuttin' but a whole lot of
practice, practice and .... practice.

Modell...
Whenever you split the impedance (ohms) in half you double the current (amps). The voltage (fixed at 120 volts) is inversely proportional with the amps. If an amp says "120/160 watts" they are stating that you will get more power out of the amp by cutting the resistance in half by adding another
speaker (ohm load) to the unit. When you read " 1 million watts at 2 ohms" don't buy it. Something has to give with the
voltage being constant (120 volts). The current which is heat.
Heat burns things up.

[Lync]

IMO SWR decreased in quality control when they went from SWR Engineering to SWR Sound (went to Fender after this). Being bought out by Fender seemed to help the company.

[mike_v_s]

Originally Posted by MODELL

My 2004 version has 160 watts with internal speaker and 200 watts with exteral 8ohm speaker. When did they increase from 120 watts to 160 watts? Does this coincide with Fender's purchase of SWR? Mine doesn't have the front "shelve" and the carpeting is a very dark blue.

I don't know when the Fender buyout was (2002?) but I'm going to guess the Workingman's 15 combo wattage increase was around 1999 when the Workingman's 2004 head with the same ratings was introduced. I can't speak for quality control of the later stuff, but I have a WM 160 that was submerged in brackish water for a few days and it still works. I always thought the SWR Engineering stuff looked cleaner and classier, anyway.

Mike