SWR Headlight

[JDJen]

I just had the opportunity to play thru one of these today. I A/B'd it with the TC Electronics Head both going thru the same 2-12 TC Electronics cabinet. AMAZING!!!! Tight, Clean, Warm, and No Noise in a 1/2 rack unit and $699 vs. $999 for the TC.


http://www.swrsound.com/products/sea...tno=4415000000

I feel a bad case of G.A.S. coming on.

[superbassman2000]

other than price tag, how else do they compare?

[JDJen]

I played through both of them for about 45 min a piece, starting with all settings flat, through the TC Electronics 2-12 coaxial cabinet, on my 5 string TUNE Casiopea.

Both have a single 12AX7 in them.
The TC was more sterile and in my opinion would be great for studio use if you are wanting something with more of a neutral sound that you can adjust the tonality in the mix. It just didn't seem to have as much adjustment in the tone as the SWR. The LED's are cool looking and easy to see where the settings are at. Tonally I just couldn't dial in a good low B with it, sounded kind of mushy.

The SWR seems to be built more for the gigging musician.
The adjustments for the tone are very workable although hard to see where the knob is actually turned to. The knobs are small and have a small indentation on them and not the easiest to see, but still easy to dial in the sound you want. Dialing in the low B was no problem and the amp had a great range of tonal ability. I didn't get to play with the foot switch but was told the amp has a built in tuner which would be good to have at a gig. This amp is so small and light you can literally put it in the front pocket of most gig bags and go.

I didn't notice any real noise coming from either one of the amps even with the treble turned up all the way.

I have never been partial to SWR amps and have never played through any TC Electronics before today. I know TC makes some top notch stuff but the SWR is real world bass amp. I have always played through Peavey amps because I can dial in my sound in any environment, and currently play a Peavey Bam 210 and really like it, it's very versatile. Although being able to walk into a gig with my bass over my shoulder, amp in the gig bag pocket and a 30 pound 212 cabinet in hand sure would have it's advantages.

[babebambi]

I also played thru both for 'bout an hour last week in a store. Played a Thumb NT into a TC 410 (4 ohm I think). The main problem I had was getting enough volume with the SWR. Let's just say I didn't get kicked out of the store, not even asked to turn down when I max out on the SWR. On the TC, I max out the volume and had to quickly pull back so I don't drive all the other customer out of the store.

[JDJen]

Originally Posted by babebambi

I also played thru both for 'bout an hour last week in a store. Played a Thumb NT into a TC 410 (4 ohm I think). The main problem I had was getting enough volume with the SWR. Let's just say I didn't get kicked out of the store, not even asked to turn down when I max out on the SWR. On the TC, I max out the volume and had to quickly pull back so I don't drive all the other customer out of the store.

I wish I would have been able to play it thru the TC 410. Apparently they sold that cab earlier in the week. I actually had both of the up to about 3/4 max vol. for a good amount of time. In that respect I didn't notice any real difference, but then again it was only the TC 212.

[scowboy]

Anybody else ever used or own a headlight? I had a Redhead that I really loved save for the weight of it. Wondering what this would sound like with my Berg AE112's.

Curious...