SWR headlite and amplite no bottom end?

[kneibarger]

Hello, I'm trying to hone in on my bass sound/rig/etc and I've decided on SWR due to the outstanding tone and sound I receive from my SWR working pro 4X10 cab.

Currently, my rig is as follows:

-Carvin IC6 - Active pickups (after 12 years and half a dozen basses I've finally found that this is my bass)

-SWR Working Pro 4X10 cab (400 watts/ 4 ohms)
-Hartke 3500 (400 watt amp)
-MTX-M80 sans amp (distortion and clean full compression)
-Chorus pedal and inline tuner

I recently dropped some bucks (around $1250) for both the SWR headlite and SWR amplite in order to complete my SWR rig (eventually I planned on getting a 2X10 cab in addition to my 4X10). The only issue is that I cannot hook them together and get a full rich bottom end, everything sounds clean and poppy.

I play in a loud punk/alt/rock band and with the SWR my guitarist has more bass in his beringer half stack... I know.. sad.. I'm getting out-bassed by a freakin guitarist.. hard to admit.

My question is had anyone had experience with the SWR headlite and amplite configuration? I'm going to try a few more configurations this weekend, but can anyone suggest a configuration with these amps that would give me a rich full bottom end tone??

[KJung]

Not sure what you are doing here. You only have one cab. If that is the case, you cannot hook the amplite to the headlite.

If you do have two cabs and are running this pair correctly, it sounds like a phase issue. When one cab is wired the opposite of the other, when one cones in one cab are moving forward, the cones in the other cab are moving back, basically cancelling out low end. Easily fixed if that is the case.

[Von Felgenhauer]

You can slave the two together to get more watts. Thats one of their selling points in there micro line.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by Von Felgenhauer

You can slave the two together to get more watts. Thats one of their selling points in there micro line.

Yes, but you need two cabs. The pair are basically result in a 'dual mono' amp like the Eden WT800 or Genz Shuttle Max 12.2. Nice design in that you don't have to worry about 2ohm operation, since you can run two four ohm cabs, one from each amp, and leave the amplite and one cab at home for smaller gigs.

[Barisaxman]

I think you may need to spend some time playing with the parametric eq. I had no issues whatsoever getting plenty of bass from my headlite when playing it with a TC RS212. I plugged it into a couple 4x10's when I was shopping at it was nice and big in all scenarios. My only complaint when I owned it was getting enough headroom out of it for some of the really big stages we were playing. Tone was never a problem.

PS...tell the guitar player to roll some of his bass out of the F'n half stack...it might sound good in his head/bedroom/basement/whatever, but he's screwing with the whole band's mix and creating a wall of muddiness that the crowds won't like, nor the soundman if there is one....

[kneibarger]

Thanks everyone! I was trying to daisy-chain the two together into one cabinet. With the 4X10 cab, which amp would you all recommend to run, the headlite or amplite?

[kneibarger]

Originally Posted by Barisaxman

PS...tell the guitar player to roll some of his bass out of the F'n half stack...it might sound good in his head/bedroom/basement/whatever, but he's screwing with the whole band's mix and creating a wall of muddiness that the crowds won't like, nor the soundman if there is one....

Actually his sound is clean and tight. It's just that my bottom end was almost non-existent last night at rehearsal, that is until I switched back to my Hartke... then pictures started falling off the walls again.. haha

[KJung]

Originally Posted by kneibarger

Thanks everyone! I was trying to daisy-chain the two together into one cabinet. With the 4X10 cab, which amp would you all recommend to run, the headlite or amplite?

I was afraid of that. Hopefully, you didn't do any damage. Those amps probably have enough safety circuitry to be OK.

Here's the deal. The Headlite is your main unit. Think of it the same way as you would a GK MB500 or Markbass LMIII or any other 'mono' amp. Plug it into your 410, plug your bass and effects in, and be happy. Nice head, if a bit compicated with all the filters and semi-parametric tone controls. Make sure you read the manual and understand what the frequency versus level controls do.

The amplite should be put back in its box and stored until you buy a second cab. Then, you basically slave the amplite to your headlite, and power the second cab with your amplite. Think of it as a separate head with no tone controls (called a 'slave amp').

[BassmanPaul]

Do a search for pairing a 2x10 with a 4x10. There are a couple of gotchas involved. As always the best cabinet to mix with a 4x10 is an identical 4x10.

[Chef]

You can find the manuals for headlite and amplite at the link below, you might find that helpful reading

http://www.swramps.com/support/manuals.php

[agedhorse]

Originally Posted by kneibarger

Thanks everyone! I was trying to daisy-chain the two together into one cabinet. With the 4X10 cab, which amp would you all recommend to run, the headlite or amplite?

Please don't do this, it's a very good way to destroy a perfectly fine product. What you are hearing is the protection circuits trying desperately to prevent your amps from blowing up!

You will need top use the Headlite because the Amplite does not contain the necessary preamp features... unless you are using an external preamp.

I suggest that you carefully read the manuals for your new amps before attempting any further experimenting.

[GrowlerBox]

Originally Posted by kneibarger

I recently dropped some bucks (around $1250) for both the SWR headlite and SWR amplite ...

$1250 and you didn't RTFM??!