SWR "Mo Bass" Head - Anyone Familiar With It?

jaywa · #1 04-22-2011, 09:21 AM

The band I just joined has a bass rig consisting of some sort of SWR 8x10 cabinet and a big SWR head that I can't really identify except that is has a brushed aluminum front, about 2 dozen knobs and says "Mo Bass".

I've played one gig through it and it seems to be a pretty decent sounding head although it has way more bells and whistles than I need or am used to (onboard chorus, sub-octaver, etc.). This model appears to be a bi-amp version with two master volume knobs, as well as a tube pre-amp. I can't get a read on its age but it's in decent condition considering the singer bought it used and they've put quite a few gigs on it since then.

Can anyone who has experience with one of these heads, tell me some things like how many watts it is, things I should know about the EQ and other features, reliability, etc.? I have my own bass rig but this SWR rig is actually bigger (and nicer)... and the band has said I'm welcome to keep using it as long as I'm willing to haul it around

so I want to know a little more about it.

bluesdogblues · #2 04-22-2011, 09:43 AM

It's a very nice amp..I once played live with it and few times checked it out on a local store, a very long ago and its even ever been in my dream wish list years ago but never realized

.. but too bad I don't see them often again after that,..don't know why...

Not much I can tell you about it because my only 'short time' experience with it. But I can tell you it's a very nice and valuable amp

There's a club of it in the TB...here the link:
"OFFICIAL" SWR Mo' Bass Club

Bob C · #3 04-22-2011, 09:45 AM

Isn't that the one that has onboard effects? I tried one out in the store a long time ago.

I'm not really into the SWR sound. Also, some of the bells and whistles seemed a bit gimmicky. But I haven't spent a lot of time with them. If you like it, that's great.

I'm pretty sure that model is discontinued, but there might still be info about it on SWR's website or somewhere else on the web.

datbottom · #4 04-22-2011, 10:00 AM

Beast of an amp. The first guy that I heard play live in my bass career had one and I still remember the tone. Amazing!!!!!!! It gives you a lot of options. The model is discontinued. There was also a mini-mo.

jaywa · #5 04-22-2011, 10:03 AM

Thanks guys. Via Google I did find a PDF of the owners manual... very detailed. The copyright on that document was 2001 and the picture on the front looks exactly like the one we have, so that gives me a general read on the age.

It looks like these things retailed for around $1,000 about 10 years ago (when $1,000 was still real money)... so this is not a cheap piece of gear. FWIW my singer told me he bought the whole rig (8x10 cab and Mo Bass head) for $500.

Bob C · #6 04-22-2011, 10:08 AM

Wow, your singer did alright. I think SWR's website says that Mo'Bass was discontinued in 2003.

jaywa · #7 04-22-2011, 10:16 AM

It's definitely a nice rig but I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle to lug around for three reasons:

1) We run IEMs for monitors so a big bass rig isn't really needed onstage

2) I don't use any effects so 3/4 of the Mo Bass features aren't needed

3) We run bass direct to the board (although, by taking the feed out of the Mo Bass I gain the tube preamp and compression effects of that head... but could I not also accomplish this with just my SansAmp BDDI?)

The rig definitely looks cool up on stage... but not sure practically speaking if it's something I'm going to use a lot, especially in smaller rooms. OTOH it's nice to know it's high-quality stuff. We're going to be playing a lot of gigs outdoors this summer and from experience I know you can never have a big enough bass rig for those gigs.