SWR Natural Blonde

[likeminds]

I've been searching for an SWR thread about the new Natural Blonde amp I read about in Bass Player a few months ago. Anyone heard anything about it?? I've been trying to find some testimonies or something so I can figure out if I should look any further into it. I desperately need a smaller rig...

[Francois Blais]

Did you also look on the BG side?
There's more traffic there.
Just a thought!

[bolo]

This thread got the name of the rig wrong, but I think it's what you're looking for.

And there's this one too.

There's also a gear review from BP for those who haven't seen it. Looks like you already did.

Frankly there is very little so far at least in this forum in terms of people who have actually used it or heard it in person.

[bopeuph]

That's because they have to fix them all. They made a mistake with bypassing the fuse by accident or something along those lines. Not a good way to start a product, but I will hopefully be trying one out soon, the next time I visit Bass Central.

Nick

[anon_6j591b0]

The controls are kinda gimmicky....like an acoustic amplifier aimed at weekend warrior slab players.

[bolo]

Originally Posted by jeffbonny

The controls are kinda gimmicky....like an acoustic amplifier aimed at weekend warrior slab players.

Aimed at slab players? I think it's definitely aimed at DB players. Two channels, XLR (mic) input, phase reversal, 2x8 config. Says "upright bassists" and "upright player" as part of their shtick right on their web site.

It does refer to upright players as "discriminating musicians" though. Ain't that nice.

[anon_6j591b0]

Originally Posted by bolo

Aimed at slab players? I think it's definitely aimed at DB players. Two channels, XLR (mic) input, phase reversal, 2x8 config. Says "upright bassists" and "upright player" as part of their shtick right on their web site.

It does refer to upright players as "discriminating musicians" though. Ain't that nice.

I realize it's intended as a DB amp. I said it seemed like something aimed at weekend warrior slab players because of the bare bones onboard compressor no one will use and that goofy sorta-semi-parametric "bass intensifier". Gimmicky.

It's one of those amps that has enough "features" that anyone should be able to quickly dial up a really crappy sound in any room.

[likeminds]

Originally Posted by jeffbonny

It's one of those amps that has enough "features" that anyone should be able to quickly dial up a really crappy sound in any room.

It sounds like you really give this amp zero credit. I'd be really interested in hearing it in a nice listening venue with some space and a decent condesor mic. Although I am skepitcal of the "bass intensifier", I mean how much bass could 2x8 really crank out??? I like a nice solid low-end with my upright. Is it really hard to find any of those baby-blue 2x8 SWR any more??

[anon_6j591b0]

Originally Posted by likeminds

It sounds like you really give this amp zero credit.

Of course I'm not being entirely fair as I have not heard it....maybe it's a real good sounding amp. I'm a huge fan of the Baby Blue and think that basic 2x8 design is good. Are the BB's really getting hard to find? Shoulda kept one maybe...

I guess where my skepticism with the new SWR starts is in my basic belief an amp should sound good with the EQ flat...that EQ is best used to solve room specific problems. Given that line of thought instead of one that has as many gizmos as this does most players would be probably better served by a 4 band fully parametric EQ. The new Blonde's semi-parametric mid and low in two different locations on the face combined with pre-shelved low and high EQ and then all the speaker trimming options sounds frustrating as heck. If the amp sounds good flat maybe most of this crap is unnecessary? And on top of that a preset ratio compressor? What upright player is going to use that???
I'll reserve final judgment until I get to try one but I'm not putting the PMB/Stewart/Bag End up for sale just yet.

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by likeminds

It sounds like you really give this amp zero credit. I'd be really interested in hearing it in a nice listening venue with some space and a decent condesor mic. Although I am skepitcal of the "bass intensifier", I mean how much bass could 2x8 really crank out??? I like a nice solid low-end with my upright. Is it really hard to find any of those baby-blue 2x8 SWR any more??

Like Minds,
The Baby Blue was an interesting experiment that SWR tried, but for my money it was flawed from the beginning, and I owned one. If you go back and read the users manual, here are the folks who were involved in the prototype "We would like to sincerely thank all the musicians and engineers that helped us with this project and especially Walter Becker, Neil Stubenhaus, Phil Chen, Keith Jones, Jimmy Haslip, Michael Rhodes, Phil Lesh, Dan Schwartz, Dann Glenn and Dwayne "Smitty" Smith." Now unless I missed something, they didn't have an upright player involved in the design phase of that amplifier.
For my money that's why they were unsucessful. Ron Carter commented in bass player that his son had one and although it sounded good with EB it didn't cut it with DB.
Now let's move ahead to 2007 and the "Natural Blonde." This time they have an amplifier that has a "production flaw" they will have to remedy. What SWR pioneered was the 2x8 bass cabinet. It sounded very nice with a diferent head. They just can't seem to build a head that works well IMHO with Double Bass.


Euphonic Audio and LDS both made what I would consider to be really great sounding 2x8 cabinets for upright. EA has a second one in the prototype stage it's just taking a very long time to "get it right."

Ric

[DonBox]

Originally Posted by Ric Vice

Like Minds,
The Baby Blue was an interesting experiment that SWR tried, but for my money it was flawed from the beginning, and I owned one. If you go back and read the users manual, here are the folks who were involved in the prototype "We would like to sincerely thank all the musicians and engineers that helped us with this project and especially Walter Becker, Neil Stubenhaus, Phil Chen, Keith Jones, Jimmy Haslip, Michael Rhodes, Phil Lesh, Dan Schwartz, Dann Glenn and Dwayne "Smitty" Smith." Now unless I missed something, they didn't have an upright player involved in the design phase of that amplifier.
For my money that's why they were unsucessful. Ron Carter commented in bass player that his son had one and although it sounded good with EB it didn't cut it with DB.

I wholeheartedly agree. I've owned a BB since I bought new in the mid '90s, and it's great for EB - my hybrid DB (or my NS CR5M)? Not so much. That's why I'm getting a focus/wizzy10 for a small rig.

[DonBox]

Originally Posted by Ric Vice

Like Minds,
What SWR pioneered was the 2x8 bass cabinet. It sounded very nice with a diferent head. They just can't seem to build a head that works well IMHO with Double Bass.

+1.

My WWU through the BB's speakers sounds way better than the head built into the BB.

[anon_6j591b0]

Originally Posted by DonBox

+1.

My WWU through the BB's speakers sounds way better than the head built into the BB.

What version of the BB are you guys talking about? I found the original BB loaded with Bag Ends sounded good with the acoustic and EUB. I sold it because it wasn't loud enough for the EB gigs I was doing. The two I used after that were the later Celestion loaded ones and they always seemed to lack something.

In general these days I'm finding I'm a lot less picky about amps than I am about speakers.

[larry]

I used a BB on DB for a few years (Bag End version). I always thought it was a good sounding rig, just a little under-powered. I pulled the head out and racked it to have a spare amp when I upgraded to a more powerful SM900 and some Bergantino cabs. The BB head sounds decent going in to a Berg 112.

I've since changed again to a Markbass head to go with my Bergs (and shed the heavy weight of that SM900). I was going to give the new SWR amp a shot, but the recall, the fact that it is not available as just a head, and the weight of the whole thing as a combo killed it.

Diggin' the Markbass / Bergantino combo. I would have loved to hear the Markbass through the BB cab - but I sold the cab after I pulled the head out. I loved the 2-8" config. Need to find a VL208 just for kicks and plug the Markbass into it. I'll bet that's a great rig.

[tony moore]

if the head in the natural blonde is anything like the head in the cali blonde, i'd say it's worth a listen. i've been using a cali blonde for something like almost 10 years now and it sounds great with both my fishman full circle equipped kay and my jazz bass, at medium volumes of course. very natural sounding and a very useful feature set...

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by jeffbonny

What version of the BB are you guys talking about? I found the original BB loaded with Bag Ends sounded good with the acoustic and EUB. I sold it because it wasn't loud enough for the EB gigs I was doing. The two I used after that were the later Celestion loaded ones and they always seemed to lack something.

In general these days I'm finding I'm a lot less picky about amps than I am about speakers.

Jeff,
I had both the Bag End's and then Celestions. I actually had SWR send me the speakers and swaped them out. I'd definitely agree with you that the 16 ohm Bag End 8"'s sounded better than the 8 ohm Celestion's. Unfortunately, the head didn't work for me at all. The Aural Enhancer and the Midrance voicing sounded terrible with my upright. When I put my Walter Woods MI-100-8 in the head section and removed SWR's the cabinet sounded great. So I sold the Baby Blue and bought a Baby Blue extension cabinet (SWR only made them for a very short while). It was the first 2x8 cabinet on the market.

Ric

[anon_6j591b0]

Originally Posted by Ric Vice

So I sold the Baby Blue and bought a Baby Blue extension cabinet (SWR only made them for a very short while). It was the first 2x8 cabinet on the market.
Ric

I wish I'd gotten one of those cabs....I considered it but by the time I went to do it they weren't available anymore. Someone I know has the plans for it I just can't remember who it is. Meh, the speakers probably wouldn't be available anyway......
I actually have a Bag End S10 and Tannoy V8 that I'm very happy with together and separately.....I gotta stop thinking the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

You still have the BB cabinet?

[kerrycares]

got mine today,love it!

[larry]

Originally Posted by kerrycares

got mine today,love it!

Do you play DB? How's it working out?

[weispsymus]

I'm looking for a smaller rig too. I use an SWR Super Redhead (2 x 10) for electric 6 string and full-size upright, and want a lighter amp. Have you heard anything about the MarkBass line - there's a 500 W 2 x 10 I'm considering

weispsymus