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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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100% of reviewers
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$400.00
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9.3
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Description:
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3 band semi parametric eq, side chain effects loop, xlr out with pad and gound lift, 120 watts into 8 ohms, 150 watts into 4 ohms (later models will put 160 watts into 2 ohms)
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Author
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IvanMike
Player Characters fear me...
Registered: November 2002
Location: Middletown CT, USA
Posts: 6489
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Review Date: Sun March 14, 2004
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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lightweight, hi-fi, very portable, swr sound in convenient book sized format
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Cons:
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lack of shelving EQ, sound can lack warmth, underpowered for some applications
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If you ever see one of these used, check it out. It may not be for you, but if not, call me, maybe i\'ll buy it
The electric blue is the head only version of SWR\'s Baby Blue studio amp, which came with 2 8\'s and a 5 inch \"tweeter\". the head has pre and power amp knobs, the aural enhancer found on all swr heads, 3 band semi parametric eq, tube preamp, xlr out with pad and ground lift, side chain effects loop, tuner out, headphone out jack, and defeatable eq and effects for rapid comparison of sound
The sound is classic SWR - very hi-fi, not very warm, but accurate and cutting. The 3 band eq is notched pretty tight in terms of Q (bandwidth) - which SWR intended so you could home right in on a particular target frequency. The amp could really benifit from bass and treble shelving EQ, but active EQ on your axe helps with this (if ya got it). The headphone out jack is great for practicing w/o disturbing others - i spent many a night doing just that. It\'s not the most powerful amp out there, but it really does a good job when driving 2 cabinets. I\'ve run 8 10\'s off of it and managed to keep up with some louder bands, but it\'s really more of the small gig/quiet rehearsal/practice at home/studio sort of amp. It also has line outs so you can use it as a preamp. I\'ve used it several times in this way, including one time when the preamp on another head of mine died and i had to run the electric blue into the other head\'s power amp.
The real high point of the amp is its portability. It is less than rack space width (about 13 inches), and weighs less than 15 pounds. The power cord has brackets to wrap up on in back, and the back is recessed so the cord fits in w/o sticking out. The front is protected by a cover that snaps into place using the same type of hardware found on Calzone style racks. In fact, the entire unit is housed in a miniature rack shell, which is covered in the same carpet found on SWR\'s cabinets. I have an Eden wt-400 and gig bag, but the lil swr still wins in the \"grab it and go\" department.
To sum it up, the electric blue is the SWR tone in convenient book sized form. It might not be the warmest amp out there, but that\'s SWR. I\'ve moved up to a preamp/poweramp setup for tons of tone, volume, and headroom, but i\'d NEVER sell my electric blue. If you find someone who doesn\'t feel the same way, you just might want to take the load off their hands.
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DMing 1st Edition Old School.... 
Amps FAQ Sticky with links to several threads - go ahead, click it.
My old feedback thread before the new feedback system
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msquared
Registered User
Registered: September 2004
Location: Kansas City
Posts: 3689
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Review Date: Mon April 18, 2005
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Built like a tank, not a lot of color, lightweight
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Cons:
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Odd format makes it tough to rackmount
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Everything that IvanMike said, I\'ll second.
I got it after hearing it on BassTasters and liking the sound a whole lot over most of the other preamps. I was looking for a good all-around recording preamp and the Electric Blue delivered in spades. I don\'t care about what it lacks in the EQ department since that can be adjusted elsewhere, and honestly despite it sounding sterile on its own, it sounds fantastic in a mix and doesn\'t really require a lot of monkeying.
I never took it out to a bar gig but I imagine that any show where you\'re backed up with a PA, this amp and a 2x10 or 1x12 for stage monitoring is the ultimate portable-but-sounds-awesome rig. If you add an active crossover and a PA amp, you now have a modular and portable biamped rig capable of rearranging bowels and sounding great doing it.
I have ended up using this for a practice amp and of course it works very well for that application.
SWR discontinued this and reintroduced it eventually because so many people requested it. I can see why.
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Chef
Smile more, ok?
Registered: May 2004
Location: Columbia MO
Posts: 31859
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Review Date: Wed January 23, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 0
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Pros:
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sweeet sounding head
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Cons:
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under-powered for some uses
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I have the Baby Blue II 2x8+5 combo; which uses this same head.
This is an older, top shelf, hand wired, hand picked component SWR unit; not current mass produced stuff.
The semi-para eq is wide ranging. The enhance is sublte, and very useful.
The head has a great transparent voice, was intended to be "a reference amp," and is wonderful for both Double Bass and electric. Very useful in the studio, and if it meets your power requirements a great live tool as well.
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"Boy, that makes about as much sense as putting a milk bucket under a bull-cow and expecting to come home with breakfast."
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mindwell
Registered User
Registered: August 2006
Location: Wichita, KS
Posts: 320
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Review Date: Wed January 11, 2012
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $400.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Natural tone, good voicing on the parametric, very flexible
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Cons:
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Not easily rack-mountable
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Not much to add to what's already been said. I've owned the Baby Blue II (sold--sniff!) and the Electric Blue, and I never, ever again intend to be without one. Small footprint, superb execution, decent usable power, incredibly well thought-out little amp. Used mine as a preamp for a 1600 watt 810 stage rig for years and years, and intend to do so again. I like the convenience of Markbass class D micros, but they can't touch the Electric Blue's sonics. It's a big part of my sound, and I love it.
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When there's no tiger in the forest, the monkey is the king.
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