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Acquiring an SWR SM-900, reasonable?

#82
baxter_x said:
I have my eyes on a Mesa M-Pulse 360. I guess this amp is considered as trouble free? No matter the year?
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I have never owned one, but do own two WA's that are in that design family. My two WA's have been 100% reliable in literally thousands of hours of use over 15-20 years. What I can share is that most of the posts I recall regarding issues with those heads related to the effects loop jacks/contacts and the input jack. Later Mesa designs actually went to an effects loop by-pass toggle switch on some of their heads.

If you had a problem I suspect that those jacks are easily replaceable with modern shelf-stock...once the COVID supply chain issues are done and we have parts bins with actual parts in them again. :)
 
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#83
Al Kraft said:
I have never owned on, but do own two WA's that are in that design family. My two WA's have been 100% reliable in literally thousands of hours of use over 15-20 years. What I can share is that most of the posts I recall regarding issues with those heads related to the effects loop jacks/contacts and the input jack. Later Mesa designs actually went to an effects loop by-pass toggle switch on some of their heads.

If you had a problem I suspect that those jacks are easily replaceable with modern shelf-stock...once the COVID supply chain issues are done and we have parts bins with actual parts in them again. :)
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Thank you for your feedback. The only thing is the power. I'm afraid it might be little weak on stage. But if that's the case, I'll use my SVT 7 pro as power amp.
 
#84
As I recall the 360 has very a nice compressor. In fact it was carried over to the Carbine M9 and was IMO one of the more universally admired highlights of the "you either like the voicing or you don't" Carbine line. The 360 while not quite as warm or blooming in the lows as the WA was actually a pretty loud amp into an efficient 4 Ohm load (it was an honestly rated head IMO). The WA was for whatever reason a different feel and sound than its bigger brother 360 and 600 models, and I don't think I've ever heard anyone disagree on that point. In a mix, the 360 and 600 heads sounded really good.
 
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#89
While parts availability on discontinued models is always a legitimate concern, my gut feeling is that the Mesa option is more likely to be supportable/sustainable longer than the SWR option. I own an older SWR SM head and old and new Mesa stuff so that was not a knock on SWR - just my opinion on the products being discussed.
 
#90
baxter_x said:
As long as the MOSFETs are available, that's the most important thing to me.
A several years ago I had to change most of the knobs on my Mesa Titan and I found genuine Mesa parts.
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Knobs aren’t the issue, it’s the pots, that while we generally have good stocks now, can change as vendors discontinue types of parts.

Just factor the possibility into your decision, be aware.
 
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#99
baxter_x said:
I totally agree with both of you. That's exactly what I was planning to do. However, the seller is someone I personally know. So he's not a random guy, and I know he's a honest person.
He would have been a random guy, I would have given up.
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Sounds like the best possible situation. I hope this one pans out for you.
 
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