• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Anyone else dislike SWR?

Jazzkuma

Jazzkuma

Sep 12, 2008
835
494
#1
I play in several brands of amps because my college has different brands in their ensemble/practice rooms. I have recently found out that I am not able to get a nice tone out of an swr (blackbeauty mostly). Im not saying its a bad tone but the range of tones is way too small. Compared to the GK, ampeg, tc and even fender amps I can't play on SWR anymore. I thought it was just me or my bass but after spending a lot of time tweaking with it trying to find the tone I like I gave up on that brand.

Is it me? or do SWR have a specific signature sound to it... to me it sounds waaaay too crunchy, too much treble (even with it down a lot). I can't get a darker mellow tone out of it.
Im not flaming SWR, I know they are great amps because people like them a lot, I want to figure out if this is an SWR thing or is it something else?
 
#5
SWR does have a signature tone due to a nondefeatable 6 dB cut at around 220 Hz (going from memory here). There is a thread about modding SWR amps to eliminate that cut, which brings perceived volume way up and makes EQ adjustments more intuitive. I've used and still have some SWR amps and haven't done the mod, because there are some situations I play where that SWR 220 Hz cut is just what's needed (for example, in my boomy tall-ceiling church that sounds almost as bad as a gymnasium). Some people who did the mod made it reversible, I think, so you could have either flavor. It's also possible to plug into the effects return of an SWR amp to bypass the baked in 220 Hz cut.
 
#8
bobcruz said:
SWR does have a signature tone due to a nondefeatable 6 dB cut at around 220 Hz (going from memory here). There is a thread about modding SWR amps to eliminate that cut, which brings perceived volume way up and makes EQ adjustments more intuitive. I've used and still have some SWR amps and haven't done the mod, because there are some situations I play where that SWR 220 Hz cut is just what's needed (for example, in my boomy tall-ceiling church that sounds almost as bad as a gymnasium). Some people who did the mod made it reversible, I think, so you could have either flavor. It's also possible to plug into the effects return of an SWR amp to bypass the baked in 220 Hz cut.
Click to expand...

Hmm yeah that sounds like it might be it. Im not an amp expert but I just can't tweak it to my preferable tone. Well I'm glad its not just me, there was something else. I have no problems with other amps though (almost all other), even my small gk mb150 gets me better results.
 
#10
I dislike SWR. I think they have always had a great look, but it is just NOT my kind of sound.
I also dislike Ampeg, Markbass, Fender, and several other brands that are oh-so loved on TB.com.
I dunno - to each his own! I have a lot of respect for the talented folks that play through whatever brand(s) work for them.
 
#12
osmarokuma said:
I play in several brands of amps because my college has different brands in their ensemble/practice rooms. I have recently found out that I am not able to get a nice tone out of an swr (blackbeauty mostly). Im not saying its a bad tone but the range of tones is way too small. Compared to the GK, ampeg, tc and even fender amps I can't play on SWR anymore. I thought it was just me or my bass but after spending a lot of time tweaking with it trying to find the tone I like I gave up on that brand.

Is it me? or do SWR have a specific signature sound to it... to me it sounds waaaay too crunchy, too much treble (even with it down a lot). I can't get a darker mellow tone out of it.
Im not flaming SWR, I know they are great amps because people like them a lot, I want to figure out if this is an SWR thing or is it something else?
Click to expand...

I could talk you through your issues. Yet the challenge in your life will be to get a good sound.:)

( if there's a tweeter control turn it to just barely on.)
 
#13
Used to have an SM-500 and played a lot of rented SWR rigs in the early 2000's. Liked them, didn't love them. My initial impression was more favorable than any subsequent impressions. I could get a good sound out of them, but their EQ's were too involved, and as I gravitated to darker tones, I felt like they weren't hitting the mark for me. That said, I think they are WAY better than folks on TB make them out to be...they just ended up not being my thing.
 
#17
osmarokuma said:
Hmm yeah that sounds like it might be it. Im not an amp expert but I just can't tweak it to my preferable tone. Well I'm glad its not just me, there was something else. I have no problems with other amps though (almost all other), even my small gk mb150 gets me better results.
Click to expand...
In most bands, you need that 220 Hz region to hear yourself and help with volume and cutting through other instruments that share that frequency. The other oddity about SWR tone is that Steve Rabe was against other forms of frequency tampering, even super-helpful forms like cutting the subsonic frequencies (generally below 30 Hz but usually the cut starts a little higher). So SWR amps waste a lot of wattage trying to reproduce frequencies that you can't hear but can easily damage your speaker! That contributes to their perceived lack of volume.

As an experiment, you could try plugging your bass directly into the effects return of the Black Beauty, crank the master volume all the way up (because your bass output is way less than it needs to be to drive the internal power amp) and see how you like the difference. In some situations that may be all the volume you need and the tone may be what you're used to in the other amps.
 
#18
The baked in low mid cut is there. Can set a sweep to about 250 and sort of un-do it.

I think something is probably wrong with that particular amp though. Amp problems or a bad speaker. He says it's always "crunchy". That doesn't describe most any SWR I've played. They're known for being more clean, "hi-fi"--ish.
 
#20
I played an SM-900 with a Goliath III today for the first time as a backline at casino job and I gotta say, It sounded really good.It was dialed in to the room perfectly.I never even touched the volume.Big bottom,tight middle and a sparkly top.The only thing I didn't like was how hot it got..It wasn't in a rack and the heat was very noticeable.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back