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SWR Baby Blue II

#81
havent played the spellbinder.........

years ago i found two bb extension cabs for 250 each and didn't have the cash....................big suck day for me

i've used the head version for over 10 years now. To me it sounds really similar to the original swr preamps, maybe a bit more refined. I keep meaning to have the 2 ohm mod and the phantom power mod done to mine as it is an original w/o those features.

as far as i can tell, the baby blue mojo was more the cabinet than the head. Those are some great sounding cabs, just not all that loud.
 
#86
Jimmy Aloha said:
Old post….scored a baby blue II used for $130 at a shop in Sapporo. Said it was defective with a bad pot. Bought some contact cleaner….fixed. It’s in mint condition also with instructions. Looks like it was in a studio. Early 2000 model looks like it. Amazing amp!
Click to expand...

Congratulations! :bassist: :bassist: :bassist: :hyper: :thumbsup:
 
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#88
Yes! The BBII was designed to be a studio monitor as one of it's strengths. It has a "more me" function where you in studio run a line from the board into it. Unplug speaker cable, listen with headphones and dial as much of you as you want into the studio mix. Now your level can be way up in the mix like you like it while the engineer does what ever is necessary elsewhere. Go to SWR site to read the particulars in the manual. I've done it but years ago. To answer what you hear is you through that sweet circuitry.
 
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#89
chadds said:
Yes! The BBII was designed to be a studio monitor as one of it's strengths. It has a "more me" function where you in studio run a line from the board into it. Unplug speaker cable, listen with headphones and dial as much of you as you want into the studio mix. Now your level can be way up in the mix like you like it while the engineer does what ever is necessary elsewhere. Go to SWR site to read the particulars in the manual. I've done it but years ago. To answer what you hear is you through that sweet circuitry.
Click to expand...
Ah found the manual. It states it’s a tube preamp out. Man…that’s saves me a much of cash! This baby blue amp is way beyond the price of what I paid! Thanks!
 
#93
OJ Dorson said:
I've got the Electric Blue head and I'm struggling to find the specs/manual for it. Is it more akin to the BBII and stable at 2ohms, or more like the BBI?
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They're all the same internals. The design was never changed, just the specs.

I've ran my BBII at 2 ohm many times. I added some fans as a precautionary measure to help keep the amp cool. I have to think that there was a reason they changed the minimum from 2 ohms to 4 ohms though.

The Mesa Walkbout underwent a similar spec change over it's life. Apparently that was about the tolerances in the output devices deviating from the manufacturer and Mesa couldn't count on 2 ohm operation.

Much like my BBII, I've also ran my Walkabout at 2 ohms many times. @agedhorse (Mesa Engineer) said it was kind of a luck of the draw if the output devices in your Walkabout were within original spec or not. Even the slightly out of spec ones ran like champs at 4 ohms so Mesa changed the recommended minimum to 4 ohms.

So you can likely run your Electric Blue at 2 ohms but there's some risk with doing so. If you blow up the output stage of the BBII, your repair guy likely won't be able to source new ones.
 
#94
MuthaFunk said:
They're all the same internals. The design was never changed, just the specs.

I've ran my BBII at 2 ohm many times. I added some fans as a precautionary measure to help keep the amp cool. I have to think that there was a reason they changed the minimum from 2 ohms to 4 ohms though.

The Mesa Walkbout underwent a similar spec change over it's life. Apparently that was about the tolerances in the output devices deviating from the manufacturer and Mesa couldn't count on 2 ohm operation.

Much like my BBII, I've also ran my Walkabout at 2 ohms many times. @agedhorse (Mesa Engineer) said it was kind of a luck of the draw if the output devices in your Walkabout were within original spec or not. Even the slightly out of spec ones ran like champs at 4 ohms so Mesa changed the recommended minimum to 4 ohms.

So you can likely run your Electric Blue at 2 ohms but there's some risk with doing so. If you blow up the output stage of the BBII, your repair guy likely won't be able to source new ones.
Click to expand...

Great information - very good to know. I was thinking I'd put a fan... the side of the "road case" that this came with has a fan grill (but no fan). The guy I bought it from said it'd always been there, but I'm not sure... underneath it are just a handful of 1" holes drilled through. I never see pictures of the side of these things, either, so I don't know if others have this. I know people will add a vent above the heatsinks, and I might do that.

To be honest, I don't need to run at 2Ohms and likely never will. My Bag End cab is 8ohms (IIRC) and I'll likely add another 8Ohm cab... any issue with running and 8 and a 4 together?
 

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