SWR Fan Club II

[JazznFunk]

So what do you suggest Fender/SWR have done, abandon the sound which defined SWR in order to stay viable in the market? At that point the existing user base would bolt and newcomers would wonder why they should buy an amp that is trying to sound like [fill in the blank] when you can get the real deal for less.

You note the "good faith attempts" made by Fender. I remember the ad blitz and marketing effort that went into pushing the lightweight gear (and even the Mo' Bass thing). I don't see how they could have forced the market to look at SWR differently. And, considering the amount of complaining SWR users lodged about the Fender acquisition, the existing user base may have been as guilty of killing the brand reputation as anyone else.

I tried the AE mod on my SM400 and quickly reversed it as I found it messed up the character of the amp. That said, my SWR rigs haven't been to a gig in a while. Tastes change, tech evolves, no company gets the right to exist forever, even if it was a groundbreaker in its day.

1) I never said any of that - (suggesting SWR should have changed the sound which defined it.) At the time of the Fender acquisition, and into the early/mid 2000s, SWR was still a popular brand, albeit a bit ignored and pushed to the background after its acquisition. Fender had also begun to scavenge technology and concepts from SWR for its own amps, devaluing the brand from within. There was no incentive to keep it going.

2). The Mo'Bass thing was a unique aberration. Bloated and unpopular, it was still a reach in an interesting direction for the time - good or bad. At least it was a chance taken.

3). I'm not familiar with any AE mod. I never felt the need to mod any of my SWR amps/combos, and the AE as originally designed was useful to me in certain settings.

4). The notion of 'rights language' when it comes to physical products being produced always makes me laugh. No one insists that a product has an inherent 'right' to exist, even if just to satisfy our own nostalgia. What I have suggested is that Fender took what it wanted from SWR, made some good moves early on, and made some ill-advised and poorly timed moves to keep the brand relevant later on which failed, and ultimately contributed to its demise. Eventually, apathy about the brand in general is what sunk it IMO. That's on Fender and the general bass gear landscape in general. Indeed - time moves on.

I'm glad all of my SWR gear still fires up and sounds good. I still gig with my old WM12 occasionally.

I sometimes also think about the Eden brand and how it has survived several sales and still exists. Eden is, by all accounts, not a popular or in-vogue brand anymore either.... but it still exists in some form.

 

[pepj]

SWR and a Jazz still takes some beating.
My SM doesn't come out too often but its still the sound.
I just ran it with the semi p zero'd and bass and treble at 12 ish.
I soon learned you didn't really want the dramtic tone shapping capability.
Its still a benchmark to me.

 

[agedhorse]

Thanks. I was speaking specifically of the Workingman's line. I should have edited to be more specific. My '99 Workingman's 12, WM1x10 extension cab, and one of my WM2x10 cabs were all produced in the USA. Some of my later WM gear was not... it was made in Mexico. I assume at Fender's factory there?

Some were made in the Mexico factory and some were made in the Indonesia factory.

So what do you suggest Fender/SWR have done, abandon the sound which defined SWR in order to stay viable in the market? At that point the existing user base would bolt and newcomers would wonder why they should buy an amp that is trying to sound like [fill in the blank] when you can get the real deal for less.

You note the "good faith attempts" made by Fender. I remember the ad blitz and marketing effort that went into pushing the lightweight gear (and even the Mo' Bass thing). I don't see how they could have forced the market to look at SWR differently. And, considering the amount of complaining SWR users lodged about the Fender acquisition, the existing user base may have been as guilty of killing the brand reputation as anyone else.

I tried the AE mod on my SM400 and quickly reversed it as I found it messed up the character of the amp. That said, my SWR rigs haven't been to a gig in a while. Tastes change, tech evolves, no company gets the right to exist forever, even if it was a groundbreaker in its day.

The SWR classic tone was falling out of favor but SWR (the brand) was stuck in its own legacy. Players didn’t want to see any changes while at the same time looking for and buying new products that offered what they really wanted. It was a no win situation imo.

The GoLite and Spellbinder Blue was their attempt to retain the legacy yet also appeal to what buyers were asking for, those who bought them liked them but it was just a little too late.

Fender didn’t take much if anything from the SWR line, it was too different from their own, more popular legacy.

 

[JazznFunk]

The GoLite and Spellbinder Blue was their attempt to retain the legacy yet also appeal to what buyers were asking for, those who bought them liked them but it was just a little too late.

I remember that the Spellbinder Blue looked fantastic, but I never got to even try one. They seemed to disappear as fast as they were introduced.

 

[agedhorse]

I remember that the Spellbinder Blue looked fantastic, but I never got to even try one. They seemed to disappear as fast as they were introduced.

They didn’t sell well at all. Too much change for the traditionalists. Those who bought they typically kept them

 

[vickerekes]

I remember that the Spellbinder Blue looked fantastic, but I never got to even try one. They seemed to disappear as fast as they were introduced.

It really is fantastic and cops the bigger rig's sound well. I bought from in Canada years ago.

 

[MuthaFunk]

SWR Fenders Headlite was / is a great amp. Great features, high quality build, defeatable original AE from the factory, plus a user selectable newer AE curve inspired by Marcus Millers sound. It was under powered for it's 500 W rating and released late in market but other than that I cant find any fault in it's design.

I felt Fender made a good effort to produce a decent product but by that time the public perception of SWR had been tainted. I remember SWR had it's own Forum as did Eden at the time. The SWR forum was full of negative posts and it didn't appear they had anyone communicating to the public from SWR to promote the brand.

We see what a difference that can make here on TB when manufacturers have a presence to keep false information in check and provide valuable insight to the brands they represent. Fender had a hard time with SWR but I don't blame them for SWR's demise. I thought it was a decent effort to push the brand forward.

 

[agedhorse]

SWR Fenders Headlite was / is a great amp. Great features, high quality build, defeatable original AE from the factory, plus a user selectable newer AE curve inspired by Marcus Millers sound. It was under powered for it's 500 W rating and released late in market but other than that I cant find any fault in it's design.

I felt Fender made a good effort to produce a decent product but by that time the public perception of SWR had been tainted. I remember SWR had it's own Forum as did Eden at the time. The SWR forum was full of negative posts and it didn't appear they had anyone communicating to the public from SWR to promote the brand.

We see what a difference that can make here on TB when manufacturers have a presence to keep false information in check and provide valuable insight to the brands they represent. Fender had a hard time with SWR but I don't blame them for SWR's demise. I thought it was a decent effort to push the brand forward.

Also to understand what the players really want and how to approach it IF POSSIBLE. In the case of SWR, it would have taken quite the effort because the legacy players were not interested in anything new and had pretty much stopped buying amps. SWR didn't really appeal anymore to newer players in significant enough quantities, the modern player had evolved beyond where SWR got stuck at. They were in fact hamstrung by their own legacy.

 

[avi]

Fender bought a brand that was struggling. They resolved some safety issues with the amps and tried to introduce a lightweight line of gear. Alas, it was too late.

Worse for the brand, however, the signature voicing that defined the SWR tone had fallen out of favor. Look at the number of TB’ers seek out for the AE mid to flatten out the pre, essentially making the SWR not an SWR.

It was great for its time but Fender didn’t ruin it; the world moved on and SWR couldn’t/didn’t keep up.

This isn't wrong. I moved on to Mesa which could do the SWR thing with massive low end bloom (had an all tube 400) and then moved on to the Walkabout (I've owned 2) which did a pretty good job emulating that.
However everything old is new again and sometimes we want to come home. I also recently picked up a late 80's Spectors NS2a that I've wanted since I was seventeen. And what were the two Bassplayer articles in that issue when I was a kid...NS2a and an SM400. Meant to be together. My sm400 blew up though so went back to the 350!

 

[avi]

SWR Fenders Headlite was / is a great amp. Great features, high quality build, defeatable original AE from the factory, plus a user selectable newer AE curve inspired by Marcus Millers sound. It was under powered for it's 500 W rating and released late in market but other than that I cant find any fault in it's design.

I felt Fender made a good effort to produce a decent product but by that time the public perception of SWR had been tainted. I remember SWR had it's own Forum as did Eden at the time. The SWR forum was full of negative posts and it didn't appear they had anyone communicating to the public from SWR to promote the brand.

We see what a difference that can make here on TB when manufacturers have a presence to keep false information in check and provide valuable insight to the brands they represent. Fender had a hard time with SWR but I don't blame them for SWR's demise. I thought it was a decent effort to push the brand forward.

True. I didn't hear about the headline until maybe a year or two ago when I was looking for another class D head to replace my Traynor SB200.

 

[fretno]

Imma fan

 

[iriegnome]

Good morning from SE Wisco!! When did you first discover SWR? I bought my SWR SS-180 back in 1987.. I was hooked immediately...

 

[avi]

Good morning from SE Wisco!! When did you first discover SWR? I bought my SWR SS-180 back in 1987.. I was hooked immediately...

Discovered when I was 16 or 17 (85-86). Couldn't get one until I was 21. I had the Grand Prix preamp.

 

[JazznFunk]

Good morning from SE Wisco!! When did you first discover SWR? I bought my SWR SS-180 back in 1987.. I was hooked immediately...

'Discovered' it in late '97 after I started playing bass. P-Nut from 311, Marcus Miller, John Paul Jones, Stefan Lessard from DMB, and others I admired early on were all playing SWR. Got my Workingman's 12 combo my first semester of college. Still have it to this day.

 

[Thir13teen]

Received the SWR Redhead,this past Wednesday,and was well packed for shipping. Took be about 15 minutes to get out of the box,with all the packing,and was in good shape! Got it setup,and played it at midweek Church service. Drummer told me to turn down.Told him not use the adjustments just yet. Had one back in late 80's early 90's. Nostalgic for me,at least I don't have lug it around like I use to,it is staying put for now. Shipping weight was 110lbs!
View attachment 4830712

The Red Head was my first real bass amp, I had the 350 watt version. I was in the U.S. Navy living in Maine in the early 90's and saw an ad in Bass Player magazine for a place called Bass World in Kentucky. I called and he give me a price cheaper then the music store in Portland. I guess SWR didn't allow dealers to sell via mail order but this guy did it anyway. It fit perfectly in the back of my Jeep Wrangler and sounded amazing.

When I went to the bank to get a certified check for Bass World the teller was a nasty you know what so when she asked me who to make the check payable to, I told her & she says to me (super nasty) "spell it" and after I did she she says (again, super snotty) "Sir, that spells BASS World" (like the fish) so I said "Yeah, no. That's also how you spell bass as in bass guitar".

When I got out of the Navy I ended up trading it in for a SWR Bass 350 head and a SWR 8x8 cab. I also called Bass World again & bought a Zon Sonus IV from them but the store closed shortly after.

 

[JMX]

I bought the Triad I one back when it first came out. Still have it, but in hindsight I should've gone with the Goliath.

Last year I got the Marcus Miller preamp - my favorite (and I have the Eden Navigator, the SWR Interstellar Overdrive, the Yamaha PB-1 and a Trace Elliot GP12 SMX for comparison). Sometimes I use the Stella in the FX loop for more mid girth.

 

[Thir13teen]

This isn't wrong. I moved on to Mesa which could do the SWR thing with massive low end bloom (had an all tube 400) and then moved on to the Walkabout (I've owned 2) which did a pretty good job emulating that.
However everything old is new again and sometimes we want to come home. I also recently picked up a late 80's Spectors NS2a that I've wanted since I was seventeen. And what were the two Bassplayer articles in that issue when I was a kid...NS2a and an SM400. Meant to be together. My sm400 blew up though so went back to the 350!

In the early 90's I called SWR to request a catalog and I asked the guy on the phone what does SWR stand for & he told me that it was the owners initials but then added "around here, we say it stands for S**t Works Right" haha.

 

[Thir13teen]

SWR Fenders Headlite was / is a great amp. Great features, high quality build, defeatable original AE from the factory, plus a user selectable newer AE curve inspired by Marcus Millers sound. It was under powered for it's 500 W rating and released late in market but other than that I cant find any fault in it's design.

I felt Fender made a good effort to produce a decent product but by that time the public perception of SWR had been tainted. I remember SWR had it's own Forum as did Eden at the time. The SWR forum was full of negative posts and it didn't appear they had anyone communicating to the public from SWR to promote the brand.

We see what a difference that can make here on TB when manufacturers have a presence to keep false information in check and provide valuable insight to the brands they represent. Fender had a hard time with SWR but I don't blame them for SWR's demise. I thought it was a decent effort to push the brand forward.

SWR had some of the best full page ads in Bass Player magazine though including the one & only Derek Smalls from Spinal Tap haha.

 

[Thir13teen]

1) I never said any of that - (suggesting SWR should have changed the sound which defined it.) At the time of the Fender acquisition, and into the early/mid 2000s, SWR was still a popular brand, albeit a bit ignored and pushed to the background after its acquisition. Fender had also begun to scavenge technology and concepts from SWR for its own amps, devaluing the brand from within. There was no incentive to keep it going.

2). The Mo'Bass thing was a unique aberration. Bloated and unpopular, it was still a reach in an interesting direction for the time - good or bad. At least it was a chance taken.

3). I'm not familiar with any AE mod. I never felt the need to mod any of my SWR amps/combos, and the AE as originally designed was useful to me in certain settings.

4). The notion of 'rights language' when it comes to physical products being produced always makes me laugh. No one insists that a product has an inherent 'right' to exist, even if just to satisfy our own nostalgia. What I have suggested is that Fender took what it wanted from SWR, made some good moves early on, and made some ill-advised and poorly timed moves to keep the brand relevant later on which failed, and ultimately contributed to its demise. Eventually, apathy about the brand in general is what sunk it IMO. That's on Fender and the general bass gear landscape in general. Indeed - time moves on.

I'm glad all of my SWR gear still fires up and sounds good. I still gig with my old WM12 occasionally.

I sometimes also think about the Eden brand and how it has survived several sales and still exists. Eden is, by all accounts, not a popular or in-vogue brand anymore either.... but it still exists in some form.

Speaking of Eden, just yesterday I received a used WT-300. I used to run two of them at the same time; one going into an 8x8 & one into a 2x12 so I could EQ each cab separately (courtesy of Evan Sheeley & Chad Beeler at Bass Northwest in Seattle around 1997 or so). It's the only amp I ever got compliments from soundmen asking "What kind of bass amp is that? It's the best sounding amp I've ever heard" at all type of different venues. I started with SWR, moved to Ampeg then found my sound with the Eden WT-300's. The sound I got yesterday out of it was the same sound I remember

 

[Jugghaid]

The Silverado Special was definitely special.