It's refreshing to see a thread like this. Back in '05, when I joined Talkbass, there were so many posters who were trashing SWR for selling out to the evil devil, Fender. A lot were lamenting that the quality suffered and yada,yada,yada.
Personally, I had played for years, relying on different combinations of 15" speakers, mainly JBL and EV, but after playing a friend's 4x10, I decided to check out one for myself. My local shops had Peavey, SWR, and Ampeg. After A/Bing a Goliath III with an Ampeg 410 HLF, I was sold on the Goliath!
Full, clean lows and articulate mids and highs were the ticket for me, and the SWR delivered that in spades.
Shortly after my purchase, Hurricane Katrina drowned most of my amp gear (see pic below). I replaced the G III ASAP, and the following year, bought a 12Pack which gave me a different, but equally good tone. Unfortunately, I sold the 12Pack last year, but now regret doing so.
One thing the hurricane experience did do, was show me the build quality of the cabinet itself. Although the components and covering was ruined, I had a chance to inspect the joints and bracing of the cab and was very impressed. I still have it and am rebuilding it with the original PAS drivers (reconed).
Great sounding gear!
Personally, I had played for years, relying on different combinations of 15" speakers, mainly JBL and EV, but after playing a friend's 4x10, I decided to check out one for myself. My local shops had Peavey, SWR, and Ampeg. After A/Bing a Goliath III with an Ampeg 410 HLF, I was sold on the Goliath!
Full, clean lows and articulate mids and highs were the ticket for me, and the SWR delivered that in spades.
Shortly after my purchase, Hurricane Katrina drowned most of my amp gear (see pic below). I replaced the G III ASAP, and the following year, bought a 12Pack which gave me a different, but equally good tone. Unfortunately, I sold the 12Pack last year, but now regret doing so.
One thing the hurricane experience did do, was show me the build quality of the cabinet itself. Although the components and covering was ruined, I had a chance to inspect the joints and bracing of the cab and was very impressed. I still have it and am rebuilding it with the original PAS drivers (reconed).
Great sounding gear!
I couldn't resist. 
