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SWR = Fender

#22
Originally posted by Fuzzbass
FYI, here's a post from Fender's Morgan Ringwald:
Guys, this is not simply driven by a bottom line. We want to make a diverse offering of killer bass amps, and we're poised to do that ... for *you*.
Click to expand...

Why, that's straight out of the 'corporate takeover manual.'

"It's not all about the bottom line,
what we really care about is *you*."

ROTFLMAO Invalid Link Removed

Link Removed
 
#24
You guys are killing me here. SWR products are completely unrelaible. They may sound good to you(and even me), but they are made to sit there, not as professional touring gear. Every piece of SWR gear I have owned has crapped out on me at some point!!!!! They are junk for touring. Here is a list of the amps/cabs that I have owned that stopped working or blew up mysteriously:

SM400
Mo' Bass
Bass 750
Big Bertha
Henry 8X8

Here is a list of the SWR gear that did not blow up:

Goliath Sr.
Goliath Jr.

I can name no other brand of bass equipment I have owned with this bad of a track record. Maybe Fender can help in this area. Who knows?! This could go either way. Fender makes what is considered the industy standard bass, I do have some faith in them. Also, I feel that their bassman 1200 and the 400 are great amps. That's just my take on it. I won't buy an SWR product ever again until they fix their reliability issues no matter who owns the company.
 
#25
Originally posted by xcental34x
On one hand there is the expected chance that SWR will be flourish under the Fender brand, but there is the dreary possibility of what could happen. Fender to me are nothing more than coporate whores. They buy up all the can and shelve it. Look at all they've bought in the past. Jackson, Charvel, Guild, Gretsch, Guild. I've not heard much positives about these brands since Fenders aquisitions. I have a Goliath Sr that I am very proud to say is mine. You know why. Its the best 6x10 cabinet you can find anywhere. It kills everything that attempts to come close. Now what? I like SWR how it was. The clearest, punchiest aounding bass amps I've ever heard. I don't see any goodthat will come out of thi. I think I'm going to sell my Jazz and P-bass. I will never purchase a Fender made SWR. Fender can kiss my nutsack and goto hell. I'm almost in tears. Its off to GK Land for me. What next? Fender and Musicians Friend merger?

SWR: Rest In Pieces June, 1984-June, 2003

~Patrick

Stephen W Rabe Sold Out!
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I think you need to relax, Dude. The sky isn't falling.

I find it amusing that you think Fender can do no good, and are nothing but whores while playing two of their basses.

I mean, really....if they are whores, and you play only Fender basses (if your profile is accurate), what does that make you?

How about you wait until the ink is dry on the contract before you protest by selling your Fender basses....
 
#26
Originally posted by bassmonkeee


I think you need to relax, Dude. The sky isn't falling.

I find it amusing that you think Fender can do no good, and are nothing but whores while playing two of their basses.

I mean, really....if they are whores, and you play only Fender basses (if your profile is accurate), what does that make you?

How about you wait until the ink is dry on the contract before you protest by selling your Fender basses....
Click to expand...
 
#27
Originally posted by xcental34x
And yeah, I own two Fender made basses. An original Fender. Not companies that they bought. Plus I got some good deals on them that I couldn't resist. I never said Fender couldn't do any good. I just hate the whole buy other companies up gig.

Lets face it, Gibson ruined Trace Elliot and Tobias, and I expect Fender to do the same as SWR. I owe a certain bit of loyalty to SWR.

~Patrick
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I could understand being mad if it was some corporate takeover. That's not the case. No one forced SWR to sign a deal--it's not like Fender bought 51% of the stock and fired the board. For all you know, SWR approached Fender when Eden signed on with US Music Co.

Fender isn't Gibson. Gibson isn't Fender. What one did has no bearing whatsoever on what the other is going to do.

And, if you have any kind of loyalty to SWR, don't you owe it to them to trust their judgement when it comes to making a business decision?

In any event, if you are as disgusted by your Fender basses as you were when you were thinking about selling them in protest, I'll be happy to give ya $50 for them. They are....tainted after all.....
 
#28
Originally posted by bassmonkeee

In any event, if you are as disgusted by your Fender basses as you were when you were thinking about selling them in protest, I'll be happy to give ya $50 for them. They are....tainted after all.....
Click to expand...

Well, by the same logic, that Goliath Sr. he treasures so much should be sold too, after all, they sold out to Fender, right? Y'know, being tainted and all. I'll give ya $50 as well for it...
 
#29
I deleted my 2 condescending posts toward Patrick because I feel they are unnecessary. I was not aware that he was 17 or else I would have chalked it up to the naivety of youth. But I will say that I hope that SWR is able to fix their reliability problems and Patrick is able to find the right head for his cab. I have too many gigs to play to bicker with anyone.

:D
 
#30
Originally posted by xcental34x
Yup, your right there, phogchris. I have no idea what I'm talking about at all. Absolutely nothing. I just buy whatever, without any knowledge whatsoever. I never even heard of SWR before I bought my cab or what a bass was when I bought my P-bass. You right. OMG, your so right. I bow down to your outstanding knowledge that is so supperior to mine, because I have none.
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Just because you understand P-Basses and SWR cabinets doesn't mean you have a good grasp of how they do business. I can't say I do either, but it's probably wise to wait and see. I mean, it COULD be really good.
 
#33
also, i'm glad someone brought up reliability issues at SWR. the woeful lack of reliability in the mo'bass wasn't a secret. hopefully fender can help that, and when the current crop of products loses its steam, they can hopefully maintain the SWR sound while enhancing build quality and lowering the price.

it could happen.

robb.
 
#34
Just a little aside about FMIC. At one time I had a 1970 P-bass that came from the factory with a 'thin' (Jazz) neck. Nice action. Obligatory Fender 'dead spots'. Pickup sucked. I bought it used in '73 for $175 and played it for a dozen years. I noticed that it needed a truss rod adjustment . I tried my best but it would not budge. Turns out that they had cut the threads on the adjustment nuts...then sent them out to be plated. End result: after all those years the plating came off and boogered the threads. The neck was not adjustable. I called Fender in 1986 and described what I found. I told them I had bought the bass used, 12 years earlier. Their response (immediately)"What neck do you want?" They shipped me three different necks, all at their expense, before I had one that satisfied me. They covered all of the expenses and acted embarrassed that their product had let me down.
No, I no longer play Fender basses-but I just wanted to add my experiences with them to balance out the "customer disservice" remarks made earlier. To me, they were a class act all the way. I was a nobody to them and they enthusiastically volunteered to make good.

Kim
 
#35
Originally posted by PollyBass

What if fender "mucked with the specs" and made them even better?

Right, and i'm a nice guy.
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Dude, I hope that everyone is wrong and they DO make things better...but everyone is entitled to their opinion and has the right to express it...and who cares about the amp as long as you play a Spector?

;)
 
#36
Well, the heads may have been very quiet... and overpriced... and unreliable... but the ones that worked sounded great and the tone that SWR brought to the masses was very nice. The cabs, though, were amazing. I still love my Goliath III (with a GK head).

But that's all over... time to start considering the boutique stuff when I need another cab.

The word "buyout", no matter what anyone seems to say, is a bad thing in most cases:
Tobias
Steinberger
Spector
Trace Elliot

On the other side of the coin though, what became of bought out dudes:
MTD
NS Design
Spector USA (and Czech, I suppose)

Maybe Steven will expand Raven Labs and make boutique amps and cabs again and revolutionize amp technology... hmmmm?
 
#37
Originally posted by rojo412
The word "buyout", no matter what anyone seems to say, is a bad thing in most cases:
Click to expand...

Maybe so. Still, we should keep in mind that exceptions are possible. For one, Hamer IMO is making better guitars now than they ever did, even after being bought by Kaman. And the Benedetto-designed Guild-Fender guitars are really pretty good. And hey, isn't it thanks to a BMW buyout that we have the return of the Mini Cooper?:D
 
#39
My 2 eurocents in this discussion...

I don't think the Fender takeover is a good thing, but we can't know that until they release a new product line, don't we ??

Anyway, I own one of the last SM-400s heads and a 'new' Goliath III (with the shiny front, as opposed to the 'matte' front). I've tried the newer amps (350, 500,...) and they wouldn't do for me. I'm super-happy I have the older 400 head.

As far as reliable: I play about 150 gigs a year with this set and I have no tech or assistance. Besides the fact that the head lost about 7 screws and the replacement of the toob every two years (have the rig for about 6 years now) the thing works excellent.

(btw: I have a newer Workinman12 too, they sound kind of different when compared to the older versions)


Herwig
 

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