• 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.

Double Bass SWR Spellbinder Blue

#21
Sorry to open an old thread but I need some quick help from anyone who might be familiar with the Spellbinder or Baby Blue Pre-Amp and plays DB. A club I played at last night and will play tomorrow just took delivery of a brand new Spellbinder Blue as the house bass amp! Problem is there no owners manual. Please don't suggest I go to the SWR site to download, I tried that, my computer uses a Chinese version of Windows, so I can't figure out downloading PDF's easily.
Does anyone have any quick and easy EQ settings they might want to offer me? I'm using a carved DB with a Realist and have the F-Deck Pre-Amp as well, but tried not using it as I'm told that the Spellbinder is a "DB Amp". Flat, the amp sounds quite good, but sometimes sounds a bit "quaky" in the upper mids. I messed with different positions of the tweeter dial, seems less is best. So what frequencys are best to cut to get a nice natural tone with the Realist? I can't do much of a test or soundcheck. I get to the gig with not much time to mess with the amp, and the room is allready full of paying guests. I'd be greatful for any help from anyone how might know their way around this amp. I'm kind'a dumb with this stuff, so used to old Walter Woods and the first generation Clarus amps I own, the SWR's tone controls seem very complicated to my old brain!
 
#22
Mike

Always with any new piece of equipment is to go flat. Watch your gain and master volume. Make small adjustments as needed. Effects bypassed. Compression at 10 o'clock. This will give you a good starting point and sound good. Horn level on the cab at 12 o'clock.

Jimi
 
#23
It's "the small ajustments as needed part" that difficult. Flat worked well enough for sure last night, most of the time that's how I used it. But "Realist" pickups often sound better with a bit of EQ. I guess I'm looking for an answer that goes like, "mids cut this much or that much at that frequency" or something like that. I really hit the ground running at this gig. No time to mess with the amp much.
 
#24
According to my experience with my old Electric Blue amp (the older version of the Spellbinder) I would suggest to cut mids at around 500 Hz a little, then to do the same with trebles around 2-3 Khz.
If the 12 o'clock position is flat, then the adjustment could be somewhere between 10-11 o'clock.
Just my experience with Realist, but with my bass, so this is hard to advice exactly...
 
#27
It's a very nice amp, but I honestly like my Acoustic Image better. More power! Also, I'm quite used to and content with it's sound and the sound of my WW Amp as well. But the SWR is I think a good choice for doubling. I used my Azola one night with it and it was great. I can imagine it would be very nice with electric bass. It's quite light weight, easy to carry and has a cool tiltback feature.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back