SWR Super Red Head - opinions

[Ian B]

Anyone with experience of this amp ? Would appreciate comments as to - tone, power, reliability, and capacity to expand.

 

[CrashClint]

Anyone with experience of this amp ? Would appreciate comments as to - tone, power, reliability, and capacity to expand.

I played a Super Redhead 10 years ( you can see it in my avatar to the left) coupled with a 1-15" Son of Bertha which gave it about 425 watts. I had a pre-Fender model and the only issue I had in 10 years (besides replacing the $12 tube yearly) was that someone turned on Phantom Power when I was plugged in to the built in DI. On the older models, this is not a good thing. When it was repaired the amp tech went in and hard soldered ground wires. When I got the amp back it was so quiet you could hardly tell it was on and turned up. On the new ones this is not a problem and SWR will give you the kit for free to convert the olders ones, at least they did for me. Including repacing the tube, regrounding, adding new grounds and installing the new DI parts it cost me just under $80.

The amp has a lot of mid-range and to get the cleaner tone, I would turn the first mid knob full counter clockwise and turn the right mid knob full clockwise which would give you a nice full bottom and a very clean high. When I knew I was in a place where I had to cut through the mix, I would dial in more mids. The DI on these amps is good, I have recorded using the DI out and was very happy. If you are going to use phantom power while you are using this amp, it is best to switch to ground lift on the DI control on the front panel.

The amp is light enough so you don't break you back moving it around and rolls pretty good on the casters.

The amp has plenty of power for small to medium venues, if you have the luxery of going through a PA as well, it will work fine at larger venues. I found myself needing more power because I was not going through the PA, so I retired it as my main amp.

As of late I have seen a few go on ebay for around $750, someone got a great deal.

I hope this helps.

 

[Michael Vee]

Anyone with experience of this amp ? Would appreciate comments as to - tone, power, reliability, and capacity to expand.

Ian-

If you have additional questions after reading the following, please post and I'll do my best to answer them here.

I owned a 1998 Super Redhead from 1999 to April this year. I would not have sold it had I not had a lot of amp pieces already and was playing out more often.

I still say that the Super is one of the all-time finest combo amps ever made. The amp section is great. It has plenty of power for most gigs short of really loud rock and metal.. if you are gigging with adequate FOH support, the Super and possible a single extension cabinet will handle many types of music.

The connectivity options are many and can handle just about any studio or live situation.

I really liked the basic tone of the amp, either direct, mic'ed, or through the speaker section. SWR built really nice tube preamps!

I can't say enough good about the amp, and I said earlier, I really hated to sell it.

About the only negatives against all positives for the Super are its weight - 70-80 pounds- and the internal PAS 10's are not the deepest sounding speakers. You can dial in a fair amount of bass boost to compensate, but that has to be done carefully at higher volumes.

Otherwise, if you set the horn attenuation properly, you will get a great tone out of this amp. Many players forget to dial down the highs and the amp sounds harsh as a result.

I agree that $750 is an excellent price and is about the going rate for a Super in good condition. My personal feeling is that the older Supers will appreciate over time.

As a side note, one of the better sounding higher-volume setups I've heard for the Super is an extension subwoofer cabinet with a built-in passive crossover that routes the high pass to a jack that can be connected back to the Super's 10's input. Connect the output of the Redhead to the sub. That way, all the lows are going to the sub and everything else is going back to the 10's. That is a great option if you are needing to run the Super at high volume.

 

[62bass]

I haven't owned the Super Redhead but I've played through one when supplied as a backline on several gigs. I could always get a decent sound out of it. By itself it will put out a decent amount of sound and was usually adequate. It's not my first choice in amps but would do if I was stuck for a good amp. Some guys love that characteristic SWR sound though.

The weight is a big turnoff though. I'd much rather get a seperate head and a good modern and lightweight cabinet.

I don't know much about the reliability of the Super Redhead. I believe there was a problem with the first run with speakers not being up to the job but I think that got sorted out.

 

[Kenny Allyn]

I had one for about a year ... a little to Hi Fi for me and the PAS drivers are a little fragile. I added a BBE Maximizer in the rack space and that woke it up, I got to where I just left it on.

Sold it when I got my EA cab and MB LMII head ... smaller, lighter, fuller and louder!

... But it worked great with a 15 under it ... and would run a 2ohms so there is that.

 

[Ian B]

Thanks guys - just looking at a number of options. Your comments are appreciated.