SWR working pro 400?

[pcollin]

I was hoping to get some feedback regarding this amp. A local guitar shop that I go to offered me a brand new (still in box) SWR working pro 400 head for $599.99. They don't stock my Ampeg SVT-410 HLF cab (I'd like to check it out with my cab) My questions are these:
1) is this a good deal?
2) is it bad manners to show up with my cab to check out this amp?
3) is this amp any better than my current Ampeg B2RE?
4) is this amp good for playing straight-ahead rock/covers? Nice full sound?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[jaywa]

I bought one this spring. It's a decent amp, but if I had it to do over again I would have banked another couple gigs' worth of checks and bought something with a tube preamp.

Plusses

- Bass Intensifier circuit gives a really deep and rich low-end sound that I find works really well on ballads, gospel type stuff and Motown/R&B tunes and would probably be great for reggae too (just don't overdo it or it will gobble up your headroom in a hurry - by "overdo" I mean anything more than about 12 o'clock on either of the two Bass Intensifier knobs)

- Footswitch (Mute and Bass Enhancer in/out) is really handy, well constructed and has a nice long cord.

- Lots of flexibility with the XLR out. There's a 10 db pad (handy for one sound guy I work with a lot who's always complaining my signal is too hot), a ground lift (though I have never had to use it), and a Direct/Line selector switch (Direct = pre all signal processing, Line = post EQ).

- Noticeably better construction than other companies' heads in the same power range and price point. Just for one example, the power cord that comes with this is about twice the gauge I had with my Hartke. Considering practically every amp at this price point is built someplace other than the U.S. today, that's an important consideration.

Minuses

- For 400 watts it doesn't really get very loud (though in fairness I am only running it into one 410 [8 ohms] so am not using the full power). I am having to run both the pre gain and master volume at about twice the levels of my previous head (Hartke 3500) to get equivalent volume. Even if I was running a second 410 I would be very skeptical that this amp has the juice to fill more than a moderately sized indoor stage and I don't think it would be up to a big outdoor gig at all.

- When not using the Bass Enhancer, the tone is pretty well... weak. When something that is marketed as a "feature" is actually necessary to even make the amp sonically viable, that's always a bit of a concern.

- It takes a fair amount of time and work to get the preamp gain and EQ set up in the sweet spot. They say you are supposed to run the gain up just until the clip light comes on but I have an active bass and have never come close to that level even with the Gain knob cranked full. Also, while the EQ is straightforward, you will really want to go to the TalkBass archives and find where the various recommended settings are posted because I had a hard time getting it dialed in just on my own.

- Even with the Bass Intensifier this will never be mistaken for a tube amp. If you go with this amp I would highly recommend you plan on fronting it with a SansAmp BDDI (as I do) or some other component to add some "tube-yness" unless a strict solid state sound is your thing. I do have to say that now that I have the EQ dialed in, the combination of the BDDI with the WorkingPro 400 amp is putting out some pretty good sound for straight ahead rock.

The bottom line for me is that I don't like the WP 400 as much as I liked my c. 1993 Hartke 3500. But Hartke is not making the quality of stuff they used to so for the money and power, the WP 400 is the better value option.

And no, it is definitely not bad form to ask to try it out with your own cabinet. I assume you'd be trying it with your own bass, so using your cabinet as well only makes sense.

 

[Shovelbone]

I bought one this spring. It's a decent amp, but if I had it to do over again I would have banked another couple gigs' worth of checks and bought something with a tube preamp.

Plusses
- Bass Intensifier circuit gives a really deep and rich low-end sound that I find works really well on ballads, gospel type stuff and Motown/R&B tunes and would probably be great for reggae too (just don't overdo it or it will gobble up your headroom in a hurry)
- Footswitch (Mute and Bass Enhancer in/out) is really handy, well constructed and has a nice long cord.
- Lots of flexibility with the XLR out. There's a 10 db pad (handy for one sound guy I work with a lot who's always complaining my signal is too hot), a ground lift (though I have never had to use it), and a Direct/Line selector switch (Direct = pre all signal processing, Line = post EQ).
- Noticeably better construction than other companies' heads in the same power range and price point. Just for one example, the power cord that comes with this is about twice the gauge I had with my Hartke. Considering practically every amp at this price point is built someplace other than the U.S. today, that's an important consideration.

Minuses
- For 400 watts it doesn't really get very loud (though in fairness I am only running it into one 410 [8 ohms] so am not using the full power). I am having to run both the pre gain and master volume at about twice the levels of my previous head (Hartke 3500) to get equivalent volume.
- When not using the Bass Enhancer, the tone is pretty well... weak. When something that is marketed as a "feature" is actually necessary to even make the amp sonically viable, that's always a bit of a concern.
- It takes a fair amount of time and work to get the preamp gain and EQ set up in the sweet spot. They say you are supposed to run the gain up just until the clip light comes on but I have an active bass and have never come close to that level even with the Gain knob cranked full. Also, while the EQ is straightforward, you will really want to go to the TalkBass archives and find where the various recommended settings are posted because I had a hard time getting it dialed in just on my own.
- Even with the Bass Intensifier this will never be mistaken for a tube amp. If you go with this amp I would highly recommend you plan on fronting it with a SansAmp BDDI (as I do) or some other component to add some "tube-yness" unless a strict solid state sound is your thing.

I purchased this amp back in February and I have to say that I agree totally. Its solidly built and its a good middle of the road amp. I also have had issues with getting it dialed in for the tone that I want. Given the bass intensifier does give it a richer low end sound, just like the previous post states you should never expect this unit to sound like a tube amp!

 

[Mikeyd74]

I have the SWR WorkingPro 400 and the Ampeg SVT-410 HLF and it's REALLY amazing. The Ampeg cab handles just about anything the SWR can throw at it. The "bass intensifier" makes the cabinet rumble with super deep low end and it holds it together without distorting. I would highly recommend this combination of head and cabinet to anyone.
I personally disagree with people that say that this amp isn't loud. I think that it's REALLY loud, but that could just be the combination of my SWR head which is 400 watts @ 4 ohms and the Ampeg cabinet which is 500 watts @ 4 ohms.
I also own an Ampeg B2R head, it's what I originally used with the SVT-410 HLF cabinet. I think that your B2RE has more wattage then my B2R, but I can easily say that the SWR head blows the B2R away in terms of volume and clarity.
There is also a big difference in the general sound of the Ampeg and the SWR. The Ampeg has an almost midrange honk to it where the SWR has a smoother midrange with deep lows and crisp highs.
As for the "bass intensifier" I agree that it's necessary to use it all the time, but I learned to use it as a tool. I turn it off when I use an effect that sweeps low frenquencies such as my Maestro Phaser or my Zoom's synth/wah setting. Some effects wreak havoc with the lower frequencies where it's to the point that there is too much bass. The "bass intensifer" is super useful in that you have a way to turn it on or off with the footswitch which also has a mute button on it. It's really handy cuz it still sends a signal to my tuner from the tuner output on the amp. I really appreciated it at gigs, my Ampeg didn't have a mute or a tuner output.
There is also the "aural enhancer" control which is kind of hard to explain. I think of it as a "room tuner" in that it helps dial in the "presence" of the bass depending on the size and shape of a room. It's almost like it gently shapes your tone to fill in the room completely and evenly without changing all of your main settings. I don't know how else to describe it.
To answer your question, if you want to try out an amp there should be no problem bringing your cabinet to the store. Just call and ask them ahead of time, if they are decent store they should say yes.
By the way, I hope you get the SWR so I have someone to compare notes with. I don't think I've seen anyone else using the same combination as me.

 

[woodenskillet]

I'm late to the game on this thread, but I will offer my two cents....

I picked up a SWR 350X a while back and was underwhelmed with the volume it delivered when connected to the single 4 ohm Avatar 2x12 that I had. I sold the Avatar and bought a used SWR Goliath III 4x10 8 ohm cab. I was able to get more volume and a better overall tone, but it still wasn't quite what I wanted. I found an older 8 ohm SWR Workingman's 2x10T and added that to the system. All problems were solved - the increase in volume was amazing - it completely overwhelmed the guitarists Fender 4x10 setup.

Anyway, I would definitely try the amp with some different cabinet configurations before coming to a conclusion. I've read numerous posts where people complain about how weak the SWR 350X is and they steer people elsewhere. If I had only tried this amp with the single 2x12 cabinet, this may have been my conclusion. But now I have the same amp pushing 6 tens and I have more volume and tone than I could ever have hoped for.

 

[IvanMike]

the wp stuff is kinda like an "i can make cheap stuff too" on the part of swr. no, swr power sections are not as loud as some others. for that kind of money you could pick up any number of used higher end heads including a 350.

NO it is not bad manners to show up with your gear to try a possible purchase out so long as you give them a heads up. Any place that won't let you do that is not worth shopping at. Period.