SWR Workingman 12 Combo - THANK YOU !

[David McIntire]

Percy? Older brother, maybe!

Here's a better shot of Percy's WM15 (the Baby Blue II was mine, and Percy very much took notice of it).
View attachment 5315177
Sorry about the guy blocking part of it.

So is the Bass Monitor 12 that I had, but from the front, it matches the older WM12 perfectly.



These are a very good reasons to have a fan running across the heatsink to help cool it down.

The Bass Monitor 12 I had was a wedge monitor, and a Pro Series cab, I thot. I don't remember SWR making a matching 112 to the combo. They had a Workingman's 110 combo with a matching cab, but I don't remember a 112. Later, Fender/SWR had a GoLight 112. That would be a great match fer the combo.

 

[JazznFunk]

I always paired it with a Workingman's 1x10 or 2x10 cab. Never tried it with a single 1x15 cab, though I do have one. As long as it's 8 ohm you're good. Remember... it's only 120 watts or so with an extension cab.

 

[ihixulu]

I have the WM12’s little brother, the 10 and I’ve occasionally used my SoB 115 as an extension cab for it. Works well, adds a lot of fullness and is surprisingly loud for 100w or so.

 

[40Hz]

Problem is the SWR Goliath Jr. II is a 4 ohm cab. He would have to disconnect the in-house speaker and run the WM12 as a head only. The WM12 head only goes down to 4 ohms. Hope this helps. Great find.

Probably more trouble than it’d be worth for him if that’s the case.

On the other hand it might be easier to just hunt down an SM-400 or 500 and get a cab for it. Last I looked they were going for pretty low prices.

 

[burgerdj]

Great amp, congratulations on the score! I played one of these on a backline with an Aggie GS as an extension. Sounded really full!

 

[Jeff Scott]

They had a Workingman's 110 combo with a matching cab...

Back near the end of the previous century I helped a friend find a suitable bass amp for him. He ended up with the WM10 combo, a great little amp that I wouldn't mind having, myself. IIRC, it is bassically a variation of the Strawberry Blond guitar amp.

 

[MrLenny1]

I say get a SWR 15 cab.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

Percy? Older brother, maybe!

Here's a better shot of Percy's WM15 (the Baby Blue II was mine, and Percy very much took notice of it).
View attachment 5315177
So is the Bass Monitor 12 that I had, but from the front, it matches the older WM12 .

I still have my Monitor 12. Actually one of the best sounding 12” cabs I have heard. I believe it was considered a pro series cab. Especially judging by the input section. My WM15 cab was no comparison to this one. I read that it has a bag end speaker. It’s semi retired.

 

[Jeff Scott]

This the only photo I have of my old Bass Monitor 12.

I had a Tuki cover made for it (great company, BTW).

 

[Tom Henrich]

There's a resident WM15 combo in the practice space used by one of my bands... It's not in the best shape and doesn't really have a lot of headroom, but it gets loud enough for band practice in that room... What I really love about it is the ability to dial in good sounds with its various controls... like the design team really put thought into the features to make everything actually useful... I love it so much that I'm actually considering getting a used WorkingPro 700 head to be my own next bass head for gigging etc., despite much more compact bass head options out there nowadays, because the control layout is so similar to the WM combo.

I'm glad that I got mine. I agree. The amp has a lot of cool features, none of which are pointless. It was definitely well designed. I haven't played with other humans in the room since the early 90s. Life's circumstances changed and now I can put together or hookup with a band. I'd like this to be the only amp I'll ever need. I'm already thinking that if I need more headroom I'll buy an extension cab.

From what I've seen, DI to the board is generally the norm. My understanding is that you have zero control of the DI on the amp. No volume, no tone from the amp. I'm thinking that I'll get a DI box and run cable from the send on the effects loop into it.

 

[Tom Henrich]

I saw Bag End come up earlier in this thread. I use 2 of their dual 18 subs in my front of house PA and they keep up with (and can even overpower) 8 tops! Easily sound like twice the cab they are and play lower than anything else on the market under $10,000. This is with their own signal processor the chain though (sound rather average without it).

They are on the heavy side though, but a 1x12, 2x12, or 1x15 with an ELF/Infra processor would make a powerful bass rig even if you tune to drop G#!

I can see me getting an extension cab. Even if I don't need it. LOL.

 

[Tom Henrich]

i replied to your original post. i have a workingmans 1x10 and a workingpro 1x12. find a workingman 1x15 cabinet and rock the heck out of it. that is what i use with my workingman 1x10 combo and it works and sounds great. this is really good gear. i have Ampeg, GK, and SWR gear and like it all. the SWR stuff is really good, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. a workingman 1x15 cab is reasonably light and puts out great sound. they can be had pretty cheap if you keep your eyes open. nobody wants SWR gear anymore so prices are reasonable. you have to keep that in mind because repair might not be possible so remember it could be disposable gear. with that in mind, my oldest SWR is the 1x10 combo at 26 years and the youngest is the workingpro 1`x12 combo at about 8 years and it all works great. rock it and have fun!!!!

I love mine. I don't plan on buying another bass amp. An extension cab is probable. Why would SWR fall out of favor ? So many bass players are giving them high praise.

 

[Tom Henrich]

Rock on, my friend. Congratulations.

I actually recommend a single 15” cab. It will be lighter than a 210 while also having more speaker surface area. And at some point when/if you outgrow the WM12, get another matching 15” and a head.

There are also lightweight Neo 12’s around.

410’s are heavy unwieldy beasts to lug around; and tens aren’t the only way to get the tight punchy tone you seek.

Thanks for the tip. I forgot that I have a Marshall 4x10. Actually it's my son's. He hasn't used it in years. I should plug it into the WM just to get an idea. If it sounds decent my son can have the luxury of doing the lugging. LOL.

 

[Tom Henrich]

When we got old.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

 

[Tom Henrich]

Love the WM 12? Try its big brother, the California Blonde

While the WM is dependable, the CB is joyous.

I think I heard about them. Tube preamp, right ?

 

[DRBP]

because it isn’t the latest and greatest. it is still really good gear and i have a LOT of playing time on mine and i am glad to have them. my big outdoor rig is a GK RB1001 powered stack and i LOVE it. i sometimes use an MB500 with a GK neo 112 or 115 for smaller gigs and they are fantastic. but the SWR stuff is great and i use it regularly and get compliments on the sound and it is easy for me to dial in my sound. like with lots of things (except maybe old fender basses and old fender guitar amps…) if it isn’t the current darling of the internet nobody is much interested. when i find this stuff cheap i just buy it! that is what happened with the workingpro 12. craigslist listed for 100 bucks in a town 75 miles away where we shop for big stuff. contacted that day, they were home, offered 75 bought for 80. still had the sticker on the grille. have had it at our rehearsal venue for 5 years until just recently when that band called it quits. played it at a small venue for last gig with 6 piece band and acoustic 5 pc drum set and it kept up just fine. love the swr stuff. wish Rabe had never sold it but i certainly get the profit he made and can’t blame him. get this stuff and rock it hard!!!!

 

[Tom Henrich]

because it isn’t the latest and greatest. it is still really good gear and i have a LOT of playing time on mine and i am glad to have them. my big outdoor rig is a GK RB1001 powered stack and i LOVE it. i sometimes use an MB500 with a GK neo 112 or 115 for smaller gigs and they are fantastic. but the SWR stuff is great and i use it regularly and get compliments on the sound and it is easy for me to dial in my sound. like with lots of things (except maybe old fender basses and old fender guitar amps…) if it isn’t the current darling of the internet nobody is much interested. when i find this stuff cheap i just buy it! that is what happened with the workingpro 12. craigslist listed for 100 bucks in a town 75 miles away where we shop for big stuff. contacted that day, they were home, offered 75 bought for 80. still had the sticker on the grille. have had it at our rehearsal venue for 5 years until just recently when that band called it quits. played it at a small venue for last gig with 6 piece band and acoustic 5 pc drum set and it kept up just fine. love the swr stuff. wish Rabe had never sold it but i certainly get the profit he made and can’t blame him. get this stuff and rock it hard!!!!

That makes sense. In the 2000s I got sucked into the whole digital modeling crap. Line 6 this, Line 6 that. Amps with all of the on board effects etc... Admittedly I lost my way and in the mid 90s -> '21 and played mainly guitar and didn't see what was going on in the bass gear world. Man a lot changed. LOL.

I'm floored with this thing. Sounds incredible and what they put in this little package... Limiter, DI, effects loop that you can blend ? On / off for tweeter and aural enhancer ? 120W that can have a cab added ? And the absolute best feature is the amp's name is a Rush song !!!

 

[DRBP]

and i am a huge rush fan! wish i could play even half as well as Geddy…

 

[DRBP]

That makes sense. In the 2000s I got sucked into the whole digital modeling crap. Line 6 this, Line 6 that. Amps with all of the on board effects etc... Admittedly I lost my way and in the mid 90s -> '21 and played mainly guitar and didn't see what was going on in the bass gear world. Man a lot changed. LOL.

I'm floored with this thing. Sounds incredible and what they put in this little package... Limiter, DI, effects loop that you can blend ? On / off for tweeter and aural enhancer ? 120W that can have a cab added ? And the absolute best feature is the amp's name is a Rush song !!!

sorry for the duplicate post. trying to remember how to make the quote thing worK! maybe that is why i like SWR stuff, it predates all this computer controlled digital crap (yes, i have a pedalboard with digital crap on it… let me be the grumpy old fart here for a minute…) and it has actual knobs and switches on it and i can make it work!

 

[dBChad]

I'm on my third SWR amp (SM900) and I just keep circling back around to it. Sounds killer, plays well with an overly-complicated pedalboard, loaded with features that a bassist will actually use.

I think they fallout of favor in recent years due to the scarcity of replacement parts and the deep dive maintenance schedules lining up. My SM900 has been rock solid, although I had a scare once when it started cutting out with a guy who borrowed it to drive his Ampeg 8x10 cab. Turns out the impedance selector switch for the speaker jack was rattling into the center detent and a small piece of gaffer tape holding the switch in the appropriate position fixed it for the whole rest of the show.

SWR was sold to Fender, who for a while put out a lot of amps that looked like the SWR predecessors, but then they went back to the Bassman roots and released the Rumble line for blue collar bassists (which probably borrowed some SWR topology). I think Eden has the closest sound of modern bass amps, but even they seem to be a little different from the Eden I remember in the 90's (I think that brand may have been sold also and is under new ownership, but I'm not sure who).