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SWR Workingmans Twelve ?

#21
sylvanbass said:
I bought one new in like 94 or 95. LOVED it and was a solid workhorse for smaller full band gigs on electric, as well as upright. Would probably still have it today, but it floated down the Cumberland river in the 2010 Nashville flood. Guess I should say sunk to the bottom of the river cause the only beef I had with it was it was remarkably heavy for such a small amp footprint wise.
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Ouch !!! Tough way to lose it. Sorry to that man.
 
#23
Not a lot of low end, but they sound fine. There are a lot of great combos out there now that I’d take a look at before committing to one of these. Will it keep up in a loud rock band? Definitely not. But decent in a quiet background situation. I’d probably pick something like an Ampeg RB112 or a Fender Rumble 100 over it. Lighter, louder, both sound really good.
 
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#24
I saw a guy in a punk band playing a Thunderbird through one in a bar last June and he was really loud. The guitarist had a smaller Fender combo…maybe a Deluxe Reverb.

I’ve played through one in a rehearsal space. It has the typical SWR tone, leave the Aural Enhancer full CCW and maybe boost the mids. If you have to really crank it, reduce the bass a bit…10:00 or so. Turn the tweeter off, it’s really harsh.

You can add an 8 ohm extension cab if you need more volume.
 
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#25
I have an original V1 and, like others have said, sounds great! I actually do have it listed for sale here only because of weight/storage space realities (not playing out or in a band currently). It’s just loud enough to play with a drummer on its own but using an extension speaker gives you some extra headroom.
 
#27
I don’t know about the 12 but I do like my working man 350 amp, i also gave my working man 150 amp to our local school, the kids sound great through it!
 
#28
i have the WorkingPro 12 (bottom pic of the 3) has been my cover band rehearsal amp for 5 years and was gigged at a small bar last weekend with no PA support for bass. sounds great works great. the one thing i don’t like about that particular model (which may be different than the other 2 in the pics) is that you either use the internal speaker OR an extension cab but you can’t do both. there is one speaker out plug and you either plug in the internal speaker or an ext cab. i also use an older workingman’s 10 which i LOVE and it allows you to add an ext cab to the internal speaker (and go from 80 to 120 watts at 4 ohm total load). the WorkingPro 12 is also darn heavy but at least it has both top and side handles and i really like the tilt back feature.
 
#29
I have a WM’s 12.
I bought it around 2000 when I had just moved to Chicago and hadn’t brought my big Hartke stack out yet, but needed an amp to get work.
It won’t quite keep up with a full band but it is an ok stage monitor when using the di.
Not sure what your budget is but a mesa walkabout 12 combo is about the same size and weight, but a step up in tone and volume.
 
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#30
Great amps. I have 2. One from 1999, and one from 2004. Both still work, both still sound great. Neither are good for gigs with any sort of loud drummer, but I still gig with mine on low-volume jazz gigs and other things. That said, I also have the companion Workingman's 1x10 extension cab and that can make it keep up with a tasteful drummer (i.e. one who uses brushes or 'power rods' vs. just sticks). Old gear, but still reliable and bulletproof. I'll never let my '99 go.... it was with me all through college and most of my early gigging career after school too.
 
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#31
Well, you've stated workingman's 12, but speak of a 15" driver...(?)
I picked up a 15" version a while ago for a song. Has a small horn tweeter, with a switch that kills the drivers for practice use, or just kill the tweeter and run the 15 alone if you don't need the extra-crispy tone. Very nice feature.
Ample volume - didn't like the tone so much for live settings, (much better gear on hand for that as you'd imagine), but for a punchy, full range amp for home or to leave at the practice house, it's a great powerhouse. As usual, I stuffed a fair volume of dacron in there to damp/focus the bass driver response and tame the honky-box tonality, and the sound tightened up to a more friendly, natural tone.
Certainly would be ample on an average size stage, no problem if you want to use it to get started gigging.
 
#32
DRBP said:
i have the WorkingPro 12 (bottom pic of the 3) has been my cover band rehearsal amp for 5 years and was gigged at a small bar last weekend with no PA support for bass. sounds great works great. the one thing i don’t like about that particular model (which may be different than the other 2 in the pics) is that you either use the internal speaker OR an extension cab but you can’t do both. there is one speaker out plug and you either plug in the internal speaker or an ext cab. i also use an older workingman’s 10 which i LOVE and it allows you to add an ext cab to the internal speaker (and go from 80 to 120 watts at 4 ohm total load). the WorkingPro 12 is also darn heavy but at least it has both top and side handles and i really like the tilt back feature.
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The earlier two versions had an 8-ohm internal speaker and you could add an 8-ohm extension cabinet simultaneously to get the full 120 watts at 4 ohms. I believe version 3 used a 4-ohm internal speaker leading to the problem you describe with an either/or speaker output. I'd avoid that version for that reason.
 
#33
Mine sounded fine up to moderately loud levels for basement jams with a drummer who didn't hit too hard, but beyond that it began go get a bit gnarly sounding, and not in a good way. The amp was more capable than the speaker cabinet so I eventually gave the cabinet to a friend who installed a GK M150s head into it. I made a nice oak head case for the chassis with a proper cutout, top and bottom, for the heatsink to be able to dissipate the heat it generated. In the original combo cabinet the heatsink is trapped between carpet covering and can get overly hot when pushed (actually, it got rather warm/hot even when not pushed, a characteristic trait of SWR amps). I kind of wish I kept the WM;s 12 amp section, it, on its own, sounded excellent.
 
#34
I owned one. There are 2 versions of it. The stepped front is a SWR made, angled front was fender made. Mine was the fender made.
1. Killer sound. Can get loud.
2. I tried to use a 8ohm extension speaker, sounded good but the heat sink was so hot I could not touch it.
Fender stopped making them when the latest Rumble series came out.
I heard from a very reliable source that the latest Rumbles were planned to be SWR labeled and it uses some SWR technology. I have a Rumble 100 for my small gigs and practice. It holds its own.
 
#35
brianrost said:
I saw a guy in a punk band playing a Thunderbird through one in a bar last June and he was really loud. The guitarist had a smaller Fender combo…maybe a Deluxe Reverb.


I’ve played through one in a rehearsal space. It has the typical SWR tone, leave the Aural Enhancer full CCW and maybe boost the mids. If you have to really crank it, reduce the bass a bit…10:00 or so. Turn the tweeter off, it’s really harsh.

You can add an 8 ohm extension cab if you need more volume.
Click to expand...

Then using the effects loop to make sure that all if the subtleties of my modulation effects would be pointless
AMJBASS said:
Not a lot of low end, but they sound fine. There are a lot of great combos out there now that I’d take a look at before committing to one of these. Will it keep up in a loud rock band? Definitely not. But decent in a quiet background situation. I’d probably pick something like an Ampeg RB112 or a Fender Rumble 100 over it. Lighter, louder, both sound really good.
Click to expand...
I was looking at both of those until I saw the SWR !!
bobcruz said:
The earlier two versions had an 8-ohm internal speaker and you could add an 8-ohm extension cabinet simultaneously to get the full 120 watts at 4 ohms. I believe version 3 used a 4-ohm internal speaker leading to the problem you describe with an either/or speaker output. I'd avoid that version for that reason.
Click to expand...
bobcruz said:
The earlier two versions had an 8-ohm internal speaker and you could add an 8-ohm extension cabinet simultaneously to get the full 120 watts at 4 ohms. I believe version 3 used a 4-ohm internal speaker leading to the problem you describe with an either/or speaker output. I'd avoid that version for that reason.
Click to expand...
Either / or ? Oh heeelllll no !! I'm thinking that I'd have the existing 15" WITH an extension cab using 10"s or 12"s.
 
#36
Jeff Scott said:
Mine sounded fine up to moderately loud levels for basement jams with a drummer who didn't hit too hard, but beyond that it began go get a bit gnarly sounding, and not in a good way. The amp was more capable than the speaker cabinet so I eventually gave the cabinet to a friend who installed a GK M150s head into it. I made a nice oak head case for the chassis with a proper cutout, top and bottom, for the heatsink to be able to dissipate the heat it generated. In the original combo cabinet the heatsink is trapped between carpet covering and can get overly hot when pushed (actually, it got rather warm/hot even when not pushed, a characteristic trait of SWR amps). I kind of wish I kept the WM;s 12 amp section, it, on its own, sounded excellent.
Click to expand...
Ah-ha !!! That is the kind of nugget of info that I was looking for. The issue of the heat sink raises concerns because the amp would be being pushed.
 
#37
Tom Henrich said:
Ah-ha !!! That is the kind of nugget of info that I was looking for. The issue of the heat sink raises concerns because the amp would be being pushed.
Click to expand...

The heat sink issue isn't really an 'issue' per-se.... it's the way all SWR amps were designed to function for the most part. The heat sink and chassis were intended to disperse the heat in a fan-less setup. I never had an SWR amp go into thermal shutdown on me at all, but I also wasn't ever pushing it to its max. If it's a major concern, you could do what I did when I had the amp on a hot outdoor gig in summer once.... I got a clip-on battery powered fan and attached it to the amp, and pointed it at the heat sink. It's 100 watts without an extension cab... you can only push it so much.
 
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#39
I bought one new in the 90s and have used until last year. The speaker isn't loud enough to compete with a drummer so I always plugged into a 4X10 cabinet for band practice and gigs. I used to think it had a nice tone but now I have a mesa TT-800 which sounds better to me.
 
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