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SWR

#6
Do you mean, was the line of products that SWR put out in 2005 considered good? That would have been a couple of years after they were acquired by Fender. My feeling is by that time they were chasing the market rather than offering any real innovative products. The Marcus Miller v2 preamp might be an exception to that, and maybe some other pieces I'm forgetting about, but the glory years for SWR were from their inception until about 1996. Part of that was changing tastes among players, and gradually in the mid to late '90's the "SWR sound" just wasn't as desirable in general. I include myself in that - I had an SWR endorsement and was a heavy user of their stuff from around 1988-1997, but toward the end of that period my ears were out for a different sound.

I still own a couple of SWR pieces, actually both are from the early 2000's - a Marcus Miller v2 pre and a Mo' Bass head. I don't use either that much, but it's worth it to me to hang onto them.

Sorry if that's more information than you were looking for, probably a yes or no answer would have been sufficient.
 
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#10
ad9000 said:
Do you mean, was the line of products that SWR put out in 2005 considered good? That would have been a couple of years after they were acquired by Fender. My feeling is by that time they were chasing the market rather than offering any real innovative products. The Marcus Miller v2 preamp might be an exception to that, and maybe some other pieces I'm forgetting about, but the glory years for SWR were from their inception until about 1996. Part of that was changing tastes among players, and gradually in the mid to late '90's the "SWR sound" just wasn't as desirable in general. I include myself in that - I had an SWR endorsement and was a heavy user of their stuff from around 1988-1997, but toward the end of that period my ears were out for a different sound.

I still own a couple of SWR pieces, actually both are from the early 2000's - a Marcus Miller v2 pre and a Mo' Bass head. I don't use either that much, but it's worth it to me to hang onto them.

Sorry if that's more information than you were looking for, probably a yes or no answer would have been sufficient.
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Thx
 
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#13
Not sure about SWR's quality around 2005, but in the 90's their equipment was good in my opinion.
I've owned a Bass 350 amp, a Goliath JR III 2x10 cab, and a Working Man's 4X10 cab.
Still have the cabs, but sold the amp.

I've also briefly owned an SWR Headlite, which is from the mid 2000's product line.
Didn't keep it long as I was not fond of the amp's tone.

I've never had any issues with SWR equipment I've used.
 
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#17
I had head and 410 cab. Cab was good, although heavy, and the head was so, so. Used it for a long time. Reliable but was glad the get a head that covered more ground sonically.
 
#19
Stylee Mousse said:
I never enjoyed playing through them.

Back when they were everywhere in the 90’s I was a diehard GK guy on my way to becoming an SVT player
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I agree. When in the market for a new amp years ago, a dealer showed me an SWR Studio 220?/Goliath 4x10. I hated it! Speaker cones dancing all over the place but not much sound. (I attribute that to wasted sub sonic energy). Needed a HPF more than any amp ever!!
Then he showed me a GK800RB. It was the "alter ego" of the SWR. Tight and punchy. Needless to say, I bought the GK and an EDEN 410T cab. And for those about to tell me the EDEN and SWR cabinets were the same thing, they were until SWR switched to PAS drivers. And they sounded much different than EDEN's made in house EC drivers. Point is the GK had the tone I sought. The SWR left me underwhelmed.
 

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