SWR

[J-Bass RMR]

IIRC
Rabe sold the company in the later 90s.
The new owner sold SWR to Fender in 2003.
I don't know how quickly Fender "assimilated" the SWR line after that, but SWR was over within 10 years.

 

[Stylee Mousse]

They're hella scooped though.

that would go a long way to explaining what didn’t please me about them! A that time a mid-forward, edge of breakup tone was my thing. I couldn’t make it “clang”.

 

[Clark Westfield]

I have a SWR LA10 that I think is the best sounding bedroom/practice amp I have ever played through.

Articulate, clear and very nice bass at low volumes.

Present from a coworker, so the price was perfect.

 

[jerry]

 

[Alec Berfield]

Well I changed course altogether and my new rig is now…

Trickfish Bullhead .5k 700 watt version

Schroeder 1210 PL

For now I’m safe.

Thanks all!!!!

 

[iriegnome]

In my current rig line ups, I have an SWR SS-180, SWR SM-400, Bass 750, and an SWR Bass Monitor. I use in all sorts of interesting and tonal ways. I toured for about 11 years with my Bass 750. It was my road amp and saw maybe 700 or 800 shows! Fantastic amp. But I, like most, am now playing something much lighter with the same output power.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Personally I’ve never heard of any issues with SWRs built that year. It’s probably safe to say they’re A-OK

 

[pepj]

I'm going to say probably not to the OP.
Their heyday was early 90's and it was really between SWR and Eden then.

I liked the early SM amps. Not so much the 350x and the rest.
The Workingman series was a decision to trade on the name rather than the older quality.
The Goliath cabs with PAS speakers were good and a benchmark for the time, imv.

Early 90's SWR was known for its quality and like most things, imv, thats hard to hang onto when accountants get control.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

I remember enjoying them in the 90's.

 

[amper]

SWR and Groove Tubes used to be located in the same building, and Steve W. Rabe and Aspen Pittman collaborated on a lot of products. Some of the early Groove Tubes amps were actually built by SWR (or was it the other way around?). Fender bought both companies, and ruined them both.

Shortly before Fender bought SWR, I bought an SWR Interstellar Overdrive preamp and Power 750 power amp. Fantastic gear, and I wish I wasn't forced to downsize a decade later, and sell it off.

I personally would not hesitate to use a 350x, 550x, or 750x head, the last series that SWR made before the buyout. I also would not hesitate to use any of the earlier SWR pro level gear. I would steer clear of the Workingman's line or the LA series, as well as the Mo'Bass, which as I recall had reliability issues, unless my memory is faulty.

In their day, SWR made some of the best bass gear on the market.

 

[amper]

The most bizarre part of Fender's acquisitions of SWR and GT is that they don't seem to have done anything but let the brands lapse and eventually discontinue their products, with the exceptions of retaining the GT branding on a much smaller selection of tubes than GT used to offer.

There doesn't seem to be any evidence whatsoever that any of the technology developed by either company ever made it into Fender-branded bass or guitar amps, other than the SFX/Center Point Stereo technology (essentially, the reverse of mid-side miking techniques) that GT developed which was used in Fender's Acousti-sonic guitar amps.

Everything SWR just evaporated.

 

[Jim C]

Based on posts by former Fender / GB employees, Fender may have helped kept SWR is business longer than without them. I see no difference in quality between the earliest Sylmar, CA amps and the later Fender versions.
Perhaps @agedhorse will want to comment on this.
IME both are super well built. My late 80's had a bridge rectifier replaced in the first week and only 1 tube replacement since then with no other issues.

 

[agedhorse]

Based on posts by former Fender / GB employees, Fender may have helped kept SWR is business longer than without them. I see no difference in quality between the earliest Sylmar, CA amps and the later Fender versions.
Perhaps @agedhorse will want to comment on this.
IME both are super well built. My late 80's had a bridge rectifier replaced in the first week and only 1 tube replacement since then with no other issues.

Correct, except that the Fender era SWR amps were more actually more reliable. Fender fixed some of the reliability related issues and well as bringing them forward to meet international safety standards.

 

[agedhorse]

SWR and Groove Tubes used to be located in the same building, and Steve W. Rabe and Aspen Pittman collaborated on a lot of products. Some of the early Groove Tubes amps were actually built by SWR (or was it the other way around?). Fender bought both companies, and ruined them both.

Shortly before Fender bought SWR, I bought an SWR Interstellar Overdrive preamp and Power 750 power amp. Fantastic gear, and I wish I wasn't forced to downsize a decade later, and sell it off.

I personally would not hesitate to use a 350x, 550x, or 750x head, the last series that SWR made before the buyout. I also would not hesitate to use any of the earlier SWR pro level gear. I would steer clear of the Workingman's line or the LA series, as well as the Mo'Bass, which as I recall had reliability issues, unless my memory is faulty.

In their day, SWR made some of the best bass gear on the market.

The Fender era SWR amps were more reliable. They wouldn’t have survived unless they found a new owner, and as it turned out in SWR’s case, it was too late anyway.

 

[amper]

The Fender era SWR amps were more reliable. They wouldn’t have survived unless they found a new owner, and as it turned out in SWR’s case, it was too late anyway.

I only owned the two units, bought just before the buyout, gigged them for years, and never had any trouble with them. Too small of a sample size to say anything statistically relevant about SWR reliability.

 

[Steveland]

I own an SM-400 and run a SansAmp RBI with it, outstanding sound and power. Never needed a HPF....if you know how to use the EQ on the 400 it's not necessary. Play through a Goliath Sr 6x10. Always sounds great, either using SWR as a power amp for RBI or using amp and RBI together gets me any sound out there. Mine does not get that hot as others complain....just a really great amp.