Anyone besides me wish they would offer a rackmountable version of the powerplant? I don't want a 90lb combo; but I do love the head, and would really like it as a standalone... Hey SWR...pretty please? thx-alan
In fact, here's a letter I sent off to SWR Customer Service...feel free to cut and paste, modify, whatever if you like... swrcustserve@fender.com Sirs; I've had both the first gen redhead, and the super redhead and sold them both. They were not loud enough for how big and heavy they were, and I had continual speaker problems. However, I loved the tone and it was a great studio rig. While I think it's great that you guys have finally made some improvements; I really wish the powerplant was available as a standalone, rackmountable unit. The combo still has lost no weight: I love the sound of the combo; I hate the weight and won't buy it. Any chance that's coming in the future? I do however, still use my 1999 swr bass 350 redface. I'd spend money for the new redhead powerplant...please, make it rackmountable for those of us who: 1) don't need the speakers for studio use 2) prefer to use it with lighter, more transportable cabs. thanks, alan
I've had a couple of pm's asking me "why would SWR do this, and compete against themselves, given the new Marcus Miller Sig Preamp?" My answer is severalfold: 1) I think they can easily position the MM as a "premium product" with a slightly higher pricetag... 2) They have slightly different feature sets, and (obviously?) the MM is preamp only, with no power...So, there's that 2) The Red Head standalone would be 2RU, the MM would be a minimum of three, and more likely 4 with any traditional power amp...the Red Head would win there, for me...smaller, lighter, easier to carry... The street price of the Red Head combo would seem to indicate the could do a stand alone Red Head for ~$800; a price that seems to be competitive for other equally powered, equally featured amps out there on the market right now...
Does the Redhead amp sound anything like a high-powered baby blue? I don't have much experience with SWR amps, but I really liked the tone of the baby blue.
I've owned the Super Redhead Combo and the Baby Baby Blue (so your mileage may differ on the original Redhead and Baby Blue) but there's no question IMO that the BBB sounds better. To me the voicing on the BBB was set up differently, and I use the semi-parametric on the BBB significantly. I just hope Chef never sells his Mesa Walkabout since I essentially bought it based on reading his posts.
Chef, I feel like I am missing somthing here. I have been under the impression that the redhead is just a bass 350 combo. I have played them side by side and they sounded close (both were pre fender, but diff years of production) Did they sound distinctly different to you? How so?
To me-and your ear may vary-the current 350 has more of the signature "swr scooped modern sound" than the Red Head does. The Red Head sounds warmer and rounder to me... The Red Head has more power as well. The Red Head has a host of features the 350 seems not to; but I haven't had a new one in hand for a long time. These would include treb/bass pull to shift, a better compressor, front panel mute, front panel DI. The 350 has that sub-bass feature that I don't care for the sound of...
Agreed. I was thinking of the bass 350, not the 350x. Put me down for an x hater. I have checked them out and they sound thin and brittle compared to the earlier bass 350. Just my opinion. I sold mine after a great run. Just using the walkabout now
Yeah, I looked at that thing(the new 2x8 combo). I really just need a head to go with the 2x8 cab I already have and I think a 500 watt baby blue would be pretty cool. I can dream can't I....
They could jump on the mini-head bandwagon releasing a head with the baby blue pre and specs to rival the Genz Benz-Markbass lightweight offerings. I cannot imagine such an amp not being an instant hit. On topic, a lighter redhead would be neat too.
As far as a reissued BBII head: I really like the BBII combo I have; but, the 160 watts would have to be seriously ramped up to meet my needs... I still want a rackmountable Red Head head
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