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Who misses SWR?

#181
I am really loving my new (only $150 at GC!) SWR Bass 350!!!
IMG_1568.JPG
 
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#182
Played an original Redhead for quite a while.

It had some great features -

DI out
Blendable effects loop
Tuner output
Headphone output
Kick-back speaker cover

It had some not great features -

Heavy as sin
Not loud for it's wattage (or weight)
Unreliable (at least mine was)
Baked in tone (WAY too mid-scooped)
Aural "Enhancer"
 
#183
Practice with band yesterday. The room has a Workingsman's 2004 head with 2x10T workingsmen cab. Never tried this series before, as I've heard it was the "economy" series , but I was really impressed!
Everything at 12 o' clock (even the aural enhancer), and the other guys in the band said they liked my sound/was the best tone I had with them. But above all... they noticed it!!! :D
 
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#186
jeffbass said:
If that's the case- why buy a brand with no interest in reviving it? Tax write off?
Click to expand...

I’m sure they thought they were buying market share and had the best plans to expand it. See it all the time in companies I’ve worked for. In reality, it is really hard to incorporate a brand into a well established corporation. R&D, manufacturing, sales, marketing all have to change and adapt to strict new policies. Rarely does it work and after a couple of years it is just easier to shut things down.
 
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#188
I gigged an SWR220 Studio Amp for 10 yrs or so. It was a workhorse. The only issue I ever had with it on stage, was a blown fuse.

Do I miss it? Nah.

I love the tone I'm getting from my Mesa Walkabout, or my MB Fusion 500. The SWR was too clean for the tone I want these days.
 
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#190
tilehilder said:
I’m sure they thought they were buying market share and had the best plans to expand it. See it all the time in companies I’ve worked for. In reality, it is really hard to incorporate a brand into a well established corporation. R&D, manufacturing, sales, marketing all have to change and adapt to strict new policies. Rarely does it work and after a couple of years it is just easier to shut things down.
Click to expand...
I appreciate your optimistic view of incorporation. I happen to be a glass-half-empty guy and I'm always suspicious of any moves bean counter managers make with any acquisition. It's rarely for the benefit of the company being acquired-- it's more of a plunder of the resources of the company, and usually the takeover company knows ahead of time it will fold the acquisition before even buying. I saw that happen with Micron Corporation. They bought out Gateway Government computers which was hemorrhaging, then took the net operating losses then folded their own PC division of the company. Yep, often wonder how those guys can even look at their faces while they shave in the morning. Those big salaries must make it all palpable...
 
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#195
AB836C43-DE81-4D39-8111-EB429665644A.jpeg
I still have a first edition PB-200 and Monitor-12 that I use regularly. Couldn’t afford them when they came out, bought them in the early 90s. The head still sounds great, with warmth from the tube and present high end. But these days, I dial down the highs and lows and take out most of the exciter (as per some recommendations by TBers in old threads)—clean without the 80s scoop. And, yeah, that amp runs super hot, so I put a fan in it late 90s. Helps a lot with that.

I use the monitor regularly with my other amp alone and in combination with other speakers when the wedge shape helps (often put it behind the drummer). Cool bit: the monitor is one of the ones that came stock with a Bag End driver! So, nice deal there.
 
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#196
I had an swr 400s for a few years in the early 2000´s, sounded really nice once I figured out the best use for the para eq on it. Used it with an epifani T-310 and got really nice warm tone out of it. Replaced it with an eden wt-550 which is still my main gigging amp. I do have one piece of SWR gear though, the power 750 power amp that works really well, basically the power section of the 750x
 
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#200
For the guy that was wishing that his headlite was 800w it is when you run it into its companion power amp called the amplite.

I picked up a headlite a couple of months ago and it's pretty clean and scooped. I checked out the schematic for it and the "semi-parametric eq" is really just a overglorified fender tone stack so it's likely sucking a ton of signal. I run the mids from at least halfway to 3/4's pinned to get some cut and volume.

I also have a Mesa Walkabout and even though the SWR is supposed to be 400w and the Mesa 300w the Mesa seems to have much more girth and balls. I was really surprised to discover that the max volumes measured in db's was within 1db of each other with the Walkabout being louder. Go figure. The power amp section also clips very easily and both pre and power amp sections are also kind of hissy imo.

I was going to get rid of it but I got it pretty cheap & I've come to like its different sonic colour as another option. Especially at home where it's smaller low end output is easier to manage. Also, I can run a pedal for OD/distortion through the effects loop and blend it back into the main signal with the blend control and the result is killer. I can't do this with the Mesa's loop as it sounds like poo.

I ran into a 750x/Goliath II rig for sale but when I checked it out on here the head seemed to get dumped on a lot so I passed on that. One thing I noticed is that there seems to be a sort of consensus that SWR's tend to be lower volume than many in their power class.

Never used any of their cabs so I can't say anything about that.
 
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