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Who misses SWR?
- Thread starter 420bassplyr
- Start date
Same. I lusted after the Redhead for a long time; they probably got me with the name because of all the actual redheads I lusted after.
That's an 80 pound combo though, a few of the ladies didn't weigh very much more than the amp. I surely wouldn't have it now if I bought one then.
I thought they were really onto something with the golight cab series.
I preferred the gk1001rb 2x10 combo when i had the choice of selling them... I've always been a GK guy.... You guys should check out TRICKFISH amps!
Actually in real life I played a lot more GK than SWR. I used one of those 110 combos (112 maybe?) in the Texas jazz program in the early 90s, I have an MB Fusion now, and have run across tons of GK backline in between. Great products.
I rocked a series I Redhead on top of a Big Ben for a couple of years. The Redhead by itself, like many SWR offerings, was a bit too mid-scooped for my tastes, but it sounded great paired with a Big Ben.
If I remember in the 80’s the Redhead combo listed for around 1700.00? In its day, it was the Cadillac of amps, IMO.
I miss them for their acoustic instrument amplifiers. I have a Strawberry Blonde I picked up used about 15 years ago for $200 at Music Go Round that I run my upright into from a Fishman preamp. I've tried Genz Benz, Fender Rumbles and David Eden stuff with my bass and nothing matches that SWR for natural tone, IMO. I keep it at the practice space since it's too heavy for how loud it is. I use a Fender Rumble for gigs, which is a big step down tone-wise, but I run a DI out to the house speakers from the Fishman anyways, so it's just a stage monitor. If they were still around and made lighter, higher wattage versions of that and the California Blonde you can bet I'd be all over it. Oh, and I never touch the aural enhancer for either bass guitar or upright. It sounds great with little to no EQ.
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I was never that familiar with SWR when they came out. I'm sad to admit I was shallow about the SWR Redhead, it always looked 'funky' to me. Not something I wanted onstage especially playing rock and roll. Then I did some reading on them and found out that David Nordschow had designed the early cabs for SWR. I never thought much about Eden either back then. But recently I played with two other bands in a local club and the backline was an SWR Workingman's 15, the older model that had a recessed head. It looked odd to me but I plugged in and started warming up.
After tweaking it and turning up the volume (the bass player who owned it had it kind of wimped out on settings) we started playing. Our set was designed to start slow then build to a crescendo by the end of the set. Well, as we started building up, I kept turning up the SWR. The more I turned it up the better it sounded. By the last song I was ready to steal that amp! LOL. Turns out that Nordschow had designed the cabs for the Workingman series, which later became the basic design for his Eden cabs. I own two Eden cabs now that are small but very powerful for their size.
Now I'm ready to re-visit SWR. I'd be very interested in buying a Workingman 15 or maybe even the Workingman 12. Very good stuff. I never realized at the time how good SWR stuff was back then. But no need to miss them, there's a bunch for sale on CL as we speak!
David Nordschow was in on the original Goliath cab and drivers...but don't think he had anything to do with the workingman series
David's first EDEN D-410T was very close to the design of the first Goliath
Before Eden there was a line of cabs by Paradise...then became Eden....my dealer in Vancouver raved about Paradise....guess David changed the name
I bought an SM400 and Goliath II back in '93 and still have them today.
If wasnt for the weight I'd use the cab more often.
If wasnt for the weight I'd use the cab more often.
I miss their cabs, but not their heads. I loved my Goliath and later had an SOB. Those cabs sounded really good with other brand heads, particularly GK. They even made the sterile Hartkey HA3500 I had sound good at the time. I did enjoy the 750 head for the time I had it. The 350 I owned later wasn’t as reliable but I beat the heck out of it and serviced it until it was no longer serviceable. The red face one (can’t remember the name...a 210 combo) I would often use as backline at lots of venues and was always happy with whatever that was.
yeah, two divorces for me...but not sure the ex's would have considered themselves "bought."
Oh wait...nevermind
It's a bummer they went under so soon after starting with the ultra-light stuff. Basically everything of theirs on the used market is too heavy to even consider.
I loved their cabinets, and when I got a Goliath jr, I bought a GK 800RB instead of an SWR Head because I thought I just sounded better.
Same with me. GK Head, SWR cab. I use that setup still at rehearsal.
I never cottoned to SWR heads much. The cabs however, were awesome.
I had a SWR Working man pro 4x10 paired with a Hartke HA2500 and dear lord, it was the best tone I ever had. Unfortunately the darn thing was way too heavy for a 4x10 cab (120 lbs) I also needed money at the time so I sold it. I miss it, but not the weight.
