Who misses SWR?

[lowfreqgeek]

I have an old red faced Bass 350, and I have always been really happy with it. Simple and high performing. The workmanship, materials and and sound of the early SWR stuff was really excellent for the dough. The fact that you can get a red Bass 350 for $200 used now is crazy. Everybody should have one lying around.

I can't speak to the later stuff at all.

I certainly do have one laying around, too! I've had one (not the same one...) in my stable more or less continuously since 2001.

 

[Mark_70]

I wanted an SWR redhead badly.. But no way I could swing that at the time.

Now I've got a little TH and Bergantino cabs. Can't say I miss SWR. Never did get that redhead.
Regards
Mark

 

[sprag]

I miss the look. If i could get berg nv or aggie db sound out of a cab with a sweet chrome grill they'd have my money for sure. I still have my SOB's and IOD

 

[GMC]

Here in the UK they were rare and exotic.

 

[The Rage]

I'm lucky enough to have an swr rig that I love.
Maybe I should start to "save" the used one I see around... ^^

 

[inanimate_carb]

Many companies capture the SWR vibe at lighter weights, louder volumes, and lower price points these days.

I was just starting to gig when SWR got traction in the bass guitar world. They definitely helped pioneer the 4x10 with a horn bass cab concept. The idea was to make a speaker cab sound like a recording studio monitor. A perusal of TB would make you think that everybody hates tweeters in bass cabs, but they introduced a hi-fi tone back in the day that brought the instrument forward.

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

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.

I agree, GK heads through SWR cabinets was a great pairing.


I used SWR cabinets, mostly with a GK-2000RB. I had both a Goliath Jr 4-10" and a pair of Goliath Sr's. I never owned one of their heads because they sounded too Hi-Fi for me.

 

[IamGroot]

Lots of SWR gear bought decades ago. Bought a Mark Bass head and never looked back. Got a lot of use out of a Working man 10 combo for jazz and looking around to repair it.

 

[Eric Swaim]

Presently I still use SWR although they are all amps and cabs from their " Glory Days."
SWR Electric Blue II combo
SWR Studio 220
SWR Goliath JR. II
SWR Bass 350 (chrome) powering 2 Eden D112XLT cabs.

For the money, I can't honestly say any amp out there today sounds as good as the older used SWR's do for my sound (although I have not played them all). As long as my amps are working I am playing SWR, its has been part of my tone since 1994.

 

[Gizmot]

SWR has served me very well for a lot of years - I still have one in my basement that I use for practice.

The SWR sound opened up new sonic horizons and I still think is viable today. The gear was honestly made and lasts a long time.

 

[MobileHolmes]

400RB/800RB is the other I'm so tempted to buy off CL. Must be something about wanting to revisit the sound of the music I grew up with (I was a huge Flea fan).

I really just “needed” a second head. I have an mb500 but wanted to be able to just leave an entire rig at our practice space (the mb500 is a lot to lug around). I came close on an swr, but then I found a 400rb well under 200 bucks and grabbed that instead. It really is a great head.

 

[non]

i miss them and i never own any swr. i loved everyone i heard. last time i was in the market for a new bass rig i really wish they were still around.

 

[Jason Hollar]

I still use a G3 2x10 w/ Eminence BP102s wired to 4Ohm. Killer.

 

[AcridSaint]

Had a combo briefly that I was told by a jazz guy is a really good sounding combo. I was not overwhelmed. I'm sure they had great and not so great stuff like everyone else though.

 

[non]

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.

the 210 combo was the redhead. that thing was kick ass. 400 watts. 650 if you added a 4 ohm cab. i remember the first time i heard it. the bass player from the band that played before we played had one. back in the day.

 

[ihixulu]

Beware of SWR today. They are no longer supported, and according to my amp tech, replacement parts can be hard to come by. That said, they were great amps.

Interesting... which parts are hard to find? I do the work on my own SWR amps and pretty much every electronic component is available on Mouser or Digikey. Knobs are all over eBay. Heatsinks and other chassis parts would be tough to find I suppose. But if your amp is missing the heatsink, it's probably got bigger issues.

 

[Mvilmany]

I never cottoned to SWR heads much. The cabs however, were awesome.

In my opinion, what made those cabs awesome and set them apart were the extraordinary tweeters. The used the same eminence drivers used by a lot of other cabs at the time, but that tweeter... Wow.

 

[filmtex]

I wondered about that my self. I had a working mans 350 as a loaner once and do t remember much about them, but you can get various SWR heads for under 200 bucks these days. I almost pulled the trigger on one the other day (I needed a cheap head) but ended up with a 400RB instead

I’ve had a 400RB for a long time and used a couple SWR’s on backlines. Always wanted one. Maybe I’ll keep an eye out.

 

[Korladis]

Well? I for one, miss SWR and the presence they made on stage

Not I.

 

[darwin-bass]

I had an original Baby Blue. Also had an Electric Blue, and Studio 220. I eventually discovered that their sound didn't work so well live. They cut mids at 220 Hz and in a band setting that was not so good. I ended up modifying the amps to bypass the Aural Enhancer which was the part of the circuit that was doing the 220 Hz cut. The were MUCH better then.

I still love their quality and innovation but not their actual sound.

I'm done with them (I think).