The best I've ever sounded live was through a borrowed SWR Redhead.
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Who misses SWR?
- Thread starter 420bassplyr
- Start date
I really liked the TV Bassman combos that were out for a few years...sounded great to me. As do the Rumbles and current Bassman series.(imho)
Mr.Ace
Bass players rule!
- Sep 8, 2015
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I have a Goliath III, it never leaves my music room. It actually never gets played at all any more. Kinda wanna sell it, but it’s still rock solid, and sounds pretty awesome with my m9(which also never gets used. Anymore i exclusively use my markbass Jeff Berlin cab. We all have IEM’s any ways. 90% of my sound is out front. No monitors, very little stage volume to speak of. I like it better.
I do not - and I only say that because there are a lot more options now and I don't miss my first Goliath 410 cab at 80 + lbs.! Sometime around 1996, I bought a Walter Woods head - the original micro IMO - and I ditched the SM400 + the other rack gear and then bought a pair of Goliath Jr 210 cabs. The Jr's were OK at the time, but there are now 112 cabs that sound better than those old 210's - better design, neo speakers, lighter weight ply, etc.
I don't miss them in the sense that I still have, and routinely use, my early original red head combo...still love it after all these years! I DO miss them in the sense that they were innovators at a time when innovation was needed - a small group of folks with creative and interesting ideas completely dedicated to the bass guitar. I also miss them not being on the scene today because I'd love to see what they would be launching this week in Anaheim - what new, innovative, bass-specific products would we be seeing for the first time, how would that compare to what the other "like" companies are doing, etc. ? Long live Steve W. Rabe!
I miss some things and don’t miss others.
Here’s the SWR Goliath Sr. 6x10 I had
Can see my SWR 750x in this picture.
the grills on the cabs were the best looking metal grills in my opinion. Most other cabs with metal grills look super cheap imo. Negatives... My SWR cab was covered in rat fur and I’m too tall for a tilt and roll style 610. Would be cool if someone made a cab with that style grill on a cab that’s wrapped in tolex or something else . The 750 I had stuck around longer than any other bass heads I’ve owned. Over the years I had gotten into ampeg and tech 21 gear for a while and then eventually Darkglass. I tried the SWR go lite at some point but remember feeling like something wasn’t there, don’t know if it was because of the low spec amp or the speakers they used but it just wasn’t the same as the crazy heavy 750 and heavy Goliath sr. I always missed the clean tone I got out of the SWR when I was into ampeg and tech 21. Eventually figured out running Darkglass pedals into an Avalon gives me all the tones I like. I use the less expensive Avalon u5 for shows and the Avalon 737 in the studio which is a more expensive tube preamp that would be way overkill for gigging imo. The Avalon stuff has a super hi fi vibe that kind of reminds me of the SWR stuff and the Darkglass pedals give me all the variety of grit I want.
I have been considering buying a used SWR combo for the house. I’ve seen them for sale really cheap. But these days I nearly always practice at home with headphones.
Here’s the SWR Goliath Sr. 6x10 I had
the grills on the cabs were the best looking metal grills in my opinion. Most other cabs with metal grills look super cheap imo. Negatives... My SWR cab was covered in rat fur and I’m too tall for a tilt and roll style 610. Would be cool if someone made a cab with that style grill on a cab that’s wrapped in tolex or something else . The 750 I had stuck around longer than any other bass heads I’ve owned. Over the years I had gotten into ampeg and tech 21 gear for a while and then eventually Darkglass. I tried the SWR go lite at some point but remember feeling like something wasn’t there, don’t know if it was because of the low spec amp or the speakers they used but it just wasn’t the same as the crazy heavy 750 and heavy Goliath sr. I always missed the clean tone I got out of the SWR when I was into ampeg and tech 21. Eventually figured out running Darkglass pedals into an Avalon gives me all the tones I like. I use the less expensive Avalon u5 for shows and the Avalon 737 in the studio which is a more expensive tube preamp that would be way overkill for gigging imo. The Avalon stuff has a super hi fi vibe that kind of reminds me of the SWR stuff and the Darkglass pedals give me all the variety of grit I want.
Hmm...miss them?
The big cabinets were good 4-10 cabinets, but I often heard them yoked with a 1-15, which does not work well, to my ears.
The Henry 8x8 intrigues, but the only one I've heard in the last few years had a few blown drivers and didn't sound so great - perhaps also held back by the high-power Workingman's amp, which is not impressive, based on limited exposure.
But...
Loved the Baby Blue! Also dug the original Workingman's combos.
The SM-400? Great for slappers, and an important amp in showing the way for what would work well in that approach. Perhaps not such a great amp for meat-and-potatoes playing.
Overall, sonics, reliability, flexibility and convenience have moved forward.
BUT...let's not forget how important this company was when it first manifested, and showed a new way to amplify and comprehend bass guitar! And to the extent they tapped into the design work of Russ Allee, they were close to greatness.
The big cabinets were good 4-10 cabinets, but I often heard them yoked with a 1-15, which does not work well, to my ears.
The Henry 8x8 intrigues, but the only one I've heard in the last few years had a few blown drivers and didn't sound so great - perhaps also held back by the high-power Workingman's amp, which is not impressive, based on limited exposure.
But...
Loved the Baby Blue! Also dug the original Workingman's combos.
The SM-400? Great for slappers, and an important amp in showing the way for what would work well in that approach. Perhaps not such a great amp for meat-and-potatoes playing.
Overall, sonics, reliability, flexibility and convenience have moved forward.
BUT...let's not forget how important this company was when it first manifested, and showed a new way to amplify and comprehend bass guitar! And to the extent they tapped into the design work of Russ Allee, they were close to greatness.
Then I did some reading on them and found out that David Nordschow had designed the early cabs for SWR. . . 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.
David Nordschow was a vendor whose company supplied speaker cabinets to SWR, primarily the Goliath I 4x10, from about 1987 to 1990. SWR stopped buying Nordschow's cabinets and moved on to other major vendors and cab designers, including Bag End, MI Sound Cabs, and PAS. The Workingman's series was not introduced by SWR until years later, after Nordschow's relationship had SWR ended.
Thanks for the clarification. I'm still very impressed by the Workingman's series many years after they ceased production. But yet still.... the cab sounded very much like a punchy deep Eden. I know that's not possible but... still....
Yes, SWR Engineering and it kills me that they're gone because they had such a sharp & clean bite yet still had a warmth that I haven't been able hear elsewhere...of course there are several I still haven't tried. My first bass amp was a 1994 Silverado II, great alone for practice and small shows and even better with an SOB underneath. The Gran Prix is an excellent clean preamp with a Mesa Strategy 400. Now that I think about it, there hasn't been too much time I've spent without some SWR gear on stage or in practice... except for that little affair I had with an SVT. She loved everything I gave her, it was mutual.
Yes I do miss SWR. Especially their cabs. I never been really crazy about their amps. I've only played their Goliath stuff and still own 2 Goliaths III. To me among the best cabs I ever player. I owned a Mesa 410 powerhouse for a while but it didn't sound as clean as my SWR. And it was so damn heavy!!
Also the chrome grill was super damn good looking! does anybody know how does it compare to the new Fender NEO cabs. I'm asking as Fender bought SWR in 2003. So I'm thinking they might sound pretty much like SWR cabs?
Also the chrome grill was super damn good looking! does anybody know how does it compare to the new Fender NEO cabs. I'm asking as Fender bought SWR in 2003. So I'm thinking they might sound pretty much like SWR cabs?
I had a Workingman head and a 2x10. Can't say I was that enamored with the sound and it weighed a ton of for what it was.
I used to use a friends redhead for blues gigs in the early 2000’s and I loved it. It was a bit heavy but that was the only negative I could think to say, and now I use lightweight gear so I might spoiled. In that day every decent amp I remember wasn’t light. Great sounding and plenty of volume for my needs in those circumstances. Can’t say I miss them as I pretty much always use markbass and Love their stuff. I also remember liking SWR less and less over the years for whatever reason. Maybe got caught slipping or maybe other brands improved as they stayed stagnant.
I owned the Goliath III 4x10 cab and absolutely loved it. Yes she was heavy but she delivered what I needed. Sadly she was stolen during a break-in at the Church I play at and I took the replacement money and went MarkBass. Miss that cab though, see them for sale online but the shipping would kill me, just recently brought a Genz Benz 4x10 Uber Cab and I luv it
