Who misses SWR?

[Slevage]

Had an original redhead— underpowered and heavy.

I’ll take my new light stuff any day.

I don’t even miss my old 360.

 

[10cc]

View attachment 2888321 I still have my Silverado Special. Salesman at Washington Music, Paul told described it as Warm, Punchy and Loud! I used it from 1999 until about 2005 and it was bad ass. I love a 2 X 12 set up.

These two popped up on our local CL recently
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[sheltjo6]

I've owned a few SWR amps.
The only one that I enjoyed was the red faced bass 350.
It just worked and dialing in a good tone was easy.

I still have a working mans 4x10 cab which I've modded with PAS speakers and a fostex horn (basically making it a Goliath) and a Goliath 2x10 cab.
I'll probably keep those cabs until I die then pass them on.

The only SWR equipment I regret selling was the Stereo 800 power amp I owned.
Thing weighed a ton but it was loud.

 

[Kmonk]

Can’t say that I miss them all that much.

I agree. I never liked them. The only SWR amp that I heard that sounded good was my old guitar player's Strawberry Blonde Acoustic Combo.

 

[wmhill]

I had a lot of great years with a son of Bertha with a Goliath jr. on top. I loved the SWR gear until I tried the Tecamp stuff. My SWR gear is long gone now.

 

[Lesgo]

Loved my 410 Goliath. Don't know that I'd buy it again, but I'd happily play through it.

 

[Artman]

I once owned a red Bass 350. It sounded nice and clean. Great amp for sweet thick soulful bass tones. My old mosfet Hartke 3500 just seems to have a lot more gut punch. I think the only amp I’ve owned that I truly miss is a very old Ampeg V4-b that I foolishly traded for a Gibson Les Paul Bass. I don’t miss that Gibson at all, but that 60lb ampeg head running hot through 4x15” was an Earth shaker. Hmm...no wonder I have tinnitus now.

 

[Afc70]

I remember looking at the shiny Swr amps in bass player magazine in the early 90’s.. always wanted one- until i eventually played through a couple, lol... an Swr Mo’ bass head,(at a local music store) also a Swr redhead 2/10 combo(at a friends house) Was using a modulus lane poor p’up equipped fleabass.. To me Swr sounded brittle, harsh & nasally, no matter how much i messed with the eq, i never could get a pleasing sound out of one, cant say i miss them. I realize lots of folks love them, though, and can be occasionally found used at very cheap prices.

 

[steelin4u]

Had the SM750, 550x, triad, workingman's 210, workingman's 10 (twice), and the workingman's 10 extension cab. If I had the money to put into amps, I'd get the SM750 for fun and the Workingman's 10 for practice. I'm nostalgic about the time of my life (early-mid 20s) when I had the gear more than anything, and I'm angry that I sold the SM750 too low (Ebay).

 

[mark roberts]

Still use:
2 ea. SWR green face Grand Prix preamps
SWR Bass 350
SWR Stereo 800 power amp

 

[kdogg]

It's always bugged me that Fender Musical Instruments Corporation seems to be the place where iconic brands go to die or be marginalized-

SWR, Hamer, Guild, etc...

Those brands were already marginalized when Fender acquired them, and in some cases, already dying.

 

[tilehilder]

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)

Just picked up the TV single ten version and am loving it.

 

[socialleper]

I don't know if I miss SWR per say. I miss the time when SWR was in stores. In tbe late 90s you could find SWR, Eden, Trace Elliot, Bag End, and a whole slew of brands. Basses too. Now bass departments are pathetic little things with 3 vanilla brands of both.
Oh for the days when musicians still had a future.

 

[jeffbass]

Those brands were already marginalized when Fender acquired them, and in some cases, already dying.

If that's the case- why buy a brand with no interest in reviving it? Tax write off?

 

[Jakeman]

I still play and love my SM-900 into Goliath 6x10.

 

[baxter_x]

I still use my tower of power. The Ampeg SVT 4 pro has been replaced by a Mesa Titan V12 tough.

 

[ArteK]

I don’t know, I fought against that awfully complicated preamp in my SM-500 for ten years, finally just bypassing it with another preamp. I just couldn’t get anything but hi-fi too clean tone from it. Very difficult to get any warmth from it.

On the other hand, the power amp section on that amp was bulletproof. (It’s still running strong for my friend who bought it from me, and it must be almost 30 years old.) it was ridiculously powerful in bridge mode. And it wasn’t all that heavy by 80’s standards.

 

[Phil508]

I love the Golight series, Have the 2x10 and 1x12 , entire amp and speakers weigh about the same as my SVT head. Sounds great too.

 

[hopwheels]

When I was playing in a band in the mid-nineties I definitely coveted their gear. Not even really sure why now, but they seemed to be the schnitz at that time in my orbit anyway. Never had the funds to purchase more than this '98 WM 10 that I recovered recently. I have the extension cab and am going to recover it as well. Dropped in new speakers also. Amp itself still going strong, and sounds great, Makes a good small gig combo.

SWR Workingman's 10 Combo

• hopwheels
• Dec 4, 2016
• blonde combo amp swr tolex workingmans

SWR Workingman's 10 Combo recovering project

 

[InhumanResource]

Never owned one, but I was happy the handful of times I saw a Goliath 410 in the backline.

Then again, I would cringe if I saw a super redhead (except for the one I married).