What's wrong with SWR?

#21
Among a lot of the the bass players I know (who are old enough) and for me as well it's actually the pre-Fender SWR gear that is more highly regarded. I was a big SWR user from the late 80's until the mid 90's. I had an endorsement with them from '92 until Fender took over. I gradually moved on to other gear as my tastes changed, but the SWR gear I had served me very well, both in town and on tour all over the world. Though I don't have as much direct experience with Fender-era SWR stuff, it seems like most of the interesting and innovative pieces they came out with emerged during the pre-Fender years. I'd say the Workingman's 15, Marcus Miller preamp and Mo' Bass (all from the Fender era I think) are exceptions. The pre-Fender stuff is not exclusively great - there were some definite dogs, but not many.

I recently picked up a circa 2000 SWR Mo' Bass head locally for peanuts, and it is a pretty amazing, quirky and unique amp. It is adequately powered (rated at 750w bridged into 4 ohms) as long as it's paired with fairly efficient cabs, but only just so. The tone controls don't have much range, so the tonal palette is a bit limited. On the plus side it has an authoritative, deep and full low end, some of the onboard effects (like the tube overdrive) are outstanding, and the feature set is so extensive that it's pretty much an electronics lab in a box. Definitely a good acquisition.
 
#23
seedokebass said:
I had SWR heads for years! I had a Bass 350 for a long time, sold it to go to a 750x. I never got into biamping, didn't have the cash or was busy spending it on basses.

I have to respectfully disagree with @Gearhead17 on the midrange aspect: the Bass 350 with any of the cabinets I had were midrange beasts! That was the reason I moved away from SWR though, midrange for days and a lot of detail but not enough low end impact. I had a lot of different cabs and it just never scratched the low end itch.

Now you can get so much more tone and features in smaller and lighter packages. I love Aguilar's Tone Hammer 500... So much tone and thump in a tiny package!
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I am glad the cabinets worked for you! Maybe it was user error on my part when I tried them in the stores. I never used the cabinets at band practice and did not know what an HPF was many moons ago...
 
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#24
I doubt you did anything wrong! I'd guess your cabinets, basses and anything in your signal chain gave you a different sound than I had. I think most of the cabinets I had up until an Aguilar GS410 just didn't have a lot of thump to them. By the time I had that cabinet I was getting into different amps and preamps as well as more Aguilar cabs.
 
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#25
I still like and probably always will, both my SWR workingmans 300 snd 160.
Great sound but i did recently upgrade to mesa.
I am using the 160 through a 12” for a home guitar use. The 300 had a burnt trace line out of the transformer. Its fixed for the time being but unfortunately has become untrustworthy.
All in all, the mesa subway is a great replacement. Age sucks.
 
#31
I’ve owned two or three SWR amps and I still have one in my basement for use with my keyboards. Some people think those amps were the sound of the80s and 90s, but I always loved how they sounded. If SWR somehow came back on the market (unlikely), I’d be interested in getting one. If you’re looking for a used one, they’re not as plentiful as they once were, but they’re still around at good prices. They’re not lightweight, but they sound good.
 
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#33
I use a Big Bertha as my rehearsal cab at my drummer's house. I've powered it with everything from all tube amps from the 70s to my GB Streamliner 800. Maybe I'll hook my vintage 1997 Eden WT-800 up to it and have a real flashback to the 90s. Either way, it's not hard to get a decent tone out of a quality 2x15 like the SWR. I don't gig it because of the weight and size. But, I would if I had to.
 
#34
CrocMule said:
I know this is a total noob question. A lot of you on this site were gigging musicians back in the heyday of SWR and witnessed their downfall when Fender bought them out. So I feel the need to play catchup here and ask for a little history and perspective.

What's wrong with the pre-Fender stuff? It seems like lot of people here and elsewhere think they're inferior for whatever reason, and the market for used SWR stuff is through the floor cheap, even pre-Fender.

I bought a red face Bass 350 in perfect condition for $350 about 15 years ago (ouch!). I'd be lucky to get half that now, but I love it -- I think it sounds great. Not really versatile, but it does what it does well. It's totally solid.

A few months ago I picked up an SM-400 for $125, so I can bi-amp 2 cabs -- a Big Ben 18" and an Eden EX1128 that I bought recently just for the whizzer cone-- just to use as the top end for the 18. (I don't have much experience with piezo tweeters, but when I tried one I wasn't impressed).

I was never a gigging bassist. I haven't gigged on anything for several years. I'm primarily a home recording hack, so this stuff never needs to move out of my little studio. The Big Ben I got for $100 ten years ago (just couldn't pass it up). It's big and awkward as hell, but I never have to move it. Outside of the occasional jam when friends come to town, it never even gets turned up loud.

I've heard that bi-amping was big in the '90s -- why has that changed? Sore backs? The little EX1128 sounds great on top of the 18 -- I feel like I've found my holy grail of bass rigs (as scrappy as it is).
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Had to go through that when I sold my swr750. I actually had listed it for sale here and then on other sites and ended up selling it for a lot more than I was asking to guitar center, which is kind of silly because GC is notorious for lowballing people.

I think it’s the tones that are popular now and the weight. Most people who don’t mind lugging a heavy amp these days prefer tube amps or amps that are more suited for dirty tones. Another issue is a lot of us has bas experiences. For it was with their cabs. The problem with proprietary speakers like the ones they use is there really aren’t any suitable replacements.
 
#35
CrocMule said:
I've never soldered on a PCB, but I'm going to try that bypass mod.
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Something that is currently working great and that you would love to keep going is NOT the item you want to learn on.
It will be a sad and expensive lesson. :crying:

Have a shop do the job or practice a lot before hand. Then when you think you got it, practice some more.
 
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#36
Nothing wrong with SWR gear in my experience. I only owned a Goliath II 410 in the early 1990’s, but I particularly enjoyed playing through my friend’s SM-400 in college jazz ensemble rehearsals. It ran hot by the end of a set.

Another friend from school, who also owns an SM-400, started using his again after spending 15 years only on MarkBass and Aguilar heads. When he brought the SM out of storage to play, he said that he preferred the tone and feel, and would be using it as his primary amp again.
 
#37
Love my SM-400s! I've had it for 25 years. At first I did the biamping thing into an Eden 15 and 210- which sounded great in the studio- but live it just didn't seem to get loud enough. So I ran it with the same cabs but without the biamping.

I got to play it a few times through a Berg HT322- talk about pure magic...

The best thing that ever happened to that amp was when I bought an HPF that I put in the effects loop- it really cleaned it up even further and really opened up it's potential.

I've since acquired other amps and cabs, but that one has always stuck with me. I suppose it will always be my #2. (it's tough to beat the class D stuff now...)
 
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#40
Nothing wrong with the tone once you boosted the low mids to fill in the inherent preamp scoop. Nice full range tone and great overdrive on tap if you cranked the pre.

There were some design issues that should have been addressed like soft-start and power amp protection. A hp filter somewhere in the design would've been helpful as well.
 
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