minty fresh death Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 So what is the general consensus on these, a powerhouse no doubt i'm sure... but how does it fair on reliability and tone...etc? To give you an idea, I use an Aguilar GS212 and a GK 700RB-II at the moment but I crave more power. Either a second GS212, GS410 or a 6x10 of some description will be added to my rig as well within the next few months. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guyl Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Can only speak personally .... Tone and power were awesome, but had reliability probs from day one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minty fresh death Posted January 26, 2008 Author Share Posted January 26, 2008 [quote name='guyl' post='128130' date='Jan 26 2008, 03:40 AM']Can only speak personally .... Tone and power were awesome, but had reliability probs from day one.[/quote] What sort of problems and did they persist, did you keep the amp? In the past i've read these get quite hot, but then again so does my GK when I play for extended periods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy67 Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 (edited) [quote name='guyl' post='128130' date='Jan 26 2008, 03:40 AM']Can only speak personally .... Tone and power were awesome, but had reliability probs from day one.[/quote] concur 100% not as much power as the 750w would suggest but easily the most articulate amp I have ever heard! the issue with mine related to the power supply - it would just drop volume without warning, sent it back for repair, no-one could find an issue! if you were looking at the amp face straight on and tapped it on the top at the right hand corner you could hear the volume changing - obviously a board issue! If its from Sound Control think twice about it - it may be my one just shipped! andy Edited January 26, 2008 by andy67 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guyl Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 [quote name='minty fresh death' post='128131' date='Jan 26 2008, 04:01 AM']What sort of problems and did they persist, did you keep the amp?[/quote] Gremlins - could never tie down the problem. Bass Centre had it back when it was under guarantee and a local guy afterwards. They all chased around but it just intermittently conked without explanation. I had no choice but to get rid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minty fresh death Posted January 26, 2008 Author Share Posted January 26, 2008 hmmm this is not a good start to this thread, everyone seems to have had problems they seem to be a relatively popular amp considering the price, but then again the sheer number available second hand could also indicate that alot of people are unsatisfied.... they can't all have gremlins... can they? has anyone got one or knows of someone that hasn't had any problems? maybe john paul jones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedontcarebear Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 (edited) I had one, and had no issues whatsoever with the reliability in the time I had it, I just went off the sound in the band I played in (and had a cheaper head I could use instead, which was a markbass). Edited January 26, 2008 by thedontcarebear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minty fresh death Posted January 26, 2008 Author Share Posted January 26, 2008 (edited) How long did you own it for and could you give me a brief description of the overdrive effect on it? Edited January 26, 2008 by minty fresh death Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedontcarebear Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 I dunno, probably 6/7/8 months? What do you want to know? I'm not very good at describing amps, I never had a use for the overdrive, so apart from turning it on once or twice when messing around and bored I can't tell you much like how it cuts through etc. Sounds like a normal SWR, it wasn't modern and clean sounding enough for me in the end (like markbass are), when I started playing SWR were my dream heads, and I guess that's why I picked it up, but at the end of the day it doesn't suit what I do now. I miss my markbass now, but my vocalist is travelling the world, so I hardly play (hence why I have a dirt cheap superfly). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryll-Profane Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 I owned and gigged one for 3 or so years and absolutely loved it. In that time it never went wrong on a gig up until the point where the valve went. After a quick service and re-valve it was back on form. By this point though I had a new rig so it went somewhere in exchange for cash. Mine was a pre-fender model if that makes any difference (speculative I'm sure). Bottom line is. Wish I still had it!! The overdrive is nice. Probably comparable with any decent valve based drive pedal (to be fair though it has been a while since I heard one). It never was quite filthy enough for me but then my favourite drive sound comes from my M80+ which I used with the 750x and also with my present rig. The suboctave though I thought was great. Tracked really tight and much more satisfying than the ashdown circuit. So yeah I re-iterate. Wish I still had it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minty fresh death Posted January 26, 2008 Author Share Posted January 26, 2008 (edited) Sounds good, so what do you use now then? [quote name='thedontcarebear' post='128274' date='Jan 26 2008, 03:49 PM']I dunno, probably 6/7/8 months? What do you want to know? I'm not very good at describing amps, I never had a use for the overdrive, so apart from turning it on once or twice when messing around and bored I can't tell you much like how it cuts through etc. Sounds like a normal SWR, it wasn't modern and clean sounding enough for me in the end (like markbass are), when I started playing SWR were my dream heads, and I guess that's why I picked it up, but at the end of the day it doesn't suit what I do now. I miss my markbass now, but my vocalist is travelling the world, so I hardly play (hence why I have a dirt cheap superfly).[/quote] What sort of stuff were you playing on the SWR? Edited January 26, 2008 by minty fresh death Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_russ Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Is a 1001RBII not an option? mine is biblically loud ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minty fresh death Posted January 26, 2008 Author Share Posted January 26, 2008 (edited) [quote name='mr_russ' post='128320' date='Jan 26 2008, 05:14 PM']Is a 1001RBII not an option? mine is biblically loud ;D[/quote] Perhaps I should have mentioned that I don't want to recover the same ground, I like the GK allot but I want to try something new. Edited January 26, 2008 by minty fresh death Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_russ Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Fair enough ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedontcarebear Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 [quote name='minty fresh death' post='128311' date='Jan 26 2008, 04:59 PM']What sort of stuff were you playing on the SWR?[/quote] I play kinda hip hop stuff, I am actually still yet to find a sound I am totally happy with, I have an issue with so many different style of songs and not enough bass sounds (hence why I thought the superfly was a good idea). When I was younger, I pretty much exclusively played in metal and hardcore bands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minty fresh death Posted January 26, 2008 Author Share Posted January 26, 2008 I'll be playing hardcore, punk and funky stuff through it. I don't use many effects, well you can see what I have in my sig. It sounds to me like you would be most happy with a 100w Fender Bassman silverface or maybe one of the Epifani amps, what other stuff have you owned amp wise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedontcarebear Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 I've owned a couple of SWR, Mesa Boogie Basis M 2000, Ashdown Superfly, Trace Elliot, Markbass Little Mark, and a bunch I cannot even remember anymore! If I decide to get another amp, it'll probably be Eden or a Thunderfunk, or another Markbass as I did like that and it was the closest to what I want, or maybe even a POD XT pro and a poweramp to give the versatility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minty fresh death Posted January 26, 2008 Author Share Posted January 26, 2008 M2000 is a nice amp, suprised you didn't hold onto that one?! Which trace did you have, I owned an pre-gibson ah350 with gp12 pre-amp for a while... kinda wish I still had it, really awesome, stable tone and way louder than anything else SS/Hybrid rated for 350w RMS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedontcarebear Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Yeah, I did like the Mesa, but I gave up bass for a couple of years and concentrated on guitar and it was before I gave up that I sold it. Not sure the trace model, it was a 1x15 combo, 300 watts I think, and I had the matching 4x10, it was my first proper amp, spent my uni loan on it from flying pig music! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minty fresh death Posted January 26, 2008 Author Share Posted January 26, 2008 lol! Eden stuff is great especially the cabs, but i've also read reports of reliability issues with their amps... however the Thunderfunk sounds like it might be right up your street Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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