GarethFlatlands Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 A local studio is moving and getting rid of a lot of stock. In amongst the stuff I didn't want and stuff I did want but in no way needed there was an old SWR Studio 220 head for a bargain £50. I picked it up this morning and haven't had chance to try it out yet (no cab at home) but it looks pretty good for the price. Anyone owned one? I've only played through an SWR once, an old 750 watt head and 6 by 10 cab when I tried out for Oceansize </namedrop> and it was very nice from what I remember but you don't seem to see SWR stuff used much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 sounds like a nice price! (What else did they have?) If I remember what folk on here have said it's a really really nice sounding amp that doesn't have that much power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethFlatlands Posted December 6, 2012 Author Share Posted December 6, 2012 An Alesis rack gate/comp/limiter (£10!) and a Roland W30 (£50) were the only other good looking things for me, didn't see the Alesis until I'd got home and I'm away for the rest of the weekend so opportunity missed there. That seems to be the general opinion on the amp from what I've read, some people seem to use them as a DI or for studio work (why they had it I guess). Shame it doesn't have more power really but I'll try it at volume and see how it sounds. Quite looking forward to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassPimp66 Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Welcome to the SWR owner club. I'm sure you'll love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I played mine this morning - a great amp. Bit sparkly if you overdo the enhance...but its not as weedy as some would suggest. EQ can be a bit fussy at first, but its an easy enough system. Mine gets used on its own for small gigs, and sometimes racked with a Stereo 800 as a preamp for the loud stuff. With modern "flat response" cabs it can sound unflattering...the old SWR cabs had a voicing to smooth things out in the mids, same as Eden or Bag End of the same era. That was probably a £600 amp in the mid 80's...when boutique meant Bass Centre. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 £50 ? a steal ! great heads, i sold mine only as i couldn't justify having two amps ! i'd agree with bassbod about the enhance - go easy on it or it can quickly become [i]very[/i] hi-fi. i think i used to leave it at zero. one thing i have read as that they're prone to get very hot, when used at volume. people rack them with fans in the enclosure to make sure it all stays cool. swr amps do run warm as they use the chassis as part of the heatsinking (so they say). my baby baby blue does get warm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Yes they get hot...and the fans are noisy (Studio 220 hasn't got one). I've usually managed to leave a rack space free above, and that seems to be enough to let them cool. I also remember that some of the earlier ones could get damaged if phantom power was applied to the DI, but I've no idea when they fixed that. I usually put a passive DI box into the effects send/preamp out instead...seems to keep engineers happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 SWR built them to run HOT..as they used very good componets. My amp tech says this is a poor design... but I disagree as my SM400 hasn't missed a beat in 20 odd years. Thunderfunk copied the amp, IIRC..and they aren't bad amps either. It was likely brought as a studio pre amp... and the tone shaping is very powerful. By todays standards it may seem underpowered but I still have my SM400 and can't bare to sell it even tho I never get to take it out these days, it is worth more to me than the sum I would likely get for it. If doesn't get a look in against a TF550-B or DB750 but they were very well made and spanking amps back in the day. The EQ is quirky and you need to know your way around it....but a great piece of kit.for that price Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernmeister Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 (edited) [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1354889857' post='1891675'] SWR built them to run HOT..as they used very good componets. My amp tech says this is a poor design... but I disagree as my SM400 hasn't missed a beat in 20 odd years. Thunderfunk copied the amp, IIRC..and they aren't bad amps either. It was likely brought as a studio pre amp... and the tone shaping is very powerful. By todays standards it may seem underpowered but I still have my SM400 and can't bare to sell it even tho I never get to take it out these days, it is worth more to me than the sum I would likely get for it. [/quote] I agree with JTUK, If its tone your looking for you've got yourself a bargain there. I used to own the SM400, which i had for 10yrs, but managed to trade it for the upgraded SM400s which has a built in fan & an extra 50watts per channel of power. I can't see myself selling mine either, as its capable of producing a great variety of sounds & i would never get back its true value. I own alot of SWR gear, so welcome to the SWR Club. Edited December 9, 2012 by Bernmeister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianhowardbass Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 I just sold one today. They're plenty powerful for the 'average' gig, if you're playing somewhere where this doesn't have enough power, then you'd hopefully have full PA anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethFlatlands Posted December 10, 2012 Author Share Posted December 10, 2012 Sounds like I got a good deal, I found the old info on the SWR site and RRP for these was around $1k so you can't go wrong for £50. Of course it could have a load of issues and need a lot of servicing and repair but I know the guys who sold it reasonably well so it should be at least working. The EQ looks a bit more complex than I'm used to but I'm trying it out Wednesday night so we'll see if my simple brain can figure it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 The EQ config is great for notching out unwanted frequencies but other than that I don't use it. If a really old one, then don't use the bass beyond 12...as some models had unusable sub which is a power drain.. They remedied this on later amps and not sure if it applies to 220's. The EQ is very powerful and you can screw the sound out of sight..later variants of these amps..like the Eden WT series and Thunderfunk uses the enhances and timbres to map general useable sounds but SWR predated all this. Once you get to grips with the 4 band para you'll not want anything else EQ wise... but you can taker a while to suss it out. I just match my bass to the general sound and turn up... if you have to go hunting for the sound, then it can get trickier...but that also applies to other amps anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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