What happened to SWR?

[Gunsfreddy2003]

Nice to see all of the love for SWR coming out guys. As others have said it seems a real shame that such a great brand was swallowed up with no real benefit than to help Fender build up their market share. Personally, I have never used a Fender amp and have to say that they are not even on my radar to try at all.
I wonder if the guy that started SWR toys with the idea of doing it all again?
I'm off to search the web for second hand SWR cabs - they could be worth a lot one day!

[BassBod]

Steve W Rabe sold up a long time before Fender took over, he had another small company Raven Labs which made high quality DI boxes and EQ /mixers. He gave that up after a few years, as I remember it one of the main reasons was the hassle of constantly trying to source high quality components, when the global electronics industry was going for low spec, low price, enormous volume production. If you look on UTube, there are some SWR promo videos, although the basses don't sound great and there are mullets everywhere 🙈

Edited July 13, 2016 by BassBod

[wateroftyne]

I had no idea Raven Labs and SWR were one in the same!

I had a Raven Labs P preamp. It was fab.

[stingrayPete1977]

I can't understand how a company in so much debt is even allowed to buy out another company! Fender could do with going under and starting again really,I can't see how else they will ever balance the books?

[chris_b]

Steve Rabe was a cleaver guy, also when he worked for Acoustic he was Jaco's amp man.

[JTUK]

[quote name='eude' timestamp='1468397945' post='3090602']


Regardless, I'd love to see a resurgence of SWR, if it might ever be possible.


[/quote]

SWR had their period where they were THE rig... but that was quite quickly challenged by Eden and you tended to be a fan of one of the other.
Those two, had it tied up for a period of time but they lost it.
By the time SWR were sold to Fender, they were finished and not a shadow of the powerhouse they once were, IMO.

I forget when things changes but I seem to recall they had 5 or so years so about 88 onwards..to maybe '95.
After that... they weren't the same.... and it was downhill all the way to Fender and then the demise

IMO.

[HazBeen]

sh*t Works Right..... Goliath 2 410 are imo best 410 ever. And the Henry 8x8 super sweet sounding mini fridge. Also had a red face 350 and pre-Fender Red Head amp wise. Both just lovely.

[BassBod]

Lovely cab, but it's a heavy bugger...

[HazBeen]

Yes, one of the reasons I no longer have them. Mine were flightcased too, just madness...

[JPJ]

[quote name='BassBod' timestamp='1468426879' post='3090867']
Lovely cab, but it's a heavy bugger...
[/quote]

You think that's heavy?
[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/JPJ/media/IMG_0864_zps17e5864c.jpg.html][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/JPJ/IMG_0864_zps17e5864c.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[mrtcat]

[quote name='JPJ' timestamp='1468435228' post='3090951']
You think that's heavy?
[url="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/JPJ/media/IMG_0864_zps17e5864c.jpg.html"][/url]
[/quote]

Now there's a thing of beauty. I don't care about weight - that's bloody lovely.

[paul_5]

I'm still gigging a 92/93 SM400. It's had a tube replaced and that's about it. In over 20 years.

[JPJ]

[quote name='mrtcat' timestamp='1468439251' post='3090988']


Now there's a thing of beauty. I don't care about weight - that's bloody lovely.
[/quote]

Thanks, it is indeed a lovely looking and even better sounding rig

[HazBeen]

Aah, the Goliath Sr. + SM1500. probably 100kg worth of creamy goodness. See, who needs D Class and Neo anyway.

[HazBeen]

And why do I have SWR GAS now?

[BassBod]

Tell me about it! Out of all the SWR bits I've got around only one has proved tricky. The Redhead, which is a fairly early version..has a hum which has been diagnosed as coming from the mains transformer (probably just showing its age). Its not a terrible hum, but it is beaming into the preamp circuit so will be present on the DI send etc. Good news is I can still source a direct replacement from the USA maker of the factory transformer, bad news is that after shipping and added import costs its almost as much as I paid for the amp.

I could source a UK made equivalent a lot cheaper. Really should make a decision on this one.....

[attachment=223470:IMG_1013.jpg]

[JTUK]

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1468441924' post='3091009']
I'm still gigging a 92/93 SM400. It's had a tube replaced and that's about it. In over 20 years.
[/quote]

Not at all surprised... Mine is a few years older and has needed one valve swap too.
The only other issue I had was when it was knocked over whilst under power and the tech who repaired it said
the components were top notch and he thought 'over-spec'd...

It runs very hot and for it to do that...you need components that can run like that

[BassBod]

I suspect heat has been part of the problem with the transformer in the Redhead. No fan, due to its studio origins. The fans in the power amp, and Basic 350 are all pretty noisy, but I'm sure that can be improved a lot by fitting higher quality modern versions. The Studio 220 has no fan, but it's also a low wattage and takes time to warm up. SWR always intended the 2u amps to go into 3u rack spaces so the cases would conduct heat away quicker. That's why the rack mounting holes are a bit awkward in many 2u cases.

[VTypeV4]

I'm very happy with my cabs and always liked their amps too..

If I couldn't have a Trace amp then I'd take an SWR any day of the week. I seem to remember playing an SM400 in a shop in Liverpool (Curleys maybe?) years back and being very impressed with it. Even the dinky Workingmans 10 was little corker..

[Twincam]

[quote name='BassBod' timestamp='1468498117' post='3091324']
Tell me about it! Out of all the SWR bits I've got around only one has proved tricky. The Redhead, which is a fairly early version..has a hum which has been diagnosed as coming from the mains transformer (probably just showing its age). Its not a terrible hum, but it is beaming into the preamp circuit so will be present on the DI send etc. Good news is I can still source a direct replacement from the USA maker of the factory transformer, bad news is that after shipping and added import costs its almost as much as I paid for the amp.

I could source a UK made equivalent a lot cheaper. Really should make a decision on this one.....

[attachment=223470:IMG_1013.jpg]
[/quote]

Are you sure it doesn't just need tightening?

[BassBod]

Maybe..there are some screws, but I didn't fiddle...do you mean the screws that hold the transformer frame together?

[Beer of the Bass]

I've been using the studio's Bass 350 on top of a Peavey 4x10 for the last couple of rehearsals I've done. It's a good sounding amp - I'd always associated SWR with the Marcus Miller slap sound (which is cool but not for me) but it turns out to be quite flexible and easy to get my preferred sound out of. It does seem to hit the limiter sooner than I'd expect, but I am playing with a guitarist who likes to crank things a bit, and it's an 8 ohm cab. It would be interesting to play my own rig in the same room with the same band for the sake of comparison some time.

[DiMarco]

Fender kissed then killed them like Gibson did with Trace Elliot back in the day.
Its all about the money money money.

Edited July 19, 2016 by Rich
Removal/replacement of unnecessary word

[Roland Rock]

I had a funny one with a SWR combo.
Back in 98 The Bass Centre had a deal on new Bassic Black 1x15 combos. RRP £799 but on offer at £519 something like that.

When it arrived, the centre of the speaker didn't have the SWR logo on it like in the pictures (in the Bassist magazine ad)
No biggie, and we had a lacklustre few years together. The speaker went one day and the repair guy who replaced it said that what was in there was a "cheap EV" speaker.
I emailed SWR and they said that they had never used EV speakers in their cabs.

All quite odd..

Edited July 18, 2016 by Roland Rock

[BassBod]

Sounds like a loaner that got abused? SWR didn't use anything too exotic for speakers (even the Bag End units were probably made by Eminence) but the choice for replacement speakers was pretty limited up until a few years ago.

The Bass Centre pricing was ambitious, but they were the only importer for a long time. Memory tells me that the Redheads were always £900-1200 even in the early/ mid 90's. That was a lot of cash!

Edited July 18, 2016 by BassBod