What happened to SWR?

[mikel]

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1468390836' post='3090551']
If the 'technology wasn't up to date' quote holds water, it's amazing as the core Fender business is based on around ten guitars, the designs of which are now 55-60 years old AND they're also producing instruments that look this age as part of their range.
[/quote]

Aye, mental init? Buy a new instrument, that has been made to look like a battered old one, and pay more for it than a pristine model. Bonkers. Still, If you can get away with it the joke is on the punter.

[SisterAbdullahX]

I bought what I'm pretty sure was the first SM400 and Goliath to come to the north east, from Rock City in Newcastle. The Goliath was wonderful, except when I had to carry it up to my fourth floor student flat after a gig. I was less impressed with the SM400. Maybe it was just too complicated for my young heed.

[GarethFlatlands]

Picked up a Studio 220 from a local studio which sadly is in bad need of TLC and hasn't worked for a while. Good news is a guy I know through work is a bassist with a lot of gear so has loaned me his 550x as it's been sat gathering dust in his house for a long time. I love it, really easy to dial a great sound into it. It's one of the few amps I've managed to plug into and really dug the sound of.

Funny Trace has been mentioned as the other amp I immediately loved was the house amp at a local gig which was a big old Trace combo. Very different sound, a little brighter and dirtier. I'd love to have one of each on the stage but I'm sure as hell not carrying them around!

[Kong]

Purchased one of the verry first Redheads in Germany and played it for more than 16 years. Together with a sealed 410" that gave the Redhead the mids it needed - it was the sound of my dreams. Later it was paired with a Workingman 212". Loved this sound.

The amp was always hot, after long gigs you could burn your fingers by unplugging the cable.

At last it died, and it was impossible to get the parts my tech needed. We jgot the amp out of the combo anda disassembled the poweramp and closed the housing. So now I use it as a preamp, only in the studio, because the top is still heavy.

The cab of the Redhead still is here, I am waiting for a 350 Redface to mount it to the cab.

[GarethFlatlands]

Sadly, I have to give my 550x head back as the owner is looking to sell it so it looks like it's time to get the Studio 220 fixed.

If anyone's interested in the 550x let me know as I said I'd ask around on here to help him sell it as a thank you for loaning it to me for so long.

[scannerman]

I had the 350 read face and the original Mo! Along with 4x10 & 2x10 goliaths it was a tone mountain that weighed a ton.
The Mo was in a league of its own......good times.

[scannerman]

[quote name='HazBeen' timestamp='1468423400' post='3090843']
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.
[/quote]

Sh*t With Resistors or in my case.... Speakers Want Replacing.
Not as bad as Horrible American Rubbish That Keeps Exploding.....again, by experience!

[gsgbass]

Fender bought them, the same way they did with SUNN.

[JTUK]

[quote name='scannerman' timestamp='1481494885' post='3192745']
Sh*t With Resistors or in my case.... Speakers Want Replacing.
Not as bad as Horrible American Rubbish That Keeps Exploding.....again, by experience!
[/quote]

The SM amps were classic and the Goliaths were great cabs. The PAS chassis were decent for the time but when you go for a supposed custom spec, and the recone units becomes scarce you've basically condemned the cab to a set of new chassis'....which for a 410, is expensive.

In the U.S, recone kits were supposed to be available, so that would sustain the cabs, but in Europe that was impossible, and een SWR couldn't help.
I never found a chassis fit to replace anyway..altho plenty of people said the Eminience 2510 was good, but I didn't like it. The weight save was nice..the sound wasn't, IMO.

I think a few people could suggest a decent enough match through WinSD tools but you still need to factor in how many units do you replace?

Other than that...they had the really good period and then others took over. In the late 80's/early 90's they were the benchmark along with Eden.

[GarethFlatlands]

The guy unloading the 550x is also selling a Goliath Jr 2*10. Any opinions on them?

[VTypeV4]

[quote name='GarethFlatlands' timestamp='1481661722' post='3194165']
The guy unloading the 550x is also selling a [b]Goliath Jr 2*10. Any opinions on them?[/b]
[/quote]

I have a pair of Goliath Jr III cabs.. Probably the best cabs I've ever owned although O/E drivers are trcky to come by..

[GarethFlatlands]

Thanks, I'll probably take it off his hands.