Anyone using an SWR Workingman's 10 or 12?

[mangotango]

Would be interested to hear how you got on with the Genz Benz??

My main amp is a GB Streamliner 900 and it is absolutely The Nuts.
 

[Soledad]

3 hours ago, mangotango said:

My main amp is a GB Streamliner 900

I came very close to getting a 900 a few months ago... it may even still be here. I mean, what would I do with 900W. Like giving Butthead a chainsaw  

Anyway, got it back. All pretty clean. QC dated Sept 2005. Had the head out and grill off. Bass drivers both excellent, smooth and clean. Amp a bit dusty inside so cleaned fan and vac-ed dust out. Had 2 crackly pots so that's mainly why the head came out - lubed the pots, seems OK now.

Early days - its flat sound is really good. Harder then my Aguilar through a TC 212, probably to be expected but just generally a more forward 'present' sound. Partly that's the 10s at work. But then a really rich depth if you lift the bass or select the low boost - one of 3 pre-sets: low, mid scoop, 'signal attack' which seems to boost high mids and lower top plus adds drive... that's how it sounds anyway.
Excellent sound straight off with the P + EB flats; good with the Jazz + rounds but more exploring to do. Not quite there with fretless + La Bella white nylons - just need to play more with the mids I think.

Missing (if it really matters): no mute on front; DI is pre only (no big deal I think). I'll get used to no mute but would have been handy.
Good bits: 2 x 10 and horn. Can switch fan off at low levels - good for a 'pro' combo. The usual tuner out, effects in/out. Don't get the dual output - can switch from 2 x 100W to a bridged 200 (into 8 ohm) but not clear why. 2 x big handles and generally built like a brick. Has a tilt foot to angle back. Got a nice big Genz Benz logo on the front - call me shallow.

Ordered a jack to speakon to add a second cab, just to see how it sounds. But overall very pleased. Like the Aguilar, I've found everything flat is very close to the sound, and mainly adjusting the mids a little is all I need.

If anyone has one of these M heads or combos and better understands the point of dual output, I'd like to know.
 

[stu_g]

looks a nice amp,i have a Workingmans 12 not a bad little amp.

[Soledad]

10 hours ago, stu_g said:

i have a Workingmans 12

If one had come up close by and for sensible money I'd probably have got one. According to the Americans, the Workingmans is preferred to the later (current?) Working Pro. Look how compact it is! MY GB is considerably bigger, but I can lift it into my pick-up... it's basically a bag of cement so a fair lift but OK. Anyway, that's me done on amps for a while.
Nice EB3 (maybe they call them something else now), I owned a Gibson variant years ago but used to fight it for sound - bags of character and very cool looking.

[mangotango]

14 hours ago, Soledad said:

I came very close to getting a 900 a few months ago... it may even still be here. I mean, what would I do with 900W. Like giving Butthead a chainsaw 

Got a nice big Genz Benz logo on the front - call me shallow.

I've never even had it above 9 o'clock on the Master. More headroom than any sane person could sanely want. For my Small/Jazz Rig, I use it into a BF Compact 110. Never needed to turn it up, but have gigged successfully with that set-up, including playing outdoors with a big band comprising many horn players. The Bigger Rig pairs it with a GB 2 x 12 and sounds awesome. As much heft as I'll ever need, and in fact probably a great deal more.

Congrats on your acquisition; and yes of course, a Big Logo...nothing shallow about that.

 

[Ricky 4000]

Day late and a dollar short, but there's a Workingman's 12 on fleabay at the moment:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SWR-Workingmans-12-Series-Bass-COMBO/173911774239

£300 but the ad' says it's virtually unused, and the seller will send it.

[Soledad]

9 hours ago, Ricky 4000 said:

there's a Workingman's 12 on fleabay

yep, I'd seen that, looks good and dead straight. Problem is I bought the Genz 210 recently and can't justify another.

Thanks for the nod though... and Los Pollos eh? Reminds me how good Baby Blue (Badfinger) is

btw - I think the GB210 is a bit of an animal - shoots daggers at you. Punchy doesn't really capture the experience.

[wrinkleygit]

just seen this thread, I've been using a Working Mans 1x10 combo & matching 1x10 cab for some years now, not the lightest combo in the world by todays standards but it is manageable. Always worked well with my old Sei headless 5 & now makes the perfect partner for my Jabba fretless. Haven't seen one for sale for ages & would guess they won't fetch much these days , but I hold mine in high regard if that's any consolation,  here's a link to a couple of sound clips that were taken on an iPhone, sound quality is poor unless you can play back thro a speaker system, mike b.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1309lt80ra1iiqk/AABd9pNdlaotYYJag67C0HW6a?dl=0

Edited July 3, 2019 by wrinkleygit
omission

[Soledad]

thanks @wrinkleygit - i'll have a listen on a decent sound source. I too had a Sei headless 5 for a while, one of the first he built (No6 I recall).
If I do come across a W'mans 10 (not the Working Pro) I'd probably get it if it was sensibly priced. I've seen 12s occasionally and as noted above there is one at the moment asking £300 - but I don't really want a 12. The U.S. fans (and there are quite a few) rate the 10 higher for sound.
I envy you your mini-rig, very rare I expect.

[Evo - HV]

I have a Goliath SWR 6x10 and it's an absolute beast.  But at 114lbs it now only comes out for festival or larger gigs.  Sounds amazing though.  My twopenneth.

[Soledad]

On 03/07/2019 at 15:47, Evo - HV said:

I have a Goliath SWR 6x10 and it's an absolute beast.

I love the sound off decent 610s and 810s, just can't really cart one around or justify the levels or stage space. The big cabs are amazing bargains now - fancy an Ampeg just for old times sake

[eude]

On 03/07/2019 at 13:10, wrinkleygit said:

just seen this thread, I've been using a Working Mans 1x10 combo & matching 1x10 cab for some years now, not the lightest combo in the world by todays standards but it is manageable. Always worked well with my old Sei headless 5 & now makes the perfect partner for my Jabba fretless. Haven't seen one for sale for ages & would guess they won't fetch much these days , but I hold mine in high regard if that's any consolation,  here's a link to a couple of sound clips that were taken on an iPhone, sound quality is poor unless you can play back thro a speaker system, mike b.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1309lt80ra1iiqk/AABd9pNdlaotYYJag67C0HW6a?dl=0

Have to say mate, that sounds marvellous, really full sound considering to diminutive proportions of the rig.

I used to see a band play regularly, years ago in Glasgow and the bassist had an SWR Baby Blue 2x8 combo with the matching 2x8 extension cab and it was loud enough for a reasonably sized fairly lively pub with no PA support. I'm fairly sure those things maxed out at 180w too!

They literally don't make them like they used to...

Eude

[Toddy]

Massive love for SWR Stuff,   recently bought a workingpro 12 combo, immaculate and with a custom cover for £140, its already done 30 or so gigs on theatre stages, perfectly loud enough for me to hear it (obv needs pa support) and love the damn thing, great sound, looks great, I'm chuffed to bits with it,  

[Downunderwonder]

Old SWR stuff has nil in the way of high passing to prevent damage to speakers from accidents and low fundamentals.

 

Adding a HPF to a Workingman 12 combo let me have at it with a 5 string and get lovely tone. Without the HPF it was horribly flabby.

[G-Lo]

So guys, just getting back into bass and looking at amps. Trying to avoid the sillies. I see some okay deals for (1)a GK backline 4X10 cab and backline 600 head (pricey total) ORRR an SWR WorkingPro 2x10 OR a SWR WorkingMan 4x10 which i'd either combine with a  small head or a deal on an orange head or there's THIS beast of a bargain available https://www.bazaraki.com/adv/4530444_swr-sm900-bass-head/

 

I'm wondering how much power is too much? I see home use, praccy with some very loud friends and eventually smallish gigs. Dont want to be the idiot with a rig for arenas but dont want to find myself just a touch lacking

 

https://reverb.com/item/66289310-gallien-krueger-backline-250-bass-combo-1-x15 Or maybe this is enough?

Edited March 8, 2023 by G-Lo

[Downunderwonder]

6 hours ago, G-Lo said:

So guys, just getting back into bass and looking at amps. Trying to avoid the sillies. I see some okay deals for (1)a GK backline 4X10 cab and backline 600 head (pricey total) ORRR an SWR WorkingPro 2x10 OR a SWR WorkingMan 4x10 which i'd either combine with a  small head or a deal on an orange head or there's THIS beast of a bargain available https://www.bazaraki.com/adv/4530444_swr-sm900-bass-head/

 

I'm wondering how much power is too much? I see home use, praccy with some very loud friends and eventually smallish gigs. Dont want to be the idiot with a rig for arenas but dont want to find myself just a touch lacking

 

https://reverb.com/item/66289310-gallien-krueger-backline-250-bass-combo-1-x15 Or maybe this is enough?

Too much power can blow up your speaker or make you deaf. It really comes down to how very loud your bandmates are.

 

Back in the day I had a pretty similar amount of firepower as the GK combo you listed last. It was only just enough for the gig. A second cabinet would have been the solution. Instead we had to play a little quieter than geetarboy would have liked, which was no bad thing as we were hell loud for a bar room anyway.

 

You get a lot louder with twice as many speakers compared with twice as many watts in the amp.

[msb]

Some of the older SWR stuff contains parts that are no longer available , so may be difficult for some repairs. I recently picked up a little Headlite. Everything works as it should , and they’re said to be very reliable. But should something go it might be difficult to repair.

[G-Lo]

17 hours ago, Downunderwonder said:

Too much power can blow up your speaker or make you deaf. It really comes down to how very loud your bandmates are.

 

Back in the day I had a pretty similar amount of firepower as the GK combo you listed last. It was only just enough for the gig. A second cabinet would have been the solution. Instead we had to play a little quieter than geetarboy would have liked, which was no bad thing as we were hell loud for a bar room anyway.

 

You get a lot louder with twice as many speakers compared with twice as many watts in the amp.

Yep, the though being with the GK head and cab have the capability for a 2nd cab in the future. I think that would get me in the 300W ballpark, what I'm trying to work out is what is enough for me. Not sure if that combo would take a 2nd cab... back to the internet!

 

Edited March 9, 2023 by G-Lo

[casapete]

15 minutes ago, G-Lo said:

Yep, the though being with the GK head and cab have the capability for a 2nd cab in the future. I think that would get me in the 300W ballpark, what I'm trying to work out is what is enough for me. Not sure if that combo would take a 2nd cab... back to the internet!

 

If it’s the GK combo you mentioned earlier, then they only work into a minimum of 8 ohms.

Assuming it has an 8 ohm speaker fitted, it should therefore be giving it’s full 250 watts -

it won’t run an additional cab. 
The Backline heads do run into a 4 ohm cab - I have the 600 model, which reckons on

being 300 watts into a 4 ohm speaker load.

[G-Lo]

1 hour ago, casapete said:

The Backline heads do run into a 4 ohm cab - I have the 600 model, which reckons on

being 300 watts into a 4 ohm speaker load.

So the crucial question- how do you like the backline 600 and is it worth it? Are you happy and would you recommend it?

[casapete]

2 minutes ago, G-Lo said:

So the crucial question- how do you like the backline 600 and is it worth it? Are you happy and would you recommend it?

I got my Backline 600 head as a spare for my GK 1001RB head. I haven’t needed to use it, but when trying

it out I actually thought there wasn’t a massive difference between the two. I use a GK Neo 410 8 ohm

cab, so the Backline is probably giving around 200 watts into it, and it is more than loud enough for

my gigs. A good way of getting the GK sound on a budget IMO.

[G-Lo]

On 09/03/2023 at 01:36, msb said:

Some of the older SWR stuff contains parts that are no longer available , so may be difficult for some repairs. I recently picked up a little Headlite. Everything works as it should , and they’re said to be very reliable. But should something go it might be difficult to repair.

Hmmm... there's a headlite for sale on bassdirect, for 325. In fantasy land i'd like a GK 500 fusion but lets not get ahead of ourselves...

[msb]

Mine’s a great little head but only sees occasional use.

[lidl e]

I played a WM 15 throughout the 90s as my practice and small gig rig.

 

Loved it.