🎉✨NPAD (Preamp) ✨💥

[Bunion]

Look what arrived today by Royal Mail. 

Box still intact and 2 days earlier than suggested. 

Well done Royal Mail!

My gear years ago was An Ampeg head with SWR Goliath and Big Ben (the Bag end version) 

The SWR heads were lovely but too clean for me so I turned the other cheek. 

Probably missing the one piece of gear I should have had. 

I read somewhere the unit was under development in the earlier part of the 90’s so was probably released mid to late 90’s 

I can’t really find any live reviews on YouTube (just one that’s poorly recorded) but I’m reliably informed Jeff ament used one and that the track ‘Go’ from the album VS. Is a good representation of its extreme settings.

I’ve had a search out on the fleabay for awhile now and this one pinged up a few days ago with a starting price of £200, I was expecting it to gain more interest (they have gone for silly money when they do pop up in the wild) but I got up Saturday morning and put a bid in and was successful so here we are. 

No pedals alas but I’ll source them eventually. There’s an on off pedal (overdrive on and off) and an expression pedal (adds in the amount of overdrive to taste as required.) 

I’m told SWR gear requires the specific pedals which was a bone of contention when they were released but I’m sure I’ll sort things out one way or another. 

I’ll let it warm to room temp before I attempt to turn it on (it was very cold being in trucks and warehouses while on route) no point in stressing the tubes by rushing things. 

Fingers crossed and all being well I’m in for an afternoon of overdriven shenanigans or (probably my luck) an afternoon of cursing and fiddling because it doesn’t work 🤣😂

[Bunion]

Oh my!! 

This thing can suck or be the best thing you’ve played through.

I tried it in the 5w practice amp mode first with a stingray and was a bit meh!(This cuts the preamp and only allows the drive any change.)

Next I tried it as a preamp with the Wal and it sounded thin and weak (I’ve purchased a dog.)

I then put the cutlass with flats through it as a preamp and jeesus this thing is a monster. 

You have to let it warm up, let the tubes start quivering and suddenly the overdrive is there, too much and it gets in my opinion unusable (might sound different in a band mix.) 

But just a touch of drive and a tweak on the blend knob and this thing plays ball.

It’s all those 60’s and 70’s rock bassists you wished you could sound like… 

I cranked the Bass, left the mids flat, pushed the treble to 3’clock, a tweak to the right on the aural enhancer and 

💥boom💥 

It’s quite sensitive to how hard you dig in which in my opinion makes it all the more playable with  great control of the overdrive.

There is a secret to this piece of kit though, plug a small cab into the speaker outlet of this at the same time as running it as a preamp and it’s an ear opener, what a sound!

However as a clean preamp it’s tubey, it’s rich, it’s creamy, it can stand up to any modern preamp for clarity and tone.

More exploring is needed to get the full picture but for now if you need overdrive or just a crisp clean rich sound for your p bass with flats I’d suggest you start searching for the Interstellar Overdrive.

Edited January 18, 2022 by Bunion

[Bunion]

Reserved 

[BassBod]

My memory of these is that it was a collaboration with Jack Cassidy.  He often used a clean/dirty amp combination with an old Versatone that had a very particular drive sound, that he mixed  in with a volume pedal.  SWR were trying to put that into a 1u rack preamp.  I expect the drive/blend is the critical element, hence the pedal option? 
 

Hours of fun 😎

[Bunion]

5 minutes ago, BassBod said:

I expect the drive/blend is the critical element, hence the pedal option? 

Alas they were an optional extra and seem to rarer than the unit itself… 

it is though a great clean tube preamp without the drive. 

Edited January 19, 2022 by Bunion

[Doddy]

Bryan Beller used the Interstellar Overdrive on the Mike Keneally & Beer For Dolphins song 'Why Am I Your Guy', and it's a killer sound.

 

Great score. I love the old SWR gear.

[JPJ]

Welcome to the SWR fan club.

in my experience, most SWR preamps need only subtle tweaks to achieve a great sound, and yes they do sound pants at the extremes. Re basses sounding thin, check your cranking the input gain as SWR gear can be sensitive to proper gain chaining

[Lo-E]

Sometime in late 1989 or early 1990 I had a bass teacher who had just bought an SWR Redhead combo. It was the first time I had ever heard of SWR and I just LOVED it. 
 

Shortly afterwards I found a used Studio 220 and found that, while I really liked the tone, it was underpowered and not nearly punchy enough for a rock context. I traded up for some Ampeg gear and then moved through lots of other things over the years. 
 

About 3 or 4 years ago I was visiting a local guitar shop and saw a Groove Tubes preamp. The GT preamp was nothing more than a preamp version of the Studio 220, manufactured by SWR whose factory was right across the street from Groove Tubes! Paired with a 1,000W power amp I finally, after 25 years, had the tone of my Studio 220 along with enough power to complete with a loud drummer! It didn’t replace my other gear but it’s a great option to have along with my more aggressive sounding amps. 
 

Congratulations on your new/old SWR preamp!  I hope it turns out to be as much fun for you as mine has for me!