Tell me more about SWART amps.

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Guys . . . anyone here owns a Swart ?

Any experience with one ? Tested one ? Got a friend who has one ?

Can anyone tell me more of these ?


Cheers

[zzmoore]

Re: Tell me more about SWART amps.

Well...are you just asking.?
Tell me about:
Marshall
Fender
Dr Z
2 Rock
etc etc
They make all kinds of amps.

Michael was a talented Studio Owner/Producer (maybe he still is.?)
Then he started to build guitar amps and accessories.
He has been the King of the 20 watt, and under, amp for a long time, but also makes some higher wattage stuff as well.
He builds quality, "boutique" guitar amps.
Which one are you considering.?

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Tell me more about SWART amps.

Well...are you just asking.?

They make all kinds of amps.

Michael was a talented Studio Owner/Producer (maybe he still is.?)
Then he started to build guitar amps and accessories.
He has been the King of the 20 watt, and under, amp for a long time, but also makes some higher wattage stuff as well.
He builds quality, "boutique" guitar amps.
Which one are you considering.?

I guy wants to sell his AST Pro, for $1000.00 USD . . . utter mint cond.

http://swartamps.com/amplifiers_swart_AST_PRO.htm

Trying to figure out why he is selling tat that price point !

[zzmoore]

Re: Tell me more about SWART amps.

Oh Man.....if it seems in good condition (and you like it) go for it.!!
Awesome, awesome amp. Love that amp when it runs a pair of Tung-Sol 6V6.
good luck

http://swartamps.com/sounds_ast_pro_greg_v.htm

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Tell me more about SWART amps.

I just picked up an AST Pro w/ Celestion Gold speaker.

The price I paid was almost double that, so if that's legitimate you'd be a fool to not buy that on the spot. I've seen STRs and the smaller stuff like the 6V6SE sell for significantly less, but the ASTs hold their value pretty well and the AST Pro is a refined AST - bigger cab to fit larger profile speakers, bigger tone, easy connections on the back for attenuator or external speaker hookups. Heck, when I was amp hunting, I was hoping I could stumble upon a regular one for about $1200, never mind the upgraded model for less than that.

I wanted a modern amp that could hang with the vibe of vintage Fenders without needing to be serviced or tweaked and I wanted it to get pretty loud and still be portable and have a wide variety of useful tone settings (vintage Fenders are pretty finicky with settings, especially bass). It needed to have a beautiful clean tone and still get some grind. I've read reviews that describe the sound akin to a brown Fender. I haven't tried a brown-era Fender so I can't say one way or the other. What I can tell you is that the tone control is more like a treble cut (which makes me think of Vox) and the mids and bass are present without being overwhelming (thankfully, since they aren't adjustable). There is a high and low input to cater to the amount of gain from your electric guitar. What I imagine a brown Fender to be is somewhere between tweed and blackface profiles and this seems to be a good blend of the two. I like that the controls allow a lot of flexibility without causing me to endlessly tweak with it.

There's a lot I like about it. It's truly one of the best clean tones I've ever heard and takes pedals well. Even with the reverb engaged, the signal and fundamental frequencies of the notes remain very present. The trem is very sweet and warm. I enjoy the breakup, but with the stock tubes it happens at pretty loud volumes (some of this may be due to the efficiency of the Gold, as well). My amp happened to come with the Night Light attenuator and I find that makes the breakup occur at more tolerable levels (although the open high end compresses with it engaged so it's not perfect). When you push it, it can get some tweedish grind, but instead of being a flubby mess, it retains its clarity and tight low end and it sounds infinitely sweeter than the previous tweed-ish amp I owned - a Tungsten Crema Wheat. If I changed the rectifier tube, I'm sure it'd break up sooner, but I don't want to lose those cleans because they almost tie my Vibrolux and that's not an easy thing to find.

About six months ago, I played one at a party and it was good enough of an amp to cause me to buy one without having to play it again. Nothing impresses me that much with guitar gear, but there is a feel and a tonality about the AST Pro that exceeded my expectations. These amps have been around for years. You don't hear of a lot of them for sale and some high profile players like Trey Anastasio from Phish are pretty enthusiastic about using them.

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Tell me more about SWART amps.

Great amps but not your cup of tea, imo.
I have played them many times, went w a Lil Dawg instead ...

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Tell me more about SWART amps.

Great info - thank you very much 90'sGuy !

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Tell me more about SWART amps.

Great info - thank you very much 90'sGuy !

No problem; glad to be of help.

Keep in mind, the amp is in the "honeymoon" stage for me and my tastes are probably very different from yours (although I use Cornish overdrives based off of fuzzes for some gain through my clean base tone). The 1x12'' combo is really designed for people who want good tone at reasonable volumes aka moderate band practice volumes, small to medium gigs (without micing), etc. It sounds huge for a 1x12'', but next to a half stack, I'm sure it pales in comparison (that's no negative reflection on the amp - it's just physics).

I consider myself more of a clean player these days and my style is more roots rock/alternative/pop styled stuff so I don't play anything heavy through it (I listen to stuff like the Pixies, the Smiths, R.E.M., Counting Crows, Death Cab for Cutie, etc.)