swart

[shednz]

hey all i just got a swart 6v6se and man the tone is divine - hotgrits, if u out there thanks for the advice. I am especially loving the tone coming out the back of the amp! Now the mission is to capture this tone at gigging levels. Anyone tried the atomic spacetone - does it have enough headroom for typical NZ pubs and clubs? Anyone even seen orheard a super spacetone 30 to compare? Alternatively mabe victoria do something that might compete. All advice and or comments welcome. ANd anyone looking for a loud -ish but desperatley tasty amp for home or studio check out the baby swart -it is awesome!
Cheers 2 all.

[johnny mullet]

wow just checked out some reviews on these. People sure love 'em

[shednz]

yep they sure seem too and if the tone of this one is anything to go by I know why. It is like nothing else i've heard Now the mission is on to hear a bigger one. If you are in Auckland I'd recommend a visit to customaudioboutique and check em out. : )

[Hot_Grits]

yep they sure seem too and if the tone of this one is anything to go by I know why. It is like nothing else i've heard Now the mission is on to hear a bigger one. If you are in Auckland I'd recommend a visit to customaudioboutique and check em out. : )

Congrats! -that is one killer amp. I've had some time with the 6V6SE, the AST and the STR and they are all amazing amps that I'd love to own. I'm dying to try the SST.

-None of them are particularly loud for their wattage or have much clean headroom, though. The AST would be a superb gigging amp, but you'd need to be able to live with a bit of grit to your cleans in most medium-volume club settings. Even the SST is reputed to not have a lot of clean headroom.

but here's the thing: my Vic Double Deluxe has pretty laughable clean headroom for an amp that can put out 36-50w. However it sounds so great that I just ignore that my cleans aren't pristine and get on with playing. Perhaps you could have a similar experience with an AST or SST. And as I'm sure Michael Swart will happily do a small tweak, perhaps you could order an SST with a negative feedback switch to increase headroom. THAT would be one super versatile amp.

And if you really must have a really clean amp, then word is that Michael Swart is working on higher-wattage models for the future.

From the Vic range I'd look at the tweed twin clones if you really want decent headroom. The victorilux also holds clean together really well, and is a beautiful clean tone amp. Apparently he's just released a tweed bassman with reverb, too, so that would no doubt be a very nice clean amp.

One last thing: don't rule out speaker size. Part of the magic of your new amp is that small speaker, so perhaps look at 2x10 and 4x10 amps, or in the case of Swart, order a head and get a cab with 10s.

[shednz]

Hi, Hot_Grits - I'm presuming you are part of The Hot Grits whose LP i've been borrowing off my partner. If so gr8 stuff been enjoying the sounds. Thanks for the congrats, I am loving this amp - it sounds superb. i am especially loving the sound out of the back of it - don't know if wnyone else has noticed this but man it sounds fat out the back! makes all the controls accessible as too - even tho' its pretty much set and leave except to flick the neg feedbackswitch depending on the tune. I'm not worried about too clean headroom - not after fender twin styles or anything. In fact pretty much i just want the tone of this 6v6se honey at a volume that'll get over a drummer in a pub style setting. We dont' always get the joy of being miced up and/or someone looking after the desk. I had been thinking a victoria bandmaster coz I have had 4 x 10 amps mostly - peavey classic initially, then upgraded to a tweed bassman RI LTd. Both too loud to break up but real nice nonetheless. Seeking earlier break-up and prior to hearing this Swart I was thinking a victoria bandmaster -, working off the philosophy it has 10" speakers, and that 28 watts is between my vic20112 (which has to be driven too hard for most styles gigging IMO) and the bassman (which doesn't get driven enough). I've been talking to mojo sound who suggested this or a victorilux. Now I've heard this Swart tho i'm leaning this way coz I know he's making the exact sound i been seeking. So yeah, trying to figure it without playing it as is the unfortunate case for those of us in the south. (Tho' Ryan at customaudioboutique in AKld has said he'll let me test an AST if i bring one down which is probably worth it if ican find a reasonable courier.) Thanks for the korero hotgrits and keen to hear anything else you can offer

Cheers, Scott.

[Hot_Grits]

Well, in that case...

I reckon if you love the Swart thing and want gigging volume that is below bassman levels and above vic deluxe levels, look at the SST head and some kind of cab with 10s. I reckon that will give you the kind of volume-to-breakup balance you want. it also has a master that will help ratchet things down if the gig is a bit tight. And that great trem and reverb.

The AST may work for you, as it will stay clean a tad louder than the Vic Deluxe, but in my mind there isn't a lot of difference in headroom and overall volume between the Vic deluxe and the AST. that said, the AST is less gainy when cranked, so that may suit you if the overall volume of the deluxe is ok.

Another option you could look at would be a Vic double deluxe like mine. Nice early breakup, plenty of volume, and loads of 6V6 tone. Incredibly lightweight as well. The bandmaster would also probably be a great choice. Many Victoria-heads consider the bandmaster to be the finest of all Vics. I'd love to hear one.

And don't rule out getting a splitter box and running a-b: I'm guessing that your dream rig would be either a Swart SST head and 2x10 or a Vic bandmaster or double deluxe, with a 6V6SE sitting on top, facing backwards.

yep, I'm in The Hot Grits. Cheers for the kind words. New album out next month, plus I'll be touring all through winter, so it'd be cool to say hello in person if I'm passing through your town...

[shednz]

Hi, and cheers again mate. We are in Dunedin, will keep an eye on your website and around the town for gig dates down here. A/b ing idea is a good one - had a chance to try it out now I'm on easter hols. Having never done this before I presume you mean running both amps at once and sort of blending them into one another? I tried going into both the Bassman (set low and bassy) and the 6v6se sitting up high beside it and it sounds v. sweet- amazingly mostly swart sound but with the bassman acting like a subwoofer or something = phatswart - turn up the swart for more overdrive - turn up the bassman for volume - which somehow seems to still sound more like the swart than the bassman - was a great suggestion - thanks. I guess ideally one of the vic's u suggest would be able to be driven a bit harder and probably sound even better (given that i can't get the basman past about 4 without ear bleed) but i can work with this while i gather the funds to swop the bassman:) This is as close to the sound Im after as i've yet heard. Getting a fair bit of hum tho - do u know if it is an isolation box that i should use to get rid of that? Currently am running out of an old ibanez UE-300 effects unit which has stereo chorus and an old tube screamer on it (Great pedal unit Happy Easter!

[Hot_Grits]

Cool, glad the idea worked! -that swart will have a lot of focus, due to the small speaker. Ryan told me a story of a guy using a silverface twin and a 6v6se in a very similar manner. The great thing is you can get the sweet overdrive at any gig and always carry enough power to deal with any size room and any pa-related issues. Plus a reissue bassman and a 6v6se is still a very portable rig. Unfortunately when I bi-amp I use a head, quad and combo...

-ground loop hum will be your biggest enemy. It's worthwhile investing in a good splitter box with ground lift isolation. The radial stuff is great for this. Also try running the power to each amp from different outlets.

Should be down dunedin way for the winter tour, july-august...

[Hot_Grits]

One extra thought: get a good tech (like Guy) to disable the presence knob on your bassman. That will remove the negative feeback loop from the amp and cause it to break up noticeably earlier. A quick, cheap mod to try.

[ant]

disabling the NFB on a bassman may turn the bass notes into a bit of a mud fest . Its quite easy to try though, you just have to unsolder a wire on the speaker jack.

The presence works by disabling NFB on the high notes only, keeping the low notes tighter sounding.

[shednz]

Thanks again for the tips. Yep hum is definintely the enemy. Any idea how to source the radial stuff? I rang the rock shop and they told me they didn't have anything and instead to attach a wire between the chassis of both amps as a way to alleviate the problem. Didn't seem to work and sounded a little dodgy. Will ring aound the other couple of music shops we have here after easter. Cheers all hope you enjoying some chocolate.

[Hot_Grits]

radial is musicworks.

[ant]

Do you get hum with no guitar or a/b box plugged in?

[shednz]

only seeems to be when the guitar plugged into splitter - I am going through an old analog multi effects unit - also tried it through a delay with two outs - same thing. If amps just powered up with no guitar in = no hum.

[ant]

Oh yep, you could try put an isolation box / isolation transformer on one of the amps inputs, or try it between the guitar to the a/b box