I decided to end my relationship with SWR. Not because the Redhead was a bad amp. It was more of a "corporate" decision. judging by the diminished product line on SWR's website, it looks as though Fender Music Company - the owner of SWR, is killing the brand. The general discussion on the interwebs is that SWR has lost it's direction, and in the past few years a lot of players are generally not happy with Fender's support of the product line, and the general quality of late. While I've been quite happy with the Redhead, it was everything I thought it would be, something was missing. It was always just "clean". It didn't have a colourful soul. It became apparent why with a statement in the manual:
I figured, if I am going to get any trade-in value out of this amp - now is the time.
A few bass players stand out to me to be really inspirational to my playing and love of the instrument, and of course my search for the right sound: Paul McCartney, Mark King of Level 42 fame, John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) and Nick Beggs (Kajagoogoo).
The latter three have one thing in common - they all play T.C.Electronics bass amps. Something has to be going on there. So I went to find out. I first tried out an RH750 and an RS210 cabinet at my dealer. I always find it hard to test things in a music store. But I liked what I heard. It was versatile. The EQ is massively powerful. The compressor and tube overdrive simulation is great. And the 750 watts - well, why would I need that. The 2x10" cabinet was cool, compact, lightweight and sounded as good as the SWR. In fact the size of all of these new Class D bass amps is astonishingly small. You almost cannot believe that they are capable of putting out this much power without overheating... or exploding.
I remembered one thing I always wanted, but could never afford, nor utilize... The classic combination of a Mesa/Boogie Bass 400+ head with that massive 2x15" cabinet. I love 2x10 and 4x10 cabinets - but something about that ultra-low-end you get with bigger cones always excited me.
After some research, I discovered that TC makes a 2x12" cabinet, the RS212. It is basically the same size as the 2x10", and also has an adjustable high-frequency driver - but more blooming low-end.
So this was my goal - trade in my SWR Redhead for a TC RH450 head and the RS212 cabinet.
For the RH450, It's a lot of amp in a small package. To sum it up here are all the features that stood out:
The cabinet is definitely what I was hoping for - it has that low-end thud that i remember hearing in a Mesa 2x15" cabinet - but in a studio-friendly size. It's easy to carry, and is very well built.
TIP: For the best pure-tube overdrive sound, you can overdrive the first tube stage of the Redhead preamp by connecting an external preamp between your instrumentThe issue is, if I bought a Bass amp with a tube preamp in it - I expect I don't need an external booster to get those tubes to "work". I want to go from ultra-clean jazz bass tones to dirty, fat Ampeg SVT. I tried my buddy's MXR clean boost pedal. And it was not what I was hoping for. Time for change?
and the Passive Input. Boost the output of your external preamp, then dial in a clean Gain setting as indicated by the PreAmp Clip LED. The PreAmp Clip LED does not monitor the first tube preamp stage allowing it to be isolated and overdriven in this way.
I figured, if I am going to get any trade-in value out of this amp - now is the time.
A few bass players stand out to me to be really inspirational to my playing and love of the instrument, and of course my search for the right sound: Paul McCartney, Mark King of Level 42 fame, John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) and Nick Beggs (Kajagoogoo).
The latter three have one thing in common - they all play T.C.Electronics bass amps. Something has to be going on there. So I went to find out. I first tried out an RH750 and an RS210 cabinet at my dealer. I always find it hard to test things in a music store. But I liked what I heard. It was versatile. The EQ is massively powerful. The compressor and tube overdrive simulation is great. And the 750 watts - well, why would I need that. The 2x10" cabinet was cool, compact, lightweight and sounded as good as the SWR. In fact the size of all of these new Class D bass amps is astonishingly small. You almost cannot believe that they are capable of putting out this much power without overheating... or exploding.
I remembered one thing I always wanted, but could never afford, nor utilize... The classic combination of a Mesa/Boogie Bass 400+ head with that massive 2x15" cabinet. I love 2x10 and 4x10 cabinets - but something about that ultra-low-end you get with bigger cones always excited me.
After some research, I discovered that TC makes a 2x12" cabinet, the RS212. It is basically the same size as the 2x10", and also has an adjustable high-frequency driver - but more blooming low-end.
So this was my goal - trade in my SWR Redhead for a TC RH450 head and the RS212 cabinet.
For the RH450, It's a lot of amp in a small package. To sum it up here are all the features that stood out:
- Three memory settings to save your own presets - this comes in handy when going from a gritty SVT rock tone to a Nick Beggs slap+pop tone.
- Deadly accurate onboard tuner (better than buying a rack mount tuner to put in the SWR Redhead)
- Four-bands of Parametric EQ - Bass and Treble are shelving, the lo- and hi- mids are 2.1 oct. bandpass filters
- Spectral Compressor - A very musical and usable compressor.
- TubeTone Tube simulator - adds the grit and overdrive you get with preamp and power tubes. This is that Ampeg/Mesa sound I was after. It actually sounds good - not a fake digital approximation, not some hack JFET booster in front of the SWR 12AX7 - this sounds like an SVT with hot tubes.
- A really clean balanced DI
- All the little extras are nice too - effects loop, iPod input with headphone out for practicing - it even has a AES Digital DI. The foot controller and cool shoulder bag would be awesome if I was performing live.
The cabinet is definitely what I was hoping for - it has that low-end thud that i remember hearing in a Mesa 2x15" cabinet - but in a studio-friendly size. It's easy to carry, and is very well built.
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