Vintage 1999 SWR Workingmans 12 Bass Amplifier Review

Howdy!

Today we looking at a solid little bass amp I found on my local social media site, a SWR Workingman’s 12 that was made sometime between 1999 to 2002. This is a well-made combo amplifier that sounds good and is pretty portable, making it a real cool find!

SWR was founded by Steve W. Rabe (a former engineer for Acoustic amplifiers) in 1984, and he set up shop in the San Fernando valley. He designed and built a lot of cool amplifiers and speakers, such as the Goliath and the Super Redhead. He sold the company in 1997 and the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation bought it in 2003 so they could run the business into the ground, like they do with almost everything they acquire.

The Workingman’s 12 was introduced in 1994, and was part of a series of amps that included the Workingman’s 10 and Workingman’s 15. These were SWR’s first “cheaper” amplifiers, and they were very popular with consumers. The one we are looking at today is fairly compact, measuring 16 inches wide, 23 inches tall, and 16 inches deep, and weighing in at a stout 47 pounds. There is a metal grille for the speaker, and the chassis is covered in fuzzy black carpet that attracts pet fur and dust as if this was the purpose that SWR designed it for. By the way, this was made in the USA, which cannot be said about later SWR products.

The amplifier puts out 100 watts RS through the onboard 8-ohm 12-inch driver and separate Piezo tweeter, and output is upped to 120 watts if an 8-ohm extension speaker is added. This seems like a pretty accurate power rating, judging by the amount of sound this thing can push out.

On the front panel you will find an XLR direct out, a ¼-inch tuner out, passive and active input jacks, a Gain knob, an Aural Enhancer knob, 3-band EQ knobs, an Effects Blend knob, the Master Volume control, and the power switch. Around back is an IEC power cable socket, a selector switch that turns off the horn or puts the unit into headphone mode, a ¼-inch headphone jack, and the effects loop jacks. Pretty simple, really.

The knobs do not need much explanation. The Effects Blend knob mixes the signal from the bass with the signal from the effects loop. With the control fully counter-clockwise, no signal from the effect is heard. As you turn this control clockwise, more of the effect can be heard in the overall sound. When the control is fully clockwise (or pulled out), the dry signal is completely out of mix.

The Aural Enhancer knob is kind of a magic turbo boost control that I do not really understand. To quote the Owner’s Manual, “The Aural Enhancer was developed to bring out the fundamental low notes of the bass, reduce certain frequencies that can “mask” fundamentals and enhance the high-end transients. The effect becomes more pronounced as the control is turned up. The result is a more transparent sound. Listening to a passive bass with the control set all the way down, and then turning it all the way up, can be likened to listening to the bass suddenly become “active.”” Whatever.

There are not any surprises when plugging into this combo. I have owner SWR products before, and have always been impressed with their tone and power output, and the Workingman’s 12 is no exception. The EQ and Aural Enhancer controls allowed me to get a nice variety of tones, from a warm character that would be perfect with an upright bass to edgier sounds that would be appropriate for harder rock. In between those extremes I was able to dial in a nice round sound that would be great for blues and soul. The overall volume is pretty good, making this amp appropriate for smaller gigs, and I found that the DI works really well. So, if you are able to go through the PA, this amp would be pretty much all you would need for a bigger gig, as long as the stage is not ungodly noisy. I think it is a winner, and I plan on keeping it around for a while.

When the SWR Workingman’s 12 amplifiers were new, they had a retail price around $700, and a street price around $500. I am seeing used ones online for $150 to $300, which is a reasonable price for a solidly performing American-made combo amp that can pull it together for small gigs. If you ever get the chance to check one out, see what you think and post a comment below!

Mahalo!

SWR Super Redhead Bass Amplifier

Hello!

Why did I ever sell this amplifier? I was caught up in Markbass frenzy when I offed my pre-Fender SWR Super Redhead, and had I been thinking clearly I never would have let it go. This is one of the worst gear swaps I ever did.

SWR was started in 1984 in the San Fernando Valley, and became well-known for their solid SM-400 amplifiers and their humongous Goliath speaker cabinets. The company was sold to Fender Musical Instruments Corporation in 2003. Rumors are that quality went down after Fender bought SWR, but I cannot vouch for this. You know how rumors are.

I bought my SWR from the Hollywood Guitar Center in 1999 (if I remember right) because I was drawn to the overall package. It was easily transportable, had plenty of output and looked gnarly. I cannot remember what I paid for it, but it was not cheap -- $1200 maybe? I think my GK/Hartke stack sold for about the purchase price of the SWR, though.

First off, I love the design of the Super Redhead. It is compact (though still almost 100 pounds), and it had a trick latch-on front cover that can be used as a stand to angle the cabinet upwards. The removable casters are definitely helpful, and there is a spare rack space in case you want to add mount-rack effect.

The cabinet on mine was built beautifully, using high-quality 5/8-inch 7-ply birch with joints made by true craftsmen. All of the joints were nailed and glued, besides being dadoed and/or rabbeted. Fuuuudge. I can do without the fuzzy carpet covering, but that is the industry standard, and I should acknowledge and move on.

The cabinet was loaded with two 10-inch speakers and a horn. I do not know who supplied them back then, but they held up well for me for the seven years that I owned it. The cabinet was ported along the bottom edge of the front panel, and could really move some air.

Of course, the amplifier was the belle of the ball for me in this package. The Super Redhead has a single-channel amplifier with two 12AX7 pre-amplifier tubes (one for the pre-amp and one for the tube DI), and a solid-state power section.

There were passive and active ¼-inch inputs, an effects loop (with a blend control knob!), a 4 ohm extension speaker out, a balanced output and an unbalanced (like me) output.

The amplifier settings had a few deviations from normal. There were the usual gain and master volume controls, bit the equalizer settings were a little goofy. For the mids, both the level and frequency were adjustable, and there was a bass knob with a “turbo” setting and a treble control with a transparency setting (both used push/pull pots). Ooh, and don’t forget the Aural Enhancer. Whatever that is. I never liked the sound of it, so I kept it turned down.

And on the front, there were an array of Direct Out controls that I also never used, but would have come in handy if I ever needed to do any studio work with this amp.

This SWR amp had a bunch of other unexpectedly cool features too. Like switches to defeat the internal speakers and the cooling fan. How about a 120-volt outlet on the back of the unit? And the headphone jack was a bonus feature that I did not have on my old Gallien Krueger 800RB.

And hey, it is nice to have the power switch on the front. Maybe Genz Benz could learn something from these guys.

Aside from the well thought out packaging and a gaggle of standard features, the Super Redhead sounded great too, and I never had a single problem with mine. I was an idiot for letting it go.

If you want to buy a new one, they are still being sold today. The power output is a bit more (400 watts), and a tuner out, but the price is a bit more too. The SWR Super Redhead has a list price of $2349, and a street price of $1649. SWR provides a 5-year warranty, which should provide some peace of mind if you pull the trigger.

Mahalo!