Any one not aware of Swart amps read

[teleplayer99]

Please do yourself a solid by going to Swart Web Site. Specs include cloth point-to-point wiring. Weber speaker or can order ceramic. JJ tubes. Finger jointed pine cabinets. 5 watt ones come with 6V6, but you can use 6L6 without biasing needed. And so on. I was looking at 5 watt STR with 12 inch speaker that weighs about 30lbs. Dr. Swart steered me to the Atomic Space tone. Weighs 14 lbs. Space is their term for reverb . Is both tube and spring. Told it took them a year to develop. They still make the one I bought 11 years ago. They only sell through dealers except in certain situations. Like my rough year. But you may have had a rough year too. He thinks my amp is ready, but not cabinet. Will take couple of weeks to ship. I know I posted this in forum already, but I feel that new thread will make more people aware of these amps. Cheaper than Tone King that is great but lot of money. Swart plain looking with features only related to tone. YMMV. Can't go wrong with any high end 5 watt amp. Hope I did not offend anyone.

 

[Texicaster]

I had an Atomic Space Tone and LOVED IT!

I only sold as I down sized.

Before I bought it I checked out a used one at a local shop. The salesman was a local highly respected guitarist. Incredible player. He was steering me towards a Carr Mercury I believe but not in stock. I asked him to play my Telecaster through the Swart AST. He had not heard the Swart before.

He was visibly blown away!!! A look of shock and awe! He kept playing well past when I asked him to let me try! He said he wanted to have it checked by the techs and get back to me in a few days...which he never did! I bought another brand new.

I always suspected he pulled it for himself and who could blame him! It was priced too high for a used once I checked prices so didn't bother me.

I only sold as I downsized and play 99% in living room so a Tweed Champ RI is perfect. I got tired of controls on the back and they need to change that....I've read a few gripes about that. Few of us have roadies tweaking knobs as we play...BUT they actually sound cool from the back too so....

Fond memories of that amp!

 

[Cali Dude]

Please do yourself a solid by going to Swart Web Site. Specs include cloth point-to-point wiring. Weber speaker or can order ceramic. JJ tubes. Finger jointed pine cabinets. 5 watt ones come with 6V6, but you can use 6L6 without biasing needed. And so on. I was looking at 5 watt STR with 12 inch speaker that weighs about 30lbs. Dr. Swart steered me to the Atomic Space tone. Weighs 14 lbs. Space is their term for reverb . Is both tube and spring. Told it took them a year to develop. They still make the one I bought 11 years ago. They only sell through dealers except in certain situations. Like my rough year. But you may have had a rough year too. He thinks my amp is ready, but not cabinet. Will take couple of weeks to ship. I know I posted this in forum already, but I feel that new thread will make more people aware of these amps. Cheaper than Tone King that is great but lot of money. Swart plain looking with features only related to tone. YMMV. Can't go wrong with any high end 5 watt amp. Hope I did not offend anyone.

Sounds great! I love my Tone King Gremlin. Similar price point? That should be nice. I hope you enjoy it. Happy upcoming NAD!

 

[Cali Dude]

I also love low watt, high end amps, especially single ended, class A.

 

[Lawdawg]

I've been lusting for a Swart Amp for years, especially the new-ish Antares, but really can't justify the expense. From what I've heard the verb and tremolo sound incredibly lush for such relatively small combos.

 

[Peegoo]

A pal of mine has a Swart Space Tone and it really sings. The build quality is extremely good--right up there with Doc Z, Mojave, and the original Bad Cats.

Swarts are not point-to-point--despite what their advertizing reads. They employ a construction method that's sort of a cross between a Vox tag board and a turret board:

P2P, sometimes called dead-bug assembly, uses no marshalling board and instead has the components are all soldered directly to each other, like this:

It is an extremely robust method of construction, but it's not used these days because it's labor intensive; there's no way to automate it. It's also often difficult to service/repair because it can be a bowl of spagetti if it is a complicated circuit.

John Kasha is one of the few small amp makers that still do this on certain models.

 

[matrix]

My only real amp is a Swart. They are worth every penny and then some. A total GAS-killer - It looks amazing, sounds better. The reverb and tremolo are incredibly lush and musical (two pedals I will never need). You can just sit around hitting chords and listening to the amp sing.

Really, if someone said I could never play another amp for the rest of my life, I would shrug and turn up the space tone on my Swart.

 

[teleplayer99]

glad to hear everything except that it is not point-to-point and complicated to fix, but then my brother wouldn't be happy about it, but he can fix anything like this.

Amp is ready but they do not make the cabinets. Have to wait for cabinet shop. I am one lucky guy and know it. Thanks for all the replies. I enjoy reading them being practically house-bound due to covid19. As all of you are too.

 

[Vibroluxer]

glad to hear everything except that it is not point-to-point and complicated to fix, but then my brother wouldn't be happy about it, but he can fix anything like this.

Amp is ready but they do not make the cabinets. Have to wait for cabinet shop. I am one lucky guy and know it. Thanks for all the replies. I enjoy reading them being practically house-bound due to covid19. As all of you are too.

Well, it's been a little while, how do you like it?

I have a 6V6se and love it. For comparison, I also have a Fender 57 Champ RI and a Lil Dawg 5 watts tweed Mutt and I like all of them but the Swart is special.

 

[brookdalebill]

GreT sounding amps!

 

[David Barnett]

I've heard Rick Miller of Southern Culture on the Skids use an Atomic Space Tone, and he sounded great.

But then he always sounds great.