skhan007
Tele-Meister
Yup, you’ve convinced me. I’m keeping it and deleted my for sale ad. I played it with a few guitars and it’s such a great amp!
Swart Owner's Club
- Thread starter teleplayer99
- Start date
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- Tags
- swart amps swart st-45
Chester Burnett
Tele-Holic
Wise decision friend.
Swirling Snow
Tele-Meister
I might be the newest member of the club. We just got an STR Tweed.
With a Blue.
And a Torpedo Captor.
With a Blue.
And a Torpedo Captor.
Jason TwoNotes
NEW MEMBER!
Hey, how you finding the Captor? Happy to answer any questions you may have about it!
Vibroluxer
Tele-Holic
I finally made it to the dance...
In the last 48 hours I've done a deep-dive in MANY Swart threads in various forums over the years; a deeper dive than I have ever done. And I found out some interesting things....
Swarts up until the mid-2000s used older Accutronics reverb tanks (not the new ones made overseas). And Swarts are known for their amazing reverb. But the newer ones now use MOD tanks.
Original Swarts were biased hotter (and IME, hotter = better, tonally, always, for me.). Swart even has a page on their website showing how to change the bias resistor to bring it back to original specs (which I will be doing)... tubes won't last as long, but TONE.
I'll be trying some speaker swaps, but not until the OEM Mojo BV25M breaks in. I always loved the original AST demos done by GregV (on Swart's website), and those are with the Mojo. (probably with the hotter bias as well). But I have already plugged it into a cab with a Celestion Alnico Cream (to die for) and an Eminence Cannabis Rex (my favorite speaker of all time, but not with THIS amp.)
It's going to be a fun little journey, tweaking it a bit to get it PERFECT... which is something I can do now since it's actually handwired... I won't solder on PCBs, I'm not experienced enough. But I can solder wire no problem.
In the last 48 hours I've done a deep-dive in MANY Swart threads in various forums over the years; a deeper dive than I have ever done. And I found out some interesting things....
Swarts up until the mid-2000s used older Accutronics reverb tanks (not the new ones made overseas). And Swarts are known for their amazing reverb. But the newer ones now use MOD tanks.
Original Swarts were biased hotter (and IME, hotter = better, tonally, always, for me.). Swart even has a page on their website showing how to change the bias resistor to bring it back to original specs (which I will be doing)... tubes won't last as long, but TONE.
I'll be trying some speaker swaps, but not until the OEM Mojo BV25M breaks in. I always loved the original AST demos done by GregV (on Swart's website), and those are with the Mojo. (probably with the hotter bias as well). But I have already plugged it into a cab with a Celestion Alnico Cream (to die for) and an Eminence Cannabis Rex (my favorite speaker of all time, but not with THIS amp.)
It's going to be a fun little journey, tweaking it a bit to get it PERFECT... which is something I can do now since it's actually handwired... I won't solder on PCBs, I'm not experienced enough. But I can solder wire no problem.
baiff
Tele-Afflicted
Congrats on getting in the club!!! The Creamback sounds stellar in my Antares. Don't know much about the reverb tank history but they all seem to be amazing.
So far, I have settled on these tweaks:
5751 in V1 (it just gives me a little less volume when NOT using the MV, better for home use)
5751 in V4-Master Volume (it creates unity gain when engaging the MV; the 12AX7 adds a little gain and high end when engaged; the 5751 MUCH LESS so. With the 5751, if the MV is on 10, and you engage it, there is no volume difference)
The Mojo is breaking in slowly, but I have also tried it through my other cabs: an Eminence C-rex and a Celestion Cream Alnico. REALLY like the Alnico with the Swart...
As for the reverb, interesting... I thought it a bit too brash at first, I kept it very low, around 2-2.5. But as the speaker slowly breaks in/warms up, the reverb has gotten more pleasant, and the switch to a 5751 in V1 also seems to have helped alot- I guess it's helping to send a LESS hot signal to the reverb or something. Now, I'm using the reverb at 4-5 and it's very nice, and at 10 it's still totally usable... it won't surf, but that's not what this reverb does anyway. But at 10 it's a very large, atmospheric, almost "HALL" reverb sound.
The only thing left is the speaker... I'm in no rush. There is only one more to add to the list of there 2 above: the Scumback M75. This is a low-mids focused speaker, and I'm a big low-mids fan... I like things very warm. Tungsten used to put the M75 in their Creama Wheat (which was a 5E3 circuit with 6L6s in it), my 2 favorite amps tones of all-time are GregV's AST demo soundclips on the Swart site, and his video demo of the Creama Wheat...
I know this is a Swart Owner's thread, but I'll just drop this hear to show you what I mean (all you Swart owners don't need to hear Swart demos, you own them!)
5751 in V1 (it just gives me a little less volume when NOT using the MV, better for home use)
5751 in V4-Master Volume (it creates unity gain when engaging the MV; the 12AX7 adds a little gain and high end when engaged; the 5751 MUCH LESS so. With the 5751, if the MV is on 10, and you engage it, there is no volume difference)
The Mojo is breaking in slowly, but I have also tried it through my other cabs: an Eminence C-rex and a Celestion Cream Alnico. REALLY like the Alnico with the Swart...
As for the reverb, interesting... I thought it a bit too brash at first, I kept it very low, around 2-2.5. But as the speaker slowly breaks in/warms up, the reverb has gotten more pleasant, and the switch to a 5751 in V1 also seems to have helped alot- I guess it's helping to send a LESS hot signal to the reverb or something. Now, I'm using the reverb at 4-5 and it's very nice, and at 10 it's still totally usable... it won't surf, but that's not what this reverb does anyway. But at 10 it's a very large, atmospheric, almost "HALL" reverb sound.
The only thing left is the speaker... I'm in no rush. There is only one more to add to the list of there 2 above: the Scumback M75. This is a low-mids focused speaker, and I'm a big low-mids fan... I like things very warm. Tungsten used to put the M75 in their Creama Wheat (which was a 5E3 circuit with 6L6s in it), my 2 favorite amps tones of all-time are GregV's AST demo soundclips on the Swart site, and his video demo of the Creama Wheat...
I know this is a Swart Owner's thread, but I'll just drop this hear to show you what I mean (all you Swart owners don't need to hear Swart demos, you own them!)
baiff
Tele-Afflicted
I would love to hear more demos/reviews of the MOD84. Looking for another portable, great sounding amp.
Chester Burnett
Tele-Holic
So far, I have settled on these tweaks:
5751 in V1 (it just gives me a little less volume when NOT using the MV, better for home use)
5751 in V4-Master Volume (it creates unity gain when engaging the MV; the 12AX7 adds a little gain and high end when engaged; the 5751 MUCH LESS so. With the 5751, if the MV is on 10, and you engage it, there is no volume difference)
The Mojo is breaking in slowly, but I have also tried it through my other cabs: an Eminence C-rex and a Celestion Cream Alnico. REALLY like the Alnico with the Swart...
As for the reverb, interesting... I thought it a bit too brash at first, I kept it very low, around 2-2.5. But as the speaker slowly breaks in/warms up, the reverb has gotten more pleasant, and the switch to a 5751 in V1 also seems to have helped alot- I guess it's helping to send a LESS hot signal to the reverb or something. Now, I'm using the reverb at 4-5 and it's very nice, and at 10 it's still totally usable... it won't surf, but that's not what this reverb does anyway. But at 10 it's a very large, atmospheric, almost "HALL" reverb sound.
The only thing left is the speaker... I'm in no rush. There is only one more to add to the list of there 2 above: the Scumback M75. This is a low-mids focused speaker, and I'm a big low-mids fan... I like things very warm. Tungsten used to put the M75 in their Creama Wheat (which was a 5E3 circuit with 6L6s in it), my 2 favorite amps tones of all-time are GregV's AST demo soundclips on the Swart site, and his video demo of the Creama Wheat...
I know this is a Swart Owner's thread, but I'll just drop this hear to show you what I mean (all you Swart owners don't need to hear Swart demos, you own them!)
It might have been my imagination but the speaker in my AST Master seemed to take forever to break in. I had the same speaker, G12H in the AST Pro and it broke in nicely in just a few days.
I also noticed the reverb was stronger at lower volumes. It worked out well as I don’t use as much reverb in live settings.
Lef T
Tele-Afflicted
I hope to be joining the club before the end of the week.
I,m going to order up an STR Trem tomorrow.
I’m going to get the Night Light Jr. too.
I,m going to order up an STR Trem tomorrow.
I’m going to get the Night Light Jr. too.
Chester Burnett
Tele-Holic
Such a great amp. Congrats.
Lef T
Tele-Afflicted
I’m looking forward to ordering it up tomorrow.
I bet my Tele will sound sweet.
I’ve got one pedal to put in the chain.
It’ a Catalinbread Adineko which I really like.
The Adineko is a great echo- spooky. Very old-school sounding (I have one too).
Chester Burnett
Tele-Holic
I have a Belle Epoch that run in front of the STR Trem along with a Bearfoot Artic White Fuzz. With a Tele of course. It sounds glorious.
Lef T
Tele-Afflicted
I’m currently sitting here waiting for the UPS truck to show up.
Chester Burnett
Tele-Holic
So? How’s the Trem?
Lef T
Tele-Afflicted
Hey Chester.
Everything is so nice on this amp.
I’m going to post a NAD thread,right after this reply.
Thank you for all your input.
Vibroluxer
Tele-Holic
Welcome to the club! 6v6SE owner here.
