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Bongo 2026 Collection

SWR or Ampeg

hankSRay

hankSRay

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 5, 2004
Messages
848
Location
Yonkers, NY
I finally saved up enough for my new amp, i dont really wanna spend anywhere over $1200 on one. I want alot of power and easy portability, so I'm gonna go for a combo amp. Heres the 2 i have in mind: SWR Black Beauty or the Ampeg BA500. I play mostly rock and slap and i want a real clean sound. Anyones input on these 2 amps would be great cause i cant decide. thanks
 
in my experience (which is very limited) 95 pounds is pretty heavy and anything that weighs 95 pounds qualifies as not portable...unless i'm just weak.. but i think you might not want to limit yourself to combos
 
While I can't speak for the combo version. I do know I can't get along with just my 2X10 ampeg cab and a 300 watt head. Just don't deliver sound for my SR 5. I suggest you play both and decide based on the sound you want. I can live with just my 1X15 on the 300 watt head but prefer them together.

FWIW
tk
 
I have an Ampeg BA-210sp. i guess its a smaller version of the 500 with effects. its nice. actually its almost brand new and im trying to sell it to get a bigger head. its 220 watts with 2-10s and does rock and slap beautifully. i play both myself and can get a wicked les claypool tone no sweat. id say the ampeg because ive heard swr's are somewhat sterile sounding and for rock you want a bit of balls and thats what ampeg's do best. so id say ampeg. im selling mine for $550 if your intrested or you can go with the 500. thats my suggestion.
 
Mobay45 said:
For $1200 you should be able to find a great head and cabinet. Being separate makes it a lot easier to move around.
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I'd agree here. I've heard people rave about the GK heads and I remember some folks here saying that they got good GK heads for about $500 (the rb800 or rb1000 ... i dont know much about gk so i could be wrong) ... then get a cab. A 2x10 and a head should be easy to lug and will give room for expansion depending on what head you get
 
Thanks for all the input guys. Basically If you were me what would u buy? I do need alot of power, 350watts at least. As far as portability 95lbs wont be too too much, im a pretty big kid lol. if you guys have anything in mind that fits this criteria and is under 1200 bucks, dont be shy and lemme know what ud shoot for. thanks again
 
Sansamp RBI pre amp or BBE BMax pre amp ($300), Carvin DCM600 bridged mono ($320 shipped) and a nice cabinet with what's left over. For a little more than you $1200 you could add a Schroeder 1210 or 1010 cabinet ($689 shipped).

Just my $.02.
 
Yeah I was lookin at sum carvin stuff b4, but id like to be able to play one b4 i buy, an ampeg half stack would be nice, i checked out the GK stuff, the 700rb head and a 2x10 cab might be nice too
 
Ive got a 4 ohm goliath III that I bought new a couple of months ago. But am trying to sell because I like 4x12 cabinets better. I was trading it to a guy but it looks like it might fall through. If it does im probably gonna ask 550.00 (shipping included in price) if anyone is interested. Im still waiting on the reply from the guy as to whether or not he still wants to go through with the trade. But if he doesnt ill post and let anyone who is interested know. :D
For a (Business reference) Mobay or Travis can vouch for me. :D
 
" I play mostly rock and slap and i want a real clean sound."

The SWR Black Beauty is a great Clean sounding combo. I don't have one myself but would love to ;) .

Played on a friends and the sucker had plenty of power on stage and stayed clean as the volume went up.

I have a GK1001RBII/115RBH combo. It is realitive in size and weight. I love the growl this baby gets. :cool:

The SWR cab has a very transparent clean tone. I would love to explore its capabilities further. :D
 
hankSRay said:
Yeah I was lookin at sum carvin stuff b4, but id like to be able to play one b4 i buy, an ampeg half stack would be nice, i checked out the GK stuff, the 700rb head and a 2x10 cab might be nice too
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or .. :p

get a used excellent cond Ampeg SVT4-PRO (about 750-850 i think) + an used 410 cab :)
you rocks!
 
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Last edited:
second hand-market looks like the best solution, more amp for the same price.
no-one mentioned it here, but you might check EBS amps, great for slap and rock. I own one since last week and totally love it. In my opinion, much better than Ampeg.
I think SWR is missing the 'balls' for rock, although ther head are really good (don't know about the combo's).
 
Well Ive been checkin out some of my amp possibilities and i found that i can get a GK 700RB II head and a 2x10RBH cab new for just around $1200. Right now i have a GK backline half stack, good tone but not enough power. so GK might be nice, I dont really want used gear cause I havent had good experiences with other used gear Ive bought in the past. Im gonna go to GC this weekend and check out what they got so any more recommendations u can give me b4 then would be great. thanks
 
Hook it up, play it and if you like it take it home and play it some more. One good thing about buying new is that you have some time to evaluate the gear and return it if you don't like it once you get it home.
 
If you're scouting around the 2nd hand market, keep an eye out for a Seymour Duncan 4000. I got one several years ago with a single 15 and I love it.
200watts 8ohm/400watts 4ohm and the single 15 can handle a constant 250 watts. Lots-o- Bottom and Lots-o-Bright :cool: . Just not many around.
Of course Ampeg always works for me too..... got an old 200watt B-15 N with 2 15inch Altecs that I've had for over 30years that I can't seem to part with, even though I never use it :rolleyes:
Rick
 
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