SWR 750x Head

This amp is very verstile for the styles I play, which is mostly funk/rock, but also classic rock, blues and jazz. It has 2 channles, one for active one for passive pick ups, and 2 built in effects. I use the overdirve for a little more "bark" in some choruses with the rock band! SubWave sounds kinda cool with the fretless, but haven't used it too much to be honest. I dig the onboard limiter as well, seems to make a difference when slapping aswell as the aural enhanser. Big difference when you have it past 2 o'clock! Tones of power for most venues.

This thing sounds rad! I play it through a fender 8x10 cab with my main bass being a Yamaha TRB6II, I also use a Fender jazz 4 string (fret-less). Very punchy amp, love the growl from the tube pre-amp. I find that I can use the amp for a wide varriety of sounds. I mainly play funk/rock these days, but last weekend there was my band and two others running through my rig.. Like I said we are funk rock, there was a folk band, and a jazzy r&b group. Every style sounded wicked through that amp!
I used to play through an EA iamp 800. The thing had tones of power and great clean sound.. I liked it but was never completly satisifed when I was slapping, and I like to slap a lot. My EA was in for some maintenence so I borrowed the SWR from the local shop to get through a gig for the night. Well I never picked my EA up from the shop!!! This SWR was the missing link in my sound!! I traded for the 750x and have never looked back ;)

The only problem I had was the inputs needing to be re-soldered.
nothing major.

You can really work the snot out of this thing.

Haven't needed it.

I really like this amp for the sound that I am going for. It may not be for everyone, but I haven't heard a situation where this amp didn't preform awesome! I've been playing for 16 years and have used alot of different rigs, EA, Ampeg, Fender, Messa, Mark, GK, and yorkville. The SWR is my personal fav. I'm currious to try the Goliath 8x10 cab to see if there is a difference from the Fender cab... I would recomend this amp in a heart beat!

Made 2001 or 2002, very simple and solid. Two Effects which work well. DI-out and Line-Out produced a hum once or twice. Very loud fan.

I play Fender Jazz Basses, four and five string, vintage and modern. I mostly play funk, soul and jazz and the 750x sounds great with every instrument. It's not versatile and it's definetly not a rock amp, but it has one big, fat, very clean tone that I really like. Loud enough for most stages.

No problems at all.

I emailed them once or twice and got an answer after a week or so.

I played a lot of amps, and I also love GK, Eden or Ampeg. But the 750x hast this big, clean SWR tone wich NO other amp produces. It's a bit heavy...

I bought the in 2006
It is versitile enough for All international bands that use the amp. all epeat on using this product becuase of it opcions of sound.I run own JDL SOUND SYSTEMS. Ive had no complaints on the power just happy faces.In concerts between 1500 and 400 people.

Warwick and fender mostly. The bass players that use the amp cant believe the sound quality, the ones that have never tryed the 750x.

100 % depend on it and can depend on it. at first i wasnt shure becuase i read a review and someone said his broke right away and took months to epair after being fixed it broke again. But in reality I dont know of any product on the market that once in a while they just dont function perfectly. I have a friend bought a mesa boogie head and it never worked good i has been broke more than its been working.so i dont think SWR produce bad equipment . 100% satisfied with this product. I own a backline and its my business to work with dependable amps.

Ive had no problems so i cant answer that.

Ive been in the music industry for 32years
I am now looking at more SWR products to buy.

Can't remember when I got this head, around '03 I think, I bought it new. I play a sort of rock/jazz/heavy/ type style and I find this head sounds good. Has 1 channel, effects loop, .. all the stuff you'll need. The 2 effects - overdrive and subwave - I don't often use, don't like them too much. The overdrive sounds kind of ... bad and the subwave is about the same, but most subs are. For a clean sound it can't be beat. It's as clear as a bell. I mostly use this head for jammin and smaller type things, anything organized I go through a di and monitors. I find it can have more than enough juice when it's tweaked properly, some people complain that for a 750W head it doesn't deliver. I find that to get lots of volume there has to be a hot signal sent in - I go through a tube comp. and when I goose the signal going in I can get tons of volume as well as some good overdrive.

I generally use a Fender jazz, stock, and also a Stingray and a Ric, all sound good through it. Suits my style fine, I found the direct out to have some hum going on but I'm sure it's a grounding issue - I don't have the ambition to pull it out of the rack and open it up though. For what kind of sounds it makes that's pretty much up to the player. You'll start off with an excellent clean sound and that's a good place to start.

I think it's a depandable amp. There was one time I couldn't get anything out to the cabinet and myself or the fellas that were there couldn't get anything happening so I went through the vocal pa - didn't sound too good - the next day I had it working and hasn't happened since. I think it may have been an intoxication problem.

I haven't tried to get it repaired and there is a warranty but it's probably run out. I generally try to fix stuff myself. never dealt with the company.

I have been playing a very long time, Own lots of other stuff, I like the simplicity factor a bout it and the sound. If it were lost or stolen I'd get another swr head. When I bought it I had tried all kinds of amps and I like the sound of swr over all of them.

In theory, this should be the greatest bass amp ever made. It looks sharp, has built in overdrive and sub octave effects, effects loop, even a volume control for the pre-amp out.

It should have lights on the footswitch so you know whether the overdrive and sub octave are on or off.

This is SWR's attempt to make an "Xtreme" rock and roll amp for "generation X" and it is a nice try, but underneath it's an SWR and it's much too sophisticated and far too upscale to play rock and roll.

If are a rock and roller and you are considering this amp, go try out an all tube Ampeg SVT CL and save yourself the possible heartbreak of trading this in for 1/2 of what you paid (like I did). The overdrive is like a swarm of bees being chased by a buzzsaw and the sub effect is useless. For clean sounds, this amp is wonderful, but it is a poor attempt at a rock and roll amp. For 750 watts, it is simply not all that punchy or powerful.

Not a problem in the year and a half that I owned it.

I called them a couple of times with questions and they were very nice.

This is a great looking amp that is very well built and is very reliable. For rock and roll and blues it simply has no soul. Forget about the silly overdrive and sub octave effect and this would probably make a very nice amp for playing jazz or dinner music.

1. 2002
2. The amp works poorly for all styles of music when it is not in the shop. I play in a classic rock band.
3. One channel. It is loaded with all of the features you would want.
Effects loop, direct out, headphone jack. etc.
4. I wish it was relaible. Reliability is what I expect for $1040.
5. Clubs, fests and rehearsal. It is rated at 750 watts (4 ohms) but sounds nowhere near as loud as my Peavey T-Max (375 watts - 4 ohms)
6. Tube preamp.

1. Lakland Skyline 5 string. Bartolini Soap bar pickups.
2. It suits my style of music just OK (classic rock). The amp has a very bad 60 cycle hum when you use the direct out. It can't be corrected with the ground lift.
4. The amp does not have a variety of bass sounds. It only has one variable midrange control. Set it once for the sweet spot and leave it. The bass control does not produce the low end that I need . The T-Max beats the SWR hands down for low end thump.
The built in overdrive is a waste of time. By a pedal. The subwave
switch is cool on the A, D and G strings. Forget about using it on the B and E String. It gives a bizarre lower end harmonic that sounds like crap. The Aural Enhancer is just a fancy tone control. It is not very impressive. When you read the manual they make it sound like it is Gods gift to the bass guitar.

The compressor is only good up to about 9 a.m. After that it sounds like crap. Amp companies should produce amps with a higher damping factor, then you woudn't need a compressor.

This has been the most undependable amp I have ever owned. I always bring a backup. In fact, I have been using my Peavey T-Max for the last 6 months. The Peavey has been dropped many times and has never failed me once. I purchased it long ago.

I have babied this amp (SWR) since day one. The first time I took it into the shop the stacked input jack malfunctioned. The jack is manufatured by Cliff. It is a flimsy plastic piece of garbage. The same thing happened to the replacement jack. JUNK!!!!!
The jack shorted out and destroyed the speakers in my Acme B-210 - 4 ohm cabinet. After 2 hours of use the power switch tends to vibrate to the off position. This is not good when you are playing live. I took the amp back to my tech and the input jack can no longer be replaced. The traces on the preamp baord are shot. I need a new preamp board which is very pricey.

When are the amp manufacturers going to go back to the good old hardwired Switchcraft jacks as on all of the older vintage amps.

The screws that are used for the steel cover are junk. They strip very quickly if you want to change the tube. The circuit boards in the amp are extremely flimsy. When you change the tube in the preamp, the circuit board flexes. Bad, Bad, Bad!!!!

Even though the amp has a fan, the faceplate still gets very hot after three one hour sets and the sound degrades as it gets hotter. The amp is in a rack case with excellent ventillation.

1. I emailed SWR customer service and was told I have to bring it to an authorized service center. They will not do any repair work at the factory. What a bunch of hooey. I received a return e-mail from David Gonzalez (customer relations) and he said unfortunately SWR does not offer factory repair services. Is this a bunch of crapola or what!!! Maybe I got a lemon. I would not purchase another SWR product ever again.

If you want a high power amp do yourself a favor and buy a power amp and a seperate preamp. SWR basically crams to much stuff into one box. The more features you have, the more expensive it is to fix and work on.

1. I have been playing bass for 38 years.
2. If it was lost or stolen I would not purcase another one.
3. I love the features if they would work properly or sounded good.
4. I chose this head because it got a great review in Bass Player magazine.
5. I wish it had built in reliability.

If anyone out there is thinking of buying this head see if you can rent one first. Buyer Beware. Maybe these were good amps when they came out but the one I have is junk.

I bought this amp new from American music supply in early 2004
Its perfect for me tone wise
theres one channel it has distortion and an octave effect but I odn't use them. Its loud enough for me but to loud for most guys running PA, they ussually ask me to turn it down. Its a tube pre with a solid state power amp. I think this is the best combination for bass amps, you gotta have a tube pre, but tube power amps have overtones that take away from clearity. PLus Tubes are expensive.

I'm using a Warwick thumb 5
I play in a heavy rock band but my style incorperates fingerstyle, slapping, and lead
its very clear, almost everytime I play a gig the sound tech is always like your tone is clear as hell. The built in effects are garbage, I don't use them but this amp has amazing clean tone. The amp isn't about getting a billion different tones, its really simple. I use it with the bass and treble flat and the mid select at 3 (clock) and the mid volume at 6 (clock).

I haven't had a single problem with this amp yet. I've pushed it hard for hours at a time and never any problems. I keep it in a 16 space rack

I've had some issues with SWR support. I've emailed them several times about getting spare pre amp just in case I ever needed them and they never get back with me.

I've been playing about ten years, I use warwick thumb 5, ampeg 810, shure wireless systems, korg rackmount tuner, furman power conditioner and custom made cables. most of my cables are pretty standard but I couldn't find a HEAVY duty speakon cable that wasn't rediculusly long, so I had an 8 gauge made (by Edwards Music in Fayetteville, NC) its only about 6 feet long. I recommend bass players using speakon. I play so loud I've had 1/4" cables just blow out of the back of cabs. Mainly hat happens after the jacks have worn. I've compared it to Ampeg, GK, Mesa, EDEN, Aguilar, and Peavey, This head tops them all in my book. My one concern is the pre amp gain, I think my gain knob is set at like 7 or 8 which is higher than I think it should be, but its still the cleanest thing I've heard. The amp doesn't distort even at stupid volume levels. I wish it had an instrument input on the back, I think thats a stupid thing about alot of gear. Most professionals use a wireless for gigs, they should start putting inputs on the back of the amps. The effect I think aren't necessary, I actuall wish I could have gotten this amp cheaper without the effects, because I don't use them, now if your an effect kinda player maybe its your think, I just love loud clean tone.

I purchased this amp brand new sealed in the box 2003 model (pre Fender) in 2004. Refer to the SWR website for features and specs.

See reliability section below. While working it sounded pretty good with a full and big soundstage. Although, I prefered my Eden WT-800 and Mesa M-Pulse 600 to the 750X (the 750X does have a mute switch). I used it with a Goliath III, Son of Bertha, and/or Eden 410 XLT. My basses include EBMM Stingrays and pre EB Stingrays, Laklands, and vintage Fender P and J basses.

I purchased this 2003 amp in 2004 as new in a factory sealed box (pre-Fender). At first it sounded pretty good, but after a few weeks it developed a loud hum that sounded like a tranformer hum. I returned it and got a replacement, also factory sealed in a box (this one had the Fender address on the box). After about a month, it developed a hum and scratchy sound. I got rid of the second 750X and would never buy or recommend this head new or used at any price.

Since SWR was bought by Fender, I had to call Fender for support. However, their customer support had no clue about SWR amps and were no help period. None of the local Fender/SWR service centers had any experience with repairing SWR heads. I did have the option of sending it to some repair shop in LA, who reportedly repairs SWR equipment under warranty, which may have taken a month or more to get it back.

After two brand new 750Xs that failed, I would not recommend this amp period, especally if you don't bring an extra head to gigs as a backup. You may want to think long and hard before buying this head. No matter how good it sounds it has a poor reliability track record with me. I would strongly recommend the Eden WT-800 and/or Mesa M-Pulse 600 (I have never had any problem with either and they sound great)as opposed to the 750X.

Mono bass head/amp with two inputs that can be used simultaneously (if you wanted to). Features Overdrive and Subwave effects built-in. I play mostly rock and alternative bass styles and I like to pump both clean and growely notes from my cabinets that MOVE air. The headphone jack was a nice feature - I use it a lot when I'm at home.

The Subwave and Overdrive effects can be switched in and out with the included dual footswitch. This one was from early 2003 and has one 12AX7 type preamp tube which has a short plate design - maybe a quieter 12AU series - it's unmarked. This amp has a lot of features that you can find out about at the SWR Internet site.

Now, I use it with an Ibanez BTB515E and a Hagstrom Coranado IV. I don't know what type pickups (original) are used in the Hagstrom, but the Ibanez's are Bartolini's. I can sound good all the time with this amp whether I'm doing an accoustic practice session with just two 10's, or a cranked, large club show. The distortion in UNREAL if you want it to be.

I haven't had the amp too long, but being an Electronics Technician by day, it looks as though it is well put together and solid. I would bet that ?No backup needed? applies if you keep the fan working and unobstructed. A filter on the fan wouldn't hurt either to keep the inside clean - just don't forget to dust it :)

Never dealt with a warranty or such on it - I usually repair my own equipment anyhow. One call to the SWR (now owned by Fender) made me think the employees are still in shock after the transition. If you need any parts, you need to contact an approved SWR dealer. Unfortunately, they will not work with you as an end user at this time.

I've been playing for 10+ years. I without a doubt enjoy every minute with the SWR sound. The 750x amp is a powerful, nice-sounding bass amp for any playing situation. I use it to drive two adapted cabinets so they handle the power running a 2.6-ohm load.

The gripes I have with the 750x from a technical standpoint are:

1. SWR should have incorporated a 2-speed fan with a thermal switch that goes to HIGH-speed momentarily if the power heat sink gets too hot.

2. More venting in the top cover/housing to expel the hot air that gathers inside the unit. This may contribute to the front graphics peeling years later from running at too high a temperature during loud shows, although running it with the fan off (huh? ? only in the studio) or a bad fan could do that.

3. The built-in limiter circuitry is noisier than an optical-type circuit, but can be corrected by a capacitor in the right place on the preamp board.

Even though the 750x has these faults, I have a SUPER bass amp that will last a longtime, and the sound well, you got to love it. SWR needs to fine-tune it a little to be perfect. If they drop this model, they're boneheads.

2 effects that i really dont use. an overdrive and octive nice but not me. I do like alittle drive and i use sansamp bass driver (rackmount) but thi head is very simple... (i really enjoy that). i actually brought back the SWR SM-500 back because it wasn't too user friendly. this cought my eye for simplicity, and i got it.
Aural Enhancer is nice. i set it at about 2:30 and it is a nice feature. otherwise this thing is pretty straight foward THUMBS UP!

Nice sound. I like! I play mainly Heavy Heavy Rock, and Jazz, little funk. This thing gives you a very nice sound once you find where your at with the EQ. Nice rich tone, pretty warm (without sansamp). Again thumbs up. Tube preamp warms it up enough to smile, but the solid-state gives you that edge that you want aswell. GOODS :o)

Thing is a monster... dont know how reliable though, only had it for a little while
(I ACTUALLY BROUGHT BACK THE ALMIGHT AGUILAR DB-359)-because i knew would of had to get new tubes like every year ($200.00) and i didnt' want to do that. Also All tube is nice but not for metal. After many amps and ALOT of research/advice/opinions- tube preamp & solid-state power amp is the way to go for my hardrock.... ALL TUBE is really for guitar

SWR website is helpfull... i was let down that there is NO PHONE NUMBER on the site though.. at least i didn't see one. NO GOOD

OVERALL POWERHOUSE- i've went through many diffrent amps. and i mean alot of diffrent amps. (gallien krueger, ampeg, aguilar) brought all them back to the stores aswell. This ones a keeper. Great for band situations.
Also so simple, you just have to smile. Simplicty is a must amongst artists. (were very picky, and like want what we want) the worst thing is not being able to find what you want with your EQ (again i brought back the SM-500 because i got very very confused)

SWR-keep it up