Front Panel - SWR Redhead Owner's Manual

Congratulations on your purchase of the SWR® Redhead™ combo bass
amplifier!
The SWR tradition of innovation and excellence began in 1984, when
founder Steve W. Rabe developed an entirely new concept of bass
instrument amplification. Responding to advice and suggestions from
top L.A. recording bassists of the day who wanted their live sound to
resemble what they heard in studio playback monitors, Rabe devel-
oped a full-range, hi-fi bass system that allowed players to dial in any
tone they wanted with the accuracy of a studio mixing console. The
"SWR sound" was born.
The original Redhead became the exemplar of the SWR sound and, to
some extent, bass combos in general. Introduced in 1988 as the "ulti-
mate" studio recording amp, it immediately became the benchmark
for all bass combos to follow and is one of the most imitated ampli-
fiers in history.
The concept seems obvious in hindsight—Rabe's full-range, hybrid
amplifiers (tube preamp, solid-state power section), the PB-200™
and later the SM-400™, had revolutionized the bass amplification
world just a few years earlier, and the Goliath™ speaker cabinets had
introduced bassists to a vastly expanded tonal palette by incorporat-
A . MUTE—Disables audio output from the Speaker
Outputs {Q/R}, as indicated by the
does not affect the Tuner Out {S}, Effects Loop {T} or
Tube DI {U} outputs.
B . INSTRUMENT INPUTS—Plug into either the Passive or
Active jack depending on the type of instrument used
and the tone characteristics desired:
• PASSIVE—Normal sensitivity input for most
instruments with passive electronics. If you hear a small
amount of unwanted distortion and neither the Preamp
Clip LED {C} nor the Power Amp Clip
flashing, try using the Active Input.
TIP: For the best pure-tube overdrive sound, you can
overdrive the first tube stage of the Redhead preamp by
connecting an external preamp between your instrument

REDHEAD™ Integrated Bass System

Front Panel

LED. NOTE: Mute
LED {I} are
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ing 10" drivers and tweeter horns in their speaker enclosures; why
not combine them into a combo? The result far exceeded everyone's
expectations. As word of the new combo spread throughout the bass
community, the Redhead immediately became a fixture on concert
stages and in top recording studios worldwide—a tradition that con-
tinues to this day.
In 1996, the Redhead was redesigned to add more power and a few
additional features, thus becoming the Super Redhead. Now, in 2008,
SWR has once again updated this iconic amplifier for the 21st century.
The output power has been increased from 350 to 400 watts (inter-
nally), an all-tube direct line-out circuit is now provided (eliminating
the need for an outboard tube direct box), the speakers have been
upgraded for more power handling, and a compression circuit has
been added to address the amplification challenges facing modern
bassists.
You will also notice that the word "Super" has been removed from the
name—it seemed a bit redundant when applied to the Redhead!
We're confident that you will enjoy your new Redhead for many years
to come, and many thanks for "Stepping Up" to SWR.
and the Passive Input. Boost the output of your external
preamp, then dial in a clean Gain setting as indicated by
the PreAmp Clip LED {C}. The PreAmp Clip LED does
not monitor the first tube preamp stage allowing it to be
isolated and overdriven in this way.
•
ACTIVE—Reduced sensitivity input providing
cleaner response with high-output (passive) and pre-
amplified (active) instruments. When used with passive
instruments, this input offers a darker tone.
C . GAIN—Adjusts preamp signal level. Use Gain together
with Master Volume {I} to set the overall loudness of
the amplifier. Instrument, effects, and tone levels all
contribute to preamp level and should be adjusted
before Gain.
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