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Mar 31, 2011
Mar 29, 2011
Mar 27, 2011
SWR - STEP OUT !!!
THE SWR® STORY
In the late 1970s, the clear, full and powerful SWR bass sound existed only in the mind of company founder Steve W. Rabe. He simply thought that bass amps should sound better, and he envisioned a bass sound that would satisfy the needs of professional players at the highest level.
He visited studios, asking the pros working in Los Angeles what they thought.
“They all just pointed their fingers at the studio monitors and said, ‘Make a bass amp sound like that, ‘cause that’s what a bass is supposed to sound like,’" Rabe said. "So that meant hi-fi, clean, full range.”
With that ideology, SWR was born.
The SWR sound was brought to life after a painstakingly long research process in which designers tried out many different electronic circuits for the preamp, the tone circuit, the power amp and everything in between. After repeated listening sessions with Los Angeles session bassists, SWR's first “hybrid” full-range bass amplifier, the PB-200™ (later to become the SM-400), appeared in 1984. The first five units were made in a garage.
There was nothing on the market like it. The PB-200 had a warm but highly accurate tube preamp, a stereo solid-state power amp and a low-noise, integrated circuit-driven tone section. It was used for the famous “We Are The World” session, at which a direct-input signal was taken from the amp (as opposed to using a direct box), a then unheard-of bass recording concept. Word spread quickly.
Pros raved about SWR features such as semi-parametric EQ, side-chain effects loops and the Aural Enhancer™ tone-shaping circuit, all of which made for fantastic studio sounds. But what about on stage?
The full-range response of the amp required a speaker cabinet equal to the task, so designers started searching for the right speakers, the right cabinet porting and the right crossover point. In 1986, the unleashed the result: the Goliath™. It was the first of its kind—a 4x10 full-range speaker cabinet with a horn tweeter. To this day, it is the most copied speaker cabinet on the market.
1987 saw the introduction of the Redhead™ combo amp. The Redhead 2x10 and its current upgraded version, the Super Redhead, are often requested by engineers and session players and have appeared on literally thousands of recordings. Their 2x10 plus horn-tweeter configuration became another industry standard as SWR's popularity continued to spread nationwide.
The next decade saw a flurry of groundbreaking product development. The SM-900™, a 900-watt powerhouse, became an instant classic upon its 1991 introduction, and remains one of the world's most popular backline amplifiers. The Baby Blue™ combo amp redefined tonal definition for acoustic bassists. The Goliath Senior™ 6x10 pumped 1,000 watts and introduced an easily portable tilt-back design. Boutique cabinets like the Henry The 8x8™ threw convention out the window, showing that you could get the killer punch of a smaller speaker array and still reproduce frequencies down to 37Hz.
In the late '90s, with consumer demand skyrocketing, SWR introduced its first value-driven line, the Workingman’s® Series. A broader range of bassists could now get the famous SWR sound with simplified features. The Workingman’s 15 combo amp, with more than 20,000 units sold, became the most successful product in SWR history. The California Blonde™ acoustic guitar amp, one of the most popular such amps on the market among professionals, made its debut.
The late '90’s also saw the birth of a new class of SWR amplifier—the Bass 750™. It had a mono-block power configuration and simpler controls, but it was faithful to the SWR Sound. And it was loud.
Also during this period, it had become clear to SWR that it wasn't only jazz and session players who wanted "that sound"—many rock bass players wanted the clarity and trueness of SWR. The company gave them what they wanted in the form of the Megoliath™ 8x10 cabinet, a 1,200-watt monster that was incredibly loud, but crystal-clear. And when the speaker cabinet grills went chrome, a new trademark visual for SWR was born.
Today, more than 20 years after those first five units were made in a garage, SWR products remain true to the original spirit of the company, with the highest standards of quality. SWR's classic products are still manufactured and tested in southern California, less than 75 miles away from their birthplace. They're built with the same parts and often by the same people who’ve built and tested them for more than 10 years.
The tradition of innovation continues today stronger than ever, and SWR remains faithful to its full-range, high-fidelity and ultra-clean roots. It’s all part of SWR's continued commitment to bassists who seek equipment that not only does the job, but also actually enhances their overall musical experience, contributes to their creative process and amplifies their future!
SWR official website
Mar 26, 2011
Mar 23, 2011
Actress Elizabeth Taylor has died, age 79
Elizabeth Taylor, the violet-eyed film goddess whose sultry screen persona, stormy personal life and enduring fame and glamour made her one of the last of the old-fashioned movie stars and a template for the modern celebrity, died Wednesday at age 79.
She died of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she had been hospitalized for about six weeks, said publicist Sally Morrison.
She was surrounded by her four children when she died. “My mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with great passion, humor, and love,“ her son, Michael Wilding, said in a statement.
”We know, quite simply, that the world is a better place for Mom having lived in it. Her legacy will never fade, her spirit will always be with us, and her love will live forever in our hearts.”
click here for more..
She died of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she had been hospitalized for about six weeks, said publicist Sally Morrison.
She was surrounded by her four children when she died. “My mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest, with great passion, humor, and love,“ her son, Michael Wilding, said in a statement.
”We know, quite simply, that the world is a better place for Mom having lived in it. Her legacy will never fade, her spirit will always be with us, and her love will live forever in our hearts.”
click here for more..World’s Most Luxurious Celebrity Homes
With celebrity life comes fame and fortune, something most A-listers use to splash out on cars, plastic surgery and every fad going. However some of these high flyers take the more extravagant option; spend millions on a home and refurbish it inside and out. MORE...
Mar 22, 2011
28 Songs You Know The Words To (But Are Too Ashamed To Admit It)
Few things are more difficult to resist than singing along, loud and proud, to a favorite tune, but there are those songs that you can only hope come up on shuffle when no one else is around to hear them. Below are some of our favorite guilty pleasure songs collected from the past 40 years.Do you have some favorite shameful indulgences that didn't make the list? Hit the comments section below, and let us know. CLICK HERE FOR MORE...
Mar 20, 2011
The Bass Family
SA Bassists With Martin Simpson: South Africa’s Premier Bass Family, the Askes
by martin simpson
As the whole World’s eyes are on South Africa (due to the Soccer World Cup), during June and July, I thought I’d do something a little different for this particular ish, by Interviewing no less than FOUR bassists…….all from the Same Family!!!!!! The Askes family is probably South Africa’s Premier Bass family with Bert and younger brother Dave and Dave’s two sons, Quintin and Miles all living the Low-Ender life. I spoke to Dave briefly at the tail end of last year about my idea to interview the four of them and he was quite keen on the idea so I set about the task almost immediately. Bert was the first to take up bass, followed by Dave and then Quintin and Miles. This is what they told me. MORE
Mar 15, 2011
Mar 14, 2011
Aguilar Amplification
Bass Pedal,Bass Preamps,Bass Amplifiers and Bass Speaker Cabinets. CLICK IMAGE
Mar 13, 2011
Mar 12, 2011
Slipknot Announces Touring Bassist
With a handful of European dates lined up for the summer, Slipknot has announced that Donnie Steele will be acting as touring bassist in place of the late Paul Gray. The news came as a statement on the band’s website, explaining that Steele is the best fit since he was a founding guitarist in the band and was close to Paul.more...
Mar 11, 2011
Is Pia Toscano The Next American Idol?
Last week, when it was first revealed that "American Idol" contestant Pia Toscano would be singing last on the top 12 girls' show, in the "pimp spot" usually strategically saved for the producers' favorites, it was a surprise. Pia had received precious little screentime up until then, and probably wasn't on many viewers' radars. But obviously the "Idol" powers-that-be knew what they were doing. Pia's star-making performance of the Pretenders' "I'll Stand By You" brought down the house (garnering the season's first standing ovation from the judges), and instantly established her as a frontrunner. And last night her "Idol" ascendance continued, with her powerhouse performance of "All By Myself" making her one of the most-queried "Idol" contestants today in Yahoo! Search. Over the past 24 hours, Pia's searches have spiked a whopping 516 percent, and she's currently among Yahoo's top 2,000 overall search terms....CLICK HERE FOR MORE..
Mar 10, 2011
Mar 9, 2011
Ex-Alice In Chains Bassist Mike Starr Found Dead
Former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr was found dead Tuesday afternoon (March 8). TMZ reports that police found Starr's body in a Salt Lake City, Utah, house at 1:42 p.m. He was 44 years old.
A co-founding member of the pioneering Seattle grunge band, Starr appeared on VH1's "Celebrity Rehab" in 2009. He was arrested last month for felony possession of a controlled substance. Salt Lake City police said he had several painkillers on him when he was arrested. Alice in Chains have written heart-wrenching and evocative songs about drug addiction...
