SWR acoustic amps... Trouble?

Over the past few months, I've been on the lookout for an SWR California Blonde amp. A friend has one, and I've been in love with the way it reproduces my guitar's sound. All of a sudden there's a nearly new California Blonde available, and an older Strawberry Blonde, too.

I did find the Strawberry to be lacking, compared to the California, and I'll probably go in that direction. But...

Someone has told me that these amps have an issue with their internal wiring, commonly requiring a "mod" to correct. Something with the grounding. They say this has persisted even through the release of the "II" versions of these.

The one I've played sure didn't have a problem, and the one I'm looking at sounds great, too. Checking the web didn't unearth anything. Anyone here?

Dave :?:

Dave, I have both of these and am pleased with each. Used the Strawberry in church for several years and it never let me down with it's clean, strong sound. The California Blonde, I got a great deal on and haven't used near as much as the Strawberry, but it has more features and wattage. Some seem to feel the quality changed after Fender acquired the company (where have I heard that before? :? ) and I've heard complaints of too much background hum, but I haven't experienced that.
IMHO you can't go wrong with either one.
Terry

Thanks, tj. I agree... hard to go wrong. The talk of hum may be an echo of the grounding issue, but this has apparently been around since before Fender took them over. Not that I'm a defender of Fender. :lol:

Dave

IMHO the import swr amps have too much line level noise aka HSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

alpep said:

IMHO the import swr amps have too much line level noise aka HSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Click to expand...

alpep, I hadn't noticed that. It may be that since I've been playing mostly in a band setting I don't hear it. But there is plenty of EQ and the tweeter level is fully adjustable.

Dave