Anybody here played both a Swart Space Tone Reverb and STR-Tremolo?

[marqueemoon]

How do they compare?

Pretty sure one of these is going to be my next amp. I do love tremolo, and the high pass filter feature on the STR-Tremolo is very appealing, but from what I've seen STR-Tremolos are much less common on the used market, and the difference in price between a used Space Tone Reverb and a new STR-Tremolo is pretty significant.

The application will be mostly home playing with the odd quiet gig and recording, and I'm mainly after good clean sounds.

[Maggieo]

I've played 'em both and the Tremolo is worth every extra penny, unless you've got a trem pedal that you love to death.

Oh, and they are LOUD! Holy cow. Like, my STR was the same volume as my AST up through about 8.

[marqueemoon]

I've played 'em both and the Tremolo is worth every extra penny, unless you've got a trem pedal that you love to death.

Oh, and they are LOUD! Holy cow. Like, my STR was the same volume as my AST up through about 8.

Cool! That is the direction I'm leaning. I have some trem pedals I like, but neither would be a substitute for tube tremolo.

The high pass on the STR-Tremolo is a big selling point for me. My At Mars Specialist has a high pass rotary switch, and it's fantastic. No more muddy humbuckers.

Good to know about the volume. That is a plus in my book.

[Despot]

Are there versions of Swarts without reverb or tremolo?

I've been using a Swart Atomic Space Tone for years (hell ... nearly five years now!). It has onboard tremolo and reverb. FWIW I have the combo version rather than the head/cabinet version. I couldn't imagine not having both reverb and trem on the amp ... they're a huge part of the sound of the amp. And as Maggie has said ... they're loud! Mine is the AST Master combo - so it also has a master volume circuit that doesn't actually kill the sound. 99.9% of the time I use it with the master enabled so that I can run the amp at reasonable volume. It sounds great either way - but without the master circuit engaged it is a very loud amp for it's size! With the master engaged ... it's fine.

A final note on Swarts of all varieties ... and something that I really love about them ... they're light. The AST combo is around about 2/3 the size of a Marshall Bluesbreaker - certainly bigger than something like a Vibrolux. Yet it weighs less than my SFPR.

Good luck with your amp - you can't go wrong with a Swart in my opinion. I've gone through a hell of a lot of amps to get to my final two - I run the SFRP and Swart, as between the two I have all the bases I need covered.