Hello all-

I took the plunge and bought a Swart Atomic Space Tone. I love it... but the reverb was lacking. I complained a little, and they sent "the wettest" tank they could find from their stock. I found out a couple weird things in replacing it today:

• the original tank was inside a pleather enclosure-bag screwed to the bottom of the amp. taking it out of the bag, i found that it had a piece of cardboard rubberbanded to the bottom. removing the cardboard and setting the tank on hardwood floor made the reverb MUCH nicer
  

• nonetheless, the new one they sent was indeed even batter, and sounded GREAT on my hardwood floor
  

• putting the new unit (no cardboard) back into the bag dampened it a little, and putting the back panel on the amp dampened it even more
  

so...

What to do? I am willing to build an "outboard" enclosure, and am willing to experiment a lot, but thought I would see if any hardware nerds had ideas. It seems that perhaps the nylon bag thing is damping the shell of the tank? I thought the springs were the important part, but maybe the whole box is crucial. It has flanges to mount it to something, so I could:

• Mount it "naked" to the bottom of the AST without the covering bag
  

• Mount it in a new wooden box (should it be bolted, or hot-glued, or "float"?). Another idea I had was old small luggage like a bathroom/makeup bag with rigid wood floor installed
  

• mount in in a mesh box? this sounds crazy but I was surprised that putting the back panel on the amp seemed to help. I just want to protect the unit from accidental kicking etc.
  

Any ideas appreciated, and I have to say, the AST is AMAZING. Not a purists surf amp, perhaps, but I love love love it... And the customer service from them was amazing. Talking to the guy who makes your amp is certainly a wonderous experience.

peace,

rob

"same way as fender does"

does this mean just screw it directly to amp bottom?

I hate digging up an old thread but I'm hoping to get in touch with mantid. Check your PM box! I'm hoping to find out what reverb tank the AST uses.

As much as I LOVED the AST when I tried it in a store, I'll never be able to buy one, so I am attempting to build something similar. The more parts I have correct, the closer I'll get to its tone (at least cut down on the guesswork anyway).

I don't suppose you ever took that AST Pro apart for grins? I'm pretty sure it uses "cap-coupled" reverb using the 12DW7 for drive & recoverylike old Traynors or Ampegs...

Man I'd love to own the Pro, you're a lucky man. I don't suppose you live anywhere near Montreal, Canada? Hey if you ever feel like taking it apart for any reason, I'd be very interested in some pics and the code of that tank! I assume it's a short tank as the cab seems too narrow for a big 17" one?

I know! It has become my most versatile and used amp. I would be glad to get a code for you, but I am not sure what I am looking for. I am in Boulder, Colorado, USA so, unfortunately, I cant really let you play it ;)

I have contacted Swart about a few issues and general questions and they are VERY helpful. Michael Swart actually called me up and talked amps for half an hour! He was looking for feedback on his newest amp the STR tweed which I also picked up used for a fantastic price. A super amp if you are looking for a 5 watt amp for practice or with a 6L6 and a GZ-34 it is almost as loud as my AST PRO with 6V6s.

He recently told me he is working on a higher headroom (louder) head that will have the general tone of the AST PRO. I am going to keep poking to see what it is going to be, but I am also sure it will be out of my price range since I just bought a new van (and have no other slag gear to sell). I suspect it will make a very fine surf amp with the tube tremolo and reverb.

Owner of Gunbarrel Custom Guitars!

Sadly, my recording gear is all packed up (just had a baby and the guitars are low priority). I could do a really crumby recording if there is enough interest.

Long story short is that I am still horribly disappointed in the reverb on this thing. I went ahead and added a reissue fender outboard, which annoyed the %!*# out of me after spending so much on the AST, but I liked the amp so much otherwise that it was up to me to keep it.

I would say it is not in any way an ideal surf amp, but it does get some good garage band tones and definitely likes dirtier blues. I would have preferred it to have a little more clean headroom. Also the tremelo is nice, but it does not get as fast nor as slow as I would like it to.

I'm actually thinking about selling or trading mine at some point. Its a great amp, but not what I was hoping it is.