Swart Atomic Space Tone

My all time favorite guitar amp is the 100% tube-driven Atomic Space Tone from boutique amp builder Swart Amplification.

I got one of these in for a review on my blog, but after spending three weeks with the amp I quite honestly couldn't bear parting with it, so I just bought it outright.

Tiny & light, with just 20-watts of power and a single 12" custom Mojotone speaker, the Atomic Space Tone is simply the most expressive amplifier I've had the pleasure to play. In fact, it blew my tweed Fender Blues Deluxe right out of the water––an amp that I was quite happy with until the AST came along.

Tube reverb. Tube tremolo. JJ5 AR4 rectifier. Dual JJ 6v6s for power. 12AX7 in the preamp. Carbon comp resistors. Tweed & Oxblood covering on a finger-jointed, hand-made pine cabinet.

I've never played such a soulful amplifier in my life, and it's surprisingly loud as well... I haven't taken it on stage as of yet, but I don't expect to have any trouble in a small club. A mic should take care of it if I do.

In fact, looking at Swart's website this morning I discovered that two of my favorite artists are playing the Atomic Space Tone as well––Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, and the incomparable Dean Wareham, currently of Luna, but previously frontman of one of my favorite bands of all time, Galaxie 500.

You can see my full review over on my blog: REVIEW: Swart's Immaculate Atomic Space Tone.

Not cheap, and probably not for the confirmed metal-head, but a tube-amp that absolutely blows the competition away, IMHO

Photos by Cary

Attached Images

	Swart-Atomic-Space-Tone-Fro.jpg (10.8 KB, 39 views)
	Back-of-Atomic-Space-Tone.jpg (14.7 KB, 38 views)
	Atomic-Logo.jpg (11.0 KB, 39 views)

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egr :: guitar spoken here

Looks great and I love the animal behavoir of 6v6 tubes - this is a great time for tube amps.

Amen to that, brother... it's a great time to be a Tube Freak

BTW, I just came across some great mp3 audio clips of the Atomic Space Tone over on Swart's website, just in case anyone's interested. There's also a pretty decent mpeg demonstration.

Enjoy!

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egr :: guitar spoken here

Have you ever tried a BadCat or a Matchless? A buddy of mine has a BadCat and it is absolutely amazing. Just strumming shimmering chords through that thing is magic. There is something about the "response" those amps get...it's like a wet slap in the face. I haven't been able to get that type of tone out of my Mesa-Boogie.

I've also tried the hand wire stuff from Marshall. It has that "slap" quality as well...but cost about half as much as the BadCat....it's still $2400 on sale!

Interesting how the more "boutique" these amps get, the less controls they have on them!

Playing with my "stereo" telecaster, I can see why SRV and other blues legends played through two amps at once.

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THIS SPACE FOR RENT

Nice review of the Atomic Space tone in this months(April) issue of GuitarOne. The CD that comes with it shows it being played and it sounds great!!