Biased? | Swart Space Tone Atomic Jr

An almost-perfect amp for its intended purposes. Deserves a closer look, don't you think?

The guitar used was a Strat with Mojotone Quiet Coil ‘67s and a Suhr Thornbucker in the bridge.

Updates/clarifications:

Apparently the speaker was installed by the owner, not Swart (ribbed cone replacing smooth) and the owner installed the 6L6 - it was not broken in shipping. I misunderstood him when I spoke to him on the phone.

And here's a look at one of its big brothers:

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These are things I get asked about a lot :

Amp Tech Gear Used :

Hakko FX-951 soldering station
Weller SPG 80L soldering iron (chassis work)
Rigol DS1054Z digital oscilloscope
Thsinde 18B+ digital multimeters
Kester 60/40 solder
Techspray #4 No-Clean Desoldering Braid

Below are things that make this channel possible that people don’t usually think about. If any of these companies want to send me new and wonderful toys, I’m open to that. I can’t take free stuff when it comes to the amps I review, etc, but for the stuff below, bribe away!

Microphones/Audio Equipment :

Guitar Amps : Royer R-10 Hot Rod and/or Shure SM57 (noted in videos)
Voiceover Bench : sE Audio sE8 (small diaphragm condenser)
Voiceover Streaming : Shure SM57 with shockmount and windscreen
Voiceover Mic Arms : Elgato Wave Mic arms
Guitar Mic Stand : Gator Frameworks short weighted base stand with boom
Mic Cables and Guitar Cables : Mogami/Neutrik
Mic pre : MOTU M2
DAW : Logic Pro II on MacBook Pro 16 running Sonoma 14.5
Plugins : No effects other than level matching/normalization unless a recording
specifically has reverb etc added in post (rare, various Waves plugins)
Monitors : Yamaha HS7s
Monitor Stands : Gator Frameworks Desktop Clamp-On Stands
Monitor Isolation Mounts : IsoAcoustics Iso-Puck Minis
Headphones : Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro (main)
Headphones : Sony MDR-7506 (alternate)

Video Equipment :

Camera : Sony ZVE-10 with SmallRig Cage (main)
Lens : Sigma f2.8 18-50mm (main)
Lens : Sony ZVE10 kit lens (rarely used)
B Camera : Apple iPhone 13 Pro (rarely used)
Tripod : SmallRig 71” with SmallRig Fluid Video Head
Streaming Mount : Elgato Master Mount S with SmallRig Ballhead
Bench Light : SmallRig RC 120D
Bench Light Diffusor : SmallRig Lantern Softbox
Bench C-Stands (light and overhead camera) : Neewer Pro SS Heavy Duty
Streaming Light : SmallRig RC 120B
Streaming Diffusor : SmallRig Parabolic Softbox
Streaming Light Mount : SmallRig 148CM Wall Mount Boom with Triangle Base
Various Other Lights : Neewer LED Panels with Neewer Softboxes

Video Software :

Davinci Resolve 19
Inkscape
GIMP
Because seriously, screw Adobe
Ecamm Live (streaming software)

[PsionicAudio]

At 6:47 I said “125W coming out of the wall” when I meant 120 Volts. Dunno, was thinking about the video or what to say next.

Updates/clarifications:

Apparently the speaker was installed by the owner, not Swart (ribbed cone replacing smooth) and the owner installed the 6L6 - it was not broken in shipping. I misunderstood him when I spoke to him on the phone.

[cars_make_me_happy]

I just worked on one of these myself... wound up reworking the power trans wiring in twisted pairs, power switch/fuse wiring to code, and moved the 100 ohm resistors to the cathode to elevate the filaments. I scraped the paint from the chassis and put a lug for the power cable at the can cap mount. Thank you for your work, Lyle, you are my favorite mentor !

[maxvockner]

Fascinating. My vote is 6L6. Didn’t expect that.

[markmcdonald]

Bought this amp 3 years ago when they were still affordable. I have a G&L strat, a Fender Am Std Tele and a Gibson LP Jr, they all sound amazing thru this amp. The 8 inch Weber is fine for playing at home, fills a small room really well. Can't say enough good things about the tube reverb. Best amp I have ever owned.

[canadiancombatwombattherd]

Idk why I find myself constantly watching you fix amps but I do, enough to give you a new subscriber lol

[ricdale]

Played a Space Tone at Elderly Instruments a few years back. Best low watt clean I have played. Rich, Warm and Blooming Clean. Sounded incredibly well with a TS 808 slightly driving the front.

[joeappel]

I’ve got a Swart Antares. A really sweet sounding amp. They make great stuff.

[christopherjbutler]

Lyle, just wanted to say, my respect for you is never disappointed, ; you sir, call things exactly as your judgement knowing your craft dictates.
The bit about the grounding, switched neutral, and fuse arrangement was handled exactly as it should be.
And it did NOT give me a negative feeling about the brand you recommended.
It just showed me yet again that you are not full of ahit, and you care more about pointing out what you see than you do about the appearance of having recommended an amp that might have had more room for improvement than you initially realized before opening one (or at least this model) Bravo. And way to clarify this distinction ton with the text before the section of the video to both head off haters in the comments section, and temper the way the observations might be received by the owners of the brand.

[Music_and_Chaos]

The amount of information shared in these videos is absolutely astounding.

[JAugust]

Cool video. I've got a couple of Swarts and really enjoy them a lot. Glad to see you share a high opinion of them. I personally prefer the 6L6 but both sound great, honestly.

[redwaveofketchup]

I have this amp in head form and swapped the original 6V6 for a Genelex 6L6, and when the reverb 12DW7 went microphonic Installed matched EH 12AX7 instead and this little amp roars thru my Boogie Fillmore 2x12 cab without blowing your eardrums, there was a loss of reverb but still plenty for me.I like the 6L6 but, of course...ymmv. Thanks Lyle for all you do!!✌

[andrewcichon]

My stealth behind the couch amp. Great recommendation. Mine also came with the little Night Light Jr. attenuator which means lush, talking volume tones. Thanks for the tip.

[mooseymoose]

Swapped out the stock speaker for a Fat Jimmy Alnico and it’s a HUGE improvement over an already great amp. Love it, probably should run it over to the D Lab guy to make those changes you mentioned.

[thesjkexperience]

I’ve had one for a decade. Mines true point to point 🎉. Love mine and my AST Pro. ❤. Swarts’ customer service is the best.

[JzuHax]

Like a few people here, I tend to prefer the 6L6. For all the theoretical / electronic faults of this setup, the added clarity of higher mids gives the impression of a bigger amp. Surprising.

[NinerFourWhiskey]

The transformer's core saturation is the limit of dissipation for single-ended amplifiers. Single-ended transformers have an air gap. Swapping the tube changes the load-line, but more current will affect the core, reduce bass response and increase intermodulation distortion (not the good kind generally)

[maxvockner]

Free qc service! In my day job we have outside qc on site and it it extremely helpful to have a second set of eyes to keep quality where it needs to be! As makers we have a duty to make the best product we can . It only makes business better!

[BradsGuitarGarage]

6L6WGC-STR!
Fortunately it's batch 21AJ which reportedly doesn't exhibit the issues I'm experiencing at the moment.

[tedmich]

Nice balanced review Lyle! What a dirty little amp, fits the bedroom niche I suppose!

[victorbeebe]

Aloha Lyle very Interesting video, especially about switching the output tubes
Mahalo noi loa.