I recently had the pleasure of trying out the whole range of Swart Amplifiers and, while the entire range was impressive, the AST Master was the model which jumped out at me as having the best feature set, tone and volume for my needs.
Features
18 – 22 W (depending on output valves)
1 x 12” combo cabinet with Celestion Gold speaker
Bypassable master volume
Valve reverb and tremolo
Runs 6V6, 6L6 or EL-34 power valves
This is essentially the AST Head Mk II in a cabinet big enough to house either a 1×12 or 2×10 speaker configuration. The review model had a Celestion Gold speaker. The AST Master has a defeatable master volume and can run EL-34 along with the stock 6V6 and 6L6 family valves.
First impressions
The AST Master is an impressively appointed amp. From the two tone tweed finish to the cabinet using threaded inserts and machine screws, the AST Master screams class. It is a large amp for a 1 x 12, measuring in at 61 cm wide x 28 cm deep x 51 cm high, but weighing in at less than 18 kg. Labels on the panel are clear and easily readable.
Looking a little deeper, you can see that the amp is a head adapted into a combo cabinet as the valves are horizontal, facing forwards with an air vent in the cabinet under the handle. This means that the chassis has to be removed to replace valves, which is a bit inconvenient but does let you see the immaculately built circuitry inside, and thanks to the threaded inserts, there is no chance of stripping threads regardless of how often you roll tubes.
In Use
The controls are simple on the AST Master: Volume; Tone; Reverb; Tremolo Speed; Tremolo Depth; Master Volume; and a master volume bypass switch. There is a two switch footswitch included with switches to defeat both reverb and tremolo. The simple control arrangement makes it easy to tweak on the fly during performance, although the vintage-style rear facing controls do take a little adjusting to if you are used to forward facing amp controls.
Volume & Master Volume
Volume-wise the AST Master holds its own with any reasonable drummer and perfect level for most gigs. The master volume does makes it a much more usable amp volume wise, but if you can, bypassing the master volume does add a bit more sweetness for those venues where you can crank the amp up.
Tone
In a word: gorgeous. While people often cite the Swart family tone as being half Tweed, half Blackface Fender it still leans much more to the tweed, with the pushed midrange, gritty edge, compression and sag that makes those amps so popular. Where it differs is with a little less mid push, a bit more clean headroom and a sweeter driven tone. It is still very much a blues/classic rock tone, but not quite as in your face and the clean tones are much sweeter and more dynamic. Speaking dynamics, this amp translates everything from clean playing with the volume down to distorted power chords incredibly well, all from playing dynamics and guitar volume tweaking.
The reverb tone is very dense, lush and warm with an almost 3D depth and quality, while the trem is very sweet, able to conjure swampy sounds with ease without getting too choppy.
One thing which I found remarkable is how well the AST Master responds to different guitars – it sounded just as good on a Strat as it did on a humbucker Telecaster, Filtertron and P90 guitars – even an electric 12-string fared well. In fact, it was an absolute pleasure to play an amp that brought out and flattered the character of so many different guitars with little tone or gain tweaking.
Changing the power valves from the stock 6V6s brought out some additional voicings from the amp – El34s turned the amp into a classic rock machine, while the extra clean headroom of 6L6s brought me right home to my Twin, but at lower volume and with some added sweetness at breakup.
Conclusion
If you like an amp with a flexible sound that is simple to operate and sounds like heaven, this is as good as it gets.
SA Distributor: Guitartone
021 855 5963 / 082 824 0667 www.guitartone.co.za
Suggested Retail Price: R21,050.00
Incl. V.A.T.
Connect with Muse