SWR Grand Prix Tube Bass Rack Preamp Near-Mint #26 1991

This is a legendary rackmount bass preamp in amazing condition. It was built at the original SWR factory in Sylmar, California long before Fender took over. It was state-of-the-art at the time, using the highest-quality components. Controls include gain, master volume and 4-band active EQ, with traditional bass and treble shelving and 2 bands of semiparametric control (Lo-Mid 80-400Hz and Hi-Mid 500-2500Hz). It features the very useful Aural Enhancer circuit, which dials in a solid, clear tone by boosting certain fundamentals and harmonics. Way ahead of its time, SWR included a push-pull high pass filter on the bass EQ knob to tame boomy ultra-low frequencies that can damage speakers (e.g., with volume and/or Aural Enhancer pushed). The front panel also includes effects blend and a headphone output with independent volume control. There are active and passive inputs and a chain of line-level LEDs to help set gain properly. The rear panel has tuner and effects loop jacks and both balanced and unbalanced outputs. A little history: the Grand Prix preamp was introduced in 1991 and produced for about 10 years. The markings on the board and transformer of this unit indicate that it was #26 in the original run, with a date of birth of 3/26/1991 (See photos). The 12AX7 tube is an older Groove Tubes that I suspect is original, since it is also marked “Sylmar”. The two companies were neighbors in the same small San Fernando Valley town in the early 90s. This unit sounds fantastic and is in near-mint cosmetic condition, with no dents, dings or rust. There is minimal rack rash on the top and bottom, as shown in the photos. It is 8.75” deep and weighs 5.3 lbs. It is hard-wired with a 3-prong power cord. It will come with a printout of the manual.