Swart ast NAD! low serial number PICS!

[TBIRD Phil]

I just traded for a swart ast and I was wondering if I did better than I thought but wanted tgp opinion. As far as the trade it was pretty much equal in my eyes until I looked at the serial number on it. It's numbered 0005. The guy I got it from said he bought it new in 2005. Its dated june '05. So I was wondering if this thing could be worth more than a later model is just because it could be one of the first ast's that went out. As far as the amp its pretty killer so far, haven't had a chance to open her up yet but that will happen tomorrow.

[cg]

Congrats! You bought a GREAT amp. I haven't seen any indications that the early ones are worth more than the more recent ones.

[TBIRD Phil]

well, after a day or so playing it with the mojo speaker I decided to put in a gold that I had and I must say its that much better! It sounded great with the mojo but the gold seems to work even better. I have a gig this weekend that is going to be perfect for it!
If anyone knows if the value differs from a low serial number (0005) from a recent one chime in!

Also fyi the Gold fit in there with plenty of room to spare even with the bell on!

[gatornavy]

I can't see any reason for it to be any more valuable, but it might become more valuable many years from now. There have already been a couple of minor changes to the chassis design, and maybe a small tweak to the trem circuit to slow it down a tad, but I'm not certain. Mine is #610, and man, is it killer! I put a Celestion blue in mine and LOVE it. Not sure how you fit the gold so easily though. I had to remove the bell from mine. With it on, I could force it to fit, but the bell was touching the chassis. It's a great amp, especially when cranked enough to get some complexity out of the tubes. I prefer a 5Y3 rectifier in mine for a slightly softer feel/tone. Congrats on a GREAT amp!

[gatornavy]

Is there a gap between the chassis and the top of the back panel? This explains why you could fit the gold in so easily. It looks like the chassis was raised about a quarter of an inch. Reference: http://swartamps.com/photos_atomic_space_tone_rear.htm

[TBIRD Phil]

Originally Posted by gatornavy

I can't see any reason for it to be any more valuable, but it might become more valuable many years from now. There have already been a couple of minor changes to the chassis design, and maybe a small tweak to the trem circuit to slow it down a tad, but I'm not certain. Mine is #610, and man, is it killer! I put a Celestion blue in mine and LOVE it. Not sure how you fit the gold so easily though. I had to remove the bell from mine. With it on, I could force it to fit, but the bell was touching the chassis. It's a great amp, especially when cranked enough to get some complexity out of the tubes. I prefer a 5Y3 rectifier in mine for a slightly softer feel/tone. Congrats on a GREAT amp!

When I get a chance I want to try a 5y3 and also I read somewhere that you can swap in 6L6's. I need to confirm this first though
Here's a pic of the Gold with the bell on It has a good 1/2" between the bell and the chassis. I think you are right about them moving the chassis down a little on more recent models. The original mojo speaker had less tolerance...weird. I can't see any holes that indicate that the chassis was moved. I had to remove it to put the speaker in

[gatornavy]

You can put in 6L6's for sure. If you read through the description here: http://swartamps.com/swart_atomic_space_tone.htm you'll see where it says you can sub 6L6's for more headroom. I really love a 5Y3 in it, but the 5AR4 is nice for a little more edge.

I find it interesting that it appears as though the chassis was always in it's current location with the gap between the chassis and back panel. That might make it a little special. If you look at the different pictures of the AST in the link I included, you can see that there were lots of little changes made early on. Very cool. Have you had a chance to turn it up yet? It's pretty sweet, eh? The thought of my CS '56 through my AST brings a smile to my face 8 months later.

[smogfalls]

Sorry for a thread revival, but just last week I acquired this very amp (AST #0005).
I'm completely in love with it already! It's great to see a bit about it's history.
Kelly Holsten at Swart has been sooooo helpful and friendly with any of my questions, I've never been more impressed with customer service!

I just ordered a NOS 5Y3 to try in place of the GZ34. And it currently has the stock Mojotone 25 speaker in there. Could be tempted to try a gold in there also, but I'm so happy with it's tone at the moment I'd be scared to change too much!

So, this amp is now living with me over in Nottingham, England where it's enjoying life as a blues/jazz amp.

Cheers,
Xan

[dinglehopper]

I've got mine set up with an nos 5ar4/gz34 rectifier and nos 6l6wgb (like 5881). sounds just awesome, smoother sounding distortion, bigger and fatter cleans.

[ecbluesman54]

Great amp! Congrats!