School me on a Splawn Quick Rod...

raz311

Member
Hey All

I am thinking of getting a Splawn Quick Rod (or maybe a Nitro) as a new amp, but they aren't available here in Oz so I can't try one personally. I have watched a ton of YouTube vids and I have a pretty good idea of what they sound like.

What I wanted to know is a few things:

How is the fx loop? Does it take pedals and Line Level inputs well? I would only be using Delay, Verb and Chorus here.
What is the clean channel like? Can you do funky, jazzy sort of sounds with it?
And the Drive channel/s. I like the flexibility of the Gears. I play a range of stuff from straight out rock to some heavier, metalish type stuff. Can it get heavy enough? Will it take an OD in front as a boost well? Or would a Nitro be better.

That's it for now. Thanks in advance!!

Cheers
Gav
 
On any modern-ish (2008 +) QR the loop is switchable between line and instrument level and has a level control. The clean channel is good (IMHO) and can even serve as a dual clean/crunch channel with higher gain settings and getting the cleans by adjusting the guitar volume.

Anyone who says the QR can't get heavy has probably not spent any time with one. Will get plenty heavy and has plenty of thump. Will also get great rock tones either on its own or with anything from a clean boost to a para EQ to an OD/DS pedal in front. Funky & Jazzy, yes, and can do so without getting overly treble or thin.

The Nitro is a little less flexible (no gears) and is voiced more "modern" than the Quick Rod. Still has OD1/OD2 on the gain channel and a nice clean channel. If you need the variety of tones, go with the Quick Rod.

Cheers,
 
I can't imagine needing a boost in front of a Quick Rod. Great amp, but loud. Ive never played the Nitro, but the QR never sold me short in the gain area either. Very versatile. Traded mine for a Competition...not so brutally loud, and a tad less stiff.
 
I owned a Nitro for a bit... okay amp but I would not buy one again. Quickrod is Splawns best release in my opinion. The newer models have a better clean channel, volume pots, and the loop volume (which is great for lower level playing.) Clean channel is by no means one of the better in a channel switching head, but it's not 'bad'.. The ones I've played broke up to early and just seemed a bit lifeless..throw on a chorus, comp and/or delay and you can get a decent clean...definitely useable. Ch 2 on the quickrod is where this amp excels.. 3 gears give you some tonal shaping and can cover alot of ground from plexi to hot rodded marshall.. The amp is mid voiced, tight, and cuts like a knife live(my guitar player has one).. I have not utilized the fx loop so can't comment on that, but for the money, the Quickrod is a pretty fair deal. Just make sure you get yourself a newer version...the ugrades Scott did were necessary and better the amp. Good luck bro
 
I've heard people go from AC/DC to Lamb of God on their QRs so yeah, you can get a variety of tones...some say it's a one trick pony...those people would be wrong...I understand that not everyone is going to fall in love with one, but saying it only does 'this' or only does 'that' is selling it short...

I have two...one of the first ones with gears and one made earlier that same year that has two inputs....I played live with it, use it in my basement and have made a clip or two so I know a thing or three about the amp =)

the clean is absolutely useable, especially on the newer ones...if you have a low output neck pickup you won't run into any issues on any version....my neck pickups are generally pretty hot so I would just roll down the volume, toss some chorus and delay on there and it would be fine...

they are loud...but especially with the loop volume you can get bedroom/basement tones you'll be happy with...

great amp..not a great amp 'for the price'...not a great amp for 'what it does'...just a great amp..period...

you can hit the splawn forums too if you're looking for clips and info...www.splawnguitars.com
 
shreder75":2029crh2 said:
I've heard people go from AC/DC to Lamb of God on their QRs so yeah, you can get a variety of tones...some say it's a one trick pony...those people would be wrong...I understand that not everyone is going to fall in love with one, but saying it only does 'this' or only does 'that' is selling it short...

I have two...one of the first ones with gears and one made earlier that same year that has two inputs....I played live with it, use it in my basement and have made a clip or two so I know a thing or three about the amp =)

the clean is absolutely useable, especially on the newer ones...if you have a low output neck pickup you won't run into any issues on any version....my neck pickups are generally pretty hot so I would just roll down the volume, toss some chorus and delay on there and it would be fine...

they are loud...but especially with the loop volume you can get bedroom/basement tones you'll be happy with...

great amp..not a great amp 'for the price'...not a great amp for 'what it does'...just a great amp..period...

you can hit the splawn forums too if you're looking for clips and info...www.splawnguitars.com

Even though Matt is the worlds biggest Splawn fanboy he is 100% right about everything he said. The part that cracks me up is that the clean channel "would" be fine denoting he never uses it! That's my kind of rock guitarist!

All kidding aside the Splawn Quickrod is a bad ass amp on every level, the one I spent time with is the third gear model but with the older clean channel which imho was not up to par, the 2nd channel however was a pissed off, hairy beast of a lead channel that also was liquid and woody too. The only thing with Splawn's is that they are unforgiving as hell and are very dry\tight feel wise. As long as your chops are up to par and your not used to a squishy feel you should do great with it.

_Shane
 
I can't really school you on it. I bought mine brand spanking new and sold it two days later at a 475 loss. This was the newer model. I had a Wizard MC100 and a Cornford MK50 at the same time. I really feel now I may not have given it a fair shake as its very selective with speaker choice. I ran it through Scumbacks M and H mix and I hated it compared to the other two amps.
 
bigangryguitar":mynz109z said:
shreder75":mynz109z said:
I've heard people go from AC/DC to Lamb of God on their QRs so yeah, you can get a variety of tones...some say it's a one trick pony...those people would be wrong...I understand that not everyone is going to fall in love with one, but saying it only does 'this' or only does 'that' is selling it short...

I have two...one of the first ones with gears and one made earlier that same year that has two inputs....I played live with it, use it in my basement and have made a clip or two so I know a thing or three about the amp =)

the clean is absolutely useable, especially on the newer ones...if you have a low output neck pickup you won't run into any issues on any version....my neck pickups are generally pretty hot so I would just roll down the volume, toss some chorus and delay on there and it would be fine...

they are loud...but especially with the loop volume you can get bedroom/basement tones you'll be happy with...

great amp..not a great amp 'for the price'...not a great amp for 'what it does'...just a great amp..period...

you can hit the splawn forums too if you're looking for clips and info...www.splawnguitars.com

Even though Matt is the worlds biggest Splawn fanboy he is 100% right about everything he said. The part that cracks me up is that the clean channel "would" be fine denoting he never uses it! That's my kind of rock guitarist!

All kidding aside the Splawn Quickrod is a bad ass amp on every level, the one I spent time with is the third gear model but with the older clean channel which imho was not up to par, the 2nd channel however was a pissed off, hairy beast of a lead channel that also was liquid and woody too. The only thing with Splawn's is that they are unforgiving as hell and are very dry\tight feel wise. As long as your chops are up to par and your not used to a squishy feel you should do great with it.

_Shane
This!
 
:rock: One of the best if not thee best, hot rodded Marshall type amps out there. As others have said though, it is very unforgiving. Tight.percussive come to mind. That's one of the things I love about Splawns though. It will cut through any band mix with ease and sounds best cranked up loud as hell.
From plexi-ish tones to VH to more modern tones,this amp will deliver. Not as saturated as some other amps but a MXR 10 band EQ in the loop makes it a beast. That and a Sparkle Drive,or TS type od , in front will do the trick. Although neither is needed for this amp to be a great balls out , heavy tone ma-cheen mang.
Footswitchable gain stages and solo boost is very nice to have when playing live. All amps should have this!
 
I have one, and have gigged it a fair amount in between my old an new CAE/Soldano rigs. Mine is a "v3" with the fully independent and pretty good sounding clean channel. To address OP's specific questions:

- the loop works just fine - I've run digital delays and reverbs there without trouble. I don't use chorus, but if I did I'm sure it would work fine. Level has never been a problem.
- the clean channel is pretty good on this version, which I couldn't say about v2. I don't like it as much as my CAE 3+SE channel 1, but it's good. You could play jazz, or certainly jazzy, with it but I wouldn't choose it solely for that - it's a little bright and very stiff, whereas my perception of a jazz tone is neither. Reverb definitely helps it out.
- the drive channel can get heavier than I have any interest in getting. It does seem to like humbuckers better than single coils - my EMG-T equipped tele which I use for a lot of leads does not mate up well with it, but various les pauls and super strats do. As others have mentioned, the gain sound is VERY stiff - personally I'm not a huge fan of that, but it's an undeniable asset in a muddy mix. I've never used, or needed, a boost in front.

Overall it's a good amp and got the job done no problem but by choice I use something else.
 
headlessdeadguy":3ka3qonj said:
bigangryguitar":3ka3qonj said:
shreder75":3ka3qonj said:
I've heard people go from AC/DC to Lamb of God on their QRs so yeah, you can get a variety of tones...some say it's a one trick pony...those people would be wrong...I understand that not everyone is going to fall in love with one, but saying it only does 'this' or only does 'that' is selling it short...

I have two...one of the first ones with gears and one made earlier that same year that has two inputs....I played live with it, use it in my basement and have made a clip or two so I know a thing or three about the amp =)

the clean is absolutely useable, especially on the newer ones...if you have a low output neck pickup you won't run into any issues on any version....my neck pickups are generally pretty hot so I would just roll down the volume, toss some chorus and delay on there and it would be fine...

they are loud...but especially with the loop volume you can get bedroom/basement tones you'll be happy with...

great amp..not a great amp 'for the price'...not a great amp for 'what it does'...just a great amp..period...

you can hit the splawn forums too if you're looking for clips and info...www.splawnguitars.com

Even though Matt is the worlds biggest Splawn fanboy he is 100% right about everything he said. The part that cracks me up is that the clean channel "would" be fine denoting he never uses it! That's my kind of rock guitarist!

All kidding aside the Splawn Quickrod is a bad ass amp on every level, the one I spent time with is the third gear model but with the older clean channel which imho was not up to par, the 2nd channel however was a pissed off, hairy beast of a lead channel that also was liquid and woody too. The only thing with Splawn's is that they are unforgiving as hell and are very dry\tight feel wise. As long as your chops are up to par and your not used to a squishy feel you should do great with it.

_Shane
This!

^^agreed^^

my QR is killer and super versatile. just switched from el34s to kt77s and it's even better......just remember to dial it in with your ears and not your eyes. could that be why there aren't numbers around the knobs?

.....and it'll definately keep your chops in line. for me, it's perfect. i like it tight, and without any fluff :thumbsup:
 
Id have to agree w/ these guys on thier description..My 2010 kills!....I ordered mine w/ a buddy who ordered one too, but I think he got the "lemon" as mine is brutal,tight,tons of low end,gainy,unforgiving,open sounding,and authentic to all the jcm tones...my buddy didnt fair too well w/ his though...something had to be wrong....
I will say you have to crank em up, but boy does it respond..I also played a nitro and think the quickrod is way more versitle w/ the gears..no need for a boost or dist. pedal anywhere on this firebreather quickrod...Ive only got 8 hrs on mine,its a mint 2010, and I am selling it to free up funds...But seriously, the only amps that will outdo a splawn for authentic jcm tone are friedman modded or cameron amps, but youll pay waaay more for one too and you may or may not like thier mods...I like all 3 of these amps though...If Scott splawn had these out in the 80's,he wouldve been a multi billionare.
 
Love the amp. Hope you give it a fair shot. Mine is an 06' that I bought off of chubtone



Here's another two:



 
Awsome tones it those vids, fusionbear and great playing! :thumbsup:

As mentioned (and displayed :)), if your chops are up to snuff, you'll most likely love this amp - it gives back exactly what you put in, I.E. slop in, slop out, precise in, precise out!

For the OP, fusionbears vids give you a great sampling of the raw amp, so what the hell, I'm gonna toss up a couple QR samples of mine with it sitting in a full rock (instrumental) mix. The first tune is 2nd gear, the second tune is 1st gear. And for the record, these tones were not tracked at 'stoopid loud' levels, lol, the volume loop knob is a godsend, truly works...

Original Tune 1 / Download

Original Tune 2 / Download
 
I liked the Quick Rod quite a bit. It was a grinding, aggressive beast. But I could only get one good sound out of it, which it did well, but it was all or none with that amp. I moved on to something more flexible.
 
Tonelover":acg5pk2l said:
I liked the Quick Rod quite a bit. It was a grinding, aggressive beast. But I could only get one good sound out of it, which it did well, but it was all or none with that amp. I moved on to something more flexible.


It has one basic voicing, true, but it has several modes. You can do classic rock, hard rock, and some thrash. It cuts beautifully... :thumbsup:
 
Awesome!!! Thanks so much to everyone who replied. I really appreciate the input. I think it is the QR for sure. Now all I have to do is sell the Axe Fx and I will be back in tube heaven :rock:
 
I have been gigging regularly with a QR for at least 2 years. Its similar to a hot rodded JCM800 or a DSL but with more of a boutique sound. The QR is "rounder" sounding than a Marshall... less "piercing". It does NOT have the high-end crunch of a Marshall but it has a deeper growl. It's brutally loud so the loop volume is helpful. It has the tightest and best low end of any amp. The tone controls are very subtle but real nice. The amp cleans up real well when you pull back on guitars volume knob. And it has the best sounding FX loop i have ever heard. Makes my effects sound studio quality. It's very consistent too... it always sounds the same no matter what stage i play on. Sounds great at half power too.

Scott's a super great guy too.. very knowledgeable. He always knows what sounds best for the amp.. tubes, speakers etc.
 
Ive had my quickrod for over a month now, and I can definitely say its the best amp Ive owned. All I used to do with every other amp was tweak. I could never settle on a tone I was satisfied with. Not so with the Splawn. No matter where I set the controls on this amp, it sounds awesome. It has the newer clean channel and even with my les paul the clean stays clean for me. Ive wound the gain up all the way on my clean channel and it only hints at breakup. I love it! Ive tried many different things in the loop, from pedal eq's to rack multi fx, and it has worked very well with all of it. I will agree that this amp is brutally loud, and needs to get some volume to sound its best, but this is a Splawn...thats why I bought it!
 
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