Marsha vs. Quickrod

[rupe]

Decided I wanted to A/B my new (to me) Marsha against a QR since I've always liked the Splawn...I figured if the difference was minimal, I'd sell the Friedman, buy the QR, and have a nice sum of $$$ left to play with. I've played this particular QR at my buddy's music store a few times and knew that I liked it so that's where we did the comparison. Both amps were played through the Splawn 4x12.

It took very little time to understand why the Marsha is worth the money you pay for it. Although the QR is a great sounding amp, I was shocked by how much bigger, deeper, and more 3D the Marsha was when played back to back. The Marsha's notes just seemed to have this depth and swirl to them that's hard to describe, but easy to hear. The QR can have a harshness to the high end that you really have to dial out whereas that trait simply doesn't exist with the Marsha (although if you dime the treble and presence it can sound pretty ratty...just don't do that). No signs of flub in the Marsha's low end at all, even with bass and mids dimed. The clean channel was also more complex than the QR cleans, but I didn't spend too much time on that comparison.
Overall, the Marsha was clearly superior to the QR tonally...a QR owner who was present was in full agreement. I still think the QR is a cool amp, but now I understand what all the Marsha hype has been about. It simply has that "extra 10%" that most other amps don't have.

If you've been on the fence about this amp, get off it and place your order.

 

[The Hoff]

I have a Naked being built right now. Should be ready the first week of December, can't wait

Dave's stuff is extraordinary. "It simply has that 'extra 10%' that most other amps don't have." That's a great way of describing it.

 

[thiswaythatway]

 

[Hard&Heavy]

I am glad that you posted this. I have wondered just how much of a difference there was between the two. I wish I would have been there to hear it for myself, if by chance you do it again let me know I'll be there.

 

[glip22]

I had a Wizard MC and a Cornford MK50. I thought I would try out a QR. Plugged it up, played around with it for several hours, and sold it two days later at a 400 loss.. The Friedman modded JMP I had was killer for modded Marshall tone.

 

[romanianreaper]

To me, Splawn amps are a perfect choice for playing early Van Halen, Judas Priest, Maiden, etc. Basically early 80's hard rock/metal. Although Splawns can also do the 80's hair band metal, etc., I think the Friedman amps capture more of the "modded" thing. It does have a bit more "3D" to it.

I got to see the difference first hand with my amp that was recently modded by Dave. It started out a Marshall 1959SLP Reissue and was modded years ago by Scott Splawn. I sent it off to Dave and he did the Kitchen Sink mod and added the SAT, FAT, and C45 switches. The cool thing is that it didn't completely change the sound of the amp. It was almost like Dave took a Splawn and threw another gain stage on top (which essentially he did with an extra preamp tube).

I love all of the modded Marshalls I have played (Splawn, Friedman, and Cameron). The Friedman, in my opinion, sits right between a Splawn and a Cameron. A Cameron is overflowing with gobs of feedback and gain whereas the Friedman is a bit more controlled but definitely has more gain than the Splawn.

 

[romanianreaper]

BTW, how did you like the Splawn cabs compared to say a Marshall or Bogner cab?

 

[glpg80]

pass the popcorn

 

[rupe]

BTW, how did you like the Splawn cabs compared to say a Marshall or Bogner cab?

Good question...I liked it better than any of my four 4x12's (3 Marshall, 1 Sunn). I haven't had a Bogner in over 10 years so I can't compare it to that.

 

[James Lugo]

I played a Marsha and QR side by side this week too. I thought both were really cool and had their own thing going on. The QR sounded rawer and little harsher on top where the Marsha was more mid crunch saturation. It was the first time I ever played a QR, pretty cool amp. I think the Marsha is probably more of the traditional modded Marshall thing for sure, nice saturation.

 

[crwnedblasphemy]

First off....good topic. I am gonna respond by saying this: I recorded this by just throwing a sm57 in front of my splawn 2x12.

Chain is: Guitar > Cantrell Wah > Fulltone OCD(set on low setting) >Quickrod (gear 1, overdrive 1, gain at 12:00) I wrote this tune pretty fast, and it is just a sample of the whole, but I wanted to show how easy it is to get a good tone outta my rig. I did everything on it from home, and am sorry my vox suck, but that was a guide for my singer.

Clip: http://www.mp3lizard.com/download.cfm?id=27849

Anyway, I am sure the Friedman is killer, but to me the quickrod is too, which doesn't just do 80's hair metal. Carry on gents.

 

[gibson08]

I wish I could have been there for that one, no video of the comparison??

 

[Les Zombie]

I would love to try a marsha, im sure someday i will get to hear one.

 

[rupe]

First off....good topic. I am gonna respond by saying this: I recorded this by just throwing a sm57 in front of my splawn 2x12.

Chain is: Guitar > Cantrell Wah > Fulltone OCD(set on low setting) >Quickrod (gear 1, overdrive 1, gain at 12:00) I wrote this tune pretty fast, and it is just a sample of the whole, but I wanted to show how easy it is to get a good tone outta my rig. I did everything on it from home, and am sorry my vox suck, but that was a guide for my singer.

Clip: http://www.mp3lizard.com/download.cfm?id=27849

Anyway, I am sure the Friedman is killer, but to me the quickrod is too, which doesn't just do 80's hair metal. Carry on gents.

Sounded cool Like I said in my first post, I've always liked the QR. When my Marsha showed up on Thursday, I thought it sounded great but it reminded me a bit of the QR which is what prompted me to A/B them the next day. In the room there is a noticeable difference...enough so that it really surprised me. Everything about the Friedman was just a little bit better...an opinion shared by everybody in the room. How this would translate to a recording or even live mic'd up through a PA I have no idea.

 

[Chubtone]

I have never played a Friedman but would love too. This doesn't seem like a very fair comparison though. Isn't the Marsha with a clean channel and an effects loop $3350 compared to $1850 for the Splawn? This would be like comparing a Mustang GT to the Shelby GT500, the base model Vette to the Z-06, the Porsche 911 to the 911 Turbo.

How about we take that $3350 and compare a new Splawn Quick Rod and a used 4x12 cab with greenbacks and a new Charvel Production San Dimas and a vintage TS-9 and a used MXR Carbon Copy to just the Friedman Marsha head plugged into nothing with nothing plugged into it? Which rig sounds better? That extra 10% costs a lot doesn't it?

I still want to try a Friedman, I just don't want to like it.

 

[ttosh]

I have never played a Friedman but would love too. This doesn't seem like a very fair comparison though. Isn't the Marsha with a clean channel and an effects loop $3350 compared to $1850 for the Splawn? This would be like comparing a Mustang GT to the Shelby GT500, the base model Vette to the Z-06, the Porsche 911 to the 911 Turbo.

How about we take that $3350 and compare a new Splawn Quick Rod and a used 4x12 cab with greenbacks and a new Charvel Production San Dimas and a vintage TS-9 and a used MXR Carbon Copy to just the Friedman Marsha head plugged into nothing with nothing plugged into it? Which rig sounds better? That extra 10% costs a lot doesn't it?

I still want to try a Friedman, I just don't want to like it.

Perspective is a bitch.

 

[Rev]

Good topic. I love my 2010 QR, but I have always wondered the differences in the Marsha. I'm gonna go play one tomorrow when I pick up my strymon delay. My QR is a lifer amp though. I love the snarl to it.

Can anyone give the differences in the Marsha to the PT100?

 

[rupe]

I have never played a Friedman but would love too. This doesn't seem like a very fair comparison though. Isn't the Marsha with a clean channel and an effects loop $3350 compared to $1850 for the Splawn? This would be like comparing a Mustang GT to the Shelby GT500, the base model Vette to the Z-06, the Porsche 911 to the 911 Turbo.

How about we take that $3350 and compare a new Splawn Quick Rod and a used 4x12 cab with greenbacks and a new Charvel Production San Dimas and a vintage TS-9 and a used MXR Carbon Copy to just the Friedman Marsha head plugged into nothing with nothing plugged into it? Which rig sounds better? That extra 10% costs a lot doesn't it?

I still want to try a Friedman, I just don't want to like it.

I think its more like comparing the GT500 to the 911 Turbo...both will pin you back in your seat but one is a bit more expensive and refined than the other.

I was hoping the QR would hang with it so I could buy all those extra goodies...but it doesn't. Close, but not quite. That said, this particular Marsha has the Cantrell mod so its not a straight up BE/HBE....not sure how different it is.

 

[ericsabbath]

that's not even a price question
I believe the splawn is just well built as the marsha
splawns have that particular dry and focused feel (like a peavey or mesa mark) instead of a big 3D tone cause Scott Splawn modelled his signature sound by adding extra gain stage to marshalls without adding a tube, so he had to remove the cathode follower, which makes a ton of difference in those aspects (specially for the player), although the amps don't lose the british character
otherwise it would sound more like an even more satured and mid heavy Soldano or some modern Marshall-made amp
they can't be compared cause they're not in the exact same ballpark, although they both do most of the 80's hard rock tones and a lot other stuff
it's like comparing an ENGL to a Mesa Recto
they feel completely different, although they cover the same styles

 

[Chubtone]

I think its more like comparing the GT500 to the 911 Turbo...both will pin you back in your seat but one is a bit more expensive and refined than the other.

I was hoping the QR would hang with it so I could buy all those extra goodies...but it doesn't. Close, but not quite. That said, this particular Marsha has the Cantrell mod so its not a straight up BE/HBE....not sure how different it is.

I hear you..... and your GT500 to 911 Turbo comparison makes a lot of sense. In most things like this or other hobbies, that extra 10% always costs way more than just 10% more. When I was racing cars, I oftentimes got beat by better drivers in less expensive cars based on that whole they had more driving talent than me thing And one of my best friends always beat me when our cars were equal, so I outspent him, pounded the crap out of him at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in 2007 and haven't raced since. I blame it on the economy, but it's more like the Seinfeld where Jerry won't race the kid he beat in high school again and keeps saying " I choose not to run". It's killing my buddy though......

So where were we? Oh yeah... I choose not to play the Friedman!!!