Splawn QR100 Problems

[Bloodstorm]

So, you guys are probably going to rip me to pieces for this, here it goes. I recently purchased a QR100. It was a demo that Scott sold me for a used price, but he honored the warranty and all that shit, so it's basically brand new. I spent a good long time researching amps to find the one I thought would give me that heavy, over-the-top, 80s metal sound. Every video I listened to of this amp sounded exactly like the sound I heard in my head, and no other amp quite did it for me. Unfortunately, no stores or anyone near me had any of these amps I could demo, so I never got to try one before purchasing. But nonetheless I ended up buying one, thinking I had heard enough and researched enough to know it was the one I wanted.

So I've had the amp since the middle of december, and I have to say, I'm totally disappointed by it. It is just not a good sounding amp to my ears. My guitar is a San Dimas with a Bill Lawrence L500XL in the bridge. The amp is muddy, unresponsive, and dark sounding. Pinch harmonics are hard to do, palm-muted single-note parts are flubby and the notes seem to just flub out. I've cranked it up, tried numerous settings, and I can't seem to find a tone that sounds even decent. I've fought with this amp and it just doesn't satisfy.

Last night I was in Guitar Center and I plugged into one of the new EVH 5150 III 100w heads and the tone blew me away. Super fat, juicy, screaming tone for miles and miles. It blows the Splawn completely out of the ocean. The EVH was ome of those amps that need no pedals to sound phenomenal. It's just WOW!!

So, I have two options. 1) I'd like to ask you guys for suggestions on starting points for settings on the Splawn, or perhaps things I can try to get a better sound with it, or 2) Trade it for an EVH.

What do you guys think?

 

[SFW]

The Quick Rod is very picky about speakers. What are you running? It should be greenbacks. In general, they like to be run loud. They seem to open up and give the goods once the volume comes up to at least 9:00. Which is brutally loud. I’d recommend a good attenuator. Set all the knobs to noon. Cut what you have too much of and boost what you need more of. Honestly, my mids are at 11:00 and the rest of the tone knobs are at noon on mine. Sounds huge.

I will happily trade you a 5150 III 100 Watt Head for your QR if you still can’t get it dialed in. My 5150 III was my main amp until I bought my Quick Rod.

 

[Bloodstorm]

The Quick Rod is very picky about speakers. What are you running? It should be greenbacks. In general, they like to be run loud. They seem to open up and give the goods once the volume comes up to at least 9:00. Which is brutally loud. I’d recommend a good attenuator. Set all the knobs to noon. Cut what you have too much of and boost what you need more of. Honestly, my mids are at 11:00 and the rest of the tone knobs are at noon on mine. Sounds huge.

I will happily trade you a 5150 III 100 Watt Head for your QR if you still can’t get it dialed in. My 5150 III was my main amp until I bought my Quick Rod.

I don't have PM privileges I don't think, but I'm interested to talk more. I'm running it through a 1960a with g1275s. Is your EVH a EL34 model?

 

[311boogieman]

The amp should not be muddy, unresponsive, dark or flubby.

Actually, the opposite.

I'm thinking some tube swaps and a fresh bias are in order.

I don't have much experience with the speakers you are using but Greenbacks, Creambacks, Small Blocks etc will shine - but your problem is different.

 

[GtarLover]

Sorry to hear you are having trouble getting what you want from the Splawn.
Personally, the QR is my number one, and I have a spare. Just KILLER...

Although I have never had ANY problems with mine, I’ve had 4, any tone is a combination of all the parts involved...guitar, amp, cab, even pedals if you’re using them. Honestly, the QR has so many options for tones I use less on my board these days. Mostly just an on/off thing for brief effects like chorus or phase.
I will say that I brought my QR rig to a “free for all show” once, where a variety of people played. I was surprised to notice that although I am used to my rig and can get what I want rom it, others had more difficulty. Not saying this is you, yet the Splawn are not the most forgiving. If you are used to other amps, it may take a bit to get what you want from it.

Anyway, if it’s not for you, there’s no reason to keep it. They sell all the time on the forum and I actually just sold one of mine because 4 is just too many

You may want to try different guitars, cabs and if that doesn’t work, you can always call Scott and talk to him. He’s great and always willing to help. Best of luck man.

 

[Bloodstorm]

I don't like an amp that I have to do a lot of things to to get a good sound. I'm not a gearhead. I just like a amp that is plug-and-play. That EVH 5150 with EL34s just sounded killer on its own. Fat, rewarding, inspiring, and required very little effort. Not sure how it would sound through my cab, but I guarantee it would sound better than my QR.

 

[Tone Ranger]

Might be a tube issue. My QR was anything but muddy, even with dark speakers.

 

[splatter]

G12-75's are not a good match for the QR IMO.Try some g12h-30's , or just about anything else .

However I don't think the 75's would make it flubby as they are bright almost brittle speakers,First thing I would do is have someone check the bias on the amp. Low bias will make an amp flub out . Also there is a possibility that one of your tubes could have a problem .Since the amp was a demo there is a greater chance that something is wrong with it and it just got out the door without Scott checking it.
Years ago before I was a gear head I bought a brand new QR .It was the worst sounding amp I ever had .I couldn't get it out the door quick enough.So I sent it back.I got a call about a week later from Scott and he said one of the tubes was cracked . I had already bought another amp so I passed on taking it back . I Have since had about 4 Quick rods and they all rocked . If I didn't build my own amps now I'm sure I would still have one .
I'm sure there is something not right with your amp ,like I said I've had a few and they all kicked a$$

If nothing else call Scott , he is a stand up guy that stands behind his amps.HE can give you some insite and will probably have you send it back to him.

 

[cecilbag]

I would guess you need tubes. The muddy comment is what makes me think this. My Splawn is anything but muddy

 

[harddriver]

Everything you describe is not how a Splawn QR typically sounds, harmonics are not hard to pull out of a QR. Maybe a tube got damaged in shipping? Either way you should contact Scott Splawn and tell him what is going on and he should honor your warranty and have a look at the amp(any amp can get damaged in shipping) or maybe you should return it and buy an amp you can play first to make sure it is what you want. T75 speakers would not make the amp sound muddy, T75 speakers have a tight low end and bright top end.

 

[Chris6870]

At lower volumes, engage the loop. Put the master on about 10 oclock and control your volume with the loop volume control on the back. If you run the master on the front panel real low it sounds weak.

 

[Lord Toneking]

I've had my QR since 06 and it's been my primary amp. I've had all the EVH amps and still own the 50 watter. The QR will never get you that saturated gain like the EVH. The EVH amps are so much fun to play because they're so forgiving, but for me that nasally saturated gain grows old really fast. The QR is way more musical and clean sounding. I do know that after 13 yrs of using my QR, when the pre tubes begin to go the amp starts flubbing out and the EQ controls don't hardly do anything. It gets a low end rumble frequency that can't be dialed out. I guess that goes for power tubes as well. Also, it does love volume! I found it to be finicky with speakers and certain guitars as well.

Like SFW said, I tend to have all my controls around noon with my volume never below 8:00...but it likes it louder than that

 

[napalmdeath]

Doesn't sound like a typical Splawn. I've owned 2, and even before discovering which speakers really shine with it, it was always tight, and very harmonically rich. Something is a miss....

 

[232cap]

Put your mid knob at 8 and run the treble on 2. Really adds the snarl your looking for, can’t set them like a regular Marshall.

 

[paulyc]

Very poorly built amps, I had 2 that were FULL of cold solder joints and a bad half power switch (arcing), return it.

 

[hammered]

So, you guys are probably going to rip me to pieces for this, here it goes. I recently purchased a QR100. It was a demo that Scott sold me for a used price, but he honored the warranty and all that shit, so it's basically brand new. I spent a good long time researching amps to find the one I thought would give me that heavy, over-the-top, 80s metal sound. Every video I listened to of this amp sounded exactly like the sound I heard in my head, and no other amp quite did it for me. Unfortunately, no stores or anyone near me had any of these amps I could demo, so I never got to try one before purchasing. But nonetheless I ended up buying one, thinking I had heard enough and researched enough to know it was the one I wanted.

So I've had the amp since the middle of december, and I have to say, I'm totally disappointed by it. It is just not a good sounding amp to my ears. My guitar is a San Dimas with a Bill Lawrence L500XL in the bridge. The amp is muddy, unresponsive, and dark sounding. Pinch harmonics are hard to do, palm-muted single-note parts are flubby and the notes seem to just flub out. I've cranked it up, tried numerous settings, and I can't seem to find a tone that sounds even decent. I've fought with this amp and it just doesn't satisfy.

Last night I was in Guitar Center and I plugged into one of the new EVH 5150 III 100w heads and the tone blew me away. Super fat, juicy, screaming tone for miles and miles. It blows the Splawn completely out of the ocean. The EVH was ome of those amps that need no pedals to sound phenomenal. It's just WOW!!

So, I have two options. 1) I'd like to ask you guys for suggestions on starting points for settings on the Splawn, or perhaps things I can try to get a better sound with it, or 2) Trade it for an EVH.

What do you guys think?

Have you talked to Scott about this ? He’s always been really helpful to me . It’s not a Quick Rod but a L500XL in my Charvel clone played thru my EL34 Super Sport simply kills

 

[harddriver]

Very poorly built amps, I had 2 that were FULL of cold solder joints and a bad half power switch (arcing), return it.

This is mainly due to the RoHS compliant solder which has no lead in it. The lead wets the joint and allows the solder to flow for a good connection, even if you have good soldering skills it adds issues. I'm sorry you had a bad experience with Splawn. As with all Marshall's it seems some amps have mojo and sometimes some don't, but that doesn't excuse cold solder joints. Splawn has always had a good reputation with Quality Control for a lot of years.

 

[crwnedblasphemy]

Owned 4 splawn, and it depends. I can see how you feel this way if it’s a newer one. The 2012’s> with the classic tone trannies are darker. I liked the 2006 older ones better as they were tighter and brighter. That’s just me.

Tips: definately keep an angled 4x12.
Tube swap isn’t he issue.
Keep the bass dialed under 10:00.
Check the bias...might need lowering.
Run half power as it cuts the lows
The loop is good, but I have found tone suck with digital stuff, since go analog
Use an overdrive for sure, and keep on od1

That said, I have moved to EVH as well, just because I need led more gain for metal.

 

[romanianreaper]

Owned 4 splawn, and it depends. I can see how you feel this way if it’s a newer one. The 2012’s> with the classic tone trannies are darker. I liked the 2006 older ones better as they were tighter and brighter. That’s just me.

Tips: definately keep an angled 4x12.
Tube swap isn’t he issue.
Keep the bass dialed under 10:00.
Check the bias...might need lowering.
Run half power as it cuts the lows
The loop is good, but I have found tone suck with digital stuff, since go analog
Use an overdrive for sure, and keep on od1

That said, I have moved to EVH as well, just because I need led more gain for metal.

If my memory is right, you got one of mine years ago and I think mine was a 2005 or 2006.

Yeah, like many have mentioned the Splawn amps are not muddy or hard to dial in. I would make sure all of your tubes are seated correctly, no issues with any of the tube sockets, preamp tubes, etc., etc. My Splawn Competition from years ago sounded phenomenal even at bedroom levels.

 

[Bloodstorm]

I am as ignorant as they come regarding technical shit. I don't know how to adjust tubes and other stuff like that. All the resources I try to look up are very technical.They want to take you through multi-verse theory, quantum mechanics, Darwins theory of natural selection, and speculative metaphysics in order to teach you how to do a simple thing like set bias, impedance, and all that other crap.