Splawn Quickrod Vs. Brown Eye modded Marshall

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reverymike

reverymike

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Okay, the videos on youtube for the Quickrod have gotten my attention! Sounds very good.

The Friedman stuff is also amazing! Can you help a brother out and compare and contrast these two amps?

I've been a Bogner 101b user for the last 10 years, and I think it may be time for a major change.
 
Well, now I'm leaning towards getting my Marshall modded. It's a 1971 100w superlead, which Dave says would turn out awesome with the BE, Sat, and Custom 45.
 
reverymike":20ib4cqf said:
Well, now I'm leaning towards getting my Marshall modded. It's a 1971 100w superlead, which Dave says would turn out awesome with the BE, Sat, and Custom 45.
I dig the Splawn QR, but IMO Dave takes things to another level. That said, I'd be hesitant to mod an original '71 Superlead...I think I'd just add a cool OD and call it a day.
 
It was slightly modded when I bought it. It used to belong to Richie Kotzen, and had a master volume installed and a few other things. It's not like it's in mint condition. If for some reason I wanted it back to stock, I'd send it back to Dave and have him remove the mods and restore it to how it should be.

I also have a 1978 2204 JMP, but he said the mods would be better on the '71. The 78 sounds pretty cool as it is, so that's the one I'll keep stock.
 
I have owned a Splawn Competition (basically a Quick Rod at 50 watts), two Splawn-modded Marshalls, and now a Friedman-modded Marshall SLP Reissue. I have always loved Splawn amps but as mentioned above, the Friedman takes it to a whole different level.

I've used this analogy before but to me, a Splawn is more of a Van Halen I & II type of tone and the Friedman is more like a Van Halen 1984 type of tone. The Friedman has a thicker, saturated tone, whereas the Splawn has a nice "dry" type of tone.

A Splawn would be better at the AC/DC chords in my opinion than a Friedman but the Friedman would do a better job at the heavier stuff.

You can't go wrong with either but I love my Friedman Marshall. To my ears, the tone of a Friedman sits somewhere between a Splawn type of tone and a Cameron modded Marshall tone. It just has that sound.
 
What I like about the Splawn over the Friedman is that the Splawn is an amp that rips all your clothes off and makes you play naked. It does not hide any of your mistakes. The Friedman still has that "plexi" softness that is much more forgiving. When I had chubtone's Quickrod at my house for a couple of days, it made me realize how much more I need to practice. It is not really a matter of which one is "better" because both are made amazingly. It is a matter of which one meets your needs better. I like stiffer amps, they are harder to play, but I feel they are more dynamic and touch sensitive because of it. YMMV... :)
 
reverymike":2py7dfvw said:
Well, now I'm leaning towards getting my Marshall modded. It's a 1971 100w superlead, which Dave says would turn out awesome with the BE, Sat, and Custom 45.

Unless it already has holes and mods, please don't do that to a '71.

However, I can tell you my PTP '73 modded by Dave is the best amp I have ever owned. :rock:
 
reverymike":nyir9l0o said:
Well, now I'm leaning towards getting my Marshall modded. It's a 1971 100w superlead, which Dave says would turn out awesome with the BE, Sat, and Custom 45.

I have a 71 that Dave did and it is incredible. 71 is THE era.
 
romanianreaper":32losqdw said:
The Friedman has a thicker, saturated tone, whereas the Splawn has a nice "dry" type of tone.
that's what I hear as well
the splawn is more articulated, focused, but kinda unidimensional
a dense middy tone
romanianreaper":32losqdw said:
You can't go wrong with either but I love my Friedman Marshall. To my ears, the tone of a Friedman sits somewhere between a Splawn type of tone and a Cameron modded Marshall tone. It just has that sound.
don't know what mod are you referring to, but from what I hear, I'd say the Aldrich mod would be between the hairy brown eye and the quickrod
 
Has Splawn changed his main design any? I had a Pro Mod (Quick Rod w/ KT 88s) around 2004 and, while it was a
great amp, it had way too much compression for my taste. It did not respond to guitar volume rollback well at all.

No slight to Splawn's work, but comparing that one amp to Dave's stuff, hands down Friedman.
 
I want the tone to be really great for rock solos (easy to play, and feel good) and fat crunchy high gain rhythms, a la Steve Stevens, Paul Gilbert, EVH, DeMartini, etc).

I'm planning on the BE, C45, Sat, Loop and line out. I'm 99% certain this will get me there (I've talked to Dave). Just gotta pull the trigger.
 
shreder75":1uod0i79 said:
Steve Stevens uses a quick rod these days
Since when? He had been using a combination of Suhr and Friedman amps I thought?
 
rupe":im1tjs3u said:
shreder75":im1tjs3u said:
Steve Stevens uses a quick rod these days
Since when? He had been using a combination of Suhr and Friedman amps I thought?

at least a year...maybe two..I knwo he's got more than one amp, but the QR is a part of his rig and he uses it
 
Steve was using a Splawn this summer/fall because Dave was tweaking his Marsha. I'm not sure if he's still using it though. Got that info straight from Dave back in September. It sounded like a temorary thing though, while Dave was making some adjustments to his regular heads.
 
reverymike":3c2vffxl said:
Steve was using a Splawn this summer/fall because Dave was tweaking his Marsha. I'm not sure if he's still using it though. Got that info straight from Dave back in September. It sounded like a temorary thing though, while Dave was making some adjustments to his regular heads.

I see....well in any event, seems like you're pretty set on an amp from Dave =)
 
Steve S. is like D, Aldrich and alot of other tone chasers who are constanly updating their rigs, and i love them for it. :rock:
 
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