Splawn Quick Rod

cecilbag

cecilbag

Active member
I'm reviewing a Splawn Quick Rod. I'm doing this review after owning the amp and gigging with it for a year. This month I turn a year on a used Splawn and all I can say is, thank you Scott Splawn. I heard tons about weird mids, marshall type, unknown speakers to me, etc. Well I'm glad I took a shot. I've always used Mesa, some Orange's, a Marshall and Bogner here and there but mainly always Boogies. I still love Mesa Boogie but wanted just a plug and play type of amp. I've gotten nothing but great and consistent tone from the Splawn no matter what crappy crate/random cab up through my Splawn cab. It's sound always sits in the mix and just works with or without effects. It's been dead reliable and has enough volume on tap to literally blow a drum kit right of the stage. I am in no way in buisness or even know Splawn amps other than being on the forum because I'm just floored by this tone. If you get a chance to try one, please do. I'm in love with mine and will be using my boogies and Bogner for studio but kicking a Splawn live with a new one hopefully soon for another flavor.
 
I was sold the first time I plugged into a Quick Rod. Never looked back. Believe it or not, my three "go-to" amps are Quick Rod (v2), Jet City JCA100HDM, and Chupacabra 50. The Diezel VH4 and Hughes & Kettner TriAmp MK II are more like race cars than everyday drivers now.
 
Clips are pretty highly subjective. Someone or another is going to whine because you used this mic instead of that, these speakers instead of those, and/or this guitar/these pickups instead of something else. Every time I ask what people want to hear so I can tailor make clips, I never get any feedback. I think people are many times more interested in slamming someone else's tone than truly evaluating.

That said, anything in particular you'd want to hear?
 
I'd be curious to hear how it approximates that early VH brown sound. I'm looking for something that nails that without taking out a second mortgage on my house. :D
 
vintagemusicgear":56emaksw said:
Did you ever swap out the EL 34's for KT 88'S?
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I did that swap on the Splawn Nitro under Scott's virtual supervision and HOLY LORD. There was a good increase in the "thump" factor. Made the Greenbacks I was playing through sound like G12-K100's. Had SO much saturation on tap that I couldn't get the gain knob past 10 o'clock without it just being stupidly silly. Great mod if you're playing drop-tuned metal but I play in concert pitch, so I changed the Nitro back to SED =C= EL34's. Interestingly enough, I just hooked up a BBE362 in the loop to show my singer the BBE and WOW! Sounded like a Quick Rod with mega-punch. I'm characteristically not a fan of BBEs in live racks, but I may need to make it a switchable option in my new rack.

There's a YT clip of my Nitro with KT88's. Crazy town... Seems like for some reason the video has gone out of sync with the audio--let me know if you see the same thing.

 
Nitro is a different beast then the Quickrod as it is defiantly Gainier/Growlier \. Quick rod for 80's/hair metal and Nitro for modern drop tuned stuff if the way to go (I have both)
 
vintagemusicgear":2fhrop7a said:
would putting KT88's in a Quick Rod get you in between a quick rod and nitro?
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Not exactly. If you put KT88's in the quickrod then you will have the benefits that those tubes bring. It wont make the Quickrod sound more saturated or sound more like a Nitro. It will still sound like a Quickrod but with different characteristics in the low end an mids.
 
cecilbag":xz6c6v5c said:
I'm reviewing a Splawn Quick Rod. I'm doing this review after owning the amp and gigging with it for a year. This month I turn a year on a used Splawn and all I can say is, thank you Scott Splawn. I heard tons about weird mids, marshall type, unknown speakers to me, etc. Well I'm glad I took a shot. I've always used Mesa, some Orange's, a Marshall and Bogner here and there but mainly always Boogies. I still love Mesa Boogie but wanted just a plug and play type of amp. I've gotten nothing but great and consistent tone from the Splawn no matter what crappy crate/random cab up through my Splawn cab. It's sound always sits in the mix and just works with or without effects. It's been dead reliable and has enough volume on tap to literally blow a drum kit right of the stage. I am in no way in buisness or even know Splawn amps other than being on the forum because I'm just floored by this tone. If you get a chance to try one, please do. I'm in love with mine and will be using my boogies and Bogner for studio but kicking a Splawn live with a new one hopefully soon for another flavor.
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I have owned a Splawn Quickrod and a Splawn Competition and they are hard to beat, especially for the price. A new Quickrod is $1,950 shipped to your door last time I checked.
 
GtarLover":9ih2eioq said:
splawner":9ih2eioq said:
:rock: :rock: Great amps.....Scott is first class :thumbsup:
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This...

And for the $$, Splawn is the clear winner!! Under $2K for an amazing amp. Love my QR :rock:
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^^^ For sure....For the money and customer service Splawns are winners...Great tone also :thumbsup:
 
I agree with all above. I have owned so many amps in the past and I recently got a 2010 Quick Rod and it is by far the best amp I have owned. I was nervous due to all the weird mid and other odd complaints, but I don't get that at all. I thought the Shiva was the end all amp for me, and it was a great amp,but the Splawn does everything I wished the Shiva would do. The Shivas cleans are outstanding, but honestly with a little reverb, I can get the Splawn almost, if not as good as the Shiva's. My other guitar player has a 1983 JCM 800 2203 and the QR makes it sound like an A.M. Radio, and I loved that 800. The Splawn just has so much more punch and balls.
 
shane159":1gia8mhp said:
I agree with all above. I have owned so many amps in the past and I recently got a 2010 Quick Rod and it is by far the best amp I have owned. I was nervous due to all the weird mid and other odd complaints, but I don't get that at all. I thought the Shiva was the end all amp for me, and it was a great amp,but the Splawn does everything I wished the Shiva would do. The Shivas cleans are outstanding, but honestly with a little reverb, I can get the Splawn almost, if not as good as the Shiva's. My other guitar player has a 1983 JCM 800 2203 and the QR makes it sound like an A.M. Radio, and I loved that 800. The Splawn just has so much more punch and balls.
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Yes I agree, I have a 20th Anni Shiva and I like the overdrive better on the Quick Rod. Now I'm not sure about the regular Shiva, but my 20th Shiva has the best cleans I've ever heard, better than my blackface Fender. Now when I throw a EP compressor in front of the QR it sounds way more alive. I'll say the QR has better cleans than any Marshall I've ever heard that's for sure.

Back to the Quick Rod, I have a 2013 model and it just sound amazing. The cleans sound much more pristine than the 08' model I played at NAMM. The QR is just so punchy and ballsy it's wild, but it also has great mids so it sticks out in a band mix VERY well. Finally an amp with great huge rhythm tones and crushing stand-out leads. Great review.
 
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