Rig-Talk

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.

Do you have any sound clips?

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.

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Race
Too much gear, getting there on the talent...

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Good deals with: JB6464, tom_h, mechanyx, bubbastain, jid, splawner, studio289, jmgman69 (x2), santellavision1, oldmanmetal, Scuba200ft, bognerluv, the4thlast1, 232cap, hthomas, Fretburner, PaulyPanacea, drewiv, gbsmusic, retrojet, Docster, Spaceboy, crwnedblasphemy, tonmazz, rezamatix, londaxe, just42dave (x3), mystidream

Play it cuz you love it!!!

My Recommendations
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Splawn Amplification -- Awesome Modded Marshall Tones --http://www.splawnguitars.com/amps08.htm
Jet City Amplification -- Awesome Soldano Tones -- http://www.jetcityamplification.com/
WhiteBox Quality Guitar Cabinets -- Well-built USA Cabinets -- http://www.whiteboxeng.com/

Do you have any sound clips that you could share?

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Mesa Boogie .50 Caliber Plus Combo
EVH 5150 III 50 Watt

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?

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Race
Too much gear, getting there on the talent...

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Good deals with: JB6464, tom_h, mechanyx, bubbastain, jid, splawner, studio289, jmgman69 (x2), santellavision1, oldmanmetal, Scuba200ft, bognerluv, the4thlast1, 232cap, hthomas, Fretburner, PaulyPanacea, drewiv, gbsmusic, retrojet, Docster, Spaceboy, crwnedblasphemy, tonmazz, rezamatix, londaxe, just42dave (x3), mystidream

Play it cuz you love it!!!

My Recommendations
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Splawn Amplification -- Awesome Modded Marshall Tones --http://www.splawnguitars.com/amps08.htm
Jet City Amplification -- Awesome Soldano Tones -- http://www.jetcityamplification.com/
WhiteBox Quality Guitar Cabinets -- Well-built USA Cabinets -- http://www.whiteboxeng.com/

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.

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Good deals with: shawnyc, cnote, TMM, Marshallman, Vintage, Lord Toneking, smdb, Buckeyedog, Ricky Rockhardo

Did you ever swap out the EL 34's for KT 88'S?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szm16F7mDqM
Panama Carvin Ultra V directly into Splawn Quickrod.
Camera was on bass players side of stage but you still get the idea
Now If I can only get the singer to learn the words....

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I'm alive and well in .....where am I?

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.

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Race
Too much gear, getting there on the talent...

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Good deals with: JB6464, tom_h, mechanyx, bubbastain, jid, splawner, studio289, jmgman69 (x2), santellavision1, oldmanmetal, Scuba200ft, bognerluv, the4thlast1, 232cap, hthomas, Fretburner, PaulyPanacea, drewiv, gbsmusic, retrojet, Docster, Spaceboy, crwnedblasphemy, tonmazz, rezamatix, londaxe, just42dave (x3), mystidream

Play it cuz you love it!!!

My Recommendations
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Splawn Amplification -- Awesome Modded Marshall Tones --http://www.splawnguitars.com/amps08.htm
Jet City Amplification -- Awesome Soldano Tones -- http://www.jetcityamplification.com/
WhiteBox Quality Guitar Cabinets -- Well-built USA Cabinets -- http://www.whiteboxeng.com/

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)

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I'm alive and well in .....where am I?

would putting KT88's in a Quick Rod get you in between a quick rod and nitro?

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.

Great amps.....Scott is first class

Great stuff!

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.

This...

And for the $$, Splawn is the clear winner!! Under $2K for an amazing amp. Love my QR

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Good deals with Brad King, fusionbear, mystidream, just42dave, zewango, gbsmusic, northern1, midnight laundry, holy-diver, apophis, chocolatefish, jack butler, diezelduder, paulypanacea, mikemtm, MYDEMISE, exhibit-sbt, yankeebulldog, 232cap, drkorey, evhfan, losyboy23, spanny, kgp1, exbest182, LP Freak, UberschallEL34, bionicmark, and many others

^^^ For sure....For the money and customer service Splawns are winners...Great tone also

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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Good deals : Ricky Rockhardo, ams2ek ,tdhxxx, EWSEthan, Matrix Claw, Boost

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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Gear: http://equipboard.com/adambomb80
Music: https://soundcloud.com/adamclayton35
https://www.youtube.com/adam614ce
http://www.myspace.com/nilesflow
http://www.myspace.com/adam614ce

Here are few clips that I've recorded with the Splawn Quick Rod.

Tornado Of Souls Solo


Solo I Composed


Grossmann SG-Box Review


Youtube Channel Teaser

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http://www.denizsayman.com
http://www.youtube.com/denizsayman

sweet amp!

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Gardening tips :
Plant tulips on wood, this can be hard. But, it will keep the bush wet. Be careful by the back door or you could get shit all over.

Good stuff. Interesting read.

Hi,

A new collaboration video recorded with Splawn QuickRod, its a more pro mix then the ones before so It would give you a better idea.

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http://www.denizsayman.com
http://www.youtube.com/denizsayman

The Splawn Quick Rod not only has the most amazing tone, it is also high quality.
So many amps today are so flimsy you can tell after a few years they will start to fall apart, but not the Splawn amps as they are built with very high quality components and can take a beating!

I agree,
I like it much more everyday I play it.

Here is a new video with the quickrod and a jackson sl-1. I hope you guys like it.

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http://www.denizsayman.com
http://www.youtube.com/denizsayman

Absolutely love my QuickRod. Unfortunately I am selling it due to my back getting it's a$$ kicked from carrying it around while gigging (14 years of power forward hockey = destroyed back!) and a new baby on the way.

If you like vintage marshall and hot rodded marshall tones… there is nothing better than Splawn QuickRods!

+1 on Scott being awesome.

Great review!

Great review!

Bumping every review thread to get to 50 posts is a dick move there buddy. A pox upon you and may your classified ads do poorly.

These are killer amps!

Splawn amps are pretty hard to beat for the price. I have owned a Quickrod and a Competition.

Scott is one of the nicest guys you could ever deal with, extremely sincere, honest and stands by his word!

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Larry Dino 939
Bogner Cabinets

https://m.facebook.com/LarryAmplificati ... 214437087/

Cool review. I've always had an itch to try one of the splawns

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- Heavy Metal Lefty -
AMPS: Fortin Cali #23 / Bogner Uberschall / Mesa JP2C & Dual-Rec MW
CABS: Friedman 412:15 / Bogner UberKab 412FL / Avatar Custom FL412 / Diezel FL412
LEFTY AXES: Mayones / ESP / Bunkman / Fender / Ovation USA

And none of this is helping my gas.. Seems as though everyone is happy with their splawns and willing to get the word out. A good sign for a small company!

Yes finally found the Splawn section.
I my self am a happy owner of two Quick Rods and I will say those amps rock! I have so many amps I don't know if I'll ever even play them, but the QR always get attention. This is a great work horse for live playing, and it just sounds so good!

One of my good buds is in the exact same boat as you. He had a Shiva for a few years and loved it; he thought it was his one-all, end-all as well. Then I told him about a Quickrod for sale at the local GC over the summer (2010 model too), and he bought it on the spot after only jamming for a couple minutes on it. And hearing it in person sounded so good that I traded one of my amps for one last week haha, so now we both have one. Very probable that it's the best Marshall-esque amp you can buy for the money hands down.

For me though, I noticed the "weird mids" even before I read about other people commenting on it. It can sound very nasally if you don't pair it with dark speakers. As long as you stay away from V30s there are a lot of good options. Currently I'm rocking a pair of Celestion Lynchbacks and my QR just screams through it. I would bet these sound killer through a stock Marshall 1960 cab with the T-75 speakers. The QR is very bass heavy, and to be honest I wish it had a resonance control but backing off the bass to about 10 o'clock works just fine.

Anyone else zero out the Presence, Bass, and Treble and still get a kickass tone?? Those three controls don't offer a lot of range, but the mid control is what really gives this amp its versatility.

Seriously, this is quickly becoming my favorite amp. Cuts through a mix like a hot knife through butter. Right now I have a Jet City Earhart (Jet City badged Cornford MK50H II) and a Bogner 101b (borrowing though) and to be honest I'm digging my Quickrod over the Ecstasy and Earhart.

Love my QR

Splawn are great and Scott is awesome

Thought I'd update my experience.
I had 2 QR's, one older 2006 and a 2014 B+.
Happy as hell...
Then, when the 2016 upgrades came out, I couldn't help myself. I acquired a loaded 2016 with the new/old switch, voltage switch, and mid cut switch. I was really looking for that sound of the older 2006 model (FRICKIN AMAZING), with the new features such as 4 button foot switch, great clean, mode switching, and transparent effects loop.
Anyway, the 2016 IS THE SHIT!!!! Truly killer amps. I have another on the way as a spare now as well.
Can say enough about these new QR's and their features and tone!!

The solo button feature is just ideal for live, as is the mode switch (changes gears) and sweet clean channel. I have a smaller pedal board now too, because I just don't need much more than this excellent core tone. Maybe a little chorus, little delay, boost for cleans and that's it. Just wonderful.

I will definitely recommend trying a Splawn QuickRod if you get a chance. Although, I ordered my first one without ever playing one. No regrets here.
Carry on...

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Good deals with Brad King, fusionbear, mystidream, just42dave, zewango, gbsmusic, northern1, midnight laundry, holy-diver, apophis, chocolatefish, jack butler, diezelduder, paulypanacea, mikemtm, MYDEMISE, exhibit-sbt, yankeebulldog, 232cap, drkorey, evhfan, losyboy23, spanny, kgp1, exbest182, LP Freak, UberschallEL34, bionicmark, and many others

great amp!

I had two, around 2010 one promod they sounded great dirty. Cleans were meh to me l, but the feel was what I couldn’t get on with, too stiff for my tastes. Didnt like the fx loop much either. Build quality was great.

Resale wasnt so hot.

Nice amps.

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Great transactions with: Dexter Jackson, Pfapin05, Donbarzini, Ratter, Guitarslinger, Sixstring, Empire Prod, Motorpud, Iamthejoker,9841507,Ultron, Diagrammatiks, Juggernaut, studio289, Steve K., Dmtnt, Rhequiem, Craftm1, Red Witch, Reilly, Bucksears, ajr2454, Glip22, jabberwocker!, glassjaw7, Khoi, mizati20, ibanez4life SZ, Glide-on, Prime rib, Droptrd, Bwgintegra,Bognerluv,ben hur,TjSlice, Flizzo,Bronco, leib10, Vchizzle, Captain Stinko, Warhead78 plus like 150 more peeps...

Here long before it sucked.

You may want to give the "newer" QuickRods a look.
With many upgraded features, some of the issues you mentioned from the 2010 versions are GONE.

Anything 2016 and after has better loop, upgraded cleans, switchable gears, old/new voicing switch, etc.
Don't know if the 2010's had 4 button footswitch yet, but that is a nice add also.
Personally I still have my original Splawn QR from 2006, just because it literally breathes fire.
Ha, however, I have recently been using a pair of 2016 fully loaded heads for shows and they KILL!!!
Bring on the 80's rock

Plus, as far as pricing goes, new they are reasonable and used they are a steal!! Just sayin'

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Good deals with Brad King, fusionbear, mystidream, just42dave, zewango, gbsmusic, northern1, midnight laundry, holy-diver, apophis, chocolatefish, jack butler, diezelduder, paulypanacea, mikemtm, MYDEMISE, exhibit-sbt, yankeebulldog, 232cap, drkorey, evhfan, losyboy23, spanny, kgp1, exbest182, LP Freak, UberschallEL34, bionicmark, and many others

By the way...nobody has talked much on this review about the clean channel but lets just say youd be selling the QR majorly short without talking about it. Loud, percussive, musical and not unlike a good early marshall (think "are you experienced?").

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Fun fact: My name is Dave. Dan Burton was the name on my fake ID in college.
Guitars: PRS (x8), Gibson (x10), Fender (x7), Ibanez (x4), Charvel (x2), EBMM (x2), Dean, Parker & Martin.
Amps: Friedman (x3), Soldano (x4), Diezel (x2), Mesa (x3), Wizard, Splawn (x2), Marshall (x8), Voodoo (x3), Fender (x2), Bogner (x2), KSR & Ceriatone.

Love a good necro! Recently picked up a 2013 drop B+ and its an amazing amp. AMAZING articulation and clarity; ridiculously articulate.

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"Give me liberty, or give me Death" Patrick Henry

I play “crossover” thrash metal, I’ve owned tons of amps, and my KT88 loaded Quick Rod is my favorite by far. It’s got something special.

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D.Voricci / Bushido Code
• Splawn Quick Rod
• Mesa Mark V
• Diezel Herbert
• Ceriatone Chupacabra 50

Glen... only problem is that we would have to keep them long enough for even a quick review