Posted: 4/15/2015 6:40:16 PM EDT
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Looky what I stumbled-upon while bored at a meeting this morning... DOH!!!
Splawn QuickRod halfstack for... wait for it... EIGHT HUNDRED FREAKING DOLLARS!!! (As you can clearly see.) I was browsing a "local" music stores used-gear section on their web site and lucked-into this. I've done business with them since the mid-1980s and they are reputable. So I called up there and asked "what's the story on the Splawn?". The owner answered and said that a customer had traded it in on an acoustic and that it looked to be pretty much new. I'm thinking "WTF???". So I gave him my credit card info and I'll probably be heading-up on Saturday to pick it up (they're 120 miles away). EIGHT HUNDRED BUCKS??? R U kidding me??? Talk about New INSANELY Low-Priced Half Stack Day!!! 
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Never heard of them
You guys should get out more! 
Scott Splawn builds great hot-rod Marshall style boutique amps, much in the vein of Dave Friedman, Reinhold Bogner, David Bray, Steve Freyette, etc. I had my buddy's Quickrod in the man cave a couple of weeks ago and it was great. He decided not to sell it, and I'm glad he did. Because I got an entire half stack for about HALF of what he'd want for his head ALONE. My lucky day! 
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Quoted:
Probably the best hot rodded Marshall along with Friedman. Killer deal, I hate you for it.  LOL... I feel ya bro. I've clicked on many threads of others on gear forums over the years and envied their awesome deals. Guess it is finally my turn! P.S. My same buddy who's got a Quickrod, got a Friedman BE100 half stack a few weeks ago. I brokered the deal for him on The Gear Page. I had the head for an afternoon. I dug it, but honestly... I liked my Ceriatone Chupacabra just as much (for the few hours I spent with the BE). No knock on the Friedman though. I've just had so many great amps (Bogner, Lickliter, VHT, Engl, Ceriatone, etc) in the past couple of years that they all start to sound similar after a while. Each one is it's own thing, but all variations on the Marshall theme and all great amps. |
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What is the difference in tone/gain between a hot-fodder Marshall vs. a modern Marshall like a JVM or JCM 2000? Or are the hot-rodded Marshalls types based on older circuits?
The only Marshall I've ever owned was a DSL100 head but it wasn't my style. I've been looking at dabbling in Marshalls again but don't know if I want to build a JTM-45 or a Plexi from a kit, or a buy a JCM 800 for more hard rock tones. I just recently discovered the Bugera 1960, kind of a Chinese copy of a Super Lead Plexi. I kind of want it because it gets good reviews and it's about half the cost of a Plexi kit, but I've never seen one in person. |
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Quoted:
What is the difference in tone/gain between a hot-fodder Marshall vs. a modern Marshall like a JVM or JCM 2000? Or are the hot-rodded Marshalls types based on older circuits? The only Marshall I've ever owned was a DSL100 head but it wasn't my style. I've been looking at dabbling in Marshalls again but don't know if I want to build a JTM-45 or a Plexi from a kit, or a buy a JCM 800 for more hard rock tones. I just recently discovered the Bugera 1960, kind of a Chinese copy of a Super Lead Plexi. I kind of want it because it gets good reviews and it's about half the cost of a Plexi kit, but I've never seen one in person. I've got a Ceriatone JTM45. It's an awesome amp, but I have to use my Carl Martin Plexitone to get the rock tones that I'm looking for. The amp by itself is more of a Fender Bassman (which is pretty much what Jim Marshall modeled the early plexis after) than it is JCM800. I owned a 2203X last year and that's an entirely different beast altogether than the JTM. The Splawn is pretty much meant to be a JCM800 with a TS9 up front. Which is pretty much THE sound of the 80s, period. I've been close to buying the Bugera 1960 several times. In fact, Musician's Friend was blowing them out a few weeks ago for like $279. I almost grabbed one, but at the time I had just recently received my Ceriatone Chupacabra, as well as a Friedman Pink Taco and then a Friedman BE100 (both of the Friedman amps ultimately went to a friend of mine after spending a day or two in my man cave). So it was hard to get excited about a Chinese amp built on a thin, cheap PCB when there were so many awesome handwired, point-to-point amps floating around. But if you want an old school Marshall on a budget, it would be hard to go wrong with the 1960. |
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*** UPDATE ***
I couldn't stand it any more and "popped" over there to grab it this AM. I just plugged-in for a moment at the store to make sure that it made sound before I hauled it back the 120 miles to home and it sounded great. Didn't even see what gear (OD level) it was on. Had that classic hot-rodded Marshall tone that I expected. So I threw her in the rig and ran back home (to work). I'll be spending more time with her tonight in the man cave and will give a more comprehensive conclusion to my NAD later tonight. Btw... I want to give a kudos/shout-out to Paul and the staff at Music Villa in Bozeman, Montana. This is the store where I got this great deal and I'm beyond pleased with the deal so far. I bought a T-Rex Magnus multi-FX pedal from them last fall at a sidewalk sale for $100. They are awesome and I will continue to browse their website looking for further deals in the future. Also, one of the staff who helped-me haul the rig to my car and put it in is named Luke Flansburg. He's does lead vox and guitar for a Pink Floyd tribute band named "Pinky And The Floyd". I saw them in December and they were awesome. They play PF from all eras, but this Saturday they're playing in their hometown (Bozeman) and doing a big theatrical production of the Division Bell album. I'm almost tempted to drive back up there for that show, as that's my favorite PF album. I know... heresy to the old school die-hards... but I like what I like. Anyways... check them out! http://www.pinkyandthefloyd.com/the-band/ |
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Quoted: What is the difference in tone/gain between a hot-fodder Marshall vs. a modern Marshall like a JVM or JCM 2000? Or are the hot-rodded Marshalls types based on older circuits? The only Marshall I've ever owned was a DSL100 head but it wasn't my style. I've been looking at dabbling in Marshalls again but don't know if I want to build a JTM-45 or a Plexi from a kit, or a buy a JCM 800 for more hard rock tones. I just recently discovered the Bugera 1960, kind of a Chinese copy of a Super Lead Plexi. I kind of want it because it gets good reviews and it's about half the cost of a Plexi kit, but I've never seen one in person. And I'm surprised you hadn't heard of Splawn before this, because Splawn has been talked about quite a bit on this forum. Oh well, no worries. I did get ahold of a Quick Rod schematic awhile back, and Scott Splawn basically employs different resistor and capacitor values for the various levels of gain you can get with the OD1/OD2 & Gear switches. He also has quite a bit more gain built into the 1st gain stage. There is no diode clipping that I can see in the schematic I have, so there is nothing built in to mimic a TS9. It looks like he got that tone by simply playing with the cap & resistor values at each gain stage. These tricks can be, and have been for decades, done with any tube amp. |
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Quoted: I've got a Ceriatone JTM45. It's an awesome amp, but I have to use my Carl Martin Plexitone to get the rock tones that I'm looking for. The amp by itself is more of a Fender Bassman (which is pretty much what Jim Marshall modeled the early plexis after) than it is JCM800. I owned a 2203X last year and that's an entirely different beast altogether than the JTM. The Splawn is pretty much meant to be a JCM800 with a TS9 up front. Which is pretty much THE sound of the 80s, period. I've been close to buying the Bugera 1960 several times. In fact, Musician's Friend was blowing them out a few weeks ago for like $279. I almost grabbed one, but at the time I had just recently received my Ceriatone Chupacabra, as well as a Friedman Pink Taco and then a Friedman BE100 (both of the Friedman amps ultimately went to a friend of mine after spending a day or two in my man cave). So it was hard to get excited about a Chinese amp built on a thin, cheap PCB when there were so many awesome handwired, point-to-point amps floating around. But if you want an old school Marshall on a budget, it would be hard to go wrong with the 1960. Quoted: Quoted: What is the difference in tone/gain between a hot-fodder Marshall vs. a modern Marshall like a JVM or JCM 2000? Or are the hot-rodded Marshalls types based on older circuits? The only Marshall I've ever owned was a DSL100 head but it wasn't my style. I've been looking at dabbling in Marshalls again but don't know if I want to build a JTM-45 or a Plexi from a kit, or a buy a JCM 800 for more hard rock tones. I just recently discovered the Bugera 1960, kind of a Chinese copy of a Super Lead Plexi. I kind of want it because it gets good reviews and it's about half the cost of a Plexi kit, but I've never seen one in person. I've got a Ceriatone JTM45. It's an awesome amp, but I have to use my Carl Martin Plexitone to get the rock tones that I'm looking for. The amp by itself is more of a Fender Bassman (which is pretty much what Jim Marshall modeled the early plexis after) than it is JCM800. I owned a 2203X last year and that's an entirely different beast altogether than the JTM. The Splawn is pretty much meant to be a JCM800 with a TS9 up front. Which is pretty much THE sound of the 80s, period. I've been close to buying the Bugera 1960 several times. In fact, Musician's Friend was blowing them out a few weeks ago for like $279. I almost grabbed one, but at the time I had just recently received my Ceriatone Chupacabra, as well as a Friedman Pink Taco and then a Friedman BE100 (both of the Friedman amps ultimately went to a friend of mine after spending a day or two in my man cave). So it was hard to get excited about a Chinese amp built on a thin, cheap PCB when there were so many awesome handwired, point-to-point amps floating around. But if you want an old school Marshall on a budget, it would be hard to go wrong with the 1960. Heck, some of the legendary Marshalls that people lust for were built on PCBs as well. |
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Quoted:
I hate to break it to ya, but Splawns are built on PCBs, but they're good quality boards, not that cheap Chinese crap. Like I've said many times, an amp with a good quality PCB and good quality components is as good as any handwired amp. Heck, some of the legendary Marshalls that people lust for were built on PCBs as well. Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
What is the difference in tone/gain between a hot-fodder Marshall vs. a modern Marshall like a JVM or JCM 2000? Or are the hot-rodded Marshalls types based on older circuits? The only Marshall I've ever owned was a DSL100 head but it wasn't my style. I've been looking at dabbling in Marshalls again but don't know if I want to build a JTM-45 or a Plexi from a kit, or a buy a JCM 800 for more hard rock tones. I just recently discovered the Bugera 1960, kind of a Chinese copy of a Super Lead Plexi. I kind of want it because it gets good reviews and it's about half the cost of a Plexi kit, but I've never seen one in person. I've got a Ceriatone JTM45. It's an awesome amp, but I have to use my Carl Martin Plexitone to get the rock tones that I'm looking for. The amp by itself is more of a Fender Bassman (which is pretty much what Jim Marshall modeled the early plexis after) than it is JCM800. I owned a 2203X last year and that's an entirely different beast altogether than the JTM. The Splawn is pretty much meant to be a JCM800 with a TS9 up front. Which is pretty much THE sound of the 80s, period. I've been close to buying the Bugera 1960 several times. In fact, Musician's Friend was blowing them out a few weeks ago for like $279. I almost grabbed one, but at the time I had just recently received my Ceriatone Chupacabra, as well as a Friedman Pink Taco and then a Friedman BE100 (both of the Friedman amps ultimately went to a friend of mine after spending a day or two in my man cave). So it was hard to get excited about a Chinese amp built on a thin, cheap PCB when there were so many awesome handwired, point-to-point amps floating around. But if you want an old school Marshall on a budget, it would be hard to go wrong with the 1960. Heck, some of the legendary Marshalls that people lust for were built on PCBs as well. Gotchya. I guess that I ASSumed that they were P2P instead of PCB. My Bogners were all heavy-duty PCB, so that's fine. I like the simplicity of P2P and the easy diagnosis and repair of them, but I never had any issues with my Bogners, and I don't expect any with the Splawn. Plus, I've got an AWESOME tech here who could fix anything short of a 3-layer PCB with computer chips. This guy does avionics panel installs for a living... so a simple tube amp circuit is nothing to him. |
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Quick rundown on my impressions of the Quickrod and Splawn 4X12. I dialed all the knobs to noon, and set the OD on 1st Gear before I even powered it on. I ended-up playing most of the night with those settings (except I used Gear 2 most of all). It's just got that classic Van Halen brown sound nailed. Plenty of sag, and yet seemed very tight and immediate in response. I can see where the "weird mids" thing comes from... as it does seem to have an open-wah vowel thing going-on in the mids. But I don't find it disagreeable and may experiment with a graphic or parametric EQ in the loop to see what that does. I'm currently running a Line 6 M9 in the loop and that's got some EQ options on there that I will experiment with (I just grabbed the pedal a few weeks ago and haven't learned fully how to tweak it yet).
Regarding the cab... I'm not generally disposed towards slant cabs. My current cabs are a pair of Line 6 V30-loaded straight 4X12s and I like the big, tight tone I get out of those. But this Splawn cab sounds GREAT and I intend to keep it. It's tight, thumpy, and big (enough) sounding. I think that the speakers in there are probably the Splawn Small Blocks. But will have to pop the back sometime to check. To summarize... my impression so far of this Splawn rig can be boiled-down to the text that I sent my musician friends last night: "Best $800 rig... EVARRRRRRR!!!" ETA: I checked the serial number and the amp was probably built sometime early in 2012. So it's a later model with all the bells and whistles that were added. I still can't believe how SWEET this deal was. $800 for a boutique half stack??? Just amazing... |
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Quoted:
I'll give you $850 when you get sick of it.  Get in line!
I already had a buddy imply that he wants first crack at it when/if I'm done with it at some point. And of course... he'll want the buddy discount. I'm generally a guy who doesn't wring every last dime out of something. I price my stuff to sell quick once I'm done with it, because I don't want it hanging around after the love affair is over. BUT... this was such a sweet deal that I could easily double my money. There are a few scrapes and scratches here and there on the cab, but she's in great shape overall. I really want to keep this thing though... because it's a pretty awesome matched pair (and to remind me of the best deal I'll probably ever get). I'm going to do some re-arranging in the man cave this weekend and will have a sweet-looking wall of doom when it's done. I'll post up a shot of it when I do. |
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Quoted:
So, how's the Splawn treating you now that you've had it for a full weekend? It's awesome man. Such an awesome hotrod Marshall tone. My Ceriatone Chupacabra has been keeping me pretty happy for the past several months. But since the Quickrod showed up, I've been A/B'ing them back and forth and prefer the Splawn at the moment. It's got such a huge, tight, thumpy bottom... without woofiness or being boomy. Best $800 I've ever spent on chasing tone! Played through a bunch of older Van Halen yesterday and it just nailed it. Then I backed off the gain and played through a bunch of Brother Cane (one of my favorite old school plexi tones) and was nailing that as well. Am very happy with this amp! |
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Quoted: It's awesome man. Such an awesome hotrod Marshall tone. My Ceriatone Chupacabra has been keeping me pretty happy for the past several months. But since the Quickrod showed up, I've been A/B'ing them back and forth and prefer the Splawn at the moment. It's got such a huge, tight, thumpy bottom... without woofiness or being boomy. Best $800 I've ever spent on chasing tone! Played through a bunch of older Van Halen yesterday and it just nailed it. Then I backed off the gain and played through a bunch of Brother Cane (one of my favorite old school plexi tones) and was nailing that as well. Am very happy with this amp! Quoted: Quoted: So, how's the Splawn treating you now that you've had it for a full weekend? It's awesome man. Such an awesome hotrod Marshall tone. My Ceriatone Chupacabra has been keeping me pretty happy for the past several months. But since the Quickrod showed up, I've been A/B'ing them back and forth and prefer the Splawn at the moment. It's got such a huge, tight, thumpy bottom... without woofiness or being boomy. Best $800 I've ever spent on chasing tone! Played through a bunch of older Van Halen yesterday and it just nailed it. Then I backed off the gain and played through a bunch of Brother Cane (one of my favorite old school plexi tones) and was nailing that as well. Am very happy with this amp!  |
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Quoted:
Awesome, welcome to the club. Thanks! Feels great to be in it! I've owned and played just about everything in boutique Marshall-style amps and I've gotta say that the Splawn can hang with any of 'em. Been enjoying the hell out of it every day. Spent a couple of hours playing my Anderson Drop Top Classic into the QuickRod last night (with a Line 6 M9 in the loop) and I felt like there wasn't ANY style of rock that I couldn't cover in amazing style with that setup. I feel damn lucky to have stumbled on this deal... |
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Good to hear. If you're on Facebook, Splawn is in there too, and they like to get pics of owners with their Splawn amps. And I forgot to ask, what brand of transformers does your QR have? My PM has Heyboer transformers in it, but one of the local shops I go to carries Splawn and I noticed that they have Classic Tone transformers in the newer amps. |
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Quoted:
Good to hear. If you're on Facebook, Splawn is in there too, and they like to get pics of owners with their Splawn amps. And I forgot to ask, what brand of transformers does your QR have? My PM has Heyboer transformers in it, but one of the local shops I go to carries Splawn and I noticed that they have Classic Tone transformers in the newer amps. I've been on FB only once since last August. I try to avoid that cess pool. But I'll keep an eye open for Scott's page next time I'm on. I haven't poked inside the head yet to see what's in there. Haven't checked the cab yet to see what speakers are in there (Small Blocks?). But will take a look at some point I'm sure. Just been enjoying the awesome tone as-is! Here's a lame cell phone pic of the half-stack wall of the man cave. The Ceriatone JTM45 will be on its way to Seattle to a new owner tomorrow morning. Just been enjoying the Splawn too much lately (and the Ceriatone Chupacabra on the left). Selling-off the JTM will pay for most of the Splawn rig, and enable me to dump some of my pedals to free up some more cash as well. 
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Quoted:
As a minor hijack... did you buy directly from Ceriatone when you got your two heads in that photo? Did you get complete heads or kits? Good experience in getting them? I'm somewhat pondering getting one of their Dumble or Trainwreck clones... maybe both. I've had three Ceriatone heads (the first was a 36W RP). I got all used as complete kits from guitar forum members. I'm shipping-out the JTM45 on the right today. It sold yesterday (to pay for the Splawn rig). They've all been excellent, hand-wired, point-to-point amps. At least one of them was built by Nik himself (if not two). I've still got the Chupacabra on the left. I've never heard or read anything bad or negative about Ceriatone, with the exception of some of their early trannies. But I've had ZERO issues with any of the trannies in mine and I get the impression that very few people have. |
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I've had three Ceriatone heads (the first was a 36W RP). I got all used as complete kits from guitar forum members. I'm shipping-out the JTM45 on the right today. It sold yesterday (to pay for the Splawn rig). They've all been excellent, hand-wired, point-to-point amps. At least one of them was built by Nik himself (if not two). I've still got the Chupacabra on the left. I've never heard or read anything bad or negative about Ceriatone, with the exception of some of their early trannies. But I've had ZERO issues with any of the trannies in mine and I get the impression that very few people have. Quoted:
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As a minor hijack... did you buy directly from Ceriatone when you got your two heads in that photo? Did you get complete heads or kits? Good experience in getting them? I'm somewhat pondering getting one of their Dumble or Trainwreck clones... maybe both. I've had three Ceriatone heads (the first was a 36W RP). I got all used as complete kits from guitar forum members. I'm shipping-out the JTM45 on the right today. It sold yesterday (to pay for the Splawn rig). They've all been excellent, hand-wired, point-to-point amps. At least one of them was built by Nik himself (if not two). I've still got the Chupacabra on the left. I've never heard or read anything bad or negative about Ceriatone, with the exception of some of their early trannies. But I've had ZERO issues with any of the trannies in mine and I get the impression that very few people have. Thanks.
There is a Trainwreck clone on Reverb currently... It is somewhat calling me. Might try and make em an offer. |
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Quoted:
Previous JCM800 owner checking in... How does the Splawn sound at lower volumes? Does it need to be cranked like a JCM800? There's one local to me for sale at $980 and I'm very tempted to get it. And did you ever figure out what speakers the cabinet has? Nope. Sounds better at low volume than my 2203X did. Plus... I needed a TubScreamer (or preferably my Fulltone OCD) in front of the 800 to get what I really wanted out of it. Not so with the Splawn. The Quick Rod has been a mainstay for MANY guitar forum gear whores who switch gear like they/we do t-shirts. My buddy who recently picked our "dream amp" (Friedman BE100) is now pondering selling the Friedman. But his beloved 2012 QR (bought new) isn't going anywhere. So I'd HIGHLY recommend getting one. That price is very good as well. Still don't know what speakers are in there. I've had a bunch of stuff going-on this past month and just haven't had the time or energy to pull the back off. I suspect that they are the usual Small Block speakers that come in so many Splawn cabs. They sound great. I thought that I'd prefer my two Vintage 30-loaded 4X12s over it (especially since they're straight cabs and I prefer the thump of those)... but that Splawn slant cab hangs with the other cabs just fine. |
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I'll second getting the Splawn, LRShooter. I bought my Pro Mod (what Scott Splawn used to call a Quick Rod with a KT88 power section) used, and it's been a great amp for me. I love the thing and it ain't going anywhere. It just has a gutteral roar that my heavily modded Marshall JVM or my Mesa Triple Rec just can't do. Scott Splawn figured out how to add that "something" that every Marshall amp has always been missing.
And if you have a Telecaster, you'll love the clean channel. The gain knob seems to act more like a compressor, or at least it does on mine, and it'll make a Tele spank & twang. |
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Quoted:
I'll second getting the Splawn, LRShooter. I bought my Pro Mod (what Scott Splawn used to call a Quick Rod with a KT88 power section) used, and it's been a great amp for me. I love the thing and it ain't going anywhere. It just has a gutteral roar that my heavily modded Marshall JVM or my Mesa Triple Rec just can't do. Scott Splawn figured out how to add that "something" that every Marshall amp has always been missing. And if you have a Telecaster, you'll love the clean channel. The gain knob seems to act more like a compressor, or at least it does on mine, and it'll make a Tele spank & twang. I noticed that while playing my Anderson Drop Top Classic strat. I didn't expect much from the clean channel, but was pleasantly surprised. In fact, I think I could gig the QR in my old country-rock band and be plenty satisfied. I used to love bringing new and "exotic" amps to gigs just to see the traditionalists squint their eyes and go "what's that?".
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I noticed that while playing my Anderson Drop Top Classic strat. I didn't expect much from the clean channel, but was pleasantly surprised. In fact, I think I could gig the QR in my old country-rock band and be plenty satisfied. I used to love bringing new and "exotic" amps to gigs just to see the traditionalists squint their eyes and go "what's that?".
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I'll second getting the Splawn, LRShooter. I bought my Pro Mod (what Scott Splawn used to call a Quick Rod with a KT88 power section) used, and it's been a great amp for me. I love the thing and it ain't going anywhere. It just has a gutteral roar that my heavily modded Marshall JVM or my Mesa Triple Rec just can't do. Scott Splawn figured out how to add that "something" that every Marshall amp has always been missing. And if you have a Telecaster, you'll love the clean channel. The gain knob seems to act more like a compressor, or at least it does on mine, and it'll make a Tele spank & twang. I noticed that while playing my Anderson Drop Top Classic strat. I didn't expect much from the clean channel, but was pleasantly surprised. In fact, I think I could gig the QR in my old country-rock band and be plenty satisfied. I used to love bringing new and "exotic" amps to gigs just to see the traditionalists squint their eyes and go "what's that?".
Yeah, getting tones out of stuff that shouldn't be capable of doing it and making people scratch their heads while you're doing it is always fun.
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