
Tadpui
Well-known member
Alrighty, here's the Splawn in action. Like all amps I get my hands on for the first time, I just went with everything on "5", or in this case, 12:00 since it has no numbers or notches around the knobs. This is my test run doing the Seek and Destroy riff for the br00tal metalz.
So first off, this amp has a Clean Channel which I can't access because I didn't grab the fucking footswitch. No matter for these clips, but I'd love to hear that Clean channel cranked.
The Overdrive channel has three gain modes - 1st Gear, 2nd Gear, and 3rd Gear.
1st Gear is supposed to be like a hot-rodded Plexi - and I think it does a pretty great job at that kind of sound
2nd Gear is a beefed up JCM 800 - yeah, okay, pretty close, but it still sounds more Plexi-ish to me, just with even more gain. Not a problem.
3rd gear is a JCM 800 set to destroy the universe - Whatever
There is also a "Solo" knob which to the best of my knowledge acts as a volume boost and a little bump of gain increase for leads. I don't know for sure because, again, I don't have the fucking footswitch and I hate it when amps aren't functional without it.
That's the idea with this amp. Each gear has way more gain than the amps they're designed after, which is pretty much the point with Splawn amps.
Gibson Les Paul Traditional - Burstbucker 3 bridge pickup
Splawn Quick Rod - 100 watt mode
All EQs at 12:00
Gain 12:00
Master vol 12:00
Marshall 1960A 4x12 - Celestion Greenbacks
Shure SM 57 on axis, on grill, just outside dustcap
No EQ or FX in DAW
SAD Splawn 1st gear
SAD Splawn 2nd Gear
SAD Splawn 3rd Gear
And a better kind of seeking and destroying....The Stooges "Search and Destroy"
Happy Splawn 1st Gear
Not bad at all. The low-mids sounded happier in 1st and 2nd gear, and they kind mushed out in 3rd. On that particular riff, it seemed happiest at higher gain levels just because the added saturation agrees with the palm mutes better.
I really like 1st and 2nd gear, they hold together pretty well and still have that aggressive Marshall bite to them. It gets lots of gain without getting fizzy (although it's starting to come close on that 3rd gear clip). The low end sounds tight too.
I bet that thing is a lot of fun to play through.