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Check out this Nitro I got a few weeks ago. I got it because I wanted to get kind of an altered Marshall tone and because I love the way Splawns sound.
This one is loaded with EL34B's. I played the KT88 version several times but couldn't bond with it. It does sound bigger with KT88's, but loses something natural sounding about it. With KT88 it sounds kind of sterilized or TOO perfect sounding. The EL34 version is a little spongier. The variety of harmonics you can effortlessly pinch is incredible. There are different dimensions to the sound.
My experience with Splawn amps are that they are designed to be used with pedals. The clean channel stays very clean and you can only get a slight breakup when the amp is very loud on 50w mode. There's no need to try 100 watt mode for clean sounds in my opinion.
You would think it's a metal amp by the way Splawn advertises it but it's very different from that. In my opinion the Quickrod sounds more metal than the Nitro. The Nitro is a little smoother with less prominent mids but not mid scooped. It has a more balanced EQ than the Quickrod.
My chief concern was that it would be too bassy but after getting it I realized the bass was easy to tame. I like to keep it dialed around 11:00 with mids and treble about 1:00 for lead tones. I find that the presence and resonance controls are essential to get scooped sounds. This is an amp I could imagine Joe Satriani playing.
Back to the cleans. I like the cleans very much, probably more than the Quickrod clean channel. I find that it only needs a hint of chorus and tube screamer to become incredibly tasty sounding.
It's almost essential to have a tube screamer with the Nitro because there is a small gap between the clean channel and gain channel. To get those mild breakup, in-between sounds you can do it easier with a pedal. You start with the drive channel gain around 9:00 and it's pretty mild with high output pickups. If you need it any cleaner than that, you will need to use your volume knob.
Splawn used to use Tungsol tubes but for some reason, probably being cheap, switched to Chinese. I found the stock tubes to be noisy, especially when the gain was past 2:00. I switched them out with some JJ's and it sounded better. I haven't tried any new power tubes but my sound is great now so I don't see a need to change power tubes yet.
I discovered the effects loop master which is a way you can get really good low volume sounds. It works very well with 50 watt or 100 watt setting but I like to keep it on 100.
Very cool amp. Splawn is a master builder. I think his amps are incredibly good. There is probalby not another American built amp you can buy and get the same quality for the money.
Even so it's so great I'm probably not going to keep it because I am going to cut down to only 1 combo amp and 1 amp head.
This one is loaded with EL34B's. I played the KT88 version several times but couldn't bond with it. It does sound bigger with KT88's, but loses something natural sounding about it. With KT88 it sounds kind of sterilized or TOO perfect sounding. The EL34 version is a little spongier. The variety of harmonics you can effortlessly pinch is incredible. There are different dimensions to the sound.
My experience with Splawn amps are that they are designed to be used with pedals. The clean channel stays very clean and you can only get a slight breakup when the amp is very loud on 50w mode. There's no need to try 100 watt mode for clean sounds in my opinion.
You would think it's a metal amp by the way Splawn advertises it but it's very different from that. In my opinion the Quickrod sounds more metal than the Nitro. The Nitro is a little smoother with less prominent mids but not mid scooped. It has a more balanced EQ than the Quickrod.
My chief concern was that it would be too bassy but after getting it I realized the bass was easy to tame. I like to keep it dialed around 11:00 with mids and treble about 1:00 for lead tones. I find that the presence and resonance controls are essential to get scooped sounds. This is an amp I could imagine Joe Satriani playing.
Back to the cleans. I like the cleans very much, probably more than the Quickrod clean channel. I find that it only needs a hint of chorus and tube screamer to become incredibly tasty sounding.
It's almost essential to have a tube screamer with the Nitro because there is a small gap between the clean channel and gain channel. To get those mild breakup, in-between sounds you can do it easier with a pedal. You start with the drive channel gain around 9:00 and it's pretty mild with high output pickups. If you need it any cleaner than that, you will need to use your volume knob.
Splawn used to use Tungsol tubes but for some reason, probably being cheap, switched to Chinese. I found the stock tubes to be noisy, especially when the gain was past 2:00. I switched them out with some JJ's and it sounded better. I haven't tried any new power tubes but my sound is great now so I don't see a need to change power tubes yet.
I discovered the effects loop master which is a way you can get really good low volume sounds. It works very well with 50 watt or 100 watt setting but I like to keep it on 100.
Very cool amp. Splawn is a master builder. I think his amps are incredibly good. There is probalby not another American built amp you can buy and get the same quality for the money.
Even so it's so great I'm probably not going to keep it because I am going to cut down to only 1 combo amp and 1 amp head.
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