Re: Suhr PT100 vs Splawn Quick Rod
I’m with the Splawn folks on this one. The early QRs are known as very tight, articulate (unforgiving) amps. If your chops aren’t dialed in, an early QR will expose you. But if your chops are solid, you will sound like a God through a Splawn in a way that more compressed amps just seem to cover up. The newer Splawns with the Drop B+ add just the right amount of touch responsiveness without being too squishy. The most recent Splawns with the mid cut/boost and old/new voicing switches are some of the best sounding, most versatile amps I’ve ever played.
The Nitro has a touch more low-mid to the overall voicing, more gain on tap overall, and a Resonance knob - all of which may make it a better choice for modern metal. But I will say that the QR in 3rd gear (highest gain on the QR) with the mid cut switch engaged and set to ‘new’ voicing brings you solidly into Nitro territory. Switch the mids back in, switch to the ‘old’ voicing, and switch back to 1st Gear (Plexi voicing) and you literally cannot believe you are playing through the same amp.
There is a characteristic to the Splawns that makes them really shine in a live band situation or recording in a full band mix. Some of these ultra compressed ‘boutique’ amps sound incredible in the music store - and make it feel like your guitar is practically playing itself... But add a kick drum and a snare and a cymbal or two along with a bass guitar and that smooth, creamy guitar tone just gets buried deeper and deeper behind all those competing frequencies. The Splawn seems to stay ‘out front’ in a way that is hard to describe but easy to identify when you hear it in the crowd or feel it from the stage.
FWIW - I am biased - I owned an earlier 100 watt QR and a 100 watt Nitro. I very reluctantly sold them both to buy brand new fully loaded 50 watt versions of each amp directly from Scott. And I could not be happier. These fully loaded 50s are such incredible amps. I really don’t need them both, but it is nice having options.
