Does the Super Stock do low gain?

[ronmail65]

I went from a JMP Master Volume amp to Splawn, and for the most part I've been very pleased. I have experience with the PM, the QR, and the Competition. I currently own a Competition. My only complaint is a lack of low gain sounds.

With gain at the lowest possible setting, the amps starts out at mid/high gain tone and goes up from there. Sometimes I'd like to get the low gain crunch tones (early ACDC type tone), but it's just not accessible on this amp. That's the only thing I miss about my JMP.

Does the Super Stock do the low gain settings?

[LooseCannon]

Yeah the comp doesn't do low gain really well, the closest you'd get to acdc is in first gear od 1 with the gain around 11 o'clock, but the sound still won't be open like old marshalls and you won't have much sustain unless you're in very high volume. I didn't play the Super Stock but I think the idea behind it is to sound more vintage and more suitable for lower gain\crunch tones.

BTW how would you compare the Comp to the QR? More aggressive? More treble?

[ronmail65]

My Competition has KT66 tubes in it, not EL34s. It sounds very similar to my PM with KT88s -- just a little brighter than a QR. Compared to the PM, the Competition does have a little more gain (more like the QR).

I was curious, so I called Josh at Splawn to see if EL34s would darken the tone on the Competition. He didn't think there would be any noticeable difference.

Probably my best low gain settings come from the PM clean channel with the gain cranked way up. It's the new clean channel and does great cleans, but it can still get a little dirty with this setting.

[TJ]

Run first gear and get a flying dragon from lizardleg effects and run it in front of the amp and you'll have early AC/DC tone down.

[shreder75]

try using lower gain settings on SECOND gear

[shreder75]

ALSO,

dialing out treble will give you a more vintagy, less agressive, vibe

[DonaldDemon]

I know this may sound silly but also use a single coil pickup or a bolt on neck guitar. My Tele and Strat get much better low gain classic rock tones than my Les Paul.

[ronmail65]

Thanks very much for all the great advice.

I generally play an old LP Custom that has a DiMarzio SD installed -- so that may be another factor as to why I can't get the gain down low.

As an aside... I may be selling the Competition to fund a PRS purchase. I think I'm going to stick with the PM. If you're interested let me know. I'll probably do an "official" for sale posting in another week or so.

[timzee117]

after having the superstock for a few months i just want to say the superstock is perfect for low gain tones

[teyry]

I received my Superstock today from an ebay auction. To me all this thing does is low gain....think LosLonelyBoys "Heaven", "Hollywood","Velvet Sky". I am thinking there is something wrong with it. I also have a Ceriatone clone of a Marshall Plexi 1986 "Bass" and the plexi has way more gain than the Superstock. With the gain on the 2nd OD channel at max I can't get any good "crunch" out of it.
I called "Splawn" today to see if I could send it in and they suggested I change the preamp tubes first. Hopefully this works out.
I also have a "Nitro" on order.
I actually purchased the "Superstock" hoping to get some good clean and crunch tones as a possible plexi replacement. Looking for SRV, LosLonelyBoys, Hendrix, Free, Deep Purple...we'll see.

[sbk]

The Super Stock is designed for lower gain applications.Not suppose to have as much gain as a Comp,Nitro,Quickrod,Pro-mod,etc...

[megajay]

I have a really early pro mod, one of the first 30 or so Scott made. I started to find that I was wanting a little less gain and more versatility so I threw a couple 5751 preamp tubes in v1 and v2, this reduced the gain quite a bit. You may want to try some different lower gain preamp tube options like that. I really like the 5751's though, they take a small amount of the aggressive edge off but the amp still sounds mean.

J

[SonicExplorer]

I have no idea what year the Splawn amps you guys are using were made, but my QR is a 2008 model (4-pre) which has the new gain taper - and the amp can do low gain tones great.

Prior to the new gain taper there was a bit a "leap" to the gain which is exactly why Scott improved upon it.

[Dirrty Craig]

I agree with Sonic... both my QuickRods do Ac/DC sOOOO well its scary. If anything its an improvement on the classic AC/DC vibe. Listen to the latest Ac/DC record.. even Angus and Malcolm do not get that old sound anymore EXACTLY.

[shreder75]

if anything it sounds like they used LESS gain on the new AC/DC album....