Post by windsen on Oct 20, 2007 12:02:38 GMT -5
Okay, sorry for the delay in getting this up for you guys. I had a pretty hectic day yesterday and a few personal things have come up. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to get to record the amp this weekend like I had planned with everything coming up in the past 24 hours. Anyways I did want to provide you guys with some pics and info because I know there are a lot of you wanting to know more about the amp. So here is a real quick summary of what I can tell you based on then little time I’ve had with the amp.
This is the first Nitro amp made after the initial prototype that was at the Splawn convention. Mine is loaded with SED Winged C EL34s. I don't believe Scott normally makes amps with these tubes but he was super cool in helping me out with that.
Huge Low End
Compared to my old Quickrod, the Nitro definately has some serious low end going on, especially when run through the new Splawn Big/Small Block X-Pattern 412. I seriously can't imagine what this thing sounds like with KT88s because with the EL34s, things are shaking like crazy. It is a much bigger sounding amp than my QR. Even with such a huge low end, the Nitro still stays pretty tight. However it doesn't seem as tight as the Quickrod, which as some of you know is ridiculously tight. There is definately a bit more of a spongy feel to its responsiveness but overall it still remains articulate and is not flubby at all.
Overall Darker Voicing
One of the biggest differences with the Nitro compared to the QR is that the tonal emphasis is shifted more towards the lows and low mids. There is no high mid spike like with the QRs. Furthermore, the amp distortion and voicing is pretty smooth. Imagine the classic EL34s grind, but then smoothen it out a bit, darken it up and that's what you got. This is noticeably different than the QR. While the QR has that real prominent “cut” because of the mids, the Nitro has more of a “punch” to it. It is definitely more modern sounding, with a more saturated type distortion.
Gain knob seems to have a wider sweep
You can get a pretty wide range of distortion levels with the gain knob. There is no more gear switch on the Nitro. So it seems that there is a much wider sweep to the gain knob in order to cover more ground if that makes sense. With the gain at noon, it seems like very “gear 2-ish” in terms of gain. For me turning the knob up to about 2:00 is where things start to get saturated and really modern sounding. Also because there is no gear switch there is now a resonance knob, which is like a presence knob, but for low end. Turning it up seems to thicken up the sound more, but also compresses it a bit more. I’m not really sure how this knob works and want to give Scott a call and get an explanation from him.
New Clean Channel is amazing
The improved clean channel is very, very nice and much improved over the old clean channels. You can get a bunch of different types of sounds from the channel but overall it is very clean.
Overall this amp is a ridiculously killer amp. I think it’s actually louder than my QR. It is just amazing huge sounding. But it is a very different animal that the QR. It feels and responds differently in my opinion but still feels like a Splawn. Again, remember these are just my initial impressions. I will try to provide more info as I get more time to spend with the amp. I will also do my best to get some recordings up soon. Thanks.
Here are some pics of the amp:
***EDIT***
crappy ass recordings: www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=358837
Okay so I did two really short clips comparing the Nitro through the two different Splawn cabs. Each clips has two channels (left and right) each with a different speaker.
General setup:
Splawn Nitro - SED Winged C EL34s, 50 watt mode. Splawn 412 cab. Right channel - Splawn Big Blocks. Left channel - Splawn Small Blocks. Gain - ~2:45, OD1 , Master volume - ~8:00
Here's the breakdown for the clips.
New Cab Clip: Right channel = Eminence Splawn Big Blocks; Left channel = Eminence Splawn Small Blocks.
Old Cab Clip: Right channel = Eminence Governor. Left channel = Eminence ManoWar.
The quality is not the best. I didn't have time to fiddle around with mic placements and such. Also I am the sucks at playing now so try to disregard the bad playing.
**Also, as I've stated this amp is a very different amp than the QR. The gain taper is much different and the resonance control is something completely new. There are a lot of sounds possible with this amp and I'm still trying to figure out how to best dial it in so keep that in mind with these first recordings. **
I definately want to do a proper recording at some point. So stay tuned. Thanks.
This is the first Nitro amp made after the initial prototype that was at the Splawn convention. Mine is loaded with SED Winged C EL34s. I don't believe Scott normally makes amps with these tubes but he was super cool in helping me out with that.
Huge Low End
Compared to my old Quickrod, the Nitro definately has some serious low end going on, especially when run through the new Splawn Big/Small Block X-Pattern 412. I seriously can't imagine what this thing sounds like with KT88s because with the EL34s, things are shaking like crazy. It is a much bigger sounding amp than my QR. Even with such a huge low end, the Nitro still stays pretty tight. However it doesn't seem as tight as the Quickrod, which as some of you know is ridiculously tight. There is definately a bit more of a spongy feel to its responsiveness but overall it still remains articulate and is not flubby at all.
Overall Darker Voicing
One of the biggest differences with the Nitro compared to the QR is that the tonal emphasis is shifted more towards the lows and low mids. There is no high mid spike like with the QRs. Furthermore, the amp distortion and voicing is pretty smooth. Imagine the classic EL34s grind, but then smoothen it out a bit, darken it up and that's what you got. This is noticeably different than the QR. While the QR has that real prominent “cut” because of the mids, the Nitro has more of a “punch” to it. It is definitely more modern sounding, with a more saturated type distortion.
Gain knob seems to have a wider sweep
You can get a pretty wide range of distortion levels with the gain knob. There is no more gear switch on the Nitro. So it seems that there is a much wider sweep to the gain knob in order to cover more ground if that makes sense. With the gain at noon, it seems like very “gear 2-ish” in terms of gain. For me turning the knob up to about 2:00 is where things start to get saturated and really modern sounding. Also because there is no gear switch there is now a resonance knob, which is like a presence knob, but for low end. Turning it up seems to thicken up the sound more, but also compresses it a bit more. I’m not really sure how this knob works and want to give Scott a call and get an explanation from him.
New Clean Channel is amazing
The improved clean channel is very, very nice and much improved over the old clean channels. You can get a bunch of different types of sounds from the channel but overall it is very clean.
Overall this amp is a ridiculously killer amp. I think it’s actually louder than my QR. It is just amazing huge sounding. But it is a very different animal that the QR. It feels and responds differently in my opinion but still feels like a Splawn. Again, remember these are just my initial impressions. I will try to provide more info as I get more time to spend with the amp. I will also do my best to get some recordings up soon. Thanks.
Here are some pics of the amp:
***EDIT***
crappy ass recordings: www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=358837
Okay so I did two really short clips comparing the Nitro through the two different Splawn cabs. Each clips has two channels (left and right) each with a different speaker.
General setup:
Splawn Nitro - SED Winged C EL34s, 50 watt mode. Splawn 412 cab. Right channel - Splawn Big Blocks. Left channel - Splawn Small Blocks. Gain - ~2:45, OD1 , Master volume - ~8:00
Here's the breakdown for the clips.
New Cab Clip: Right channel = Eminence Splawn Big Blocks; Left channel = Eminence Splawn Small Blocks.
Old Cab Clip: Right channel = Eminence Governor. Left channel = Eminence ManoWar.
The quality is not the best. I didn't have time to fiddle around with mic placements and such. Also I am the sucks at playing now so try to disregard the bad playing.
**Also, as I've stated this amp is a very different amp than the QR. The gain taper is much different and the resonance control is something completely new. There are a lot of sounds possible with this amp and I'm still trying to figure out how to best dial it in so keep that in mind with these first recordings. **
I definately want to do a proper recording at some point. So stay tuned. Thanks.
