Downtuning with a ProMod

[eric]

Hello,

I'm interested in getting a ProMod because I personally prefer the sound of kt88 tubes to el34 tubes. But I want to know does anyone on here tune down or play a seven string with their ProMod. If so what speakers and cabs are you using?

Oh yeah this is my first post. This is a cool forum and I love all the sound clips on the Splawn website.

Thanks in advance.

Eric

[Axemane]

I tune to D. (D-G-C-F-A-D)

Marshall 4-12 with vintage 30's.Let's move some freakin' air,shall we?

It sounds fat and chunky through my Quick Rod and my SLPx modded(KT-88,Mercury Magnetics tranny).

I have played through a Splawn 2-12 with the x pattern Eminences and it was even fatter and tighter.Both very good,but the Splawn cab was better IMO.

[DonaldDemon]

I tune down to a flat with my Pro Mod, does that count?

I use a Bogner straight 4x12 with V30's and it sounds freakin awesome. You won't be dissapointed in this amp, especially if you want a tight, articulate, pissed-off Marshall sound with more sack (shreder terminology).

What are you playing now?

[eric]

What's sack??

I want my first real amp. I've played through a lot of amps. I've found I'm more of a Marshall man than the modern gain-stacked tone. Splawn seems like that perfected jacked up Marshall sound. I've played through everything from Mesa's to Peavey and a lot of solid state amps. I just love that Marshall grind. I want the kt88 tubes though, becasue I play in drop C and some seven strings. I also want to build a baritone 7 which may end up going awfully low.

[Axemane]

Sack=nuts;balls

[DonaldDemon]

eric said:

What's sack??

I want my first real amp. I've played through a lot of amps. I've found I'm more of a Marshall man than the modern gain-stacked tone. Splawn seems like that perfected jacked up Marshall sound. I've played through everything from Mesa's to Peavey and a lot of solid state amps. I just love that Marshall grind. I want the kt88 tubes though, becasue I play in drop C and some seven strings. I also want to build a baritone 7 which may end up going awfully low.

It sounds ilke to me you would be very happy with the Splawn. The great thing about it is that it doesn't ever get muddy so tuning down real low should still retain clarity instead of just getting farty.

I'm telling ya, if you are more in favor of Marshall tones (which I finally realized I was after blowing through alo of amps) then this amp will blow you away.

[eric]

Thanks for the replies.

After playing through quite a few amps and doing a lot of research about what amps and tubes and such that the players whose tone I loved use. I came to the conclusion I don't need that super saturated tone. I need aggression but not that gain stacked Mesa type tone. Old Van Halen (pre-Hagar), King's X and Tom Morello none of them have a super distorted tone. It's crunchy, the notes pop but its not that really thick distortion. I prefer the Pro Mod to the Quick Rod just because I want the headroom kt88s give.

[DonaldDemon]

I agree. I kept trying all these super-saturated high gain amps and never being satisfied. I was using Mesas, Riveras, Oranges, etc. but everytime I did research on the tones I liked from pro guys I was surprised to know they were playing Marshalls. Most of them the JCM series.

The tones I loved the best were Slash, Morello, Weezer, early VH and some others..all Marshall users. When I bought a few Marshalls I was kind of dissapointed and I didn't want to spend so much time and money looking for a good sounding JCM800 because they seem so inconsistent. When I heard the Pro Mod it was all over.

BTW, check out my review of the Pro Mod if you haven't already:

reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar+Amp/product/Splawn/Pro+Mod+100+Watt+Head/10/1

[jc-TONE-quest]

The ProMod rules period! I tune down to drop B and it is still very tight and articulate! I have not played a tighter amp and the tone is awesome.

[eric]

DonaldDemon- Great review. I'm still looking for people with negative things to say about Splawns. Some have said they're not their personal preferences or whatever, but no one has called it anything really negative.

johnnyTONEquest - What cabs and speakers are you using? What guitar(s) are you drop tuning?
I ,like most people on this board, am a nosey gear geek.

[scottdh]

I used to use my QR with drop-c and drop-b tunings with great success, and will use my new Promod with those tunings when it arrives next month. I am jacked!

[jc-TONE-quest]

eric said:

johnnyTONEquest - What cabs and speakers are you using? What guitar(s) are you drop tuning?
I ,like most people on this board, am a nosey gear geek.

Well for cabs I have 2. I have a Splawn 4x12 w/ Eminence Governor/Manowar X-pattern and I have a Zwengel with Celestion V30's/G12T75's X-Pattern. I love running both cab's at once. It devastates. I use Gibson LP's with Gibson 500T's in the Bridge.

[eric]

Two 4x12s with a 120 watts of kt88 power and guitar tuned way down sounds perfect for keeping the neighbors entertained.

[DonaldDemon]

eric said:

DonaldDemon- Great review. I'm still looking for people with negative things to say about Splawns. Some have said they're not their personal preferences or whatever, but no one has called it anything really negative.

I do the same thing. I always look for negative reviews first when I research a product. Suprisingly there were none I could find when I was looking at Splawns! That to me means either not enough people have them or they really are that good. Splawns have been around for a few years now so I felt safe with the decision.

The only ones that I have seen who did not like them were the ones who like the wall of saturation sound with no articulation.

[eric]

Yeah the reviews have been very helpful. So have all the clips on here. Lots of really great tones coming out of these amps. I also listened to a bunch of clips of other high gain amps. I tell you if I had to sit through one more clip that sounded like a kid with his first distortion pedal I was going to scream. You know the sound all gain, no bite and no articulation.