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Post by Shawnee on Jul 15, 2005 7:10:24 GMT -5
OK guys, I got my QuickRod and I am not sure that this is the amp for me. I played my Les Paul and a strat through it and it just doesn't sound like old Van Halen to me. I'm trying to get the tone that Scott got on the soundclip with "women in love" on it. It does nail AC/DC for sure, but that's not what I'm looking for. I like the Eric Johnson tones with the treble rolled back. I have turned the presence and treble both to 0 and it still seems to be too bright. What am I doing wrong? I am running it into a 1982 Marshall 4x12 cab with 65 watt celestions in it.
This amp is beautiful and well built for sure. It has plenty of gain and although the clean channel is not fantastic, I knew that going in and I can live with it for sure.
I have never been a Marshall player. I have always played Fenders or my Mesa Boogie Mark 2C. Maybe I'm just not used to the sound yet. I hate to admit this but I absolutely loved the Marshall JCM 2000 DSL100 when I tried one. I went with the Splawn because I know it's way better built and the sound clips were amazing. Any advice on settings? Should I put an EQ in the loop to pull more treble out?
I think if I can get the treble out, I'll be fine with it.
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Post by Dirrty Craig on Jul 15, 2005 8:20:45 GMT -5
MY advice would be ditch the Les Paul if your trying to get a good VH tone. Its going to be too muddy in the bottom and not as much cut as an alder body style/humbucker strat style guitar.
What pickups/wood is in your strat guitar?
I think with all the knobs on 12 o'clock the amp sounds exactly like the VHII record. I also noticed Scott does alot of his clips in the low input which doesn't have as much gain, but seems to nail the VH tone alot better.
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Post by VomHalen on Jul 15, 2005 8:42:05 GMT -5
what kind of pickups do you have in your guitars?
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Post by Shawnee on Jul 15, 2005 11:52:36 GMT -5
There is only one input on this amp. It may be a little different than the older QR's. It has a gain switch that goes from 1-2-3. Mine has 12 knobs on the front.
I like it other than the treble is waaay over the top. My friend should be getting his Marshall 1959RI back in a week and I can see what his amp sounds like compared to mine.
Craig- I know what you mean about the Les Paul but it takes some of the treble out (which is the problem).
Splawnfan- I have a 59 RI flametop Les Paul with stock Gibson 57 classic humbuckers in it. My other Les Pauls have the Duncan JB & 59 combo. Strat has vintage style single coils.
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Post by VomHalen on Jul 15, 2005 12:53:44 GMT -5
those pickups should be fine for that amp...hmmm...yeah you have the very brand new design with the 3 "gears"...i believe gear 1 is supposed to the the same as the "low input" in the old style heads.
i wish i was there to help you dial it in
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Post by Shawnee on Jul 15, 2005 13:24:13 GMT -5
Come on by......... Texas isn't that far away.
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Post by VomHalen on Jul 15, 2005 14:20:24 GMT -5
Come on by......... Texas isn't that far away. ok...come pick me up at DFW ;D |
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Post by Shawnee on Jul 15, 2005 15:31:15 GMT -5
I think I'll call Scott and see what he thinks about the treble issue. I am an electronics tech by trade so I could change out the capacitors to the tone controls and shift the range if I need to. I really hate to deal with an EQ in the loop.
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Post by Shawnee on Jul 15, 2005 19:35:34 GMT -5
I didn't call Scott yet but I cut way back on the Mid and it hepled a lot. I like the sound now but I have the presence, treble and Mid at less than 2 and the bass on 10. That's just kinda strange if you ask me.
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Post by Dirrty Craig on Jul 15, 2005 20:51:50 GMT -5
Thats really strange man. Thats the craziest EQ settings for a good VH sound.
So whats the deal with the new 1-2-3 pre-amp knob. Can someone explain that to me again? Is there 3 settings only with no adjustments beyond those 3?
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Post by Shawnee on Jul 15, 2005 21:06:11 GMT -5
OK, everyone just ignore me. This amp rocks. I switched from 1st gear to 2nd and all of the sudden, the bass is there! I really wish Scott would have sent a little info on the controls. I know eveyone will figure it out eventually but I'm practically retarted so it would have saved me some time. I'm getting happier with amp by the minute. I think Splawnfan said that the gear thing is like low, med, and high inputs? The bass isn't really there on 1st gear but sounds great on 2nd. 3rd gear is pretty over the top with gain though. I set the clean EQ like bass=10, mid 5, treble, 5 and it sounds pretty good. Seems like the cleaner it is, the less bass you have. When I crank the gain up, the bass comes out. I just need to keep turning knobs. I'll give Scott a call about some of the features and I should be fine. Thanks for your help guys.
I was getting confused on the gears and the footswitched channels.
Craig- I still have the same 11 knobs as the other QR with a separate EQ for the clean channel except I have a 12th knob that is a 3 position switch. I think it's like changing inputs. It adds gain and bass for sure. I can still dial down the gain with the gain knob if needed. Here is the control layout from left to right:
OVERDRIVE CHANNEL
Presence, Bass, Mid, Treble, Solo, Volume, Gain, Mode (1st gear, 2nd gear, 3rd gear)
CLEAN CHANNEL
Bass, Mid, Treble, Volume
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Post by tubez on Jul 16, 2005 10:32:54 GMT -5
Shawnee,
I owned the quick rod for about 2 weeks and decided to sell mine. It is a great amp but in all honesty I don't think it really nails the early VH tone like many people claim. However I will give it "in the ballpark" at best. To me it sounds like a cross between a 5150 and a JCM 800 which insn't a bad thing but certainly not in the class of early EVH. I have yet to hear a studio recording that really cops that sound. Personally none of the splawn clips sound like early evh to me accept the ones scott himself played do a little bit. The live clips by Al are the only ones that impressed me enough to give the amp a try. I wasn't dissapointed in the amp but to me it didn't really sound much different or better then some of the other good sounding amps out there. The early EVH sound will remain a mystery for eternity..
Enjoy your amp!
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Post by Dirrty Craig on Jul 16, 2005 11:26:02 GMT -5
Since this is a Splawn "Fans" Forum and directly linked from Scott's site, I think its only fair to mention to any potential Splawn buyers that "tubez" is the same guy in another thread who said his Fender Prosonic amp sounds as good as Quick Rod... LMAO. So its fair to say that maybe hes not the best guy to listen to when it comes to opinions on tone.
I have a 5150 and a QR, and they are not in the same ballpark.
Trust me when I say if you can't nail the early VH tone with a Quick Rod, then you should just stop trying altogether.
Sorry, I know thats a really rude thing to say, but it kinda urks me when I hear bedroom shredders commenting on things they obviously know nothing about. Stick with your Fender Prosonic amp. These kinds of posts are really misinforming to a potential customer and "pro" player from making arguably the most sound purchase a guitarist could make.
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Post by Shawnee on Jul 16, 2005 15:10:43 GMT -5
Craig- I understand where you are coming from. My posts weren't to bash this amp at all, I just needed some help with the setup. It does seem to be overly bright to me but that's what the knobs are for! Scott builds a super amp and is super to deal with. Splawn is a top notch outfit all the way. I respect the fact that you're sticking up for Scott. He deserves it.
Tubez- I think opinions on amps are kinda like opinions on colors. Like "Is that dark blue or black"? I guess everyones ears hear things a little bit differently. I'm sorry your amp didn't work out for you. I'm still tweaking to get what I'm looking for but I'm getting closer the more I mess with this amp. That gear switch made a huge difference as far as the low end coming out and the mid control was really what I was having a problem with. Shows how much I know, I can't tell the difference bewteen mid range and treble! I hope you find what you are looking for.
Thanks for all of your replies on this thread. I'm still going to call Scott to ask a few questions. I'll post the answers when I get them.
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Post by tubez on Jul 16, 2005 16:05:01 GMT -5
Craig,
No offense taken... I wasn't trying to bash the splawn in any way. I think its a great amp but why if I think my prosonic sounds as good is that wrong??? People all over are spending countless amouts of money on gear and end up not being satisfied with their tone. Personally no distorted sound is perfect and all amps have issues. BTW listen to VHoholics sound clips around the plexi palace and he gets much closer to eddies old tone then anything you have posted with your QR and he uses a 5150 on many of his clips... I don't even like the 5150 but he made it work. My point is anyone who really knows eddies early sound and has played the splawn will realize will not reproduce it. If you think it can then post something convincing. Many people "not all" are looking into these splawn amps because they have the reputation of reproducing the early VH sound. As countless others like the Mojave peacemaker which does not the roccaforte which does not either IMO. If you are looking for a great sounding 80's rock tone then the splawn delivers but I still didn't hear "Unchained" out of that amp...
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