new slawn competition...

[mainly]

my competition arrived yesterday. not exactly what i expectedi t to be. im wondering if i should keep it. being so similar to my sig:x in tone. i cant really say i like one or the other. the only thing is the tone of the sig:x and comp are so simlar, but the sig:x has so much more features that make it a gig friendly amp??? like 3 channels, an amazing clean channel, and a programmable footswtch with switchable effects loop.!!

none of which the comp has. and yet the tone is pretty much the same.

its a tough one. i guess i was figuring going with a single channel amp woul dgive me the purest tone that a channel switching amp couldnt have cause of the signal path, but it doesnt really beat the sig:x in the one dept i thought it should.

i think i should have maybe gone with a quickrod or other multichannel, then at least id have a clean channel. the other thing that kinda dissapointed me was the footswitch.. i click on all the switches and they barely make a noticeable difference. all they seem to do is juat add more gain, or less gain. its so minimul, it seems kinda pointless. as well, there seems to be no way to configure the amp so you have a somewhat clean channel, and can footswitch to a lead tone. like if i choose gear 1 on the amp, put the gain at like 8:00 or 9:00. i have a somewhaty clean sound, but then switching to mode 2 and gear 2(both adding gain) still isnt enough gain to solo. its as if its all gain or not.

what do you guys think should isell it or keep it??

[Ayton(e)]

I would give it more than one day. If you think the different gears just add more gain, then you are not hearing it properly, or have it set up weird. Are you clear on how the footswitch interacts with the Gear control on the front? I wouldn't expect a single channel amp to footswitch between clean and dirty either. Splawns aren't over saturated; roll back your guitar volume for cleaner tone, wind it up for the dirt.

But, I think if you're getting antsy after 24 hrs, you're going to sell it.

[mainly]

Jan 29, 2010 23:16:45 GMT -5 Ayton(e) said:

I would give it more than one day. If you think the different gears just add more gain, then you are not hearing it properly, or have it set up weird. Are you clear on how the footswitch interacts with the Gear control on the front? I wouldn't expect a single channel amp to footswitch between clean and dirty either. Splawns aren't over saturated; roll back your guitar volume for cleaner tone, wind it up for the dirt.

But, I think if you're getting antsy after 24 hrs, you're going to sell it.

yeah i think i got it..

gear one selected on the amp: allows you to go between gear 1 and 2 on the mode footswitch.

gear 3 selected on the amp: allows you to select between gear 2 and 3 on the mode footswitch.

and gear 2 selected on the amp: the mode footswitch does nothing.

is that right?

and actually if i were to use one word to describe this amp is would be saturated . its the most saturated sounding amp ive ever heard. it has about twice as much gain as my sig:x


yes the od 1/ od 2 switch does just seem to add more gain, and maybe a little top end.

oh and rolling off the guitar volume is totally not an option. even with the guitar volume at about 10% there is complete breakup when you pick hard. which is what i always do.

yeah itll probably be going up for sale, as im gassing for a soldano SLO., anyone wanna make me an offer.??

its a sweet looking amp.

[SmokinPaul]

Yeah...sell it, get your SLO, and leave this place ;D Just kidding man....Sorry it didn't work out for you....Good Luck on your tone quest

[Ayton(e)]

Flippers are weird guys! Unless it sounded like Fran Drescher, I like to think I'd give any $1,500 amp I'd bought at least a month to see what it could do for me. It's been more than two years, and I'm still finding out how the Splawn likes to be set for various things.

At least you didn't hate it, Mainly, just found it too close to the Sig, which is fair enough. Never heard that before about any Splawn, but they may be similar. I'm surprised it doesn't seem more pure; the Competition even sounds more raw than its big brother the QR, despite sharing the same circuit, just because the Comp doesn't have a clean channel in there too (according to Scott.)

Oh well. Good luck with the next one. I didn't like the SLO personally, but it did seem super pure. Gain without dirt. Hope you've got a rubber ducky, because in this economy you're probably going to be taking a bath on flipping a brand new amp!

[mainly]

Jan 30, 2010 10:11:49 GMT -5 Ayton(e) said:

Flippers are weird guys! Unless it sounded like Fran Drescher, I like to think I'd give any $1,500 amp I'd bought at least a month to see what it could do for me. It's been more than two years, and I'm still finding out how the Splawn likes to be set for various things.

At least you didn't hate it, Mainly, just found it too close to the Sig, which is fair enough. Never heard that before about any Splawn, but they may be similar. I'm surprised it doesn't seem more pure; the Competition even sounds more raw than its big brother the QR, despite sharing the same circuit, just because the Comp doesn't have a clean channel in there too (according to Scott.)

Oh well. Good luck with the next one. I didn't like the SLO personally, but it did seem super pure. Gain without dirt. Hope you've got a rubber ducky, because in this economy you're probably going to be taking a bath on flipping a brand new amp!

flippers???

anyway, yeah thanks for the input guys, but my competition is now on ebay... oh well sh!t hapens, ive sold just aboout every amp ive ever owned...

last night i did some serious A/B/C comparisons between the dual rect, sig:x and competition, and i came to the same conclusion to sell it after i was through. i gave the comp every chance i could, but it just didnt come out on top in any category.

the best clean channel obviously - sig:x

the loudest was the dual rect, by a huge margin, even over the sig:x , which is also 100 watts??

the dual rect also had the biggest sonic footprint, and sounded the most "three dimensional".

granted i was using the matching 412 recto cab for all three amps .

the comp unfortunately sounded the least dimensional, im guessing maybe to do with it only having 2 tubes and 50 watts ?

he sig:x had a bit more character overall, on the neck pickup, and on the clean..

but i just couldnt see a dept where the competition beat my other 2 amps. other than in amount of gain saturation.

[drweller]

Should probably have tried it for at least a week, and definitely in a band context. There are a lot of subtleties with the Splawns - a little knob tweaking can send the amp in a lot of different directions, especially with the Gain/Footswitch.

That's going to be an expensive 1-day demo.

[SmokinPaul]

Ayton +1..I have a ProStock w/KT-88's......Don't need no stinkin' clean channel.....1st gear rollback sounds great.....It's not about saturation....it's about responsiveness where the notes just explode off the fingerboard.....just keep your VHT/Fryette(FRY IT) and enjoy.....it should all come from your hands and you axe, not the channel switching..Have you ever heard Ayton play? You should! ;D By the way, a friend of mine has an SLO made for DeMartini #03. He had ordered 3 SLO's but decided to take only the first 2. We just got together and A/B'd both amps and agreed...the Splawn sounded better! Food for thought

[mainly]

Jan 30, 2010 18:07:43 GMT -5 SmokinPaul said:

Ayton +1..I have a ProStock w/KT-88's......Don't need no stinkin' clean channel.....1st gear rollback sounds great.....It's not about saturation....it's about responsiveness where the notes just explode off the fingerboard.....just keep your VHT/Fryette(FRY IT) and enjoy.....it should all come from your hands and you axe, not the channel switching..Have you ever heard Ayton play? You should! ;D By the way, a friend of mine has an SLO made for DeMartini #03. He had ordered 3 SLO's but decided to take only the first 2. We just got together and A/B'd both amps and agreed...the Splawn sounded better! Food for thought

i find it impossible to believe a $1500 amp could sound better than a $4000 amp. which splawn was it?


ive already played both and the soldano sounded unlike any other amp ive tried. its the only amp that you can put the knobs in any position you wish and the tone still sounds good. it just makes me giggle. cant explain it. do that with a boogie or my competition and you wont be pleased.

have you guys turned the volume all the way up (loop engaged or not) and left the bass control where it was? like on 4-8? what happened?


if i get another splawn it will definatly be a 100 watter. its not about the loudness, i just think maybe a 100 watt amp has that depth that the 50 watts cant achieve???

regardless i just put a $2000 down payment on a SLO-100 in soldano purple!!

now more waiting. ...

[SmokinPaul]

;DBELIEVE.....your loss...or gain I suppose..... :(like I said... good luck.....

[sbk]

Jan 30, 2010 14:10:21 GMT -5 mainly said:

Jan 30, 2010 10:11:49 GMT -5 Ayton(e) said:

Flippers are weird guys! Unless it sounded like Fran Drescher, I like to think I'd give any $1,500 amp I'd bought at least a month to see what it could do for me. It's been more than two years, and I'm still finding out how the Splawn likes to be set for various things.

At least you didn't hate it, Mainly, just found it too close to the Sig, which is fair enough. Never heard that before about any Splawn, but they may be similar. I'm surprised it doesn't seem more pure; the Competition even sounds more raw than its big brother the QR, despite sharing the same circuit, just because the Comp doesn't have a clean channel in there too (according to Scott.)

Oh well. Good luck with the next one. I didn't like the SLO personally, but it did seem super pure. Gain without dirt. Hope you've got a rubber ducky, because in this economy you're probably going to be taking a bath on flipping a brand new amp!

flippers???

anyway, yeah thanks for the input guys, but my competition is now on ebay... oh well sh!t hapens, ive sold just aboout every amp ive ever owned...

last night i did some serious A/B/C comparisons between the dual rect, sig:x and competition, and i came to the same conclusion to sell it after i was through. i gave the comp every chance i could, but it just didnt come out on top in any category.

the best clean channel obviously - sig:x

the loudest was the dual rect, by a huge margin, even over the sig:x , which is also 100 watts??

the dual rect also had the biggest sonic footprint, and sounded the most "three dimensional".

granted i was using the matching 412 recto cab for all three amps .

the comp unfortunately sounded the least dimensional, im guessing maybe to do with it only having 2 tubes and 50 watts ?

he sig:x had a bit more character overall, on the neck pickup, and on the clean..

but i just couldnt see a dept where the competition beat my other 2 amps. other than in amount of gain saturation.

Speakers..Speakers....Speakers....!!!
For most(not all)..Splawn amps tend to sound much better with speakers that the amp was designed around.I had a Mesa cab with V30`s and my Splawn DID NOT like that cab.I bought a Splawn cab with an X-pattern of BB`s and SB`s..problem solved.Anyway,its a shame that you decided to sell it.If I had the dough right now,I would take it off your hands,as I want a competition to go with my Nitro.I have heard the Comp in all its glory and it is one PISSED off SOB...Good luck on your search.

[TJ]

You should have paired it with different speakers. It's not hard to believe in my opinion that a$1,500 amp can sound better than a $4,000 amp. Has nothing to do with the price tag. I've compared my Spalawn to every major boutique amp out there and it always comes out on top. You should have held on to it. You're going to make somebody very happy by getting rid of it! :-)

[mainly]

well i just shipped my competition away. someone named jeff jumped on it soon after i listed it on ebay. hopefully it will work for him.

ive heard the speaker mismatch thing before as well, but i just dont think thats a valid argument.

sure its possible for an amp to sound BETTER with the cab it was designed for , but a good amp should sound good through any decent cab. and the recto 412 is one of the best cabinets that there is. i have never seen a cab built better. if i go for another splawn it will definatly be a 100 watt. most likely a nitro or quickrod. as for now i wait for my soldano SLO-100 in purple to arrive.

[joelaroint]

Jan 31, 2010 15:26:36 GMT -5 sbk said:

Jan 30, 2010 14:10:21 GMT -5 mainly said:

flippers???

anyway, yeah thanks for the input guys, but my competition is now on ebay... oh well sh!t hapens, ive sold just aboout every amp ive ever owned...

last night i did some serious A/B/C comparisons between the dual rect, sig:x and competition, and i came to the same conclusion to sell it after i was through. i gave the comp every chance i could, but it just didnt come out on top in any category.

the best clean channel obviously - sig:x

the loudest was the dual rect, by a huge margin, even over the sig:x , which is also 100 watts??

the dual rect also had the biggest sonic footprint, and sounded the most "three dimensional".

granted i was using the matching 412 recto cab for all three amps .

the comp unfortunately sounded the least dimensional, im guessing maybe to do with it only having 2 tubes and 50 watts ?

he sig:x had a bit more character overall, on the neck pickup, and on the clean..

but i just couldnt see a dept where the competition beat my other 2 amps. other than in amount of gain saturation.

Speakers..Speakers....Speakers....!!!
For most(not all)..Splawn amps tend to sound much better with speakers that the amp was designed around.I had a Mesa cab with V30`s and my Splawn DID NOT like that cab.I bought a Splawn cab with an X-pattern of BB`s and SB`s..problem solved.Anyway,its a shame that you decided to sell it.If I had the dough right now,I would take it off your hands,as I want a competition to go with my Nitro.I have heard the Comp in all its glory and it is one PISSED off SOB...Good luck on your search.

+1

I've got to hear my supercomp thru a marshal w/ v30,a mesa recto w/ v30,genz benz w/ emi. legends,line6 w/ not sure what spk, and about 6 more including a home-made 2x12 with w/H75LDC scumbacks and I'll take my Splawn straight w/ x-pattern of big & small blocks over 'em all.Until you've tried a Splawn w/ a few different cabs don't be so quick to say speakers or cab don't matter.. To any other new comers I say speakers can make a night & day difference!!!!!!

PS. I wonder how much overhead your paying for out of that $4000 ( one of the FEW reasons $1500 CAN compete w/ $4000)

[Ayton(e)]

If you're thinking about tone rather than status, yeah, $1,500 can beat $4,000, no problem.