|
|
Post by drbob1 on Jan 23, 2011 21:13:24 GMT -5
I'm not sure if this is the right part of the forum for this? If not could the mods move it? I'll add pics later if I figure out how. Anyway, this is a snakeskin covered, Splawn labelled amp that looks like it probably was a Sovtek Mig 60. It has Mercury Magnetics transformers. It has master, 4 band EQ and two preamp knobs. If I plug into the lower one I get just the right hand preamp knob, if I plug into the higher one I get both preamps active. Gain plugged into the lower one is similar to a JCM800, plugged into the upper one, most notes at the 12th fret will sustain indefinitely. Right now it's tubed with Tung Sol 12AX7s and Winged C EL34s from the Tubestore, I'm not sure it'll sound better with NOS, I'll possibly try later.
A couple of questions:
1. Anything else someone can tell me about this amp? What does #3 mean?
2. Any thoughts about tubes?
3. Any thoughts about speakers? I grabbed a cab with V30s today and it sounded really good. I've got greenbacks and H30s yet to try, as well as an Orange cab with Fanes and a Mesa cab with JBLs...
Anyway, glad to be a member of the club!
|
|
|
|
Post by alerich on Jan 28, 2012 21:05:54 GMT -5
Scott reportedly modded four Sovtek MIG 60 amps like this in 1998. Your #3 is #3 of 4.
There was one for sale today Jan 28 2012 at the Nashville Guitar Center. $1199. I almost tried it out but I knew I would buy it if I did. Too rich for my blood. I did score a nice EL34 Carvin X100B head on Craigslist this evening for $200. I am stoked.
|
|
|
|
Post by cecilbag on Jan 28, 2012 23:24:05 GMT -5
Please post some pics is love to see that amp
|
|
|
|
Post by Ayton(e) on Jan 29, 2012 16:05:10 GMT -5
This little fella and its brothers surface from time to time. I think #3 appeared in our For Sale section maybe 18 months ago. Never heard a clip.
|
|
|
|
Post by alerich on Feb 25, 2012 19:55:24 GMT -5
The amp in Nashville was the same #3 from the OP. I was in GC today and had my guitar with me and it tried it out. Long story short - I bought it. Pricey, yes - but my girlfriend talked the salesman down 10% off the tagged price and with the amp's history and all I decided to pull the trigger. 30 days to fend off any buyer's remorse. This little amp screams. It operates largely as described in the OP. The secondary gain control (left control) only works on the HI input and it is a push/pull pot that activates it. Absolute monstrous amounts of gain but much like my 2006 Quick Rod the amp retains very nice note clarity even when dimed on the gain controls. How he squeezed this much gain out of a 3 tube preamp astounds me (as well as retaining decent articulation). The LOW channel is like a 2204 low channel and doesn't interest me much. Old school gain and rather muddy when set up clean. The HI channel has gobs of gain and a really nice, rich tone when set up clean. I played it for a long time in the store and for another hour back at her house before I realized that V1 was a 12AT7. Sheesh. Someone stuck a lower gain tube in V1 to try to calm it down and it still screams. Heh. I'll stick a 12AX7 in tomorrow when I get home. A few (crummy cell phone) pics. I will stop here for another visit to share more when I get more acquainted with it.   |
|
|
|
Post by cecilbag on Feb 26, 2012 13:11:54 GMT -5
Great amp man I love it. Please post some clips I'd love to hear it. I have a 3 pre quick rod and agree that it's amazing how much gain can be had from 3 when 6505+ has 6 lol
|
|
|
|
Post by alerich on Feb 29, 2012 21:10:14 GMT -5
Once I got home I played the amp through my cabs with the 12AT7 in V1 and it sounded a touch mushy. I replaced it with a unlabeled but very nice Chinese grey plate I got from Lord Valve and it didn't so much add more gain as it tightened it up, which pleased me greatly. The amp has a main gain control (Gain 1) on the right and a second gain control (Gain 2) to the left. Gain 2 is activated by pulling out the pot to switch it on. If I could compare this amp to a Quick Rod (it is not a QR - it has its own vibe going on) I would say that Gain 1 alone is somewhere between Gear 2 and Gear 3 and probably closer to Gear 3. Activating Gain 2 and setting it at about 12 o'clock approximates kicking in OD2. I made a sound sample. I am not Mutt Lange so I gave it my best shot. I don't feel it really captures the amp accurately but I did my best. I use four Blackheart 1x12 cabs set up like a 4x12. They each have Avatar Hellatone 30 speakers (Celestion G12H30). They run at 4ohms total load. I stuck a Shure SM57 in front of one of the speakers and moved it around until I got something I could live with. I use a BOSS NS-2 noise suppressor at the input of the amp. The guitar is a 1989 Epiphone Les Paul Custom (open book headstock - nice guitars) with a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge. The sample starts out with three renditions of the riff from "Jailbreak" by Thin Lizzy with a little solo after each. The first is just Gain 1 at about 1 o'clock. The second activates Gain 2 set at about 12 noon. On the third (and for the rest of the sample) I kick in my old original Marshall Guv'nor with all the controls set to 12 o'clock. This is how I have been playing my QR lately - which I incidentally have not even turned on since I got this little "Mini Rod" home from the store. Each "Jailbreak" passage is about 1 minute in duration and then I just played a few other things. Let me know if you have any problems playing the sample. I am digging this little amp. www.alerich.com/splawn/splawn.mp3 |
|
|
|
Post by 1960lespaul on Mar 2, 2012 11:26:59 GMT -5
Wow that amp was at the louisville GC. Our other guitar player bought it and took it back a few days later. He really needed something with a clean channel. Nice amp though.
|
|
|
|
Post by alerich on May 2, 2012 18:30:15 GMT -5
I am probably the only Splawn Quick Rod owner in the world who never plays his Quick Rod. It's not even plugged in. Scott Splawn is an amplifier genius. The tone from this thing is not of this world.  |
|
|
|
Post by cecilbag on May 3, 2012 2:05:17 GMT -5
Man that sounds incredible. Great score man, thanks for sharing
|
|
|
|
Post by alerich on Jun 17, 2012 11:14:01 GMT -5
I sold my 2006 Quick Rod yesterday. It has been collecting dust in the bull pen since I bought the snakeskin Splawn. I liked the QR but side by side I always chose the snakeskin Splawn. One thing I did not like about my QR (and I suspect this goes for most OEM Splawn amps) is that it was so tight. The sound was very focused. Not a bad thing if that's your thing but it's the one thing that's missing from the old Marshall tone I love that's Scott's amps otherwise nail very faithfully. That "loose" factor. The snakeskin Splawn being one amp that has been made into another amp has that in spades. I have since added a second 4x12. It's actually a Crate cabinet made up like a Marshall. A quad of brand new WGS Reaper 30 speakers. Their take on the Celestion G12H30 Anniversary (the ones in my Soldano cab). Great speakers. Very close to the Celestions. Bought it from a guy on Craigslist who is a local WGS dealer. $300 - cheaper than I could have bought the raw speakers. Surprisingly nice sounding for a Crate cab. Love, love, love this little amp. Tone for days. Light. Small. Easy to carry. Gets into the "tone zone" quicker - I don't have to really crank it to get it groovin' like I did with my QR. Fewer tubes to replace (just put new Tung Sol EL34B power tubes in it - yummy). Bitchin' cosmetics. The amp of a lifetime... only twenty five years too late. ;D Cheers!  |
|
|
|
Post by angusdeadking on Jun 17, 2012 16:18:22 GMT -5
I am looking to "loosen" up my Pro-Mod as well. Last tube swap was for EL34B's and now I'm thinking of switching to something maybe a little less tight and articulate. It sounds awesome as it is and I just recorded ground tracks for my band's new album with it yesterday. It was breathing fire! Any suggestions to loosen up my amp?
|
|
|
|
Post by alerich on Jun 17, 2012 16:42:58 GMT -5
I don't know that you can really loosen it up all that much with tube changes. I personally can't really say that I know why it happens. I have always suspected that it is partially due to the fact that (many) current electronics components have been refined and are of better overall quality than those available forty years ago - transformers included. Also, Splawn amps are meticulously constructed. I took a peek inside my Quick Rod as soon as I brought it home. Immaculate construction.
I hadn't played my Quick Rod in a few months until yesterday when I demoed it for the buyer. We both thought it sounded great but he wanted to hear the amp that I was keeping in its place. I fired up the modded Mig and hit a few chords and he just nodded and smiled and didn't say anything. Maybe it's the rag tag way that the amp is assembled that gives it that character. My home brew amps (which are usually rebuilds of older amps) are the same way. I have a very "wing and a prayer" method of assembly that looks like dookie but they always sound really good.
Every single sample clip of a Splawn modded Marshall that I have ever heard sounds wicked. I definitely have my eyes open for one of those.
|
|
|
|
Post by cecilbag on Jun 17, 2012 23:27:08 GMT -5
Congrats on finding your tone man. It's a beautiful thing. That really is an awesome little cranker
|
|
|
|
Post by alerich on Jul 3, 2012 14:17:20 GMT -5
Hopefully this linkage will work. If it doesn't... I tried. A little video I shot this afternoon. My Splawn snakeskin MIG60 pushed by a Marshall Guv'nor. 1989 Epiphone Les Paul Custom witha Duncan JB in the bridge. Soldano 4x12 with Avatar Hellatone 30s (Celestion G12H30 70th Anniversary). Crate "Marshall" 4x12 with WGS Reaper 30s. www.alerich.com/splawn/LLB20120703.wmvI cannot say enough good things about these WGS Reaper 30 speakers. Now that they are broken in I cannot tell them apart side by side with the real thing. If you dig the G12H30 this is a spot on copy. |
|
