Splawn Quick Rod 100 2008

This is an absolute beast of an amp and sounds more like a true hot-rodded Marshall than any of the Bogners or Friedmans that I have owned. I love those brands too, and there is some give and take there. This era of Quickrod doesn’t have the same level of compression and smoothness that other boutique builders like Bogner and Friedman have in most of their amps, and it can be a bear and seem unforgiving. However, what you get in exchange for losing a little help with your technique is that the Quick Rod is very open and absolutely savage. That signature Marshall “krrrrngg” that sometimes gets lost in more refined takes on the Marshall circuit is here in spades.

I’ve owned JCM 800s and Plexis in the past, and the Splawn Quick Rod does all those sounds, from the best stock sounding Plexi or JCM 800, to the modded fire breathers that were around in the 80s and 90s.

Channel 1 is the clean channel. It has one, and while it isn’t terrible, it really isn’t what this amp is about. Plus, Channel 2 cleans up so well with the guitar volume that I never really needed Channel 1 unless I wanted absolute sterile, pure cleans.

Channel 2 is where it is at for this amp though. It has three modes, referred to as “gears.” Gear 1 is essentially a great, classic Plexi. Gear 2 is a hot rodded JCM 800 sound, kind of medium spice. Gear 3 is a fire-breathing, hot rodded JCM 800.

The three-button footswitch included allows for switching between channels, switching between Gears 1 and 2 or Gears 2 and 3, depending on how the amp is set up, and a solo boost.

It you’re familiar with these (and if you’re not, you’re about to be), you may be aware that there have been some revisions to the QR over time. This is a post-2008 revision, but prior to the 2013 revision. What does that mean?

My version of the QR includes the move to four pre-amp tubes from the original three and also dates to when Splawn was still using Heyboer transformers. This is before Splawn loop master volumes on the rear in the effects loop to turn the amp down (more on that in a second). It does have a revised clean channel, but I don’t think it’s the same as is in the new QRs. It also doesn’t have the B+ Voltage switch. One cool thing about it though is that it is late enough in the 2008 revision run that you could by the 4-button footswitch if you wanted it.

Some Quirks of the Amp:
First, the effects loop can get stuck on, which leads to no sound coming out when the loop isn’t bypassed but there is nothing connected. This is pretty normal with these, and I will include Scott Splawn’s response when I emailed.

“Those switches can get dust in them over time. Try pushing each one in and out very fast about 20-30 times with the amp off. This may solve the problem.

He’s correct, that does solve the problem, which really only shows up when it hasn't been used in a while. However, I tend to leave the loop on and connected all the time because I bought a passive volume box from the good folks at Saturnworks (included) so this amp has a loop master volume. Even though the amplifier does have a Master Volume, getting it to bedroom volume is nearly impossible without a loop master. Throwing a volume in the loop takes care of that, so I almost always have the loop engaged and patched. Plus, this amp does like having the master volume turned down too low, which leads to…

Quirk 2 – If you turn the volume down too low on Channel 2, not low enough that it is completely turned down but just below about 8 o’clock, the signal drops out. I also emailed Scott about his, and here is the reply:

“If you are not using the Effects loop volume on the back as the master volume this is normal. This happens because of the reaction between the channel volume and solo boost volume. These two work off of each other so it will do that at super low volume settings. If you put the channel volume in the sweet spot around 10 o'clock and use the effects loop volume you should not have that issue.”

That is why I finally bought said Saturnworks volume, and this does indeed absolutely work.

The amp is in really good shape with only some tolex tears on the bottom corners.

So, there is a rundown of this amp. Once you understand those two quirks, it is incredibly reliable. The Heyboer transformer is a tank, and this amp is super aggressive. I don’t necessarily mean like Meshuggah aggressive (though an EQ in the loop with a bit of tweaking will get those tones) as much as it is an in-you-face, fast responding, beast, and very, very true to its Marshall roots with the added benefit of covering most all of what Marshall was known for from the 60s to the 90s without the need for clipping diodes, or boosts up front. I’ll hate to see it go, but it needs to go to someone who will use it regularly again. It likes to be played, and I hate seeing it languish in the third bedroom.

I'm out of head boxes, so I will have to get this packed locally. This may add a day or two to my ship time.