Splawn Nitro HD demo

I just wet myself

Distorted side = winner. Clean side = mid heavy and not very clean loser. Not worth that kinda price tag just for a huge distorted sound.

you'd have to hear it live and in a band situation before passing judgement. yeah the clean channel on this older version (he's updated the clean channel apparently) isn't that great but the lead channel destroys any amp remotely close to it's price tag. And for about 1500 bucks used, nothing will touch it.

What year is this Nitro? Thanks for a very informative tour!

mine is one of the first versions made in 2008 or 2007 I believe. I got it in 2008. Scott has made some changes and people who used to own first generation nitros/quick rods and sold them and now have the new ones say the new ones sound much better. Not sure if that's true or not but I like mine how it is.

Thanks for the quick reply. I got my eye on a 2009 but am holding back a little because of the mysterious evolution of the Nitro's tone...

Hey I was wondering which amp (nitro or quickrod/promod) has the best sounding clean channel with KT88, and do the 3 gears on the quick/pro actually sound like plexi/jcm/hotrod or if it's just a slight gain change of less and more gain, and what would be the most pedal friendly (I invested in some boutique distortion/fuzz boxes so I'm not ready to give them up just yet). thanks - D

I haven't heard the clean channel on any of the new splawns. Scott has tweaked the cleans since my version of the nitro so I'm not sure. As for the QR/PM gears, I know the gain changes but I'm not sure if the structure of the gain changes as well or not. Maybe the guys on the splawn forum would know more. I do eventually want a QR in my amp collection but it'll be a long time before I get around to that.

The different power tubes aren't going to change the amp's tone. It changes the FEEL of the sound. The KT88's will have a less compressed and more big/open feel.

Hey I think I might get a Nitro, I'm going to go play around with it some more with my favorite pedals at the boutique music shop I know once my new pickups come in. And I was thinking of going with an orange ppc4x12 or a splawn 4x12 cab, I may or may not switch out the speakers. What would you suggest?

The splawns are very picky with what cabs sound good. I didn't particularly like the orange 4x12 and the mesa 4x12's were terrible but the splawn 4x12 sounds incredible with it seemingly with ANY speaker. I've got a pair or V30's and K100's in it right now.

nice demo, as always!! keep on! nice shirt too :D where did u found that?? :)

Not sure. The wife got it for me somewhere.

Hi Fast! How do you like the Nitro for classic rock tones or 90s grunge, both of which my band covers! :) Thanks

qucik rod wouldbe better. nitro has more low end and lower midrange growl. the QR has more of that upper midrange and the 3 gain settings to fine tune that lower gain sound. the nitro gets a lot of gain very low on the gain knob.

why thanks bro! playing in a 90s cover band, i am looking at the Mesa Electra Dyne, Royal Atlantic, Fryette SigX, Orange RV50 and Splawn QR or SR now. which do you think could be best? thanks!!!!

if it were me choosing, quickrod no question. SigX is ok but does high gain stuff a little better than it does the lower/med gain. if you don't need cleans, the fryette deliverance 120 is pretty good too and under a grand if you don't mind used. still though, the QR is unreal.

Thank you! The QR is tops on my list. I at least need good cleans by rolling back my volume knob. i need a good effects loop. What do you think of the Mesa Royal or Electra Dyne next to the Splawn QR?

neither of the mesas impressed me. The old mark IIC is the only mesa that I've ever truly loved. MK IV is pretty good but not quite the mojo the IIC has.

I tend to agree with you here...The Boogies all sort of sound the same to me.

This amp seems to have a much better range and ability for an all tube than a lot of the newer stuff out there. Honestly a lot of the new stuff just sound so much like they're cloned after something else. This seems to have it's own sound. What a rare find

How would you compare your splawn to the JTM you had? Could a Splawn (the Quick Rod would presumably be the most appropriate for the task) cover low to mid gain ground nearly as well as the Marshall or is it best for high gain applications?

the main difference obviously is that the splawn is 2 channel vs the jtm's single channel operation. splawn has a lot more gain, power, punch, stage volume, etc and less compression.

Just discovered your video and channel. Your amp sounds amazing. Nice chops as well. I never had a chance to play a splawn before a few days ago. GC hand a competition 50 on display that I thought sounded amazing. Eighties metal in a box lol. Splawn is making me a believer now. Great vid!

They are, in my opinion, the best "ideal" high gain modern rock marshall tone you can buy. When I first plugged into mine, I heard the tone that I wanted out of every other high gain or modded marshall I'd played before but never could achieve.

Thanks for the response. I hear you bro. Your Splawn is a beast. After just one play through the competition I want one now. And you've peaked my interest with the nitro as well. My only gripe was the gears function and the one channel. I couldn't hear a huge difference between the gears. Unless I wasn't using the foot switch correctly. But the tone is amazing. Nails that ratt, lynch mob, van halen plexi type tone. Very impressive.

This vs. your ecstasy?

for recording and home use, the xtc is the best amp I've heard in a long time but on stage, the nitro just burys the xtc and that's what was more important to me so the xtc got sold. Great amp but just didn't have nearly as much power and clarity as the nitro on stage. awesome flexibility though from the xtc.

Best Nitro demo. Thanks. Ever play Dynamo amp?

I have heard of them but I don't think that they're worth the price. I don't think any amp is worth over $2500 to be honest and even that's pushing it. you have to be after a VEEERRY specific sound to pay that kinda money.

Wise words. Although I see Dynamo does offer a single channel 50 watt fire-breather for $1799. Thanks much for your reply!

Wow dude...been on the eternal amp search for a while, I think this is the amp for me. SICK! Great video, thanks. I have the Kemper but like you said nothing like the real thing.

Hey man, playing is awesome as usual. I don't doubt that this amp pounds you like no other, that is what this known for. I am from europe and can't find it easy or at all to try it though. However, there are two things with each amp. Its physical presentation-strength, punch clarity etc which seem to be outstanding with the nitro and the other is sonic signature. That is my gripe with almost every nitro clip, yours or other. As a listener, I can, you know lower the ...volume. And what I am hearing then is a bit rough and not so pleasing. Like, too much in some places. It is not a subwoofer-y type of modern tone a-la diezel but it is...weird. Yours is probably the best clip to show the qualities of the amp (it sounds punchy enough even through here) but jet city 100 (and even the 20) and  the bogner you had, they sound superior for recorded guitar sound! Forget on stage band mix of course. For my taste at least. Do you still have the jet city's?

Also, would you say that for a tight modern metal tone you'd have to boost the od or the lead channel with the nitro and keep the ressonance down? T but more into a stone sour/metallica type of thing. Does it make it sound like most boosted amps? This is a bit of frustration for me for many amps that I usually like, cause the boost seems to be a good deal part of the sound and more or less complicates things switching wise and adds noise. Valve amps that I had or tried, only diezel and the peavey XXX don't "need" a boost and even then, they benefit from it...

I'd love to get something from splawn but for europe shipping, import taxes and possible resale makes it a bit of a risk and adds expense. o be totally honest I am not into the KSE type of sound (which for me seems to almost be irrelevant to the amp now more or less...) I was thinking about the rockerverb that James Root uses but the quality on those...argghh. Keep up the good work man thanks for your videos.

I have a mesa 2x12 revto cab that has a V30 & a hemp coned lead 80. I know you said the mesa 4x12 sounds bad with this amp but the 2x12's ound a little different and the hemp coned speaker brings in a little more vintage sound. I have a Nitro on the way and I really don't want to buy another cab. Do you think the Nitro may work decent with the cab i have?

What song do you play at the start?

stunning playing

Gear is way better than the player here.

Niceee

I notice that you were running the treble at max and presence most of the way up. Do you feel there's a lack of highs, or a muddiness that you're trying to compensate for? Sounds great on the demo, but not sure if on the room there's something going on.

wel metal and rock is deff. not ur style or genre.. dont feel bad its my only style

Guy definitely just hacked AIC

Does the solo boost add gain and volume? What does it do? Thanks!

Wow that Nitro kicks some serious ass...sounds killer!

just got one,very happy with it !

Best sounding amps I've ever heard.

Drew, don't know if you remember me, but we used to chat a long time ago, I used to have a Carvin V3 and we chatted about that a bit but I finally just ordered a Splawn Nitro after wanting one for years. Led me back to this video and I just thought I'd say hello!

Thank you for not just doing blog-blop-bloppity bloppity blop chugging that most high gain amp demos are.

Great video. Listening, I feel your Nitro has more in common with my old Quick rod than my newer Nitro. Makes me wonder if the modification he did to the master volume had something to do with it. I might also add that my Nitro can be played really quite quiet on the gain channel and sounds really good, unlike my old Quickrod. I guess there is a give and take there.

Stated wattage is an approximation, for marketing purposes. Four KT88's should be well over 100 watts, possibly as much as 150. Four EL34's would be about 100 watts. Marshall's with four EL34's actually put out about 114 watts. A fifty watter with two EL34's could be more like 57 watts. The Bogner Shiva with two EL34's I believe is rated around 80 watts.