Splawn Competition & Caswell 2203: a little review.

Well, I've had a some time to compare the Competition and the Caswell and i figured I'd share some thoughts.

First up, the Splawn (EL34's
1st gear: Plexi-ish, but with the option of adding a bit of gain via the Gain knob. You have to kinda turn up all the EQ knobs for it to sound sweet. Otherwise it's a bit thin. I don't use it all that much.

2nd gear: JCM800/Jubilee-ish (I think it is more like a Jubilee than a JCM800 imo). With the gain at 5-6, you are in Gn'R UYI realm. BUT, it is really really bassy. I run it with bass at 1.5-2 (out of 10) and it still makes shit vibrate when palm muting. I read other reviews and it seems that is the case with the Comp. It could be the Greenies, who knows.

3rd gear: Modded Marshall sound. To me, it sounds like all the clips i have heard of 'Cameron/Jose/whoever' modded Marshalls. I am not a mod geek, so I hope i am not insulting anyone. Just my opinion when comparing it to clips i have heard.

I am extremely happy with this amp. I sold my VHT D60 to get it and i do not regret it at all. Besides, PhilB is having more fun with it than I had

Next up, Caswell 2203 (EL34's
Well, it's basically the same mod that he did on the old Marshall that was used on AFD, but with a bit of extras:
He added a switchable clean channel with independent volume, the #39 mod (accessible via push pull of the gain knob), 2 switches that add 2 gain stages (basic on/off toggle),an efx loop and 3 button footswitch. The clean is better than stock obviously, but i don't play clean that often so i'm no expert.

-all knobs in and on 'gain' channel: stock JCM800. IMO, his mods leave the original tone intact, which i like alot. Engage the xtra gain stages for a boosted Plexi sound and beyond.
-pull the gain out: #39 engaged. Simply put: Appetite for Destruction. Some like it, some don't. I do . Engage the xtra gain stages and get old Lynch tone and heavier.
I only engage one because if you engage both, it gets a bit noisy/hissy. Supposedly, the amp he modded for Lynch had the #39 on and both gain stages on all the time.

I'm pretty set with both these amps. If you asked me to pick a favorite, i couldn't. My only complaint would be that i don't use my beloved boosts that much anymore
I might have to work my BB in there somewhere.
I might add that the Caswell has given me LP GAS

If any one has any detailed questions, i'd gladly answer them.
No clips yet (unfortunately)...i formated my PC and haven't installed all my software. I might have Phil record something when I go to his place next time for a little ampfest.

Just a quick suggestion, but try Gear 1 with the Presence and Treble turned completely off, Bass dimed and Mids at 12 0'clock. For some reason these weird EQ settings sound great on 1st Gear on my Quickrod. I run my JCM 800 almost exactly the same way.

Sounds sweet man!!
What tubes does the Marshall like best?

Oblivion DC":4ca2b said:

Sounds sweet man!!
What tubes does the Marshall like best?

Click to expand...

I asked Tim for whatever was in the original #39 and what he thinks sounds best with his mod:
JJ Tesla EL34s and Chinese or EH 12ax7s

Chubtone":14d85 said:

Just a quick suggestion, but try Gear 1 with the Presence and Treble turned completely off, Bass dimed and Mids at 12 0'clock. For some reason these weird EQ settings sound great on 1st Gear on my Quickrod. I run my JCM 800 almost exactly the same way.

Click to expand...

I will try that tonight.
Is your Gear 2 bassy?

Would definitely love to hear some comparison clips....between the two amps...

jonny toetags":a21c0 said:

Chubtone":a21c0 said:

Just a quick suggestion, but try Gear 1 with the Presence and Treble turned completely off, Bass dimed and Mids at 12 0'clock. For some reason these weird EQ settings sound great on 1st Gear on my Quickrod. I run my JCM 800 almost exactly the same way.

Click to expand...

I will try that tonight.
Is your Gear 2 bassy?

Click to expand...

Yes. Gear 2 is almost like switching to a completely different amp. Gear 2 has got beef in spades.

Great review!
I found out today my VHT cab won't show up until September. Oh well, I'm not even mad anymore, I'll take it when it shows up.

I figure we can organize a little ampfest in a couple of weeks. I want to get back to work first and then get the school year started for the kiddies.

After that we can have the ampfest and record those amps

And yes I still dig the Deliverance BIG TIME!

philb":dfd94 said:

Great review!
I found out today my VHT cab won't show up until September. Oh well, I'm not even mad anymore, I'll take it when it shows up.

I figure we can organize a little ampfest in a couple of weeks. I want to get back to work first and then get the school year started for the kiddies.

After that we can have the ampfest and record those amps

And yes I still dig the Deliverance BIG TIME!

Click to expand...

It's ok Phil...September is close

Chubtone":998e8 said:

Just a quick suggestion, but try Gear 1 with the Presence and Treble turned completely off, Bass dimed and Mids at 12 0'clock. For some reason these weird EQ settings sound great on 1st Gear on my Quickrod. I run my JCM 800 almost exactly the same way.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I run my Quickrod almost exclusively on Gear 1 with the Presence on 9 o'clock, Bass on 2 o'clock, Mids on 10 o'clock, and Treble OFF. I found that running the Treble OFF seems to thicken the tone without losing any highs. On Gear 1 the Mid control seems to affect the highs more than anything, with settings below Noon sounding better to me.

Gear 2 is too bassy for me unless I run the Bass very low. Gear 3 seems to be a little less bassy and I prefer Gear 3 to Gear 2, but Gear 1 is the shit IMO.

Odin":0f1e5 said:

Chubtone":0f1e5 said:

Just a quick suggestion, but try Gear 1 with the Presence and Treble turned completely off, Bass dimed and Mids at 12 0'clock. For some reason these weird EQ settings sound great on 1st Gear on my Quickrod. I run my JCM 800 almost exactly the same way.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I run my Quickrod almost exclusively on Gear 1 with the Presence on 9 o'clock, Bass on 2 o'clock, Mids on 10 o'clock, and Treble OFF. I found that running the Treble OFF seems to thicken the tone without losing any highs. On Gear 1 the Mid control seems to affect the highs more than anything, with settings below Noon sounding better to me.

Gear 2 is too bassy for me unless I run the Bass very low. Gear 3 seems to be a little less bassy and I prefer Gear 3 to Gear 2, but Gear 1 is the shit IMO.

Click to expand...

Sounds good...lol.

I would have never thought of trying those settings. Tks guys

What did it end up costing you to send your amp to tim and have it modded (with shipping, and any taxes etc).? I've never shipped anything over the border, that I was going to have shipped back. Is it a pain in the ass (lots of paper work)?

I tried those settings with my QR and it did sound thicker with the treble off. I put the Presence slightly above 9'o clock like suggested. I wanted to make sure the amp didn't lose all of its sizzle with the presence/treble off.

Sounds pretty bad ass, so i'm gonna play my show tonight with those settings. I didn't dime the bass though cause im running on OD2. I have my bass at about 1' o clock and that gives me plenty of articulate/tight low end thump.

So how did the show go with the new amp settings? I really like running my QR with the treble off and using the mid and presence for highs.

messenger":95393 said:

What did it end up costing you to send your amp to tim and have it modded (with shipping, and any taxes etc).? I've never shipped anything over the border, that I was going to have shipped back. Is it a pain in the ass (lots of paper work)?

Click to expand...

The mod is US 600$
Shipping both ways = US 75$x2
I had to pay duty/taxes on the cost of the mod: CDN 96$

I had the extra cost of all new tubes as well, which is optional.

No more paperwork than normal. I always ship amps to the US and buy from them. Never had a problem in 10 years.

as far as i could tell the sound was bad ass!

It was very nice n thick sounding! Quite possibly my favorite tone ive gotten so far. I just want to make sure it doesnt sound too honky in the mid range. Right now im thinkin it doesn't cause I have my mids at about 11 o clock. I'll just take a closer listen at rehersal. Everytime I play either of my splawns Im amazed by how every note cuts through! It's ALL in the players hands with this amp baby.


I also had my un-modded Marshall 79 JMP setup pretty balanced in the mids/highs & the gain crunchy(no boost). I had the bass up high around 3'oclock. It was delivering a full low end punch =]

yah yah i know im not the bassist but boy does it sound massive Its just somethin i want the audience to feel.

My ProMod is quite similiar to the JMP cause of the 6550 tubes. But I just like something about that JMP. Those old marshalls just got a certain mojo to them =]


ive been havin lots of people compliment my splawn tone at shows lately =]