NAD: 2015 Fully Loaded Splawn Mini Comp

  • Thread starter Thread starter Junk Yard Dog
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Junk Yard Dog

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Grabbed this on a whim. I had a 2014 Pro Stock 100w and it was my gigging amp for 3 years. I moved to Friedmans and still love those, but wanted to see what the new switches do to the tone on the Splawn. Mid-cut and Old/New do make a substantial difference to the tone and feel. I dig it.

Since I have tinnitus now, I have to be careful with the volume. The head is in snakeskin tolex and in great shape. Lucked out with it. This amp fuckin jams. It came with brand new EH 6CA7s. Not sure what pre's are in there.

Mid-cut: switch up is engaging the cut of the mids and it's pretty significant. I like it on and off. Since I have a V30/CBH75 cab, if I have the mids engaged as normal, I'm dialing back the mid and treble knobs. Engage the mid-cut and I have a lot more wiggle room with the mids. Great for handling certain speaker frequencies. It can darken up the amp a lot, in a good way.

New/Old: I'm not sure which is 'new' and which is 'old', but I think I prefer the switch down. Can anyone tell me which is which? Down adds a bit more grit and it's slightly tighter. Up makes it a little rounder, punchier/bassier, looser, maybe...

It takes boosts well like I remember. I'm liking my big Spark Boost with it. My Savage Drive I did not like at all. SD 805 is cool, but I had to turn down the mid knob on the pedal for my taste, but it sounded and felt good with the Comp.

The amp is in a mini headshell and maybe weighs 40lbs, and I love that it's easier to carry than a 100watter. My buddy came over and we played it through my cabs and this thing has a lot of punch: a lot. I love anything this small, light, that, and punch as this one does. My buddy was pretty amazed. He's never played or heard one in person.

I was worried it would feel too tight compared to the Friedman camp I'm in and this one feels like it's got the right amount of tightness and saturated bounce for me. A boost only makes it better.

FX loop works great as my last Splawn did.

Overall, I just scratched a huge itch by giving this a go. About 3 months after I got my 2014 Pro Stock, Splawn announced the new switches: ugh... So for years, I've been wanting to try one with the switches and I gig regularly and have grown weary of lugging heavy 100watt heads for now, so the mini head format with this much balls and power is hard to beat.

I'm not sure I'll keep it as Dave F. has a donor amp to mod for me similar to a JJ50. But I'll enjoy jamming on this thing for a bit.

Do any Splawners have recommendations on preamp tubes? I don't know what's in there now but may just throw some newer ones in there.

Cheers.
 
Congrats.. be sure to post pics once you have it on hand.

For Tubes, what's the tube layout on this amp?

I recently tried those JJ E83CC in my Nitro and I think they're great. ALOT better sounding than the JJ ECC83s. They gave the amp the tightness I felt it was missing without a boost, but still kept it open. In the PI Position, I always have used a Sovtek 12ax7LPS. For V1 (In nitro its the 2nd gain stage of Clean channel), I use a 12at7.

Hope that helps.
 
congrats some pics!!!! old is up new is down
I like the Chinese tubes in there, I tired JJ's but it dulled it, I have mullards, tung sols and Eh tubes but I haven't gotten around to trying them yet because it just sounds so good as is
 
kmanick said:
congrats some pics!!!! old is up new is down
I like the Chinese tubes in there, I tired JJ's but it dulled it, I have mullards, tung sols and Eh tubes but I haven't gotten around to trying them yet because it just sounds so good as is
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Which Chinese tubes do you like?
 
kmanick said:
the shuguang 9'th gen tubes work great, I'm lucky I previously owned 2 50150/6505+'s and pulled them all from those 2 heads, so I've got a few in case I need them.
https://www.dougstubes.com/shuguang-12ax7-b.html
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Thank you.. The JJs you tried, which ones were they?

i remember years ago trying out the JJ ECC83S (12ax7s) in different amps and they dulled it out big time. didnt experience the same with the "newer" JJ E83CC (12ax7) tubes.
 
Bash_Man said:
Thank you.. The JJs you tried, which ones were they?

i remember years ago trying out the JJ ECC83S (12ax7s) in different amps and they dulled it out big time. didn't experience the same with the "newer" JJ E83CC (12ax7) tubes.
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Same ones you tried , I have a bunch of them too :( they work great in some amps, but not in this one.
 
kmanick said:
Same ones you tried , I have a bunch of them too :( they work great in some amps, but not in this one.
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well then.. that only means one thing.. I'll have to order a pair of the Chinese 12ax7b and try them my self. LOL
 
Color me impressed. First gig down with it. Cut great. Solo boost and FX loop were great. From the first chord, the sound guy ran over and said "Jaysus, what the hell amp is that?"

  • I could only have the volume at 9:00, where it starts to shine, no loop volume used, going through my V30/CBH75.
    • This venue is pretty large for a local bar; bigger room, not a cramped stage at all. If I ran the volume louder, it would have overpowered. Sound guy said "that may be the limit on your stage volume, brother", so it worked perfect. So even though it's 50 watts, it's Loud AF.
      • I did experiment with the Loop volume to about 12:00 and it still kept an inspiring tone, so as it tends to be, Splawn volume knob on 9:00+ and use the Loop Volume to manage stage or home volumes.
        • I will say that in my apartment, once I got that Loop Volume around 3/4's 'down', the more I would have to turn up the front volume to keep it sounding the way I wanted.
    • Bass, mids, treble, presence all at 11:00. Gain at 1:30 maybe. Gear 2 all night, mode 1, unless I stepped on the solo boost.
    • New (vs. Old). No mid-cut; full mids.
  • Have to admit that coming from the JJ100, this amp held its own and then some. The punch from a 50w Splawn is pretty remarkable.
  • My biggest two worries:
    • It wouldn't sound good or controllable with my speakers: not the case. V30s and H Creambacks no problems, just backed off the mids and highs a bit. Sounded great with my cab.
    • Saggy, bounce, saturation, feel were all there. The Splawn 50watters are already in B+ mode, so they sag a bit more. It had the right blend of tight bounce for me.
  • Solo boost worked great.
  • The ease of transporting with the mini headshell is just perfect. It's not heavy for the amount of iron in this little thing.
The risk paid off. Great amp!
 
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