Smash
Hack
I know it isn't really your intent. But you made me laugh my ass off with that splawn hate. I love the way you describe shit.
LPMojoGL
Well-known member
Great to see all the Naylor love!
Fantastic, unique amp that I've gone back to several times. I'm looking at you, silver sparkle D100.
A buddy just picked up a SD38 and likes it even better than his 60. Makes me want to check one out.
I'm going to go against the popular vote, and suggest something else.
You say you have Marshall and Recto-ish covered. To me, a Naylor is like a perfect compromise between those two amps, with a dash of Bogner/Friedman/Wizard flavor thrown in. In fact, you might find a Naylor would make the DC3 and JJ Jr obsolete. It'll do those sounds, and a whole lot more, with better lead tones than either. Imo, of course.
Naylor is smoother on the top end and more compressed than a Wizard Modern Classic or some of the VHT/Fryette amps, both of which can be off-putting to some folks. They are very open, raw and direct feeling.
I think you'd be well served with a Mesa Mark style amp, or one of the earlier Caliber amps that are Mark-like on the cheap. They're slightly more forgiving on attack than the Wizard or VHT, while still providing the raw, chainsaw like grind you describe.
Here's a thrashy clip I made of the Wizard MC I had:
And one of a Mesa .50 Caliber Plus I have now
I'd pick either of these amps over a Naylor for thrash metal type stuff. I'd take a Naylor for anything else, up to 90s hard rock like AIC, Tool. It's better for AIC than the JJ Jr, imo.
Here's how heavy a Naylor gets:
It's up there with SLO as one of my fav amps for solos. Naylor is a special amp.
Fantastic, unique amp that I've gone back to several times. I'm looking at you, silver sparkle D100.
A buddy just picked up a SD38 and likes it even better than his 60. Makes me want to check one out.
I'm going to go against the popular vote, and suggest something else.
You say you have Marshall and Recto-ish covered. To me, a Naylor is like a perfect compromise between those two amps, with a dash of Bogner/Friedman/Wizard flavor thrown in. In fact, you might find a Naylor would make the DC3 and JJ Jr obsolete. It'll do those sounds, and a whole lot more, with better lead tones than either. Imo, of course.
Naylor is smoother on the top end and more compressed than a Wizard Modern Classic or some of the VHT/Fryette amps, both of which can be off-putting to some folks. They are very open, raw and direct feeling.
I think you'd be well served with a Mesa Mark style amp, or one of the earlier Caliber amps that are Mark-like on the cheap. They're slightly more forgiving on attack than the Wizard or VHT, while still providing the raw, chainsaw like grind you describe.
Here's a thrashy clip I made of the Wizard MC I had:
And one of a Mesa .50 Caliber Plus I have now
I'd pick either of these amps over a Naylor for thrash metal type stuff. I'd take a Naylor for anything else, up to 90s hard rock like AIC, Tool. It's better for AIC than the JJ Jr, imo.
Here's how heavy a Naylor gets:
It's up there with SLO as one of my fav amps for solos. Naylor is a special amp.
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Racerxrated
Well-known member
I have a SD60 head on order. Like most builders, he's waiting on parts...mine is 3rd in line and has the transformers wired in. I placed the order at the end of July. It's gonna have the additional gain stage, foot switchable. Cost is around 2900.
Wizards are great amps, no doubt. Just gonna be above your price range even used. The Naylor (I owned Braintheory's SD60) is like a Marshall/Fender mix...Darkish BUT bright enough, cuts but can't be too bright no matter HOW you set the EQ. Its has this compression yet sounds very open at the same time...like the low mids are smooth/compressd while the upper mids are raw. Hard to describe but it has all these qualities at the same time. It cannot be dialed in with BAD tone. I don't care how you dial it...still sounds good. And then the most important attribute for ME at least...feel. It has a very addictive sticky feel that only one amp I've owned is more unique...a vintage C+.
My experiences with Splawns are limited but they have a 'flat' tone IMO compared to other similar amps i.e. Marshalls (vintage) and certainly a Wizard. I played a Nitro at length and just could not get on with it. I was kinda like running a distortion pedal through a nice power amp...it works but was very bland. Nothing dynamic about it. I also tried an older Quickrod and that was better but still had that bland quality.
MetalHeadMike
Well-known member
The Naylor is definitely on my short list. I almost ordered a tricked out SD100 a few months ago but wound up buying another Wizard. I may at some point still grab a Naylor...very interested.
Maybe HiFi is not the correct term and synthetic, less organic/natural, processed, more compressed would be more accurate ways to describe VHT/Fryette when comparing to something like a Wizard, old Marshall, or an old Mark style amp. The VHT/Fryette do posses some of the raw/open/uncompressed and dynamic qualities of the aforementioned IMO however, they just possess them to a lesser extent or to a different degree....at least compared to many other amps like Diezel, Engl.
Ah the Splawn weird mids...LOL!!! You know Sam, many will likely disagree, but I also feel the QRs I've owned had a strange and almost unpleasant midrange voicing, but it tended to only be very apparent when comparing to or having played other amps in the same day or so. If I gave my ears a break and played the QR exclusively for a day or two, I actually found the mids weren't as odd as they sounded when comparing to other amps. Same goes for some VHT/Fryette amps to my ears. When I play them exclusively, the voicing sounds great, but if I compare to some other amps, I tend to like the mids better on the others. I feel raw is synonymous with other terms, or at least used in conjunction with other terms, such as organic/natural (not processed/digital sounding), open, uncompressed, dynamic. To my ears and fingers, the QRs I've owned possessed the aforementioned, but that's just me and you clearly feel differently.
Gibsonchild
Active member
Funny you mention the Mark series... I’ve been eyeballing the Mk IV for a while. In fact, it’s the amp that made me realize I wanted something nastier in my rig. I’ve never played thru one, but I’ve heard a few in person and think they sound freaking stellar. There’s even one for sale a couple hours away from me for a pretty fair price.
My only concern was that it would be too similar to the DC3 (the DC‘s rhythm channel is based on the Mk IV). That said, I’d have no problem putting the Mk IV in my big rig and using the DC3 as my all-purpose amp.
Techdeth
RESIDENT ROCK PROFESSOR
That’s an awesome analogy! Very cool
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braintheory
Well-known member
Agreed Fryette compared to Engl’s or Diezel’s is certainly more open and natural sounding than those
Yeah who knows if it’s always for the better or not that I’m always comparing gear, but even when Splawn’s or Fryette’s were the only things I played at best I liked them, but never really loved them, but if others love them by all means love them
To me I think the rollercoaster analogy I used for raw in my earlier post here is how it is to me. It’s been a few years now, but I guess I don’t remember the Splawn’s being like the complete opposite of raw and organic, probably more in that stuff than the other amps you said, but compared to the Helios, mark iii they were a lot more raw, toneful and just full frequency to my ears. That’s actually one of my biggest turn offs with the Splawn’s. They come off to me like their filtered somehow or not as extended in some frequencies. It’s hard for me to explain, but I don’t like it
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braintheory
Well-known member
Great description on the Naylor. I would just add that I think the feel on my 2017 SD100 is even just a little better than that 60 to me. Very similar, but just a little more liquid feeling, a little less stiff (not that the 60 is stiff) yet sounds maybe just a little tighter actually
And yes I did like the 2005 QR a little better than the others in the room (2018 was pretty close though), but it wasn’t like a huge difference for me vs the later ones. Just a little bit more raw or mean than others, but I guess just not amps I enjoyed
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braintheory
Well-known member
Hahaha glad you appreciated that. Like you said, my intent isn’t to trash Splawn or any brand, but to just be as thorough as I can in explaining why I did or didn’t like it, so even if one disagrees they still see where I’m coming from with it
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MetalHeadMike
Well-known member
Sam, your reviews, descriptions, and comparisons are always honest, thoughtful, and enlightening. You use interesting but meaningful analogies, and I usually come away with a good sense of an amp after reading your thoughts. MUCH more meaningful than clips. I always prefer an end user's narrative and descriptions to judge whether I might like an amp and take that over any clip every day of the week. However, there are people who can't describe in words, or are just too lazy, the nuisances' of an amp's characteristics in which case clips may be the better option.
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braintheory
Well-known member
Thank you, that means a lot! I try to do what I can to save others the journey, time, money I took trying all this stuff. Most are very lazy or short on words these days. Really not a fan of that haha. I do have some potential plans later with clips, but need to wait for my friend to be back in the US to help with that. Recording is not a rabbit hole I wanna get too involved in haha. Most clips I’ve heard of amps really aren’t well done imo. Not that I know how to do any better, but my friend can and so hopefully will have some stuff later that does a better job showing what different amps can do
MetalHeadMike
Well-known member
You bet! Good elaborate descriptions help people make informed decisions IMHO.
I love it when ya ask someone about specific characteristics about an amp and you get "yeah man it's just a really awesome amp" LOL! I'd love to hear your clips more out of curiosity of your chops!
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braintheory
Well-known member
That’s the worst when that happens, but those are often the guys that choose guitars for their looks or reputation rather than quality of sound
These past 11 years all my practicing has really been on classical vs electric guitar since that’s my thing, but I’ve got all my many go-to leads, riffs, etc that I use for my gear testing. I’m very systemic where each riff or lick is meant to test something specific about the gear, but my electric playing isn’t anything that special imo. I’m basically a classical guitarist that’s obsessed with electric gear and spends almost more time with that lol
Tone Junkie
Well-known member
Great all around amp with three channels from decent cleans to over the top gain and won’t break the bank IMO would be any of the EVH amps. With the 50 watts providing even better value.
Lots of other options but bang for buck nothing can come close. If you’re looking for a tube amp.
Lots of other options but bang for buck nothing can come close. If you’re looking for a tube amp.
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Racerxrated
Well-known member
Definitely a good bang for the buck amp line...for 700 you can get a nice used 50w. But, in comparison to many amps mentioned here the EVH sounds like a pedal with tubes. Lol. Very synthetic/plastic-ey and fake.
Naylors, Wizards, VHT, Vintage Marshall, basically most of the other amps mentioned in this thread would wipe the floor with the EVH tone-wise. For the OPs budget he can get a far better amp than ANY of the EVH line.
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braintheory
Well-known member
Not sure if they’ve gone up in price or not, but for what those EVH’s go for used (or for maybe even less) you could get an old Sovtek MIG or some of the Laney’s and a good cheap boost pedal and have a much better tone to any of the EVH’s. Or also an ‘80’s Randall RG100ES
Tone Junkie
Well-known member
Actually if you go back and read the OP his budget was 2500. And
I’d like something different that would compliment those two. Definitely want something more raw and unrefined than what I current have. The only way I can think to describe what I want is more of a raucous, chainsaw-like grind. I don’t give a rats ass about a clean channel or versatility. I really only need it to do that one thing, and do it well.
I’ve had or played through Marshall’s-name one. Diezels, Rectifiers, Driftwood, KSR’s, Bogners, Engl’s, Hot rodded Marshall’s, Friedman’s- including a Marsha, Splawn, Audette I cant even remember them all. No Wizard which I’ve never played through is coming in at 2500 or less.
EVH 100 watt amps are excellent amps for the coin. The Stealth has insane amounts of gain on tap. I’d say if they were good enough for Eddie who could afford any amp built that’s all the endorsement I need. ???
I’d like something different that would compliment those two. Definitely want something more raw and unrefined than what I current have. The only way I can think to describe what I want is more of a raucous, chainsaw-like grind. I don’t give a rats ass about a clean channel or versatility. I really only need it to do that one thing, and do it well.
I’ve had or played through Marshall’s-name one. Diezels, Rectifiers, Driftwood, KSR’s, Bogners, Engl’s, Hot rodded Marshall’s, Friedman’s- including a Marsha, Splawn, Audette I cant even remember them all. No Wizard which I’ve never played through is coming in at 2500 or less.
EVH 100 watt amps are excellent amps for the coin. The Stealth has insane amounts of gain on tap. I’d say if they were good enough for Eddie who could afford any amp built that’s all the endorsement I need. ???
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braintheory
Well-known member
I’d imagine the OP might be willing to stretch a bit to maybe $2700 or $2800 for a Naylor if needed since it’s a really great amp, especially if he tried one beforehand
There’s no denying how much gain the EVH’s have, stupid amounts, but not the same thing as good quality tone. I would use EVH amps too if I was paid enough to endorse them and would try to compensate with other stuff like speakers and whatnot to make them sound as good as I can
TheToneDig
Active member
The reason I recommended the EVH is because its tone is uniquely different from the other amps mentioned. It has an inherent mid-range bark. It's an identifying signature. That bark gets through a mix well. You have to know it's the tone you want though. The other amp that comes close to that is a Soldano but they are still different. Fortin put their grind peddle in front of one recently. Sounded like their own amps. 7 string drop A tuning.
You could try to find a Fortin amp also.
Getting good tones from an EVH 5150III is a matter of spending more time with one.
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born_hard
Member
Check out his other amp videos. There are some which are really good, like the wizard, the diezel vh2, some modded marshalls and the mezzabarba mzero.