Splawn amps "unforgiving"... what does that mean?
- Thread starter cvogue
- Start date
cvogue
Yes, that's Oolong. :)
Yeah the volume difference between clean/OD was fixable via the volume controls on each channel... but at low loop volume levels it was pretty noticeable.
And you're absolutely right, the presence is subtle but it seems to work better for dialing in the highs than the treble control. Both work but presence seems to be better.
First gear is brighter, I liked it... there are a TON of tones in this amp, so many OD combinations you can use... gonna be a long time dialing it in but it's gonna be great!
Oh, will do regarding the Splawn Fans forum
And you're absolutely right, the presence is subtle but it seems to work better for dialing in the highs than the treble control. Both work but presence seems to be better.
First gear is brighter, I liked it... there are a TON of tones in this amp, so many OD combinations you can use... gonna be a long time dialing it in but it's gonna be great!
Oh, will do regarding the Splawn Fans forum
cvogue
Yes, that's Oolong. :)
OK, first new owner question for the Splawn heads out there (hey I'm one now too!)
So I was playing it at the guy's house and it was at half power... cool enough. Was just reading the manual and it says that if you play with the half power switch engaged then you should half the impedence setting as well. I've never heard of that before on other amps. I know an impedence mismatch is bad for the output transformer... just hoping I didn't do evil to my new amp
Anybody know about this half power/half impedence setting business?
Edit: OK, I found out that for 40 watt amps you don't have to adjust the impedence... from Scott's website: "On the 50 or 40 watt amps its a Pentode/Triode switch, you do not have to change the ohm load when using this function."
I think Scott needs to update his manuals!
Thanks!
Edit: OK I just noticed that there's only one speaker jack on the back of the amp... clearly for an external speaker. So is that impedence setting only for an external speaker or is it for both speakers? The manual says that control should "match the load of the speaker cabinet". So does that include the external speaker or no?
Second Edit: So the loop volume control works wonders... but... it also kind of kills the solo boost if it's turned down somewhat. I thought the solo boost might not be working, turned off the loop (switch in the back) and the amp became uber loud and then the solo boost worked like a champ (very loud). Maybe part of the attenuation that the loop volume does... it compresses everything including the solo boost? Do you guys see this too?
Second Edit redux: Found this out there, this is what I'm seeing too: "One thing to keep in mind too is that the higher the master and lower the loop volume... the less volume boost you'll get when kicking in the solo boost. I don't have a SR, but with the QR you won't have any volume boost in the solo mode once the channel master is set past about 10 o'clock or so."
So I was playing it at the guy's house and it was at half power... cool enough. Was just reading the manual and it says that if you play with the half power switch engaged then you should half the impedence setting as well. I've never heard of that before on other amps. I know an impedence mismatch is bad for the output transformer... just hoping I didn't do evil to my new amp
Anybody know about this half power/half impedence setting business?
Edit: OK, I found out that for 40 watt amps you don't have to adjust the impedence... from Scott's website: "On the 50 or 40 watt amps its a Pentode/Triode switch, you do not have to change the ohm load when using this function."
I think Scott needs to update his manuals!
Thanks!
Edit: OK I just noticed that there's only one speaker jack on the back of the amp... clearly for an external speaker. So is that impedence setting only for an external speaker or is it for both speakers? The manual says that control should "match the load of the speaker cabinet". So does that include the external speaker or no?
Second Edit: So the loop volume control works wonders... but... it also kind of kills the solo boost if it's turned down somewhat. I thought the solo boost might not be working, turned off the loop (switch in the back) and the amp became uber loud and then the solo boost worked like a champ (very loud). Maybe part of the attenuation that the loop volume does... it compresses everything including the solo boost? Do you guys see this too?
Second Edit redux: Found this out there, this is what I'm seeing too: "One thing to keep in mind too is that the higher the master and lower the loop volume... the less volume boost you'll get when kicking in the solo boost. I don't have a SR, but with the QR you won't have any volume boost in the solo mode once the channel master is set past about 10 o'clock or so."
Last edited:
gtrjunior
Wannabe
When you connect an external speaker the impedance need to match the entire speaker load of other speakers.
As far as the solo boost, don't be afraid to turn it up high. Go back and look at the pics of my amp settings in this thread. My volume is at about 11 and my solo is about 2
0....
cvogue
Yes, that's Oolong. :)
When you connect an external speaker the impedance need to match the entire speaker load of other speakers.
As far as the solo boost, don't be afraid to turn it up high. Go back and look at the pics of my amp settings in this thread. My volume is at about 11 and my solo is about 2
Cool thanks. I kind figured it was that way re: setting the impedence but the manual is confusing.
I did crank the solo knob, dimed it, but in certain circumstances it really didn't do much. There's an interplay between loop volume, channel volume and solo boost level that I have to figure out. For your settings where was the loop volume set to?
cvogue
Yes, that's Oolong. :)
Oh, I responded to your post over there, but here's some info for the MWGLites:
If it is indeed the case where the impedance setting has to match all the speaker cabs (and I think you're right it is that way, no other amp that I know behaves differently, but I thought there might be some Splawn Secret Sauce that has the internal speaker all dialed in automatically and the setting was just for an extension speaker but... that would mean that you couldn't replace the stock speaker with another one with different impedance) then yes as you add speakers the impedence will go down.
It's a formula you can look up but as a quick primer if you have two equally rated (same impedance) resistors (speakers) in parallel then the overall impedance would be half. Where you can get into trouble is when you have unequally rated speakers and it results in an impedance that can't be exactly dialed in on the amp (you only have choices of 16, 8 or 4).
General formula is 1/((1/x) + (1/y) + (1/z)...) for resistors x,y and z etc...)
If it is indeed the case where the impedance setting has to match all the speaker cabs (and I think you're right it is that way, no other amp that I know behaves differently, but I thought there might be some Splawn Secret Sauce that has the internal speaker all dialed in automatically and the setting was just for an extension speaker but... that would mean that you couldn't replace the stock speaker with another one with different impedance) then yes as you add speakers the impedence will go down.
It's a formula you can look up but as a quick primer if you have two equally rated (same impedance) resistors (speakers) in parallel then the overall impedance would be half. Where you can get into trouble is when you have unequally rated speakers and it results in an impedance that can't be exactly dialed in on the amp (you only have choices of 16, 8 or 4).
General formula is 1/((1/x) + (1/y) + (1/z)...) for resistors x,y and z etc...)
gtrjunior
Wannabe
I usually set it as needed for the situation but it is probably somewhere around half (pointed straight up) give or take.
Also....set it to full power. In half power you're losing headroom.if that doesn't help, nudge you're channel volume down slowly until you're satisfied. I run my Quickrod at 11
0 and get plenty of solo volume. My amp is a 100 watter though so....tons of headroom.You said you dimed the solo volume but in certain circumstances it didn't help.....can you describe what circumstances you mean?
gtrjunior
Wannabe
Yup....even though it's a high gain amp you can still get some awesome classic rock sounds and even blues/rock type stuff.
cvogue
Yes, that's Oolong. :)
I usually set it as needed for the situation but it is probably somewhere around half (pointed straight up) give or take.
Also....set it to full power. In half power you're losing headroom.if that doesn't help, nudge you're channel volume down slowly until you're satisfied. I run my Quickrod at 11
You said you dimed the solo volume but in certain circumstances it didn't help.....can you describe what circumstances you mean?
I think I had the loop volume pretty darn low, was going for a bedroom tone, kinda took the solo boost capability out of the equation. Not a big deal I wouldn't be needing a solo boost at home. I'll do more investigation and see.
Oh full power is freakin' LOUD! I'll try that though with adjusting the channel volumes. I've never heard a 1x12 combo sound like this...
gtrjunior
Wannabe
You should still be capable of taming the volume at full power. I can easily get tame rehearsal levels and practice levels at 100W. I'm not sure of bedroom levels for me. We don't have children and I have the basement set up pretty much as my music room so I don't need to get that quiet so I can't comment on that.
But yes, the more extreme the loop volume attenuation the less effective the solo volume becomes.
I would still give the full power method a shot.
Fwiw, I found that there is a slight learning curve with this amp that I hadn't experienced with other amps. Like I mentioned, the tone stack is slightly different than a standard Marshall tone stack. That and once I learned to dial it in with my ears and not my eyes I figured it out.
But yes, the more extreme the loop volume attenuation the less effective the solo volume becomes.
I would still give the full power method a shot.
Fwiw, I found that there is a slight learning curve with this amp that I hadn't experienced with other amps. Like I mentioned, the tone stack is slightly different than a standard Marshall tone stack. That and once I learned to dial it in with my ears and not my eyes I figured it out.
cvogue
Yes, that's Oolong. :)
Had a gig today and used my old rig, still dialing in the SR... but I brought home my Blackstar extension cab (with greenback) to try it out with the SR.
Wow!!! Instant smile on my face... thought the Blackstar sounded good at the gig (and it did) but the tone of the SR with the extra cab was just wonderful.
gtrjunior is right, when that cream back breaks in watch out!!!!
Wow!!! Instant smile on my face... thought the Blackstar sounded good at the gig (and it did) but the tone of the SR with the extra cab was just wonderful.
gtrjunior is right, when that cream back breaks in watch out!!!!
cvogue
Yes, that's Oolong. :)
When you connect an external speaker the impedance need to match the entire speaker load of other speakers.
As far as the solo boost, don't be afraid to turn it up high. Go back and look at the pics of my amp settings in this thread. My volume is at about 11 and my solo is about 2
When you say match the entire speaker load of the other speakers you mean both the internal speaker and any external speaks correct?
gtrjunior
Wannabe
Yes sir.
For example:
I have 2 16 ohm speakers in my 2x12. They are wired at 8ohm (I forget if that is parallel or series).
If I wanted to use my Marshall 1936 cabinet as an extension (8 ohm in mono) I would need to set the amp to 4 ohms.