Yet another Guitar Center acquisition, this one popped up and I noticed the 3 preamp tubes and the offset input on the front. I’ve read before that these earlier models had a different circuit, this being the “second” iteration of it (the “first” being the two-input no gears model). I wanted to hear just how different this would be from my 2008 model, which sounds far different than the 2012+ models already.
This one got some pretty serious damage during shipping - the headshell actually broke so badly that the top half of the shell disconnected from the bottom/chassis. As an added bonus, Guitar Center packed this amp without a power cable and the fuses removed - including the fuse holders!
Luckily my local GC is “one of the good ones” and after I gave them my information and waited a few days, they sorted it out for me and got me a hefty partial refund to cover the cost of a new head shell and the fuses.
An added shout out to Scott Splawn, who answered my email and pointed me in the direction of the current fuse holders they are using on their amps. Unlucky for me, I ordered 3 of these fuse holders and they are not the same as installed on this amp - but I’m perfectly capable and just removed the old ones and installed two brand new fuse holders + fuses into this amp. It works and sounds fantastic, so no complaints from me there.
I also took some time to wood glue the top of the head shell on, and “clamped” it by placing two other heads on top of this one. The original screws do not quite fit anymore, but it feels plenty solid after a week of drying time. I’m able to pick up the amp and move it around by the handle, although usually for the sake of my back I’m picking up my amps by either side underneath “forklift style.” Since I’m not touring or anything, I’m happy with this temporary solution as long as I’m keeping the amp. If I ever were to sell this, I most likely would go ahead and just purchase a new headshell or have this one professional repaired and retolexed at the least.
On the other hand, I have no intention of selling this amp now that I’ve played it. It is brighter, more aggressive, yet somehow more classic sounding than my 2008 model. It’s also much more capable of 80s rock and metal tones than my 2018 Streetrod, and really it’s my favorite Splawn by a wide margin now. The clean channel is really more of a crunch channel though, and turning up the gain on the drive channel also increases the gain and grit on the clean channel so they are definitely tied together.
This is the first iteration of the Quickrod circuit with “gears.” I am in love with 3rd gear on this amp, it has a good extra push in the bass without getting flubby or loose, and just a tone of usable gain with great crunchy mids. This has to be one of the best modded Marshall tones on the planet and I see why these amps captivated guitar players at the time of release. This particular unit has been back to Scott’s shop as well, and has the loop master volume installed, which makes it easy to dial in these killer tones at home studio levels too, which is a great bonus. He also mentioned that it got a new headshell at that time, so I think it’s safe to say that this poor thing has been housed in a broken headshell for the second time now!