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When Scott Splawn started playing guitar at age 12 in the early ’80s, Eddie Van Halen’s now-coveted “brown sound” had just begun to exert an inescapable influence on hard rock and heavy metal guitarists. Three decades later, that sound is a benchmark for the high-powered tube amplifiers that Splawn makes in Dallas, North Carolina.

Splawn developed his designs by modding old and new Marshall amps and learning through trial and error how these legendary heads could be made even more crushing and versatile—all while running his own music store, Splawn Guitars, and gigging extensively with local bands.

For the past six years, Splawn and a small crew have been making killer amps—mostly in the head-and-cabinet style—all by hand from start to finish. These flexible amps have earned some high-profile devotees, including Steve Stevens, Dokken’s Jon Levin, and Killswitch Engage’s Adam Dutkiewicz.

-Premier Guitar.com

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