Why shouldn’t I buy a Quilter Superblock?

[Viper]

It’s occasionally hard to get them to admit it, but guys in my town are being won over by Quilter in all its iterations. These amps represent the next step in solid state quality. In the past year I’ve played way more gigs than I anticipated. The Deluxe Reverb has only been out of the house once. My Quilter Mach2 HD is a dependable workhorse that can be dialed in to duplicate the Fender sound and much more. The line out is also super handy.

I’ve sold off three tube amps this past year. I’ll keep the Deluxe Reverb for old times sake, but the Quilter is what I take with me to play out. I want a Super Block for running direct into the PA or with a small cabinet. The consensus among the pros and semi-professional players I know is that these are good tools—even if it pains them to acknowledge that their old tube amps are just too bulky and heavy for aging musicians.

 

[Mr Twangy]

It’s occasionally hard to get them to admit it, but guys in my town are being won over by Quilter in all its iterations. These amps represent the next step in solid state quality. In the past year I’ve played way more gigs than I anticipated. The Deluxe Reverb has only been out of the house once. My Quilter Mach2 HD is a dependable workhorse that can be dialed in to duplicate the Fender sound and much more. The line out is also super handy.

I’ve sold off three tube amps this past year. I’ll keep the Deluxe Reverb for old times sake, but the Quilter is what I take with me to play out. I want a Super Block for running direct into the PA or with a small cabinet. The consensus among the pros and semi-professional players I know is that these are good tools—even if it pains them to acknowledge that their old tube amps are just too bulky and heavy for aging musicians.

You know every time Quilters come up in online discussions the consensus is positive. All their many great and practical attributes are listed and many rave about how good they sound. Yet even among the admirers there are some who say "Of course it doesn't have that tube magic". When I see that, I get a bit doubt-y and ask myself "Am I so deaf that I didn't notice that my Quilter doesn't have that tube magic?" And in the past I have owned a DRRI, a blonde brownface Bandmaster, and a Hiwatt 100w half stack. So I run upstairs turn the Superblock on and you know what? It's tactile and dynamic under the fingers (love that Limiter knob) and it sounds as good as anything I've ever played through. Now I have had a bit of hearing loss, a combination of loud music and having been in an artillery regiment when I was in the army, but I'm not deaf. I think those guys are kidding themselves. Quilter is the future of amplifiers. I think Pat is up there with Leo Fender when it comes to revolutionary amp design.

 

[mandobandit]

I recently purchased the Aviator Cub just to see.
I also have a BF DRRI a tweed Champ clone a Blackstar Club 40 MK II and a Spark.
I’m still finding my way around the eq settings and using my board with it but it’s not going anywhere.
I’m really impressed with of all things the musical feedback with my Gretsch 6120.
I believe it to be a very good sounding bit of gear.

 

[Bertotti]

I haven’t tried a super block, with several Vox sounding amps and a Vox it seemed redundant. I’m a bit of a tube snob so I would suggest the Vox Nighttrain for a small great amp Or The Winfield typhoon excellent Vox tones, or even the Joyo AtomiC oddly a good sounding hybrid and very small with Bluetooth as well. I think the most expensive of this groups is still under 500$ and down from there.

 

[Ricochet]

You know every time Quilters come up in online discussions the consensus is positive. All their many great and practical attributes are listed and many rave about how good they sound. Yet even among the admirers there are some who say "Of course it doesn't have that tube magic". When I see that, I get a bit doubt-y and ask myself "Am I so deaf that I didn't notice that my Quilter doesn't have that tube magic". And in the past I have owned a DRRI, a blonde brownface Bandmaster, and a Hiwatt 100w half stack. So I run upstairs turn the Superblock on and you know what? It's tactile and dynamic under the fingers (love that Limiter knob) and it sounds as good as anything I've ever played through. Now I have had a bit of hearing loss, a combination of loud music and having been in an artillery regiment when I was in the army, but I'm not deaf. I think those guys are kidding themselves. Quilter is the future of amplifiers. I think Pat is up there with Leo Fender when it comes to revolutionary amp design.

Tube emulation has come a long way. I’ve never played a Quilter but they sound pretty good to me on the youtubes. I know I’d sooner get rid of some of my tube amps before my Boss Nextone Stage. Not all, but definitely some.

 

[audept]

For me, it's the perfect bedroom amp.

 

[Mr Twangy]

Tube emulation has come a long way. I’ve never played a Quilter but they sound pretty good to me on the youtubes. I know I’d sooner get rid of some of my tube amps before my Boss Nextone Stage. Not all, but definitely some.

I've come across some mediocre tube amps in my time, they're not all automatically good. There definitely are classic amps - tube amps - and they are the standard, no question (AC30, JMP, JTM45 ,Twin, Bassman, etc).Many of the expensive boutique tube amps are variations on them. Obviously that's why Quilters "modelled" on them as well. But why people need to try Quilters is because analog modeling is a big advance over digital modeling.

 

[Mark W]

What sounds good should put a smile on your face whether is is a specific brand, tube, modeling or analog. I have owned sooooo many amps and still have too many but they are all little guys now. Too many trips to the doc with a bad back. I don't think any of the modelers or analog solid states sound "just like" a specific tube amp but as already stated they get in the ball park and usually are very light for easy carriage. I will keep my Vox AC10 and Ampeg Jet II J12T because I love the way they sound. But I also will keep my Quilter 101R and Superblock UK because they also put a smile on my face and I get to move them around with my 12 and 15 inch speaker cabs.

Lots of choices.

 

[Mr Twangy]

What sounds good should put a smile on your face whether is is a specific brand, tube, modeling or analog. I have owned sooooo many amps and still have too many but they are all little guys now. Too many trips to the doc with a bad back. I don't think any of the modelers or analog solid states sound "just like" a specific tube amp but as already stated they get in the ball park and usually are very light for easy carriage. I will keep my Vox AC10 and Ampeg Jet II J12T because I love the way they sound. But I also will keep my Quilter 101R and Superblock UK because they also put a smile on my face and I get to move them around with my 12 and 15 inch speaker cabs.

Lots of choices.

Thats very true, the Quilter models dont sound "just like" the specific amps they are modeled after. I find that much better than digital modelers that have sounds that are sort of canned versions of tube amps that sound "just like" in a certain way but really ultimately sound and feel lacking. I love all three settings on the SBUK l, especially at edge of breakup. I just think the amp sounds really good, and it surprised me how good it was when I first got it.

I love the AC10 too. It's my favorite affordable tube amp. I wish they made it with a line out and an fx loop. Actually the AC15 head version has those, as well as a variable power output. It would be great if they updated their combo versions with those features.

 

[pmac11]

I had my Superblock US at a jam night over the weekend. The other guitar player thought it was just a pedal running into a tube amp combo. He was surprised when he found the "combo" was just a 112 speaker cabinet, and the "pedal" was actually the amp.

"You get that kinda tone out of that little thing? You gotta be kidding!"

 

[Viper]

I had my Superblock US at a jam night over the weekend. The other guitar player thought it was just a pedal running into a tube amp combo. He was surprised when he found the "combo" was just a 112 speaker cabinet, and the "pedal" was actually the amp.

"You get that kinda tone out of that little thing? You gotta be kidding!"

This is a common first reaction to Quilter stuff. These are way cool amps. I played a pickup gig last week with a friend who was using a Super Block. Until recently he would not have been caught dead in public with anything but a vintage tube amp.