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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Quilter Pro Block review

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">> You sounded great in Akron! Can't believe I forgot to bring the GoPro <<"

At least you remembered all the important stuff! There are so many things to remember. Power cords, speaker cables, picks, etc., etc. Might be a good topic for a new thread ...

To follow up on this thread I now own Toms complete setup he described in this threat. Tom wanted and found a vibrolux and wanted to find a new home for the Quilter and D130 cab. I needed a lighter rig for gigs and a Quilter to combine in my duel surfy bear rig. A match made in heaven! I would like to formally give Tom thanks for a great deal on this setup including the eq pedal! Tom is a first class surfer and I couldn't be happier with this rig! I spent several hours matching the tone of the quilter with the eq in the loop to my blackface bandmaster and I got it close setting the gain at 2:30 and the limiter at 2:30 and the eq heavily scooped. I never could get the sounds the same but the Quilter sounds great. I next went to the 1970 Twin which is setup about 5ft left of the Quilter rig and the combined tone of the two was incredible! Just a fantastically rich combination of tone! The Twin being bright and snappy and the Quilter a bit darker and richer. Love that stereo image!

The Kahuna Kings

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447

https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases

Too cool, Dave! Can't wait to see (and hear!) the Kahuna Kings! Hopefully we can make it to Jilly's Music Room in Akron on January 20 when Kahuna Kings play with the Beyonderers. Nothing like a huge dose of surf and reverb to chase those winter blues away! Glad that the Pro Block and JBL cab went to such a good home!

Thanks again Tom! Hopefully you and Cambreezy can make it down for The Beyonderers version of smash and thrash surf and our big wave reverb drenched crash surf. I'll keep tweaking the Quilter!!!

The Kahuna Kings

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447

https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases

After running very hard and loud in band practice last night I found heaven in a stereo signal split out of my El Cap going to the Twin and The quilter. This was sonic bliss. A mid scoop snap coming from the twin and the quilter through the JBL feeding some lush warm bottom end and punching through on top. It was our loudest practice but we all enjoyed it!

The Kahuna Kings

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447

https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases

stratdancer wrote:

After running very hard and loud in band practice last night I found heaven in a stereo signal split out of my El Cap going to the Twin and The quilter. This was sonic bliss. A mid scoop snap coming from the twin and the quilter through the JBL feeding some lush warm bottom end and punching through on top. It was our loudest practice but we all enjoyed it!

Ahh, so that was the big sound in the vid. Sweet!

Wes
SoCal ex-pat with a snow shovel

DISCLAIMER: The above is opinion/suggestion only & should not be used for mission planning/navigation, tweaking of instruments, beverage selection, or wardrobe choices.

Dave,
Sounded kick ass in the video!

Cheers,
Jeff

http://www.facebook.com/CrazyAcesMusic
http://www.youtube.com/user/crazyacesrock
http://www.reverbnation.com/crazyacesmusic

Ha! We were playing fairly well last in practice (maybe a few to many beers though) and I wanted to get a vid in but man it was so loud the tiny little mic in my camera couldn't keep up. I was really disappointed with the sound on video but in the room it was very rich!

I would like to thank Tom from Surfer Rex again for a really nice deal. I hope he's digging his vibrolux also!

The Kahuna Kings

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447

https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases

Last edited: Dec 24, 2016 14:24:17

Hey guys, my Quilter Tone Block 202 just arrived! I will bring it to band practice tomorrow night to hear how it sounds. If anyone hasn't checked out the specs on one yet, you really should.

I am so glad Pat went to a traditional EQ, I wasn't a fan of the way it was before. I am thinking that the 202 paired with my 4 Ohm Swamp Thang, you will be able to hear me a couple of miles away! Laughing
image

MooreLoud.com - A tribute to Dick Dale.

Just need to vent for a minute... Overall, band practice last night sucked, let me explain why. The guys were great, we sounded awesome! I brought my new Quilter Tone Block 202 and paired it with my custom 4 ohm Swamp Thang, and the tone was amazing!

Seriously, the amp really impressed me. I had it on the vintage setting, with the limiter around 3.5. Here is the part that sucked...

I swear I hit that record button on my iPhone, but when practice was over, I had nothing. Not one second of the practice got recorded. I was,**** and still am very frustrated. I even had my new Shure MV88 mic hooked up for professional sound.

Next, the Quilter blew my speaker! Seriously, when I was playing Misirlou, toward the end of the song my Swamp Thang got fried. I had the volume about 3/4 up on the amp head. I am not going to wait 2 more months to have a custom 4 ohm speaker built.

I am looking at an Eminence LEGEND EM12N 200 watt speaker. It is very light weight, can handle 200 watts, but unfortunately 8 Ohms. The Quilter will be fine, but I am concerned it will fry my 4 Ohm Bandmaster. I guess it is a chance I will just have to take. Any of you guys ever played a Bandmaster through an 8 Ohm cab?

Anyway, sorry for the long rant. I am open to any and all suggestions and advice. Thank you.

MooreLoud.com - A tribute to Dick Dale.

Last edited: Sep 13, 2019 12:34:08

Dude that sucks! I empathize about not hitting record. Did that on an epic jam using 24-tracks for a live jam, two drum sets, theremins, synth - and forgot to hit record. And that’s especially shameful since my job is to hit record for dialog haha!

I’m also very sad to hear about the 4 ohm speaker. That sucks so hard. Just read a long thread about a defective new amp that fried a poor fellow’s rig and then the company refused any responsibility for damaging the cab. It kind of boiled my blood to read that. I hope your situation works out man. I’m also extremely curious as to what happened?

Dan Izen

Daniel Deathtide

Hi DeathTide, thanks for telling me about the time you also forgot to hit the record button. That does make me feel better. Kind of like when I lose money at the casino, I am secretly rooting for my friends to lose as well. I am a terrible person! Laughing

I just got carried away, had the master volume at 75%, the gain at 50%, and my Oceans 11 pedal cranked. It survived the entire practice until we got to Misirlou, and then it fried toward the end of the song. I could smell smoke!

I emailed Pat Quilter, and he said as well built as that speaker is, it had no chance against that amp. Oh well, I will buy the EM12N and just keep the volume 2/3 up and I should be OK. Again, I just hope my 4 Ohm Bandmaster doesn't get fried with that 8 Ohm speaker (it takes two months for Eminence to build a custom 4 Ohm speaker). Thanks again for the story about your "lost jam session."

MooreLoud.com - A tribute to Dick Dale.

Painful to hear about the speaker. I moved my PB200 to run a vintage EV SRO 15 because it can handle way more power than my D130 cab just because I was afraid it might blow. Even with outdoor gigs I've never had to run more than 65 watts. I tend to run gain about half way but I have the limiter up to about 3/4's. I wonder if the limiter could have saved the speaker.

On a different note, someday think about putting a Mercury Magnetics Bassman transformer in the bandmaster with a multi tap so you can run at 8ohms or 4ohms. They aren't that expensive.

The Kahuna Kings

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447

https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases

Strat, that is a great idea about a Mercury Magnetics Bassman transformer. I will order one today, and have my amp tech install it (I am overly concerned about getting electrocuted, don't even like to swap cabs). There are a ton of choices on their website, could you please link me to the one you would recommend?

Also, is it an output transformer, or a power transformer? I have a '65 Fender Bandmaster, below is a link to photos of it if you need more specifics. I am concerned it won't fit properly. Thank you for the recommendation!

https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/29897/?page=5

MooreLoud.com - A tribute to Dick Dale.

Last edited: Sep 16, 2019 09:40:47

Actually, I used the Classic Tone transformer. Less than half the price.

http://www.classictone.net/40-18009.html

The Kahuna Kings

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447

https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases

I don't think a 4 ohm Bandmaster will get fried by using an 8 ohm speaker. There may be a tad less volume, but that may not be very noticeable. The only component possibly at risk is the output transformer, but those were built very well back then, and many still are. And the difference between 4 and 8 ohms should not stress them greatly, unless they are already about to go bad. Mercury makes excellent (and expensive) transformers. But unless money is no object I would stick with the one you've got. I play my 1960 Bassman head through 4 ohms all the time, even though it was made for 8 ohms, which is theoretically worse than your situation. I wouldn't stress about it. You can call the guys at Mercury and ask them what they think, but listen very carefully to what they say - I doubt they will tell you straight out that doubling the speaker impedance will harm your amp, even while they may try to sell you a new transformer. Not sure of the pricing differences, but Hammond makes world-class transformers too, and may be less expensive.

I really appreciate your post, geoale01. I took stratdancer's advice and ordered a Classic Tone output transformer. I have read online that those are a high quality product, at a reasonable price.

My amp tech did recommend me getting a straight 8 ohm transformer, not a variable 4/8/16 version. Hopefully, I will be cranking the Bandmaster up again soon!

MooreLoud.com - A tribute to Dick Dale.

I'm going to make plans on putting one in my 63. 75 for the tranny and 40 for the install.

The Kahuna Kings

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Kahuna-Kings/459752090818447

https://thekahunakings.bandcamp.com/releases

Last edited: Sep 20, 2019 05:21:34

Pat Quilter is a man with an unusual passion for strong-nation amplification. He got his begin constructing amps inside the overdue 60's, sooner or later founding QSC and main that corporation to dominance inside the subject of high-energy seasoned audio amplification. Upon his retirement from QSC, Pat and some friends based Quilter Laboratories in 2011 with the concept of building powerful, efficient, light-weight stable-state guitar amplifiers that might compete toe-to-toe on tone with tube amps. Quilter's present day creation is the miniature-sized Tone Block two hundred head, a 200-watt, all analog, strong-state head that without problems suits in a rack, on a computer, in a backpack, or even on a pedalboard, and functions some exceedingly top notch tones.

The Tone Block two hundred is remarkably compact, and its functions are at once simple and sophisticated. It's simply a chunk wider than a double-huge outcomes pedal, approximately 3 inches in peak, and it weighs approximately 4lbs, which means you may without difficulty positioned one in a rack (or two, for a 400 watt stereo rig), or in your pedalboard, or just about everywhere else. The layout is extraordinarily simple, with an AC Power transfer, a single 1/4" input, an XLR direct out, and knobs for Gain, Contour, and Master all at the front panel. The rear panel is wherein the strength cable plugs in, and in which the dual 1/four" speaker jacks are placed. The controls may also appear limited at first, however upon further examination they provide one quite a bit of manage over the amp's person. The Gain manipulate doesn't work pretty like a fashionable guitar amp advantage knob - the left half of of the range is meant to be used with line-stage enter alerts from keyboards, preamps, mixers, and many others., whilst the right 1/2 of the advantage range is for guitar. About 3/4 of the way up (where the phrase "Guitar" is readily categorized) is set the precise spot for a robust, clean guitar tone. Past that factor the Tone Block 200 starts offevolved generating overdrive, which we'll get to later. Next in line is the Contour knob, that is the overall EQ sculptor. The left half of its variety offers you a scooped, Fender-ish tone, the center putting offers you a flat reaction, and as you turn the knob to the right the midrange starts to poke out for a fantastically British tonal taste. The Master control knob sets the Tone Block's headroom and universal output in watts, starting from zero-2 hundred. Right subsequent to the Master is the XLR out, that's beneficial for going direct into a mixer or recorder, or even functions a integrated EQ that simulates the reaction of a standard guitar speaker. Turning the unit round you'll discover the twin 1/four" speaker outs, one marked 8-OHMS, and one marked 4-OHMS. When using both speaker outputs the Tone Block is optimized for two eight-Ohm shelves, but in step with Quilter's manual you can connect speakers of any impedance (even mismatched impedances) and the Tone Block will regulate as a result, even though it is able to reason the actual output wattage to vary particularly from what is indicated with the aid of the Master. Be cautious and be aware of keep away from blowing your speakers.

Alright, so how does this issue sound? In short summation, the Quilter Tone Block two hundred sounds extraordinarily rad. I've performed a whole lot of stable-country amps through the years, from my first Peavey exercise amp to my superb vintage Roland JC-one hundred twenty, and I am thrilled to mention the Tone Block 2 hundred is not anything like those amps. The issue about old solid-nation amps is they often sound quite proper clean, but begin cranking the extent up or stick a distortion pedal in front of them, and you're in for a world of hurt. The Tone Block, then again, sounds brilliant loud, and when you put some dust through it, it in reality comes alive. With the Gain knob set roughly to "Guitar" the smooth tone is powerful and unique - it probably may not first-rate your vintage blackface Deluxe Reverb, however it in reality sounds more robust and sparkly than a lot of tube amps I've plugged into. Start turning up the Gain knob and the Tone Block responds with a thick, hearty overdrive that will become a menacing midrange crunch with the Contour knob became to the right. Go left and it receives complete and juicy and Fender-esque, back toward the middle and also you get a pleasing combination. My head being full of years of gathered solid-kingdom prejudices, I turned into to start with fairly in disbelief on the fats, dynamic, tube-like force tones this diminutive head puts out - it truely sounded exquisite through our 2x12 semi-open-lower back cab filled with Celestion G12H's. What without a doubt knocked me out, though, become how properly the Tone Block takes pedals. Due in element to its large clean headroom, it offers an outstanding basis for the pedal fanatic. Even strolling a Rangemaster-style treble booster into it, which no one of their proper mind would ever do to an vintage-school strong-kingdom amp, sounded great. The Tone Block spoke back simply how you will expect a very good tube amp to reply. No harshness, no fizz, no blood from my pierced eardrums - just candy sustain and tone. Not tremendously, it also handled all manner of put off, reverb, and modulation effects with similar aplomb. If you're the kind of player that receives most of your sound out of your pedalboard or rack preamp, with the amp functioning as sort of a blank tonal canvas, then the Tone Block 200 can be the amp you have always dreamed of.

With the doorway of the Quilter Tone Block 2 hundred at the scene, I think we are able to accurately say that solid-state guitar amps have eventually arrived. If you have a sweet vintage Plexi or some thing similar, don't hock it just but, however the Tone Block two hundred is truely worthy of any guitarist's extreme consideration. This tiny, toneful head may be best for quite a few gamers, from pedal fans that want to avoid the renovation and reliability troubles of tube amps, to the traveling guitarist that flies to gigs, and once there, is regularly on the mercy of a promoter or venue to provide them with a decent amp. Throw a Tone Block 2 hundred to your bring-on, and booyah, problem solved! With its extremely good direct output and wide compatibility with unique shelves, it will plug into just about anything, making it a useful device for stay or studio situations. If you play multiple units and want one amp that will work just as properly for keys or bass as it will for guitar, then Quilter has your returned on that too. At $399 road, the Tone Block 2 hundred is quite fairly priced, making its awesome tones and plenty of utilitarian attributes all that rather more attractive.

Last edited: Oct 16, 2019 05:43:06

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