Quilter Pro Block, Wembley Music Centre?

bermudianbrit

Hi all,

Been wanting one of these for a while and am strongly thinking of pulling the trigger. I just wanted to check that this outfit is legit and won't cause me issues if I try it, hate it, and send it back the next day. I'm well aware that I can do this under consumer law but you know we've all heard horror stories.

Thoughts/experiences? Also, if anyone has a hatred on for Quilter and would strenuously warn me to stay away, now's the time to say so .
https://www.wembleymusiccentre.com/quilter-pro-block-200-guitar-amplifier-head.html

ICBM

I've been wanting to try one for a long time as well - it's frustrating that I can't find anyone thinking of selling one! Presumably they don't get moved on very often.

I do know of someone who has one and rates it very highly - the other guitarist in his band is a friend and says it sounds very good and just like a valve amp (his own amps are a Fender Vibrolux and an Ampeg Jet so he knows what a valve amp sounds like) - but if anything it's the 'feel' that's more important to me, now that it's quite possible to get the 'sound' of a valve amp.

The other one that's interested me a lot is the Yamaha THR100HD, which I did try and liked very much, but I've also heard some reports that it's not very loud for a supposedly 100W amp and might not quite cut it at band volume - I don't actually play loud, but I do like the headroom of a 100W amp for clean sounds.

If it matters, Quilter are an offshoot of QSC, who have made extremely good power amps for decades and which are well-regarded for PA.

PinstripePhil

The Pro Block is excellent.  Just be careful.  200w.  It will easily blow speakers.  Very easily.  Very, very easily.  lol.
Enjoy!!   

bermudianbrit

Hi

I must confess that my primary motive for the Quilter is ease and portability - as mentioned I am blind, so I want a rig that doesn't rely on me needing a bandmate with a car. I know they exist but I'd like the independence. The idea here is a pedal board, a guitar and a  1x12 cab if necessary should be all I need. Plus this allows me to go into the fx return of a valve backline and/or PA if I need to, and still have control of the EQ without playing with the nobs on an unknown amp...I was once confronted with  a Mesa of some sort, and the array of nobs, buttons and switches was mindboggling since I was the only guitarist there, no one could just look at it and tell me what did what in a busy rehearsal context...never again.

But of course I am glad to hear that others love the tones - that is the point after all!

Matt

HAL9000

WMC is a proper bricks'n'mortar shop. I've popped in a few times but have never bought anything there but it doesn't seem any different from most other shops. I've no reason to believe they're not legit.

simonk

I’m a big fan of Quilter and have a 101 Reverb, plus an OD200, both of which I bought from Wembley MC with no issues. I’ve never tried any others but would recommend the two I own, not least of all for their conventional tone stacks. The 50 watt 101 is very loud and keeps up with a loud band no problem. The 200 watt OD200 is BRUTAL.

Dopesick

I currently own a Matamp GT1 and a Quilter Tone Block 201 (intended as a backup) - using both as a pedal platform.

Over the last few weeks after numerous practices and gigs, I feel that I *may* no longer need the Matamp as the Quilter more than matches up to it in terms of tone and sheer loudness, which says a lot. Okay, you'll probably need an EQ pedal for the Quilter as the controls are a bit limited but it is an absolutely staggering piece of kit. It takes my distortions and drives effortlessly and can get so frigging loud without losing clarity or sounding synthetic/plastic.

If you're intending to use it for blues/jazz and you're bereft of pedals, then I'd probably look elsewhere, but if you have a shitload of effects then it's first class.

bermudianbrit

well guys I pulled the trigger on one. thanks for all the great advice

sweepy

A friend of mine gigs her Quilter combo regularly, takes pedals very nicely and seems to be ok

guitarmangler

ICBM said:

The other one that's interested me a lot is the Yamaha THR100HD, which I did try and liked very much, but I've also heard some reports that it's not very loud for a supposedly 100W amp and might not quite cut it at band volume - I don't actually play loud, but I do like the headroom of a 100W amp for clean sounds.

I played several gigs with my thr100hd with a relatively loud (but not full on metal loud) and dynamic band in pub type gigs and had to have both channels volumes on pretty much full through a 2x12 cab. Sounded great .Not until I investigated a week later that I'd realised the amp was set on 25 watts, rather than 100.
It's plenty loud .

ICBM

guitarmangler said:

I played several gigs with my thr100hd with a relatively loud (but not full on metal loud) and dynamic band in pub type gigs and had to have both channels volumes on pretty much full through a 2x12 cab. Sounded great .Not until I investigated a week later that I'd realised the amp was set on 25 watts, rather than 100.

It's plenty loud .

That's useful to know, thanks.

I have now just noticed that Quilter do a version of the 101 with reverb though...

simonk

ICBM said:

...

I have now just noticed that Quilter do a version of the 101 with reverb though...

Do keep up @ICBM ...

And very good it is too. Also has a conventional  tone stack as mentioned above.

ICBM

simonk said:

Do keep up @ICBM ...

And very good it is too. Also has a conventional  tone stack as mentioned above.

I saw your post .

Checked it out on the Wembley Music Centre website and it's only £389, which is a lot less than the £600-£700 I had been thinking I needed to spend on either the Aviator or the Yamaha.

Cabicular

It’s not the Thr100s volume that was my issue with it
it was the dynamics 
I couldn’t get it to sit with the mix
it was either too quiet or deafening.
I play with the amp on the loud side and pull back my playing as the vocals come in. When I need to be louder I dig in a bit more
The THR didn’t cope with that very well
(oddly enough the Helix does it ok, but it is the first modeller I have used that does)

thomasw88

Cabicular said:

It’s not the Thr100s volume that was my issue with it
it was the dynamics 
I couldn’t get it to sit with the mix
it was either too quiet or deafening.
I play with the amp on the loud side and pull back my playing as the vocals come in. When I need to be louder I dig in a bit more
The THR didn’t cope with that very well
(oddly enough the Helix does it ok, but it is the first modeller I have used that does)

It didn't cut it live for me. The Clean and crunch channels were awrsome but not loud enough.


I bought the pro block afterwards and it's great. I take it to rehearsals and although I prefer my valve amps I have happily gigged it a number of times plus it's really loud.

Only slight issue is that the eq is a bit bassy. But that's bring picky

ICBM

This all definitely sounds like I should try a Quilter.

Winny_Pooh

@bermudianbrit curious how you read the forum, are you partially sighted or do you use text to speech or a braille interface?

bermudianbrit

text to speech mate - I type, it talks.

bermudianbrit

Hi all,

 

So the Quilter arrived tonight and I thought I’d give it a serious play through. For context, I’m using a 1x12 open-backed cab, Celestion Gold speaker, and a Les Paul with Wolfetone pickups in it (hot PAF bridge, PAF neck). I’m used to a Dr. Z EZG50, so blackface Fender sounds.

 

The cleans are amazingly good. I found that cranking the master and then using the line level input to achieve the volume levels I wanted was a far better tone than using them in conjunction with one another. The reverb is ok, not the best I’ve ever heard, and it can become a washy mess fairly easily, but it’s entirely useable – really, at a show, people wouldn’t care about the reverb haha.

 

I get my dirt from pedals, and with a bit of tweaking, the Angry Charley and Wampler Duel Fusion sounded awesome through this thing. As good as the Dr. Z? no chance…but that’s not a fair comparison, and I know it.

 

The problem, such as it is…the distortion is awful – I mean, good god, the distortion is awful. It sounds very odd in some way I can’t quite explain – but it’s not at all amp-like. When you put the distortion on absolutely cranked, it becomes a useable mid/high gain tone. But the crunch settings were shocking. Luckily for me, I don’t care, since I will be using this as a clean pedal platform.

Also, the direct out sounds acceptable if not great – it’d do in a pinch.

I like the limiter too – like having a built-in compressor right on the amp itself, which I can see some uses for.

 

Overall, it does exactly what I wanted it to do and I am looking forward to trying it in a live environment. It’s not a tube-killer and never claimed to be. But its tiny, sounds great and fits on the damn pedal board. What else does one need? Well…ideally, a full tone stack – this contour switch along with the high cut is a little confusing until you get to grips with it. And seriously, Quilter, either do distortion well, or just leave the amp clean.

Otherwise, I love it and am keeping it.

 

Matt

 

simonk

Unless you need the full 200 watts and the, admittedly not perfect DI out, I’d consider exchanging it for a 101 Reverb... sounds like it would suit you better. They’re a bit smaller and lighter too.

thomasw88

bermudianbrit said:

Hi all,

 

So the Quilter arrived tonight and I thought I’d give it a serious play through. For context, I’m using a 1x12 open-backed cab, Celestion Gold speaker, and a Les Paul with Wolfetone pickups in it (hot PAF bridge, PAF neck). I’m used to a Dr. Z EZG50, so blackface Fender sounds.

 

The cleans are amazingly good. I found that cranking the master and then using the line level input to achieve the volume levels I wanted was a far better tone than using them in conjunction with one another. The reverb is ok, not the best I’ve ever heard, and it can become a washy mess fairly easily, but it’s entirely useable – really, at a show, people wouldn’t care about the reverb haha.

 

I get my dirt from pedals, and with a bit of tweaking, the Angry Charley and Wampler Duel Fusion sounded awesome through this thing. As good as the Dr. Z? no chance…but that’s not a fair comparison, and I know it.

 

The problem, such as it is…the distortion is awful – I mean, good god, the distortion is awful. It sounds very odd in some way I can’t quite explain – but it’s not at all amp-like. When you put the distortion on absolutely cranked, it becomes a useable mid/high gain tone. But the crunch settings were shocking. Luckily for me, I don’t care, since I will be using this as a clean pedal platform.

Also, the direct out sounds acceptable if not great – it’d do in a pinch.

I like the limiter too – like having a built-in compressor right on the amp itself, which I can see some uses for.

 

Overall, it does exactly what I wanted it to do and I am looking forward to trying it in a live environment. It’s not a tube-killer and never claimed to be. But its tiny, sounds great and fits on the damn pedal board. What else does one need? Well…ideally, a full tone stack – this contour switch along with the high cut is a little confusing until you get to grips with it. And seriously, Quilter, either do distortion well, or just leave the amp clean.

Otherwise, I love it and am keeping it.

 

Matt

 

The crunch sounds are ok if you get them set  right.  It can also do the light break up thing well.