Quilter Amps - new "high quality" solid state amp company.

EdGrip

You know we keep saying that someone should make solid-state guitar amps with quality in mind rather than keeping the price as low as possible, and then we say yeah, but who'd buy them? And then periodically a company has a go.

Here's a new one: They seem like they may have over-egged the price a bit, dunno.

http://www.quilterlabs.com/

EricTheWeary

They have been around quite a while now. I posted a bunch of youtube clips on here (may have been even back in MR days) that were a bit so so. They get generally good press in the US, although the amps tend to be a bit fugly and with the odd confusing feature. Never seen any UK distribution.

Dave_Mc

I think that's the problem, as you said. Unless they're cheap, people won't buy them (as if you have the option of a valve amp which you know sounds good or a solid state which, at best, *might* sound as good for the same price, most will go for the valve amp); unless they make them more expensive, they probably won't get much better.

ThePrettyDamned

Dave_Mc;237813" said:

I think that's the problem, as you said. Unless they're cheap, people won't buy them (as if you have the option of a valve amp which you know sounds good or a solid state which, at best, *might* sound as good for the same price, most will go for the valve amp); unless they make them more expensive, they probably won't get much better.

Sad, but true.

I still need to run the amt stonehead but while there are good sounding, well built ss amps, none have the same tone as a valve amp.

That said, the amt p1 is remarkably close to the 5150 lead channel as a preamp, and that's solid state. A few folks here have said they can hardly tell the difference. So maybe there will be a mini shift to ss preamp, valve power amp?

Vox use a small valve run at starved voltage in the valvetronix range, which acts as a power amp that's tiny. That's then fed into an actual solid state power amp, and they do sound pretty good so maybe there is a little room for work there, too.

Otherwise, gimme a cornford, peavey and mesa.

Dave_Mc

Yeah. I've never really tried any of the higher end SS/modelling stuff, so I'm always careful to say "I don't like the cheaper SS/modelling stuff as much as valves". Maybe it's silly, but it's very hard to get past the "Am I paying the same price for something which at best might be almost as good?" feeling with the dearer solid state/modelling stuff.

digitalscream

ThePrettyDamned said:

That said, the amt p1 is remarkably close to the 5150 lead channel as a preamp, and that's solid state. A few folks here have said they can hardly tell the difference. So maybe there will be a mini shift to ss preamp, valve power amp? 

That reminds me...I've still got to try my AMT C2 (Cornford-style) preamp into my Marshall 20/20 power amp at some point. Might give it a go tomorrow night at rehearsal...

EricTheWeary

Dave_Mc said:

I think that's the problem, as you said. Unless they're cheap, people won't buy them (as if you have the option of a valve amp which you know sounds good or a solid state which, at best, *might* sound as good for the same price, most will go for the valve amp); unless they make them more expensive, they probably won't get much better.

IIRC Quilter are made in the USA so they will start looking very pricey by the time they get here.
I think they just haven't got the design/ look  right though - they need to look right before they can convince us ( by 'us' I mean the guitar market in general) they sound right.

ThePrettyDamned

digitalscream;237891" said:

ThePrettyDamned said:That said, the amt p1 is remarkably close to the 5150 lead channel as a preamp, and that's solid state. A few folks here have said they can hardly tell the difference. So maybe there will be a mini shift to ss preamp, valve power amp? 





That reminds me...I've still got to try my AMT C2 (Cornford-style) preamp into my Marshall 20/20 power amp at some point. Might give it a go tomorrow night at rehearsal...

I would be very interested in your thoughts the p2 and c1 would probably cover most bases for me.

Richardj

I have a friend in the US (a talented Tele picker) with a Quilter Aviator and he absolutely loves it, so much so that he sold his DRRI. They aren't that expensive in the US but lack of distribution over here makes them pricey. A handy feature is that they have a built in transformer so can be used globally without any adjustment.

ICBM

It's more likely that they *don't* have a transformer, to achieve that. Transformers are fixed-ratio, and even with a dual primary still need to be manually switched. But Switch-Mode Power Supplies (SMPS) are often designed for universal operation on anything from 100 to 250V.

They look interesting.

Richardj

^ that's sort of what I meant. Simple terms for a simple man!

Dave_Mc

EricTheWeary said:

Dave_Mc said:

I think that's the problem, as you said. Unless they're cheap, people won't buy them (as if you have the option of a valve amp which you know sounds good or a solid state which, at best, *might* sound as good for the same price, most will go for the valve amp); unless they make them more expensive, they probably won't get much better.

IIRC Quilter are made in the USA so they will start looking very pricey by the time they get here.
I think they just haven't got the design/ look  right though - they need to look right before they can convince us ( by 'us' I mean the guitar market in general) they sound right.

Yeah most things made in the USA, even the mass-produced stuff, ends up pretty dear by the time it gets here. And agreed about the cosmetics.

EdGrip

Aesthetics-wise, I really like the Aviator series. Much better than Blackstar or Cornford's combo look.

EricTheWeary

EdGrip;238164" said:

Aesthetics-wise, I really like the Aviator series. Much better than Blackstar or Cornford's combo look.

they are better than the brown ones but still meh for me on how they look FWIW.

Blueingreen

They have some devoted fans in the jazz community where there's much less suspicion of solid state. I've seen a few "this is the amp I've been waiting for all my life" comments from jazzers.

ThePrettyDamned

The lap steel one sounds beautiful!

ThePrettyDamned

Though that's got a lot to do with the players I guess...