Solid State Amp heads?

samzadgan

Mosfets are great!

I had a look at Quilter...seem really interesting.

If you get one, i'd be interested to know what you think

Creed_Clicks

Not a head, but there's a Roland JC 85 for sale near me.

Quilter have a supplier in Denmark, and it would cost me €450/£335 shipping included to get a Quilter toneblock to Ireland.

I could chance getting it shipped from the US, but might get caught for VAT....

Out of curiosity, would there be much work involved in converting something like the Rolan JC85 to a head? The less to lug around the better.

I used a HH lc 100 head years ago. It wasn't mine, but did the job perfectly. Alas, no longer found on classifieds.

Sammy

Creed_Clicks said:

Not a head, but there's a Roland JC 85 for sale near me.

Quilter have a supplier in Denmark, and it would cost me €450/£335 shipping included to get a Quilter toneblock to Ireland.

I could chance getting it shipped from the US, but might get caught for VAT....

Out of curiosity, would there be much work involved in converting something like the Rolan JC85 to a head? The less to lug around the better.

I used a HH lc 100 head years ago. It wasn't mine, but did the job perfectly. Alas, no longer found on classifieds.

I have a Quilter combo best SS amp I have ever tried or played, it compared to my Carr Rambler, which I recently sold to someone on here. Previously have always really been a tube person, but I've now been converted!

You won't be disappointed the only thing I would definately recommend, is don't buy direct from Quilter, buy from the dealer in Denmark!
After a lot of haggling and various emails, mine is just about to be returned and a refund given as Quilter themselves have a policy of  absolutely no refunds, they will only repair the amp even if it has a fault from outset! And they will only replace the amp if they decide to, no matter what the fault is! As I have found out to my cost, you have no say with them, unlike over here, where you have the right to a refund or replacement by law, if an item is faulty. In a nutshell, due to the faults, I didn't want just a repair as it was only several days old, so after various emails and also quoting UK law etc they finally agreed to give me a refund.

Anyway even with this not too happy experince, I want to get another one once I have received my monies back, the extra pain being trying to recover customs duty and vat! So I will be ordering from Denmark, so it shows how highly I regard the amp.

If anyone wants anymore info on my thoughts on them, let me know and I will copy and paste a post on here which I posted elsewhere, which describes my findings of the amp.

ICBM

Sammy said:

You won't be disappointed the only thing I would definately recommend, is don't buy direct from Quilter, buy from the dealer in Denmark!
After a lot of haggling and various emails, mine is just about to be returned and a refund given as Quilter themselves have a policy of  absolutely no refunds, they will only repair the amp even if it has a fault from outset! And they will only replace the amp if they decide to, no matter what the fault is! As I have found out to my cost, you have no say with them, unlike over here, where you have the right to a refund or replacement by law, if an item is faulty. In a nutshell, due to the faults, I didn't want just a repair as it was only several days old, so after various emails and also quoting UK law etc they finally agreed to give me a refund.

Personally I wouldn't buy one no matter if it was built by God himself and sounds like the choir of angels, given that...

thomasw88

Sammy said:

Creed_Clicks said:

Not a head, but there's a Roland JC 85 for sale near me.

Quilter have a supplier in Denmark, and it would cost me €450/£335 shipping included to get a Quilter toneblock to Ireland.

I could chance getting it shipped from the US, but might get caught for VAT....

Out of curiosity, would there be much work involved in converting something like the Rolan JC85 to a head? The less to lug around the better.

I used a HH lc 100 head years ago. It wasn't mine, but did the job perfectly. Alas, no longer found on classifieds.

I have a Quilter combo best SS amp I have ever tried or played, it compared to my Carr Rambler, which I recently sold to someone on here. Previously have always really been a tube person, but I've now been converted!

You won't be disappointed the only thing I would definately recommend, is don't buy direct from Quilter, buy from the dealer in Denmark!
After a lot of haggling and various emails, mine is just about to be returned and a refund given as Quilter themselves have a policy of  absolutely no refunds, they will only repair the amp even if it has a fault from outset! And they will only replace the amp if they decide to, no matter what the fault is! As I have found out to my cost, you have no say with them, unlike over here, where you have the right to a refund or replacement by law, if an item is faulty. In a nutshell, due to the faults, I didn't want just a repair as it was only several days old, so after various emails and also quoting UK law etc they finally agreed to give me a refund.

Anyway even with this not too happy experince, I want to get another one once I have received my monies back, the extra pain being trying to recover customs duty and vat! So I will be ordering from Denmark, so it shows how highly I regard the amp.

If anyone wants anymore info on my thoughts on them, let me know and I will copy and paste a post on here which I posted elsewhere, which describes my findings of the amp.

Hi, I'd be well interested in hearing about this amp. What was wrong with it and Also how you find it in a live situation?

Sammy

thomasw88 said:

If anyone wants anymore info on my thoughts on them, let me know and I will copy and paste a post on here which I posted elsewhere, which describes my findings of the amp.

Hi, I'd be well interested in hearing about this amp. What was wrong with it and Also how you find it in a live situation?

Hi Thomas,
With regard to the amp, it originally had a faulty on/off switch which was intermitant and wouldn't always turn off! At that time I would have been happy just to accept a new switch, which to be fair Quilter, they had offered with no problems. After I had tried what they suggested incl giving it another few weeks to see if it did cure the switch problem, which it didn't, another issue became apparent. This was just a one off when the amp was distorting, which hasn't happened again. Therefore due to this further issue and as Quilter had already agreed for the amp to be returned for the switch, I asked could I pay extra and purchase the latest model as my amp had faults from new, but was refused, then after further various corresspondence, they also refused a replacement, but offered a refund.  I don't want to go into this further, but on checking with some USA people, it would appear, unlike the UK, it seems the sellers have the upper hand and consumers cannot expect refunds, upgrades, replacements and the sellers only have to offer repairs or whatever they see fit, its their choice not the consumer on how they deal with a faulty item! Obviously many USA sellers do offer the same benefits as per UK Law and some also go way above that, with their customer services, but from my experince, which I must admit haven't had from any other retailer /mft I have previously bought from over the years from the US, I would suggest buyers should check with the builders/retailers before purchasing in USA with regard to their returns policy!

As I have previously said, I haven't seen or found any other comparable SS amps to Quilter and will be purchasing another one , albeit from either Europe or a USA dealer, who has a UK type returns policy. I will also say from viewing many posts of buyers etc, it would appear that  overall Quilter amps are extremely reliable, unfortunately it looks like a got a rogue one, which can happen even on the very best products!

As requested, I will copy and paste later, my post about the amp from another forum.

PS Never actually got to play it out live due to the problems.

Sammy

This is copy of my original post when received

"Quilter Aviator Eight Arrived, My Views!

---

I finally bought one after going through all the normal motions of checking soundclips, looking at reviews, good help from some of you guys plus emailing Quilter themselvse about the amp.

Anyway it arrived, but not after a lot of trouble with Fedex from the UK side, won't go into that now, but Quilter shipped it out within an hour of me paying them, it was on a plane that same evening and arrived in London the following day, yet it took Fedex in the UK 4 days to deliver it to me!!

So these are my own unreserved views on this little lightweight combo.

The amp itself is really well made and presented and it looks really good as well, which is a good start, plus it comes with its own cover (wish more mfts would do that). Though the basic footswitch was extra, which I always think should be incl with any two channel amp! Though I agree they have to cost it in as a bit extra, but to me who wants to keep changing channels pressing a button on the amp!

When I first tried it I didn't think it sounded anything special, but that was probably down to the problems with Fedex which had me boiling! But after coming back to the amp a few hours later I really started to get into it and once I worked out how the tone controls inter acted, they really do make a big difference to the sound, I was happy as a pig in s.... Such a great sound from such a small combo, it really excels.

Some owners have said they cant seem to get a good sound out of the channel one and use channel two for clean and a pedal for overdrive/lead. I disagree, it took a while as the single tone control is very effective, but you really have to play around with it until you get the sound you want, its sort of a small click move as you turn it. Once I had found the sweet spot using my Tele I had a great clean sound.

Channel two has a lot more controls and I found I could either get another great clean sound louder for solos, or a lovely smooth overdrive sound. The one thing it doesnt do is heavy distortion, if you put the full gain on it sounds a bit fizzy, in fact just like most Fender amps, good at overdrive but nothing more. Which is exactly what I like, as Im not into heavy metal! Get a Marshall or equivalent if you want that sound.

I would also say you can get this real sort of snap to it when you play, a a bit like my Xotic RC Booster and its so clear sounding, all the notes ring through. Both my son and his friend, who came round this evening, were very impressed with the sound and really liked it.

I also quickly compared it to my Carr Rambler, which my son is now having and his current Fender Blues Junior. Haven't compared it to my Tone King yet, but that's a sort of different animal, as you have to play it at gig volumes to really get the best out of it, then it sounds superb, IMO not so good for home use!

The Rambler has quite a bit more bottom end, as you would expect from a quality hand built valve amp and 12" speaker, but I think the aviator compares really well sound wise a bit smoother sounding to my ears which I quite like, will being trying it through the Rambler 12" speaker tomorrow! As far as the Blues Junior I think the aviator outshines it in all departments and also has a better bass and more bottom end, and as like other owners have said, I still can't believe how such a small speaker can put out so much bass and without farting out!

All in all it sounds really good for home playing, which I wanted, plus I turned it up quite loud for a while, and it also sounds really good at volume so it will be great to be able to take a nice portable combo to gigs when I want. Will be interesting to see the other band members faces when I turn up with such a small combo, pity our next band gig isn't now until the New Year."


Unfortunately as I stated in previous post, due to the problems never got round to actually playing it Live!

Creed_Clicks

I may have an orange crush 120 head in the pipeline

samzadgan

Creed_Clicks said:

I may have an orange crush 120 head in the pipeline

you wont regret that mate...they are real nice.

Creed_Clicks

On that note, what cab would be good to get for a head? I've always had 1 speaker combos, so thinking of maybe a 2x12?
I play a Blues Junior which is fine, but it's "boxy" sounding sometimes, so I might double up a cab and use it with the Blues Jun and the Orange head.
I wouldn't have a massive pile of money to play around with though..

samzadgan

I've only run it through a 4x12, but I'm sure you could do a 2x12 as well. Get a decent cab and speakers as they will make a huge difference on what you hear from the amp. I personally hate V30's...i think the 75's i had worked really well with the orange.

 

You can get an old marshall 2x12 which are good quality and put different speakers in...or get a jet city cab and do the same, they are really cheap...or a lot of people rate those Harley Benton cabs too, which are really cheap.

Creed_Clicks

Yeah, I think the harley benton ones have V30s in them. I could get something cheap...

I don't think my back would be able for a 4x12 at this stage...

not_the_dj

Just check the power rating of whatever speaker cab you look at...it's a 120w head (obviously).

Creed_Clicks

It is indeed. I've always had combos down the years. Never had a head and cab... Looking forward to the novelty of it.

samzadgan

not_the_dj said:

Just check the power rating of whatever speaker cab you look at...it's a 120w head (obviously).

yeah true...V30's only get 120w...so you wont be able to turn up the amp that much...might risk blowing them up.

also, keep an eye on classifieds, 2x12's come up pretty cheap round these parts.

also, again, i recently got a 4x12 with hot100's and they are awesome speakers, and work really well with the orange too. That would also give you enough power.

my suggestion would be, get an unloaded cab and buy speakers seperately.

ICBM

A pair of V30s will be fine with a 120W amp unless you're absolutely blasting it, and probably even then. Celestion ratings are very conservative and usually mean 'a cranked amp of the same power'.

If you're concerned and/or want a less aggressive midrange voicing, try Classic Lead 80s, or G12T-75s as samzadgan said, they do indeed often work well with solid-state amps because they have a naturally loose, under-damped type of sound.