Quilter making me QUIT T00BZ??

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Re: Quilter making me QUIT T00BZ??

Post by panoramic » Tue Jun 30, 2020 3:48 am

peterherman wrote:
Mon Jun 29, 2020 3:45 pm
mackerelmint wrote:
Mon Jun 29, 2020 11:57 am
Solid state is where it's at. I quit tubes years ago but for one small combo amp that I love.

Cheap, clean, and reliable wins in my book.
Yeah I'm getting way more into an amp that just works instead of an amp that is cool. Normcore for amps
fuckina right. I'm likely to keep one bandmaster or a musicman 65 head and move onto a roland jc and a quilter head or something at this point. I am so tired of shit going up in tube amps.
right now i have 3 amps on the fritz, seriously it's a fucking shitshow. I only own two GOOD guitars otherwise i have a squier i use for alt tunings and a bass.
I used to be cool, now I just complain about prices.

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Re: Quilter making me QUIT T00BZ??

Post by somanytoys » Tue Jun 30, 2020 7:58 am

I’m sure I’ve said all of this before in another thread or 2, but the maintenance and cost of tubes aside, there is something to both sides on this. At least for me, everyone’s different.

I have had quite a few totally solid state guitar amps, and only have 2 now, an old, small Traynor and a THR-10 C. The ones I got rid of definitely weren’t the best of what’s available, but I have found that I do tend to prefer the tube sound for guitar. If I can get that sound from a pedal and/or a ss preamp, I’m all for it. I just haven’t yet, and I definitely have my fair share of pedals. I still really need to explore more, so that may be my fault, but I like the tube amps that I have, at least at this moment.

I have a setup ready to try feeding some pedals into a preamp pedal like Mac does, and then into the Iconoclast speaker emulator, and listen with headphones or push it through the PA (I don’t have any low wattage ss power amps that won’t blow guitar speakers). It’s ready to go, I just haven’t fired it up yet because other things right now, but I might find some really good sounds that way. I want it to work.

If you get the sounds that you like with solid state equipment, there’s no real reason to bother with tube amps, other than maybe you like that, too. Variety is fun.

For bass, I have quite a few solid state amps, a few with a tube section in the preamp, but with ss power sections. Many are ss all the way, and I have 3 (standalone) ss power amps to move the larger speakers. I actually don’t have any tube power sections, and never have, because I can get the sounds I want with ss, because of their design (like the Traynor TS amps) or their hybrid nature (like the SWR). Then there are pedals like the T-21 VT-DI that can pretty much bring you to tubey SVT or flip top tones and beyond. To me, it’s no different than going from a tube amp into a PA or FoH system - once the sound is there, it doesn’t matter what amplifies that sound, and sometimes the cleaner the better.

Tube amps are fucking heavy though, and I’m not getting any younger or stronger.

It’s all about what works.
-David

It's a boost booster, to boost your boost - it makes your tone much muchier.

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Re: Quilter making me QUIT T00BZ??

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Tue Jul 07, 2020 12:17 am

I've only got 2 amps, both are non-vintage and tube, and I love them both, but I've been VERY tempted to look into a solid state amp, especially something like one of the Quilters. I've heard a few players say that they love both tube and solid state, but that they have a hard time finding the feel of tube amps that they like using a solid state amp. I've often wondered what it would be like to have a good preamp pedal RIGHT before the solid state amp. Like, a Hudson Broadcast going into a Quilter (after delays, reverbs, etc.). And then I find videos like this that make me question everything:
That Pedal Show – Kingsley Valve Pedals With Simon Jarrett
That Pedal Show – Using Drive & Preamp Pedals In Your Amp FX Loop
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

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Re: Quilter making me QUIT T00BZ??

Post by Jaguar018 » Tue Jul 07, 2020 8:17 am

I have been looking at Quilters a bit myself. I have one of those Line6 Amplify things and it sound fine.

But... tube amp maintenance? :mellow: I have a Princeton and a Deluxe Reverb clone thing. I never really do anything with them and they sound fine? If you are Mr/Mrs Touring Musician I can see that being a bigger thing, but let's be honest here: if they are mainly chilling in your practice room they aren't going to get too worn out.

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Re: Quilter making me QUIT T00BZ??

Post by Tafarel » Tue Jul 07, 2020 8:45 am

After many years of shunning solid-state amps, I recently bought a Boss Katana 50 amp to simplify the recording process. My band shares files of song ideas and everyone works on them from home. The number of effects available with this amp has made it indispensable to me. I don't have to haul my pedalboard upstairs if an idea occurs to me whilst working.

I have also opened it up when the family is not home -- a rare occurrence because of the pandemic -- and played the amp at band practice level. It sounds very good; full and natural (whatever that is these days). I will probably continue to use my Supro Thunderbolt for live gigs, if that is ever a thing again, but I've no doubt the Katana 50 would more than hold its own in that environment.
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Re: Quilter making me QUIT T00BZ??

Post by peterherman » Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:27 am

Jaguar018 wrote:
Tue Jul 07, 2020 8:17 am
I have been looking at Quilters a bit myself. I have one of those Line6 Amplify things and it sound fine.

But... tube amp maintenance? :mellow: I have a Princeton and a Deluxe Reverb clone thing. I never really do anything with them and they sound fine? If you are Mr/Mrs Touring Musician I can see that being a bigger thing, but let's be honest here: if they are mainly chilling in your practice room they aren't going to get too worn out.
Yeah, I don't think I'm going to do anything about the AC10 other than not play it much. Even when I WAS touring, I never had big maintenance issues, though I attribute that mostly to luck.

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Re: Quilter making me QUIT T00BZ??

Post by SAVEStheDAY » Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:40 am

Solid state sounds ok, but it's not the same. It's not inherently better or worse, just different. To my ears there's something about tube amps that I like more. I don't even like putting pedals in the signal chain (I do find it funny when tube purists talk about their giant pedal boards).

I've toured using a tube amp (And no backup) without any real issues, but I've had to fix minor things and replace tubes over the years. I've also owned and enjoyed solid state amps that developed issues. They were usually cheaper to buy, and harder to fix, so I guess they're more disposable that way.

Lots of big acts are using profilers and modelers for live shows these days, but most tend to stick to tubes in the studio. That's probably a good thing, because as long as the debate rages it means more and better options for guitarists, and it will continue to make innovators on both sides improve their products.

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Re: Quilter making me QUIT T00BZ??

Post by s_mcsleazy » Thu Jul 09, 2020 9:42 am

i have 3 amps at my disposal right now. 2 are tube amps and 1 is a solidstate amp and when it comes to just grabbing something for a quick gig/practice, i go for the solid state amp because it's lighter.
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Re: Quilter making me QUIT T00BZ??

Post by 46346 » Sat Jul 11, 2020 7:20 pm

some years back, i went even further and learned how to QUIT AMPS. :o

i had a long running stage gig which needed a very clean, open, modern theatrical look.
i was asked if i really needed that clumsy box behind me with a cable running to it.
i had tons of pedals, but they were low-profile enough to not be so visible.
so i set about working with amp simulators and speaker simulators.
turns out it wasn't that hard to do, even in the early 2000's.
i was doing mostly clean steel work, but some throbbing and grinding Tele and hollowbody feedback.

meanwhile, in my rock-ish band work i had developed a mad tube amp fetish. tons of experimenting with different circuits,
good clean (and grindy) fun. the vacuum tube is pure alchemy in itself.
i cannot count how many amps i have... but often a solid state JC-120 or JC-90 does me real good.

i played a Quilter combo at a party once, playing country-ish jams and it brought the general goods. i was digging it.
after midnight we had to move inside. i almost floated away when i picked up the Quilter. i became an instant fan! i've had them in mind ever since. a lot of the older, well-known, long-time playing cats in the country/folk scene around here have been glowing about their Quilters!

but not having played a stage gig since February, just last week i got the vintage tube amp bug again.
i'm having a ball, experimenting with tubes and speakers and planning minor circuit changes again!
i'll write up a proper NAD thread on my latest adventure 8)
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Re: Quilter making me QUIT T00BZ??

Post by jnewton » Thu Jul 23, 2020 10:24 am

I've got the tone block 200 and the new overdrive 202. The quilters made me get rid of most of my tube amps.

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Re: Quilter making me QUIT T00BZ??

Post by seenoevil II » Wed Jul 29, 2020 8:03 pm

I've been super curious about them ever since I watched the Deerhoof rig rundown. They're a band of four including drums that tours with a single minivan. I fell in love with their philosophy or live gear and have tried to emulate it somewhat. Them and Feist with her duo of solid state vox Pathfinders.

But now I'm finding that 7 tube watts through 10", even with should reinforcement, just doesn't move enough air for stage sound. I think I need at least 15 watts and a 12".

Before I found out about quilters, I was intrigued by Wampler analog all modeling like the black '65 and tweed '57. Turns out you can make a lot of the same things tubes do to waveforms happen with low power components.
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Re: Quilter making me QUIT T00BZ??

Post by OffYourFace » Sat Aug 15, 2020 12:01 pm

Has anyone tried the ZT Lee Ranaldo amp? I've been interested in that one...

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Re: Quilter making me QUIT T00BZ??

Post by BoringPostcards » Sat Aug 15, 2020 6:06 pm

OffYourFace wrote:
Sat Aug 15, 2020 12:01 pm
Has anyone tried the ZT Lee Ranaldo amp? I've been interested in that one...
I am also very interested in it. I love the target design on the speaker grill. Just like the cabinet he used for years.
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Re: Quilter making me QUIT T00BZ??

Post by OffYourFace » Sun Aug 16, 2020 7:26 pm

I just picked up a nice mid '80s JC-120 today. Sounds great.

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Re: Quilter making me QUIT T00BZ??

Post by jorri » Mon Aug 17, 2020 6:18 am

OffYourFace wrote:
Sat Aug 15, 2020 12:01 pm
Has anyone tried the ZT Lee Ranaldo amp? I've been interested in that one...
Had a lunchbox i wasnt fond of. A bit too much like the sound of plugging into your hifi with a bluesdriver attached.
It gets good reviews, i wont say its as bad as that but i just got that vibe. Too flat or something.

--ive also wondered about having a small tubular addition.

To me i can use tubes as a recording effect. Its more like i want the big blank slate of an SS for a general rig though. In recording there is ultimate control and an over cranked tube sound with fuzz wont be 'lost in the mix' or unpredictable. You can even put the reverb effect on in the DAW.

So i guess that would be two options:
-a tube preamp pedal
-a very small tube amp for recording a cranked tone. Like a sub-watt combo. But my main contention is the smaller the amp the more they do away with controls and opt for scrappier blooz or decisively lofi sounds. If it were for lofi id just opt for one of those pocket toy marshall stacks tbf because a few engineers have them and use em. It would be nice to find a fully equipped "cranked for home recording" tube amp that just sat on top of my general SS. Like a Vox AC0.25 haha! I think the ac4 still too loud and where'd the EQ go?

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