New Quilter bass amp!

[Tugboat]

I just picked up an 802.....I must admit I didn't read through all the thread(s) about it....I simply loved the idea of a small, powerful unit I could put under my Mesa 800+ preamp stomp box (which sits on top of the 802 like a custom tailored hat). To my delightful surprise, this thing is a killer, toneful, flexible integrated bass amp all on its' own (sorry-I realize that's old news to others).....the onboard "limiter" provides a very musical touch of compression if desired, and when the input is pushed, the distortion/compression sound fantastic for rock/blues (if/when desired). I also read that the 800 FX loop is in series, and was very happy that the 802 FX loop is parallel, so its' return can be used as an aux in, or as a separate input for another preamp, which effectively adds a complete 2nd parallel channel. The variable fan is also most welcome....zero noise when solo practicing. Overall, it far exceeds my (poorly informed) expectations. This head is a bargain in today's market IMHO.

I agree with everything you just said! It is a great unit! I'm actually going to be selling mine if anyone is interested shoot me a pm. I'm only selling because I'm playing drums 99% of the time again now and need some new gear for my gig.

 

[MarkA]

Forgive me if I've missed this in the course of the thread, but re. the line/headphone/direct output on the 802...

• When set to "line" is the signal always pre-EQ?
  • Is it pre-or-post master volume?
  • Is it affected by the Gain? By the limiter?
• When set to "headphone/post," is the speaker output disabled? Is the level suitable for post-EQ recording or for sending a post-EQ signal to FOH, should one desire?

Thanks, all.

 

[monkeyxx]

Just wanted to answer my own question about the TC BQ500 that I ended up buying. It's "fine." Probably not as good as the Quilter but not bad in any way. A tiny bit dark on the top. Smooth. Some people might really like that. It's built well and I can buy a Quilter later when the time is right. TC is a great value. Build quality is not lacking, it's inspiring enough to handle. Just putting that here since I brought it up earlier in the thread. If you've got $250 it's a no brainer.

 

[Wild Rice Chris]

Forgive me if I've missed this in the course of the thread, but re. the line/headphone/direct output on the 802...

• When set to "line" is the signal always pre-EQ?
  • Is it pre-or-post master volume?
  • Is it affected by the Gain? By the limiter?
• When set to "headphone/post," is the speaker output disabled? Is the level suitable for post-EQ recording or for sending a post-EQ signal to FOH, should one desire?

Thanks, all.

From the manual, all your answers:

USING HEADPHONES
Headphones may be plugged into the SIG OUT jack located on the front,
with the Sig-Out switch in the POST/H-PHONE position. The speaker may be
unplugged for silent practice. The Master controls the headphone volume; it
will normally be more comfortable to keep the Master below about 50%.
USING THE LINE OUT
Set the SIG OUT switch to PRE/LINE. A fixed level +4dB balanced Line
Out can be connected to consoles for recording or PA reinforcement. The
Line Out is not affected by Master settings, which only controls the speaker
volume.

 

[MarkA]

Just wanted to answer my own question about the TC BQ500 that I ended up buying. It's "fine." Probably not as good as the Quilter but not bad in any way. A tiny bit dark on the top. Smooth. Some people might really like that. It's built well and I can buy a Quilter later when the time is right. TC is a great value. Build quality is not lacking, it's inspiring enough to handle. Just putting that here since I brought it up earlier in the thread. If you've got $250 it's a no brainer.

Wow. If the power is legit, the sound is decent, and the unit is reliable, $250 for a new, 500 Watt amp is a steal -- at least in my experience it would be. Sweetwater reviews look to be generally very positive (except for one that gave it a sound dressing-down and said that it did not outperform his 200 Watt GK MB200 -- I used to own one of those, and have a good idea of the limitations of that head, so a comparison between those would be interesting to see).

From the manual, all your answers:

USING HEADPHONES
Headphones may be plugged into the SIG OUT jack located on the front,
with the Sig-Out switch in the POST/H-PHONE position. The speaker may be
unplugged for silent practice. The Master controls the headphone volume; it
will normally be more comfortable to keep the Master below about 50%.
USING THE LINE OUT
Set the SIG OUT switch to PRE/LINE. A fixed level +4dB balanced Line
Out can be connected to consoles for recording or PA reinforcement. The
Line Out is not affected by Master settings, which only controls the speaker
volume.

Thank you -- I'm usually good about looking up product manuals, but failed to do so this time. I looked up one more spec ([Invalid or Expired Link Removed]):

Line Out: 1.6V full scale, quasi-balanced 39 ohms each leg.
Headphone Out: Up to 3.3V full scale depending on Master Volume
​

This says to me that you could most likely get a suitable post-EQ send for cab-less recording (I don't know if 3.3 Volts would hurt the line inputs on any equipment, but being that that's the max and the range is fairly close to that of the Line Out, I don't think it would be hard to get it where it needed to be. Could probably do the same for FOH (if they can take a line-level signal), but level with vary with the Master volume.

 

[zombywoof5050]

Thank you -- I'm usually good about looking up product manuals, but failed to do so this time. I looked up one more spec ([Invalid or Expired Link Removed]):

Line Out: 1.6V full scale, quasi-balanced 39 ohms each leg.
Headphone Out: Up to 3.3V full scale depending on Master Volume
​

This says to me that you could most likely get a suitable post-EQ send for cab-less recording (I don't know if 3.3 Volts would hurt the line inputs on any equipment, but being that that's the max and the range is fairly close to that of the Line Out, I don't think it would be hard to get it where it needed to be. Could probably do the same for FOH (if they can take a line-level signal), but level with vary with the Master volume.

I'm not sure what your're getting at, because it's still sending a post-EQ signal regardless of which position the switch is in. The switch merely switches between levels for balanced line out (for sending to FOH or recording console via TRS-to-XLR cable) and headphone output (with the master knob being used to control the output level to the headphones). They're both a post-EQ signal. The 'pre/post' markings on this switch are only in regards to the Master volume knob (not the EQ section). This is the way I understand it from reading the manual, someone that owns the amp please correct me if I'm mistaken. IMO, they shouldn't have put the Pre & Post labels on the switch, as it's confusing, they should've just labeled them Balanced Out & Headphones.

 

[MarkA]

I'm not sure what your're getting at, because it's still sending a post-EQ signal regardless of which position the switch is in. The switch merely switches between levels for balanced line out (for sending to FOH or recording console via TRS-to-XLR cable) and headphone output (with the master knob being used to control the output level to the headphones). They're both a post-EQ signal. The 'pre/post' markings on this switch are only in regards to the Master volume knob (not the EQ section). This is the way I understand it from reading the manual, someone that owns the amp please correct me if I'm mistaken. IMO, they shouldn't have put the Pre & Post labels on the switch, as it's confusing, they should've just labeled them Balanced Out & Headphones.

Ah, if this is the case, then I was mistaken -- your interpretation makes sense (and I don't mind if FOH send is post-EQ, though it's nice to have the option of both), but I associated "pre" with "pre-EQ" in the context of a DI send, though it would be pre-master volume, too.

With that in mind (thinking the "pre" send was pre-EQ), I was trying to ascertain if the headphone send (post EQ and post master volume) would be viable for recording and post-EQ FOH.

Now I'm not clear on whether the "PRE" send is pre-EQ and pre-Master Volume, or pre-Master volume only.

 

[Downunderwonder]

If the power is legit

Correct. One does not put TC and legit power rating in the same sentence.

 

[lomo]

Correct. One does not put TC and legit power rating in the same sentence.

Unless they have changed the way they design and then advertise their amps, there is very good reason to suspect it may be a 200ish watt head with inherent compression that "sounds like" a 500 watt head, in which case the price would be right in line with the market. I'd love to see a bench test of this one.

 

[wyleeboxer]

Just wanted to answer my own question about the TC BQ500 that I ended up buying. It's "fine." Probably not as good as the Quilter but not bad in any way. A tiny bit dark on the top. Smooth. Some people might really like that. It's built well and I can buy a Quilter later when the time is right. TC is a great value. Build quality is not lacking, it's inspiring enough to handle. Just putting that here since I brought it up earlier in the thread. If you've got $250 it's a no brainer.

I have a TC bq500 as a backup head and have owned the bb800. My main amp now is GK mb500, both the bq500 and BB800 lacked the High end I often like for funk and when I need an edgy sound for one of my original rock bands, the GK delivers that which is why I sold the BB800. But the bq500 gets loud and has good headroom but is a bit dark sounding, but great bang for the buck!

 

[MarkA]

Correct. One does not put TC and legit power rating in the same sentence.

Unless they have changed the way they design and then advertise their amps, there is very good reason to suspect it may be a 200ish watt head with inherent compression that "sounds like" a 500 watt head, in which case the price would be right in line with the market. I'd love to see a bench test of this one.

I have a TC bq500 as a backup head and have owned the bb800. My main amp now is GK mb500, both the bq500 and BB800 lacked the High end I often like for funk and when I need an edgy sound for one of my original rock bands, the GK delivers that which is why I sold the BB800. But the bq500 gets loud and has good headroom but is a bit dark sounding, but great bang for the buck!

I've never owned a TC head (tried a couple, sound and feel of the RH450, in particular, wasn't for me), but, yeah, what they did with the power ratings of the earlier amps was bogus. I think they've moved away from that, since (particularly since they took a shellacking over it -- well, at least on TB, they did) and are rating things more honestly, now. Still would be good to see a bench test.

 

[MarkA]

Re. my earlier question, can any BB802 players tell me whether the "PRE" line out is pre- or post-EQ? (It is, apparently, pre-Master Volume, in either case.)

 

[bdowd]

I am curious about MarkA's question as well. I have the 800 and would love a pre-eq for FOH, I use pedals and such for tone shaping, amp for stage amp sound, so I have been thinking of the 802 (but ran into the same pre post conundrum).

 

[zombywoof5050]

Found the answer!
This video shows that the TRS balanced out connection is post-EQ.

 

[kasbrey]

From a quick read of the manual for the 802, it seems to me the line out is unaffected by the master on both settings and pre means pre eq and post means post eq as would be expected (although I admit that it's not 100% clear as written there).

 

[MarkA]

Found the answer!
This video shows that the TRS balanced out connection is post-EQ.

Thank you -- you appear to be correct! At first, I thought, "Maybe he's got it on the post/headphone setting... can't see," but the Master volume is at zero, which would seem to preclude that. For my own use, I don't mind that it's post-EQ -- my "stage/cab correction" adjustments tend to be small (often left at noon or close to it) and, if they're bigger, it's likely to be a tone-shaping thing that I'd want communicated to FOH, anyway -- but it would be nice to have the option of both.

From a quick read of the manual for the 802, it seems to me the line out is unaffected by the master on both settings and pre means pre eq and post means post eq as would be expected (although I admit that it's not 100% clear as written there).

I agree that the manual could be more clearly written with regard to how the "signal out" functions, but given that it's both your DI and the headphone output, it would be strange not to be able to control the volume on the latter -- at least on that point, the manual seems to be clear:

USING HEADPHONES
Headphones may be plugged into the SIG OUT jack located on the front,
with the Sig-Out switch in the POST/H-PHONE position. The speaker may be
unplugged for silent practice. The Master controls the headphone volume; it
will normally be more comfortable to keep the Master below about 50%.

Seems that "pre" and "post" in this case refer to the master volume and not the EQ section (with the "signal output" always post-EQ).

 

[zombywoof5050]

I looked up one more spec ([Invalid or Expired Link Removed]):

Line Out: 1.6V full scale, quasi-balanced 39 ohms each leg.
Headphone Out: Up to 3.3V full scale depending on Master Volume ​

This says to me that you could most likely get a suitable post-EQ send for cab-less recording (I don't know if 3.3 Volts would hurt the line inputs on any equipment, but being that that's the max and the range is fairly close to that of the Line Out, I don't think it would be hard to get it where it needed to be. Could probably do the same for FOH (if they can take a line-level signal), but level with vary with the Master volume.

I know it's a moot point now, since we've found that the Pre/Line setting is post-EQ, but I just wanted to let you know that this is answered in Quilter's FAQ:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[MarkA]

I know it's a moot point now, since we've found that the Pre/Line setting is post-EQ, but I just wanted to let you know that this is answered in Quilter's FAQ:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Thank you.

For those reading, here is the referenced Q/A:

Can I plug the headphone out of the amplifier into a Mixer or Monitors?

Absolutely. They are made for headphones or any relatively line level input.

We do recommend using the line out if the amplifier is equipped with one.

Do be careful however never to plug the power output (designed for the speaker) to the input of a mixer or other low level input.
​

 

[redstrand]

One thing I'm getting used to on the 802 is how the controls interact with humbuckers and single coils. My new 4003W wasn't liking it, put a new nordenbacker in it which helped but turned the 2k to about 10am and the 1k to 11am and a nice deep tone appeared. turned them both the other way for the MM in my new Jazz and P basses. Just takes a minute, but I'm super happy now.

 

[Rnr..........4]

Great thread. Buying the BB800 based on what I've been reading here. Wanted something powerful but at a good price that dials in that classic bass sound without a bunch of knobs and dials. I'm a hard rock/metal player. Precision/Jazz (Fender) and a Warwick Active Corvette.

Quick question tho. Can you add say a Sansamp to get some distortion with the BB800 or do you need the 802 for the Effects line?