Quilter Bass Block

[hennessybass]

That might apply to Amplite (400W) but probably not to Markbass (1000W).

True. But 1000w bridged at 8 ohm only. So if you want a single 4 ohm cab, you get 500w. Nothing to shake your head at, but...

I'm asking way less than 0 and would in fact be willing to trade straight up for a Quilter BB800.

Didn't see your thread. Saw an old one that was asking 700.

 

[hennessybass]

Seymour Duncan have the power stage 700 available currently which is power amp only. Still more expensive than the BB.

Looks like it has some control. Three knob tone stack. They also have a 170w pedal size version.

Gr Bass makes the PureAmp 800 and 350, with only volume knobs and no tone controls. I haven't seen any English language reviews for this particular amp, though. Italian company.

Almost 1U rack height. Just a hair to tall. Maybe if you took the feet off?

 

[Zbysek]

True. But 1000w bridged at 8 ohm only. So if you want a single 4 ohm cab, you get 500w. Nothing to shake your head at, but...

Presumably, this power amp has the same proprietary Markbass power stage as does my trusty Little Mark III. I have been using it several years and haven't encountered any situation where it would not be sufficient.

And MB1000 features two of those power stages. So you can feed two 4ohms cabinets or four 8ohms cabinets. That's quite a lot of power in my world...

 

[redstrand]

Presumably, this power amp has the same proprietary Markbass power stage as does my trusty Little Mark III. I have been using it several years and haven't encountered any situation where it would not be sufficient.

And MB1000 features two of those power stages. So you can feed two 4ohms cabinets or four 8ohms cabinets. That's quite a lot of power in my world...

It's not the same at all, it's very sufficient but works in a different way.

 

[Jeff Elkins]

Quilter Bass Block 800 with the Phil Jones c4 cab, anyone uses this combination? What do you guys think?
I don't want to use a pre-amp, I want just the QBB.

Thanks!

I do, but honestly it depends on so many things. I’ve not gigged that setup on electric, but on upright (plus Rev Solo II pickup and Fdeck HPF 3) it was great in a small auditorium with a 3 piece jazz combo. Great.

I sold my AI Clarus 2R after that gig, as the BB was brilliant for me in that setting, and also sounds great with my electric and other cabs.

 

[Zbysek]

It's not the same at all, it's very sufficient but works in a different way.

What makes you think so?

As far as I know, Markbass had two types of proprietary 500W power stages available at the time they released MB1000: 1. the one used in LM II, early LM III, TA503, TA501 etc (they called it "analog" at that time), and 2. the one used in F1 and F500 (they called it "digital" at that time). I consider it rather unlikely that they developped another 500W power stage solely for the MB1000. But I might be wrong.

What confuses me is the information in MB1000's manual "Power devices: switching MOSFETs". I haven't found this description in any other manual from MB.

Anyway, we seem to be in agreement that MB1000 is not "underpowered".

Back to Quilter.

 

[Hypercaffium]

Quick question.
We all know that it's possible to get some light grit pushing the BB800's preamp cranking the gain knob, right?
I can't find a diagram for the BB800 and I want to know if it's possible to get saturation from its power amp.
I run a Shift Line Olympic tube preamp into the BB800's line in, so its own pre stage (EQ and gain) is completely bypassed.
When I crank the master volume on my Olympic I get more distortion and I'm 100% sure that it doesn't come from the preamp.
Can you please clarify for me? Thanks.

 

[redstrand]

What makes you think so?

As far as I know, Markbass had two types of proprietary 500W power stages available at the time they released MB1000: 1. the one used in LM II, early LM III, TA503, TA501 etc (they called it "analog" at that time), and 2. the one used in F1 and F500 (they called it "digital" at that time). I consider it rather unlikely that they developped another 500W power stage solely for the MB1000. But I might be wrong.

What confuses me is the information in MB1000's manual "Power devices: switching MOSFETs". I haven't found this description in any other manual from MB.

Anyway, we seem to be in agreement that MB1000 is not "underpowered".

Back to Quilter.

Quilter makes their own amps and doesn’t use a setup like the others. That’s the secret sauce. If they used the same as markbass it wouldn’t sound like a quilter.

 

[hennessybass]

Anyway, we seem to be in agreement that MB1000 is not "underpowered".

You seem pretty hung up on my comment earlier. Just to be clear, again, I don't think the MB1000 is "underpowered."
My original comment was about a power amp for guys looking for big power.

Some of the ones like the Markbass or amplite are a little underpowered (I think) for guys who are looking for power amps. I would guess, if you are looking for a stand alone power amp, you are looking for big power.

Sorry if the audience I was talking about wasn't more clear.

For example, if you are playing a single big 4ohm cab that is rated for 1000W power handling, and you are the kind of guy who likes a LOT of clean headroom in your rig, the MB1000, at only 500w @4ohm is not that great an option.

You could get a ProLite, for example, and bridge it at 4ohms and get 3,000+ watts.

I was not trying to insult your gear, or call it underpowered. The MB1000 has a nice set of specs, but the lack of bridging at 4ohms COULD be limiting in certain situations for certain guys with certain power goals.

 

[hennessybass]

Quick question.
We all know that it's possible to get some light grit pushing the BB800's preamp cranking the gain knob, right?
I can't find a diagram for the BB800 and I want to know if it's possible to get saturation from its power amp.
I run a Shift Line Olympic tube preamp into the BB800's line in, so its own pre stage (EQ and gain) is completely bypassed.
When I crank the master volume on my Olympic I get more distortion and I'm 100% sure that it doesn't come from the preamp.
Can you please clarify for me? Thanks.

Just IMO / IME, but I don't actually think there is any "grit" in the BB. I think it is a clean amp all the way.

For me, the gain is absolutely super clean from about 0-5/6.

From about 5/6-7/8, you start getting compression, and that starts to squash the signal and bring out the mids and other frequencies that your ear hears as more gritty. IMO, it is the way your ear hears that louder and more compressed sound that makes you think of "break up."

After about 7/8, the gain is unusable for me. Past that point, there is some kind of "break up" but it is not an intentional musical break up. It sounds like nothing I've ever heard before. Very square clipping, and more like an electronic noise than some kind of intentional "overdrive" to be used as a tone device.

The Mesa D800 or TH500 are designed to have break up in the gain control. They both have clip lights, and both companies say it's fine to drive the amp so that light comes on (if it's not 100% of the time). I don't think the BB800 is designed for that. I think the "limiting" that you hit as you really crank the gain is designed to manage the power and let you get LOUD without feeling like the amp is bottoming out and running out of juice.
I've never seen anything in the Quilter literature to indicate that the amp is supposed to break up. Everything from the company is about big, clean power in any situation, at any volume.

I think the power section is pretty much all clean - like a pro-audio power amp.

Just my impression. I'm using a passive J bass, so not super hot output. Again, IMO / IME. Interested to hear what others think.

--------
I don't have a SL Olympic, but I've read a bunch about them, and watched a ton of demos. I don't get the impression that it's by any means designed to be a "clean" pre-amp.

How do you have the "Gain" on the Olympic set? All the way off?

 

[Mushroo]

Quick question.
We all know that it's possible to get some light grit pushing the BB800's preamp cranking the gain knob, right?
I can't find a diagram for the BB800 and I want to know if it's possible to get saturation from its power amp.
I run a Shift Line Olympic tube preamp into the BB800's line in, so its own pre stage (EQ and gain) is completely bypassed.
When I crank the master volume on my Olympic I get more distortion and I'm 100% sure that it doesn't come from the preamp.
Can you please clarify for me? Thanks.

My layman's impression is that lowering the BB800's Master makes it perform like a lower-wattage amp. For example if you set the Master to 40w then it will break up like a 40w amp pushed to its limit. Therefore the cleanest tones are achieved by increasing the Master.

However I do not find the BB800 distortion sounds very good, to my ear. Similar to @hennessybass I find that it has a harsh "square wave" quality. If you want pleasing distortion from a Quilter amp, then I highly recommend using one of their guitar heads instead. Or in your case, you could probably get a nice real-tube sound by cranking up the Master on the BB800 and then dialing in the desired tone with your Shift Line Olympic.

 

[Bassometer]

I am starting to gig with this amp even in small venues where the power is not needed. If it's a P-bass gig, I bring the Quilter. I find the low-mids are clearer and punchier with the BB800. Is it just me or have other noticed that this amp pairs exceptionally well with a P? Maybe it's a passive thing, but I like my P&Q.

 

[Mushroo]

I am starting to gig with this amp even in small venues where the power is not needed. If it's a P-bass gig, I bring the Quilter. I find the low-mids are clearer and punchier with the BB800. Is it just me or have other noticed that this amp pairs exceptionally well with a P?

Definitely! I've been getting a great P bass tone out of my BB800 with the Depth at 11:00 and the Contour at 1:00.

People spend a lot of money and pedal board real estate on HPF and LPF pedals. BB800 has them both, built-in.

 

[Bassometer]

It might have already been touched upon in this thread. My BB800 and my P5 are a perfect match for each other (gain set at 7).

 

[Bassometer]

Before this amp I ran a GK Fusion 800. It worked really well with my Cirrus and it sounded great with my P5. The Quilter with my P5 sounds more "ooomphy" without having to turn up. "Ooomphy" but clear.

 

[kasbrey]

Definitely! I've been getting a great P bass tone out of my BB800 with the Depth at 11:00 and the Contour at 1:00.

People spend a lot of money and pedal board real estate on HPF and LPF pedals. BB800 has them both, built-in.

I like to boost the Deep control a little and use my Broughton HPF set to between 50 and 100hz to tighten the lows. This has the effect of boosting low mids.

 

[Mushroo]

I like to boost the Deep control a little and use my Broughton HPF set to between 50 and 100hz to tighten the lows. This has the effect of boosting low mids.

Yup, I also have the Broughton HPF (and used to have the Messenger, which includes both HPF and LPF).

Lots of great synergy between a good HPF and the BB800.

 

[TrevorOfDoom]

My layman's impression is that lowering the BB800's Master makes it perform like a lower-wattage amp. For example if you set the Master to 40w then it will break up like a 40w amp pushed to its limit. Therefore the cleanest tones are achieved by increasing the Master.

I don't hear the BB "breaking up" so much as I hear the limiter kicking in, which makes it "push back" like a tube amp.
So at the 40w setting, it "pushes back" like a 40w tube amp.
IMO

 

[Mushroo]

I don't hear the BB "breaking up" so much as I hear the limiter kicking in, which makes it "push back" like a tube amp.
So at the 40w setting, it "pushes back" like a 40w tube amp.
IMO

That's better vocabulary than how I described it. I like your phrase "push back."

I think the term "sag" might also apply?

 

[TrevorOfDoom]

That's better vocabulary than how I described it. I like your phrase "push back."

I think the term "sag" might also apply?

Yeah, maybe.
Kinda odd to be looking for words most often associated with tube amps while talking about a Class D amp.
Awesome, but odd.
Mostly because I don't know that I've ever experienced this "sag".