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Quilter Bass Block

#1,721
Pleasant surprise! My Friday delivery showed up today. Quick plug in test says that this has lots of potential. I will say, the detents are annoyingly coarse, but certainly don’t make the amp unusable. The gain/master relationship allows for quite a bit of feel change by using more of one and less of the other, for the same overall output. I like the EQ. It doesn’t quite have the same open, glassy sparkle of my Demeter, but still a nice, solid clean tone. It pairs well with my Volt Thrower. It seems pretty darn loud, and deep. It kinda reminds me of a Tonehammer, in terms of girth on the notes. I think this is going to be a fun amp to get to know.
 
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#1,723
peteratquilter said:
Hi Everyone,

Peter from Quilter here. First of all, thank you all for the love and support! We are having a great time working with bass players and getting to know the community.

We are just now getting around to thinking about coming up with a deluxe version. Today I spent a few hours reading through this entire 73 page thread, a few other threads, and reflecting on some emails and phone calls we have had with Bass Block users since it was released. Here are my notes which summarize the requests we have seen and received. We have a few other ideas that I can't mention here just yet, but if you have any other suggestions that aren't on this list we are all ears. As for time frame, we have no idea. Realistically at least two years. The original Bass Block won't be going anywhere either :)

Instead of an active input jack use a button to pad it down. Use the second jack for tuner out and possibly relocate it to the back.
Add effects loop.
Keep mute switch but remove the pop sound.
Use two SpeakOn 1/4" combo jacks and rotate them around.
Change headphone jack to 1/4".
Make line-in a 1/4" XLR combo jack.
Add a ground lift switch.
Decouple the master volume from the direct out.
Proposed control set: Gain, Bass, Low-Mid, High-Mid, Treble, FX Mix, Master.
Revisit aesthetic treatment.
Look into getting a carrying case made with a pocket that would accommodate larger SpeakOn cables.
Everyone is fine with detent-less pots while only most people are fine with detented pots.

Cheers,
Peter
Click to expand...

Two years you say?.....Ok , I guess I can do that....looking forward...and glad you are up front....bought my Subway D-800 just before D-800 plus was released.....DOH....had no idea it was coming
 
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#1,725
peteratquilter said:
Hi Everyone,

Peter from Quilter here. First of all, thank you all for the love and support! We are having a great time working with bass players and getting to know the community.

We are just now getting around to thinking about coming up with a deluxe version. Today I spent a few hours reading through this entire 73 page thread, a few other threads, and reflecting on some emails and phone calls we have had with Bass Block users since it was released. Here are my notes which summarize the requests we have seen and received. We have a few other ideas that I can't mention here just yet, but if you have any other suggestions that aren't on this list we are all ears. As for time frame, we have no idea. Realistically at least two years. The original Bass Block won't be going anywhere either :)

Instead of an active input jack use a button to pad it down. Use the second jack for tuner out and possibly relocate it to the back.
Add effects loop.
Keep mute switch but remove the pop sound.
Use two SpeakOn 1/4" combo jacks and rotate them around.
Change headphone jack to 1/4".
Make line-in a 1/4" XLR combo jack.
Add a ground lift switch.
Decouple the master volume from the direct out.
Proposed control set: Gain, Bass, Low-Mid, High-Mid, Treble, FX Mix, Master.
Revisit aesthetic treatment.
Look into getting a carrying case made with a pocket that would accommodate larger SpeakOn cables.
Everyone is fine with detent-less pots while only most people are fine with detented pots.

Cheers,
Peter
Click to expand...
I would love to see this version!
 
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#1,726
When I had my svt7pro I really liked the audio jacks on the back, I had a cable to plug my ipad in there. I'm also loving how with the BB800 I can really get a sense of different changes on my bass. For instance I just put a set of Roto Swing Bass 66 steel strings on and with the bb800 I could clearly hear the distinct tonal qualities of those strings compared to the Sunbeams I had on there. It just lets the bass do the talking without adding another flavor to it.
 
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#1,728
Mine continues to slay. I've used it on a half dozen or so gigs, and let it be used as backline on one show, into my Avatar SB126 cab. It always sounds great and gets compliments. Very nice musical compression, and there's a heft to the notes that I have rarely felt, especially with a lightweight head. Love it!!
 
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#1,732
TL;DR : Holy crap, boys and girls.

Ok, so 10 pages or so ago (I guess), I wrote that I tried one / bought one (floor demo) from a local store, took it home and found it had a crazy levels of humming. Sent it back thinking it had issues, ordered another.

Took delivery of my second one Tuesday. Unboxed it / hooked it up in the store and tried it with a Fender P. Hum level: normal. Took it home and hooked it up. Hum level: Crazy. To rule out my bass, I booked one hour of studio time where my band normally rehearses. Hooked it up to a single 4 ohm GK neo 4x10. Hum level: normal.

Turns out I just have sh!tty power and/or crazy levels of EMI at home, I guess.

Oh, and the amp's a keeper.

I can hardly believe how loud this tiny thing is. I had the gain and the master both set at noon, and if dug in hard enough the cab was starting to fizz and fart. Granted, it has likely been through much abuse, but still : Pretty much anything above those settings had the whole room rattling. I'm looking forward to our next rehearsal to find out what volume settings I'll use with the full band. The room we rehearse in has an old 2x15 Acoustic cab with an Ampeg B4R sitting on top. With the gain set just below the clipping point, the Ampeg needs to have its volume set near the max (at like 3 or 4 o'clock) to be loud enough with the whole band (there's 8 of us and the drummer hits hard). I really wonder how the BB will compare!

I played around with the EQ and tried different combinations, too. With both knobs at noon I found the mids and the lows to be quite powerful - had to turn both the depth and the contour knobs left a notch or two to get a sound I'm more used to. I'll need to experiment some more, but anyway this thing seems to be able to do both modern and vintage tones quite well.

Cab-wise, I was initially thinking of getting a 4 ohm 2x12 to pair with the BB, but now I'm starting to wonder if a single 1x12 might be enough!
 
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#1,733
Frank77 said:
....

Cab-wise, I was initially thinking of getting a 4 ohm 2x12 to pair with the BB, but now I'm starting to wonder if a single 1x12 might be enough!
Click to expand...
Depends on how loud you need to be. Most folks won't get there with 112 in a rock band. And that's a lot of power for 112. That amp can easily blow it. Or even a good 212 if you're not careful. You have all the power you'll ever need. Now you need to figure out how loud. More loud=more speakers.
 
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#1,735
Topkat13 said:
You might want to check out Barefaced cabs. They make a few versions of a 1 x 12 and they love big watts and get very loud. I just took delivery on a Super Midget 112 and with my BB800 it's a very potent rig. There is bunch of info on here about the Barefaced cabs.
Click to expand...

That's one of the options I'm considering : I'm looking at cabs from Audio Kinesis, Barefaced and Greenboy.
 
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#1,738
monsterthompson said:
Hmmm. I just plugged in with a Darkglass AO, trying the DI, and then the passive input. It seems to cut the guts, bite, and nasty nature of that pedal, which makes it so much fun. Anyone else notice this? Maybe I need to try another bass.
Click to expand...
Sometime I run an Ampeg SCRDI into the BB800 and it's killer, even better than with any of my other amps. I'm no fan of Darkglass anyway, Not a fan of distortion, so to me it seems like the darkglass is the opposite sound of what the Quilter is doing.
 
#1,739
bdplaid said:
Sometime I run an Ampeg SCRDI into the BB800 and it's killer, even better than with any of my other amps. I'm no fan of Darkglass anyway, Not a fan of distortion, so to me it seems like the darkglass is the opposite sound of what the Quilter is doing.
Click to expand...

I’m not the biggest DG fan, but it serves a purpose, and I do like it. I think the eq voice and compression characteristics might mellow the AO pedal. Interesting, since my Dunwich pedals seem to present consistently with my Demeter head and the BB800, and the DG head I have (for now).
 
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#1,740
monsterthompson said:
I’m not the biggest DG fan, but it serves a purpose, and I do like it. I think the eq voice and compression characteristics might mellow the AO pedal. Interesting, since my Dunwich pedals seem to present consistently with my Demeter head and the BB800, and the DG head I have (for now).
Click to expand...
I dunno, you must really like your pedals. :-) In a perfect world I'd have none of them, and just use the bass and amp, and the Quilter moves me pretty far in that direction. Were it not for the chorus, I'd be straight into the amp.
 

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