I love me some of the SVT sounds, just not all the time. It would be like me having to drink Tequila all the time (hey wait, I do drink Tequila all the time)
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Quilter has something new on the way?
- Thread starter sawzalot
- Start date
I really dig the look. I wonder if the preamp will still be the same overall sound, but with 6 preset e.q. curve options (assuming I'm counting correctly: flat+modern/vintage/qtube or scoop+modern/vintage/qtube).
The BB800 was probably my favorite Class-D, along w/ the WD-800. It was the only amp I have tried that matched the (what folks here usually refer to as) "heft" or "slam" that I experience with my old Ashdown ABM500.
Unfortunately, I didn't dig the BB800 tone/voicing enough to keep it; a bit harsh sounding. Maybe adding a 12__7 pedal before the input will make me think all is well, you know, cuz tubes. But it has to be designed by a Capricorn. Tricky
That flat/soop input difference is very Ashdown.
The BB800 was probably my favorite Class-D, along w/ the WD-800. It was the only amp I have tried that matched the (what folks here usually refer to as) "heft" or "slam" that I experience with my old Ashdown ABM500.
Unfortunately, I didn't dig the BB800 tone/voicing enough to keep it; a bit harsh sounding. Maybe adding a 12__7 pedal before the input will make me think all is well, you know, cuz tubes. But it has to be designed by a Capricorn. Tricky
That flat/soop input difference is very Ashdown.
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I should add that I do kind of get what people are saying, when it comes to offering a “sounds like a…” voice. SVT is usually what they go for. But you have to understand that the SVT is iconic, expensive, heavy, sometimes unreliable, and big. So having that sound in a reliable, small, lightweight, portable, affordable package (whether it’s a small amp or a pedal) is a huge draw. Who is going to search out a small, light, powerful, sub-$1k Tone Hammer clone when they can just buy a Tone Hammer that checks all those boxes?!? I think that’s why you see so many SVT-voiced options out there, but it’s still not all that’s available by any stretch.
I get that. I typed a follow up while you were posting this… see my last post. I do agree that “SVT sauce” is the most common flavor on the shelf, but that probably because the real thing is so impractical compared to other amps.I love me some of the SVT sounds, just not all the time. It would be like me having to drink Tequila all the time (hey wait, I do drink Tequila all the time)
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Interested in your experience comparing Quilter to Ashdown. Every time I have a break from gigging, my GAS kicks in and my recent amp research rabbit hole lead me to the ABM line. The demos sound fantastic - reminiscent of vintage Trace Elliot (with good reason). But the throwback size and weight of class AB heads don’t seem like a good trade off, if you can find a flavor of class D that does the job, which my BB800 certainly does.
I kid a lot about the SVT thing. The fabled sound for bass (most of the sound is in the 8x10 IMHO) But when you're old you got to see a lot of different bass amps and hear a lot of different sounds over the years. It's hard to pick one favorite.
Right now it's the Mesa WD 800 and matching 115. By the summer it will be ukeleles and long boards.
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That's what I have tried, and tried again (settled on the WD-800, then sold it during the 2020 gig drought to help justify cycling gear purchases). The ABM just really works for me; but with several quirks. Example, the fans (mine is 2003 Evo2) are insanely loud.
Anyhow, I probably won't buy anything else until I have a chance to try this new Quilter.
- Apr 3, 2003
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I played through this head at NAMM, and I was very impressed. I still own both the 800 and the 802, and to my ears, it had everything I liked about the prior heads, but with more tonal options. Can't wait to see the finished product!
Here's an old post by teemuk that goes into the subject:
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/quilter-bass-block.1218807/#post-18963680
i might have read that back when it came out and then forgotten
so the concept would be the "master volume" is actually a limiter threshold control, above which the limiter squashes and clips in an "amp-like" way, as if said amp were at its max clean power. i suppose it would be possible to figure out the signal voltage that bumps into said threshold and translate it to output power
interesting but maybe kind of weird, like you'd go to turn your bass amp's master volume down to make it quieter without changing the preamp gain or EQ and the result is it now sounds more distorted than before
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,516
- 19,952
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
That XLR out baby!
Yeah, but no "pre / post" option (not to mention an independant volume control for the DI out, as I saw a day dreammer hoping for…).
I really hope that the XLR out will *NOT* be taken after the master volume like it is in the BB800, because live it makes it useless since you have to reduce your stage volume in case the DI signal is too hot for FOH.
I know what you mean. An out like that on a head or preamp should be set to line level. But the way the Quilter heads work is that you set the master volume to match the cab's max rms input or below, then use the gain to get the volume you want. That makes the post-master knob DI volume less of a problem.
There's an XLR DI out. Check the pic just a couple posts above yours.
That day dreamer was me.
I still think it would be a really good feature. If I can't get that, I'd still be more or less happy with a pre-post switch. But I don't know how close this 803 is to being the production model, so it's hard to know if they can or would make any significant changes at this point. Probably not, is my guess.I really like Quilter as a company (I have one of their guitar amps as well as a BB800), but sometimes I wonder, whom are they talking to when they decide which features are/aren't desirable or necessary on a bass head? Their line of bass gear, though obviously of high quality, includes several curious choices that, at least IMHO, differ from what most bassists would want or expect.
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That day dreamer was me.
I really like Quilter as a company (I have one of their guitar amps as well as a BB800), but sometimes I wonder, whom are they talking to when they decide which features are/aren't desirable or necessary on a bass head? Their line of bass gear, though obviously of high quality, includes several curious choices that, at least IMHO, differ from what most bassists would want or expect.
I agree. It's too bad they don't use Talkbass as a mean to listen to their customers like many other brands do, big (Mesa) or small (Barefaced, GR Bass...)
IMHO/E that's at least half on the sound crew when they don't have a board that can handle a real line level signal.
Also 51% on the guy that can't handle someone's level changing with a stage volume tweak. (I know they got a lot going on; but that is kind of like their job.)
It might be back on me if I were changing said level more than, say once during the show.
I definitely understand how a lack of separation [between stage & DI levels] could be a little awkward at times. But, if it captures more of the mojo - of the power section in my tube amp - or of Quilter's intuitive limiting thing - I've been able to work with it.
At least they're thinking about ground lift, now. I might get to be the first kid on my block with an "auto" setting for that!
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