I just scored a BB800 a few weeks ago and gigging it with a Supertwin. Very nice indeed
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Quilter has something new on the way?
- Thread starter sawzalot
- Start date
I just scored a BB800 a few weeks ago and gigging it with a Supertwin. Very nice indeed
I don't think so. "Qtube" probably stands for "Quilter Tube emulation", so I suppose it makes the gain knob wirk like on a tube preamp.
Different feature set. (I had the BB800).
But I don't think there was a quality shift. Just more conventional tone controls.
I see that as an improved feature set, which raised the quality of the new product over the first version. I wasn't unhappy with the original design, but the 802 is just better. Looking forward to the 803, but if I never get ahold of one I won't complain about what I have.
- Apr 3, 2003
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- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
I believe that is what is going on. It certainly seems to behave that way - and so far, I find them very useful!
- Apr 3, 2003
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- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
From my experience with Quilter, I'm 100% certain this will be powerful and sound great. I'm still using my BB800, albeit with a Mesa Subway+ DI/preamp.
But I have to wonder, why is there no pre/post EQ switch for the line-level DI output? That's pretty much standard on bass amps playing in this ballpark. It's weird, every Quilter bass amp so far has had at least one head-scratcher--at least, in my eyes--either a feature that's of questionable necessity or the absence of a feature that's fairly standard and commonly used. That's not meant as an attack; I think highly of Quilter as a company and own multiple pieces of their gear. I just don't understand some of their bass amp choices. To be clear, I wouldn't consider this a definite dealbreaker; I just wonder why they didn't add this feature when it couldn't have been that hard to do so and when basically all of their competitors have it.
Maybe it's possible to get around the pre/post thing some other way, say, by using one of the other outputs?
Interesting that the Mute is part-and-parcel with the Active/Passive switch. Not something I'd prefer.
Funny, I've always wondered why such a thing exists. "Sure I spent time and money getting the sound I want. Now I'd like to not send it to the FOH
I'm sure there's a good reason for it, I just can't think of one so I'm just kidding around.
Me neither. I would use those functions at different times for different reasons. But maybe it would make sense, sort of, if you regularly switch between active and passive basses in the course of a gig. You'd want to to mute when you did that anyway, and when unmuting you could just switch to active from the previous passive, or vice versa. But I don't know how common a use case that is; most people I know, if they switched (I don't, typically), would go passive-passive or active-active.
Again, not a deal-breaker, at least for me, but it's one of those things that make you go, "Hmm...."
One reason is that the EQ you use to get the sound you want out of the speakers you're using onstage may not sound the same, or as good, through the PA. (Though it might!) For instance, if your onstage speakers are not full-range or are perhaps a little shy in the bass or top end, or honky or scooped in the middle, and you modify the bass/treble/mid to compensate, that will sound different when sent to a PA system that actually IS full-range. Of course, this all depends on the kind of gear you use onstage and the nature and quality of the PA (power capacity, FRFR vs peakiness, subs vs no subs, etc).Funny, I've always wondered why such a thing exists. "Sure I spent time and money getting the sound I want. Now I'd like to not send it to the FOH
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- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,516
- 19,953
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
Actually, that was the first thing I wanted to know, as well. I am happy to say that yes, there is a lot of family resemblance between the two. I have an 802, also, but I need to track it down (alas, the perils of having unreasonable amounts of gear).
I am a big fan of the "flat" tone of the 800, and the 803 is fairly close when using the "flat" input, and all tone controls at noon. The BB800's native tone lies somewhere between the modern/warm voices, with the "modern" voice being perhaps a tad closer, overall, but the "warm" voice feels to capture some of the "heft" of the 800 a bit more. All three voices on the 803 are usable and compelling in their own way, and I look forward to seeing how they work in a live band setting.
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,516
- 19,953
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
It should. The photos are a bit off in terms of perspective, but it is slightly larger. I will try to fit it into a BassDock cab and report back.
In the 800, the XLR out is taken after the master volume, not only after the preamp section, so:Funny, I've always wondered why such a thing exists. "Sure I spent time and money getting the sound I want. Now I'd like to not send it to the FOH
- If the output signal is too hot for FOH you have to reduce the master volume (it happened to me once, very unpleasant for me)
- If you want to turn your master volume up during the gig, you suddenly send a hotter signal to the FOH, very unpleasant for the sound guy.
Not a deal breaker, but I really don’t understand.
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The XLR output is labeled “Line Out”. Sounds more like something to use with an external power amp than a DI to me.
