Quilter Labs InterBass!

[Real Soon]

No response yet, and re-reading the listing for mine, I'm realizing that it says the box and manual are included... which is a sneaky way of saying the seller lost the power adapter.

And, of course, no response yet.

Welp! At least it was a good enough deal that even replacing the adapter won't completely offset the $ saved. I'm seeing on the Quilter site that I can buy one direct, so I think I'll do just that.

 

[lomo]

No response yet, and re-reading the listing for mine, I'm realizing that it says the box and manual are included... which is a sneaky way of saying the seller lost the power adapter.

And, of course, no response yet.

Welp! At least it was a good enough deal that even replacing the adapter won't completely offset the $ saved. I'm seeing on the Quilter site that I can buy one direct, so I think I'll do just that.

May as well move on. Humans come in all flavours, from delicious to rancid

 

[SeayBass]

There's an extra band of EQ on the 802 but no vintage switch. I would think that the 802 is pretty much a clean amp like the 800.
The Interbass has a lot of lows with bass control at 12 o'clock compared to the BB800. Not sure about the 802 though.

yeah, that's what I assumed as well. I may shoot Quilter Labs an email.

I got my hands on an 802 to listen to it and compare. These assessments above are correct. The 802 doesn't have the harmonic coloration that the inner base offers. It's a very clean powerful compact quality head, but it is definitely different than the interbass pedal, which has more gain structure/ harmonic coloration/ etc.
And FYI I just put the 802 up in the classified section if anybody's looking to buy one.

 

[lomo]

I got my hands on an 802 to listen to it and compare. These assessments above are correct. The 802 doesn't have the harmonic coloration that the inner base offers. It's a very clean powerful compact quality head, but it is definitely different than the interbass pedal, which has more gain structure/ harmonic coloration/ etc.

I have both and second this emotion 100%.

 

[kevmac]

Here's my new BB800 mounted to my board.

View attachment 3731749 View attachment 3731750 View attachment 3731750

What do you use the Harmonic Booster for?

 

[srayb]

I just got my Quilter Interbass yesterday and was able to try it out today. Wow, I am impressed, using it at home through a Genz Benz STL-8T (8” cab with tweeter). Not only does it sound great, but can easily sit on my desk and takes up about as much space as a cup of coffee. I like the Vintage/FR switch, it is a subtle yet audible difference (I like both settings).

 

[Real Soon]

Power adapter shipped finally, I should be plugging in early next week

Incidentally, I just heard from the company that my BB800 draws about 20W of power when used as a DI/headphone amp only (no cab). Got a feeling the InterBass is going to be even more efficient as a portable practice rig.

 

[bikemusic]

Power adapter shipped finally, I should be plugging in early next week

Incidentally, I just heard from the company that my BB800 draws about 20W of power when used as a DI/headphone amp only (no cab). Got a feeling the InterBass is going to be even more efficient as a portable practice rig.

It's very efficient as a portable. I get about 10 hours practicing or 4 hours of gigging on a charge with this 24V 2.0Ah lithium battery. That's with a 4 ohm cabinet so I get the full 45 watts. Besides portability, when you run it on a battery it's 100% silent. There's zero hum or hiss and it sounds cleaner than using the adapter.

 

[AdamR]

What do you use the Harmonic Booster for?

Boosting the mids

 

[Real Soon]

Power adapter arrived!

I took a work break to set up a test rig with an Ampeg 2x10 cabinet.

Holy blazes, this thing punches hard! And at 33W, too. Gain at 5 gives me a big beautiful clean tone, and the saturation that kicks in as I dial up from there is definitely its own sound, distinct from the BB, and quite pleasant. Haven't spent much time with the EQ, but it looks to be intuitive, and I'll be flipping the FR/VINT switch during practice time later.

The thought of being able to plop my pedalboard into the FX loop and affect the saturated tone with it is intriguing me... and the number of SS and tube gain stages I have on hand for recording now is bordering on unreasonable.


I'm assuming the usual rules of safe power management apply: connect head to cabinet, then connect adapter to head, THEN plug adapter into wall (the thing about sparks gives me the willies so I'll do it in this order). Kinda wish there were a power switch but I can just use a compact power strip, which I usually do anyway.

 

[Real Soon]

Proof of existence:

 

[Real Soon]

Update:

I've most definitely got the best bedroom bass-to-amp tone I've ever had now. While I've played and much enjoyed GK amps before, the VINT switch on this puppy nails what the Contour setting on those was only blindly stumbling toward, particularly when switched rather than dialed. This thing really sounds amazing.

My next coming gigs are going to be on a P with flats, so I'm using that very classic instrument (literally a 50s Classic in fact) to play with the EQ. This thing's definitely not flat at 5/5/5! The Ampeg 2x10 cab is adding some coloration of its own of course, but I'm really turning the Depth knob down to lighten up the low end for my downstair's neighbor's sake. Can't wait to take it out and crank this thing, ideally with a pair of cabs.


I've very recently started teaching lessons here in my home studio, so having a spare amp is invaluable, esp a super efficient one. My BA-110v2 is my main practice amp, but I'm going to be cheating on it with this lil rig...and it's definitely going to be a staple of my recording chain here.

 

[Real Soon]

I know I'm over here raving and rambling heh, but now I'm getting a little deeper into things....

Currently I have the InterBass plugged up to two cabs, the Ampeg SVT-210AV and my main gig cab, an Audiokinesis Hathor 1203. Mixing cabs is a risk, but so far, seems to be a net gain of tone.

Now it gets more fun: FX Loop Send is going to a Rupert Neve DI, there thru a preamp and into my DAW....so now I've got both my reference monitors and the stack behind me plugged up for comparison. The Gain knob set nice and low (right about 9:00) can actually get a good instrument-level output from the FX Send, semi-independent of the Master knob (potentially very useful). This is using the FR voice setting.

Using the P with flats, to get a sound close to "flat" on my reference monitors, i.e. going in directly to the RNDI with my bass, I've got Depth just a hair above 9:00! If I drop below that, I start hearing a low cut kick in rather dramatically, so it's definitely not a flat-at-0 thing. Woof and Snap are set to around 11:00, so I'm cutting everywhere.


I don't have a spectrograph program on the computer, so can't be certain beyond my rusty mixing ears. Still, does this seem about right? Is there any documentation on the knobs' response ranges?

Now, I do not actually mind; it sounds fabulous. I just like to know as much as I can about my sauce ingredients.

 

[Pyrat]

Just running mine through one of the 2x12s and my wife thought I was going through the 802 (yes...she's THAT cool...she kinda knows the difference!); it's hard to fathom how much MEAT comes through that small box. There are so many tonally options and it's not difficult to figure them out after getting a handle on how the gain and master are involved in the equation but the cool part is finding THAT part out...these amps are simply fantastic~

 

[lomo]

FYI: I emailed Quilter asking if the Interbass could be powered by a CIOKS DC-7 power source, which has a 24V accessory output that is 2 amps (the Quilter PS is 24V/ 3 amps). He said it should work fine at 8 Ohms, although it might struggle at 4 Ohms. That'll work fine for me, because all my cabs are 8 Ohms and I'll never use the Interbass as a power source if I haul 2 cabs/need to be loud. I plan to rig up a pedal board with the Interbass that can be plugged directly into a cab for practice/ small settings.

 

[Karl Kaminski]

the original MicroBlock is the same. Overall great for travel/sm stage/practice rigs!

 

[Jeff Elkins]

FYI: I emailed Quilter asking if the Interbass could be powered by a CIOKS DC-7 power source, which has a 24V accessory output that is 2 amps (the Quilter PS is 24V/ 3 amps). He said it should work fine at 8 Ohms, although it might struggle at 4 Ohms.

Holy… Going into my music room to check that out RIGHT NOW.

 

[lomo]

Holy… Going into my music room to check that out RIGHT NOW.

I'm waiting for the 24V adapter cable (not included with the DC-7 package) that has a 24V connector at 1 end and an RCA at the other....so you can connect one of the regular flex cables to the RCA......you'll need one with center +ve for the Interbass (per Pat Quilter).

This:
CIOKS L0110 EIAJ to RCA Female Adapter - 10cm

...and then a regular flex cable with +ve center...

 

[Jeff Elkins]

I'm waiting for the 24V adapter cable (not included with the DC-7 package) that has a 24V connector at 1 end and an RCA at the other....so you can connect one of the regular flex cables to the RCA......you'll need one with center +ve for the Interbass (per Pat Quilter).

This:
CIOKS L0110 EIAJ to RCA Female Adapter - 10cm

...and then a regular flex cable with +ve center...

Verifying. I thought I had a cable that would do the trick.

That confirms that my center positive on the Interbass reading via multimeter was correct! And I have a couple of the red reverse polarity flex cables.

Thanks for the heads up! I might wait to see how you fare.

Edit: Saw your note. I also have the requisite green cable!

 

[lomo]

Verifying. I thought I had a cable that would do the trick.

That confirms that my center positive on the Interbass reading via multimeter was correct! And I have a couple of the red reverse polarity flex cables.

Thanks for the heads up! I might wait to see how you fare.

I just checked whether one of the center +ve flex cables has a tip with the correct diameter for the Quilter.......and yes....red and green are center +ve: the green one fits!