Grateful Dead Music Forum

Hey there! I’m wondering if anyone has run the subject combo amp (I understand the head with an appropriate jbl is quite good), and what they think of it? Particularly interested in the stock combo with its speaker for being super compact and lightweight as a good backup amp.

Thanks!
Todd

I have a Quilter MicroPro 200 combo with the 8” speaker. It is the model prior to the Mach 2. I LOVE it! 100 watts per channel and less than 20 lbs. I also have the matching 12” cab with the neo speaker - also weighs less than 20 lbs. The amp sounds great and is quite versatile. I added tie-dye grill covers. I originally picked up a Quilter 101 Mini Reverb as a backup. I was so impressed I tried the MicroPro. It’s now my main amp, replacing an Alembic F2-B > Carvin DCM200L > two JBL K120 1x12s. Maybe the Quilter doesn’t sound quite as good, but it is at least 95% there and no one else but me notices the difference anyway. Go for the Quilter, you won’t regret it.

Bill, tgo

And if you really only want it for a backup, you might think about just getting a Quilter head, like the 101 Mini Reverb, the Overdrive 200 (two channels), or the new Tone Block 202 (200 watt version of the 101). They each weigh 2 or 3 lbs. If your main amp fails, just plug one of these babies into your amp’s speaker and you’re good to go.

Bill, tgo

Hey there
I recently bought a Quilter 101 mini reverb. I play a G&L Legacy (essentially a strat), and run the Quilter through a JBL D120. It's amazing. I can't believe the sound that comes out of this tiny amp. The tone controls are fantastic, and if you set it right it has an amazing clean Fender sound. The reverb sounds great too. I'm now running it with my newly purchased Thick Air pedal, courtesy of Brian at IO Custom Guitars (Milobender), and the tones I'm getting out of this set-up are just incredible. I plan on writing up a full review of the pedal once I've had some more time exploring it.
I highly recommend a Quilter though. I'm sure the Mach 2 is amazing - it has more power, and a few more tone settings I think. But the 101 reverb is a great option too. So portable and reliable.

If anyone's interest, I'm selling a Quilter Mach 2 Head.

https://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/msg/ ... 95877.html

ace

While I don't have a Mach II Combo, I do have a Mach II head and in addition to the usual JBL Cabinets, I have a 2x8 with the same Celestion TF-818's that the 8" combo uses. It sounds great but not necessarily for Jerry tones in my opinion. I can't speak for the 12" combo though.

For me the Mach II head does stellar 70s Jerry. However! In order to get that sound, you have to crank the gain just a bit, and play with a lighter touch. It responds very well to light touch cleanliness, and digging in for dirt. It's really made me up my right hand game.

If you search there’s a recent thread where milobender plays through a quilter and another through a fender. I believe both with JBL speakers. Nice comparison and a good example before you buy.

I played a Mach II head for about 6 months after hearing the guitarist from Jerry's Middle Finger - good and extremely versatile but didn't quite bond with it.

All this stuff is completely subjective. And all a great trip, if you ask me I know many of us have gone through a number of stages, thinking, yeah, this is it! And find after time it was, but isn't, and on to the next stage. I've seen SO many changes in electronics since the 60s, just to go back around and love my '72 DR, the same model/year I sold for $125 after breaking my toe on it in our tiny hallway, in 1985... paid $1100 to get one back! And, I love the Quilter head, totally different animal, but fun none the less.

I'm still waiting to hear a Quilter tone that can remotely match the real tube tone of Jerry's Fender circuit. I know Quilter is doing great things, but it's not vacuum tube and it has that transistor glassy-ness in there that is quite distinctive and lacking the silky warm sweetness tubes give, especially when playing clean and loud. Most Quilter tones I've heard so far rely on a fairly noticeable amount of grit and clipping to get things smooth and kind of mask the transistor-ness. Jerry was able to be much more clean and sparkly and dynamic because preamp tubes are just so damn sweet sounding, so sparkly and vibrant.

Jerry never ever played without tubes. FWIW. Tubeless is just not an option, ha! We can get close, but our ears feel the fatigue and missing sweetness when a signal path and rig is entirely solid state.

But I have been hearing Quilter amps being used with other tube devices and getting nice results.

B

I'm a huge Quilter fan. But I would guess that 99% of Quilter users would opt for an SMS/(insert power amp here) rig. I think what you have done with the SMS transformed many peoples rigs in this group. They way I see it, it all boils down to compromise. There are a few reasons why we love them. 1)Weight. It's not really weight but portability. Many of us are getting older and ease of transport is everything. Especially after back surgery for me. I show up to rehearsals with my guitar in a backpack, Mach 2 on one shoulder and pedal board in hand and leave a 1x12 on site. So one trip carrying under 30 lbs makes life easy, All that while doing a reasonably good job of getting the sound I want. (and lets be honest, it's about me not the people listening who frankly wouldn't know the difference. 2)Price. A $700 all in one head that can take a beating, and always react predictably is really nice. 3)Flexibility. You can get many other amp sounds out of a Quilter than a specifically built Fender based preamp.

All that said, I will have an SMS/Mac at some point because I agree with everything you said above were it not for compromise. If you can make a smaller footprint SMS. Say one that could be built into to top of a 1x12 (4"x12" in case you're asking) you'd have a huge hit! Although I suspect you have no shortage of orders for your existing SMS!) One where I could put a Quilter Tone Block in the cab as well and have the perfect 1x12 combo that's easy to carry. I built a handful of 1x12 combo cabinets based on that idea but using a Carvin dcm200 and an SMS with a JBL. They sounded amazing
Since nobody seems to make a good quality LIGHTWEIGHT single space rack mount amp it made the cabinet unuseable without a Carvin.