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Best guitar amps 2026: awesome amps for every player | Guitar World
I have been using the Quilter Mach 3 Combo as my main amp for the last two years. It may well be the best amp that I have ever owned. I think guitar world is correct that it is the best amp for jazz guitar out there.
Is anyone else on this forum using one?
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01-28-2026 11:02 AM
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I'm using the Aviator Cub, which is the same Fender-style voices (without the Marshall/Vox voices), one channel and less power. I'm very happy with it (as both a jazz and blues/rock amp). I can see why some people might think the Mach 3 is even better, but the Cub is enough for me. I tend to get driven a little bit bonkers by amps that have lots of features, so I stick with stuff that's a little simpler. I haven't come close to running out of volume or headroom with the Cub's 50 watts.
Originally Posted by Stringswinger
It's hard for me to say that one piece of gear or another is the best because I'm always hearing people with sounds/gear that intrigue me and make me think "maybe I should use that instead." But for sure, this Aviator series of amps are great gear.
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I now have an OD202, a ToneBlock 202, a BlockDock 10, and a BlockDock 12. The BD10 is a light, convenient, easy grab & go combo with either head in it, and the BD12 is a fantastic all around amp with either head. But the Mach 3 Combo is all of these and more. It's a full 2 channel combination of the OD202 and the TB202 plus trem, reverb dwell control, and a continuously variable "distortion" function that adds a bit more control to the OD202's O/D.
Apart from having a back up amp and speaker of equal quality, the only major advantage of the modular Block approach over the Mach 3 Combo is the small, light BD10 cabinet option. It's also great to be able to use a 202 head with other cabs. It's cool driving two Toobs, with one firing up and one forward. I think it makes its best jazz tone from any guitar through my RE 10, which is audibly tighter and deeper than the BD 12HD. With the stock speaker, the 10 has been great on gigs as long as the power level is kept below 100W with the stock speaker (which is not as full in the bottom octave as the open back 12 cab). In the BD 12HD with either head, the combo is as good as the Mach 3 except for lacking the few added features described above (none of which I need).
Because I started with the unloaded 12" cab (which had been jazzkritter's) and added the other pieces one by one, I didn't really have the option of a Mach 3 instead. I'm not even sure there was yet a Mach 3 Combo when I got the first cab. But if I were to start over now, I'd definitely get the Mach 3 Combo instead of a 200W Block head plus the BD 12HD. Since the BlockDock 12s and the 15 are now discontinued, it appears that the market also feels this way. I do love having the BD10 (which is still being made) because it's really small and light with amazing tone and power. But the Mach 3 Combo lists for $1500 IIRC, which is about what a 202 head and BD 12HD would have cost new. The Mach 3 Combo is a better and more practical buy unless you want the option of a second, smaller cab with the same head.
Buying both 10 and 12" BDs used plus either current 202 head would set you back about the same $1500. You can't go wrong with any of these choices, for sure. But the Mach 3 Combo seems to me to be a better choice than a used BD12HD and a 202 head for most of us, if you want one 200W 12" combo good for any gig or purpose most of us will ever have. I tried my 10" Jensen Jet Tornado Neo in the Block Dock 10, and it's a hair tighter in the bass but not a significant improvement. I'm thinking about trying another bass driver in it. But it's so light and compact that a much heavier speaker would make it as heavy as the 12". Since the BN12-300S in that cab is a really wonderful speaker and the cab only weighs a few pounds more than the 10TC, I'd just as soon use the 12 if the 10 becomes as heavy or heavier.Last edited by nevershouldhavesoldit; 01-28-2026 at 05:11 PM. Reason: typo
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I've been very interested in Mach3 since it arrived. By that time I already had TB202, BlockDock 12 and BD10.
The idea of having the 2 amps in one box appeals to me a lot. I would have one set for squeaky clean and one set for 'edge of breakup' type thing, with the footswitch to go back and forth.
For now I get those 2 sounds by a bit of knob twiddling. But I sure see the beauty of Mach3 setup. Especially if I start playing with humans again.
I may yet get one and keep the TB202 in BD10 for the small grab 'n go like NeverShoulda. It's also a lot more friendly with archtop feedback being closed and more directional.
Good ol' Jazzkritter! We PM'd a lot about TB's and BD's before he moved along. He was a big proponent of the FRFR voice on TB202 for classic archtop sound, and I must agree.
I don't believe the Mach3 has that?
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No FRFR on the Mach 3. But the six voices give you plenty of tonal options. Originally Posted by ccroft
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What makes you choose this over your Henriksen or milkman? Originally Posted by Stringswinger
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Henriksen and Milkman make great amps, but like most amps of the past, they are one trick ponies. I am downsizing to two amps now that I am retired from regular public performance. I will keep my Quilter Mach 3 and my Henriksen Bud 6. The Henriksen is best for extreme portability (I think it weighs 13 pounds with the gig bag?) or playing with a soundman and a PA (it is better for me to have a small speaker at my feet as a personal monitor than a pedalboard amp). The Quilter is a pretty cool Swiss Army Knife amp. The Quilter has a plethora of available tones (more tonal variety than any amp that I have ever owned), all the headroom that I would ever need and at 21 pounds, the Quilter is still pretty damn portable. And at the end of the day, I prefer using an amp with a 12 inch speaker. I always have. Over the last two years, the Quilter has been out on most of my gigs. Originally Posted by skiboyny
BTW, I agree with the Guitar World review that the overdrive on the Quilter is not nearly as good as one can get using a high-quality pedal (I use an older OCD when I want that sound). But it it still pretty convenient to have an onboard overdrive if you need it for say, one tune in a set and you don't want to bring any pedals.
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Great pedal platform. I sold the MACH 3 head to a friend who needed a rig quickly, but I really dug it. It is a great sounding head, versatile, very responsive with at least 3 genuine usable amp choices for me. The reverb is excellent as well.
After I bought the head new, I contacted Quilter a couple months later and they do not, and will not, sell the MACH 3 speaker/dock independently. If I was able to purchase the combo speaker dock for the head, I would have kept it and put it away for other gigs at some other time. I was not interested in racking it or using a different cab. I have several specialized amps I really enjoy, but I recommend this often. That said, IMO, it is not a substitute for the Henriksens or Polytone or the like. It's more of a genuine, lightweight usable alternative with less specialized focus. And it has a great DI with a very musical cab sim out.
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Interesting! I’d have said the opposite. The Mach 3 is the Swiss Army knife of amplifiers. A Henriksen or Polytone is not a substitute for a Mach 3 (or, for that matter, a ToneBlock or OD202 in a BlockDock). But a Mach 3 will do anything either of the others will do (except sound quite as sterile as a Polytone can). Originally Posted by Rodney Gene
The Quilter clean tones can be as big and warm as a Twin. The limiter set low adds a touch of tubey compression, and the reverb is at least as good as Henriksen’s or Polytone’s. It’ll cry the blues like Lucille, surf like Dick Dale, and play any guitar (or other amplified instrument) part ever written for a Broadway play, a radio jingle, or a movie soundtrack exactly as it was meant to sound.
It does justice to thunky laminated electric jazz boxes, acoustic arched and flat tops, mandolins, pedal steels, etc.
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I would put the Henriksen in the Polytone/Acoustic Image class of Hi-Fi sounding amps (some would say "sterile") and I think they have a particular jazz guitar tone that is hard to replicate on the Quilter (or any quality tube amp). I am of the opinion that for a jazz guitarist, particularly one like you and me who plays other styles as well, The Quilter is the best choice, but I also see a place for a Henriksen, and why not? We all need a backup amp, or a second amp to play in stereo for an outdoor gig where a lot of volume is needed. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
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I was running it with a 2-12 birch cab open back with celestion reds at 4 ohms and I did a ton of recording with it. It was loud and clean and certainly versatile for a number of guitars and tone and I was using it with a big pedal board. But in my experience it does not get the tones coming from a small sealed cabinet design with a specifically voiced SS amp like the BUD or Polytone. But then again, it is not aiming to. As for the reverb, the MACH 3 is actually more pleasing than the Henriksen to me. The Henriksen verb I find good, but not altogether great. My Polytones both use Accutronics spring verbs and they sound like what you would expect... a spring verb. Great verb, but still a small / medium 3-spring. The MACH 3 is great amp though. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
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My feelings as well. Originally Posted by Stringswinger
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I just picked up a Mach 3 as one came up used for $800. I’ve had a Micropro 8 Mach 2 for a long time and always liked it. Brought the Mach 3 out to a gig for the first time last night and like the 12 in speaker and open back sound in the room, the MP 8” can be very directional making it harder to heard on stage standing next to it. I did find the Mach 3 a good bit brighter so I was missing the high cut knob from the MP. I’ve barely begun to explore the settings on the Mach 3 though.
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There is a learning curve with the Mach 3 and a lot to explore, but I truly do not think a better guitar amplifier has yet been made. Originally Posted by drbhrb
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Interesting! The first Quilter I ever played through was a friend's Micropro that he brought to a club date when they first came out. I thought it sounded boxy and thin, and I really didn't like it. So I stayed away from Quilter until the SBUS came along and I finally bought one to try. Then I discovered the 202s, and now I'm a convert with both 10" and 12" BlockDocks. Originally Posted by drbhrb
I haven't had a chance to compare my TB202 and OD202 with a Mach 3. But I'm told by friends who have them that the Mach 3 is every bit as good as the 202s in a 12" Block Dock. That's mighty good! I like the convenience of having both a small 10" cab and a larger 12" cab to choose from. But apart from that convenience, the Mach 3 looks like an ideal amp.
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I’m sure the sounds I’m looking for are in there.
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I have a Superblock US which I really like. I bought and then later sold a Mach 3 because I just couldn’t get on with it as much. My theory is that it was the speaker. That Celestion that comes with it is one of the only 250W guitar speakers on the market, so their hands were kind of tied in that regard. But I think the SBUS through a Weber Alnico speaker sounds more like the sound I want (through the same cabinet, it can sound mighty close to my Princeton Reverb).
I just wish they’d make a 100W or so SBUS. They could call it the Super Duper Block!
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I’m on my second Mach 3 combo. Shouldn’t have parted with the first. Sounds great with the 7 string and plays some kick a$$ rock and roll with my Gretsch sixes.
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No doubt. My Mach 3 has the kind of sonic versatility that my Mesa Mark 4 did. With a lot less weight to carry! Originally Posted by Zigracer
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You might like the Aviator Cub US. I think it could handle a Weber Alnico if that speaker is the sound you want. Then you would have more power than your SBUS. Originally Posted by andrew
Personally, I think the Celestion sounds damn good, but I have always like the super clean JBL/EV sound myself.
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The thought has crossed my mind. Do we know for a fact that it is a different power amp than the SBUS? I feel like the documentation is kind of vague on that. They allude to the 50W speaker, but I haven’t seen them clearly state that the amp itself puts out 50W into said speaker. Originally Posted by Stringswinger
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The specs for the AC say: Originally Posted by andrew
Speaker Out: 0-50W (depending on SPKR VOL setting)
AC Power: 100-240 VAC, 50-60Hz, 100W maximum
Speaker Custom Quilter Special Design 12", by Eminence
The specs for the SBUS say:
AC Power Requirement 24 Volt Power Supply (included)
Power Requirement for reduced power 9V - 300ma
Power Output 25 Watts 8 ohms (4-16 ohms okay)
Though they are vague about how they actually rate power and don't state what component differences there are between the two (e.g., which class D power amp each uses), I think this quite explicitly shows that the AC is more powerful.
I actually wrote to Quilter to ask them about the relative power/loudness of the two amps, and this is the answer I got (from Pat Quilter himself):
"The Aviator Cub uses the same basic power platform as the 101R, and delivers an honest “tube strength” 50 watts, like the 101R. The “Red Label” speaker is custom built with a clean middle-of-road voice that is well behaved and free of “clutter”.
The SuperBlock uses a smaller, 24V powered mainstream power IC, which we have added special circuitry to obtain the same warmth and “juice” as our larger amps. It has an honest 25 watts, so one step down from the Cub platform."
Reading between the lines, I think this means that both can probably produce more watts than those numbers and are engineered so as to produce similar loudness to the Fender amps they emulate while avoiding power-amp distortion.
I have an AC. I haven't compared it side by side with a 50-watt tube amp, nor have I played an SBUS, but for sure it's frickin' loud (to use the precise technical engineering term).
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From my experiences the 101 was underpowered using a 12” cab.
The Aviator Gen 1&2 especially with 2 speakers is much better for live gigging imo.
The Tone Block series is even better for Clean Headroom. Think Twin Reverb volume.
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For the past decade or so, a Mach II-8 and HD-12 have been my main electric amps. They can handle almost anything by themselves without any pedals. I was considering a 3, but decided that I just have no need to upgrade. The II's are great.
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I had a Mach 2 head that I used with my RE Cabinets. That rig became more weight than I wanted to carry, so I sold the Mach 2 Head and one of my RE Cabinets and bought the Mach 3 Combo. I do like the sounds better from the Mach 3 and the 22 pound weigh is amazing for a 1X12 combo that could do what my old Boogie Mark 4 could. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
I turn 69 this year and am guessing that the Mach 3 Combo will get me through to the end (famous last words of course.
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