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After owning Acoustic Image, Roland Cubes, and a Mambo I've settled on Quilter. Super light, doesn't sound sterile. I've been on the lookout for a used Quilter cab for outdoor gigs where I'd want more than an 8" speaker but besides that I'm totally happy with my Micro Pro 8.
Just out of curiosity I'd like to play an Evans some day but I've never seen one in person.
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02-10-2017 05:25 PM
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I had (still have, in a closet) a Peavy, but it's not what I would call a good amp. I bought it as a practice amp years ago, and it's OK for that. I have an AI Clarus I, one of the original ones, and it was a great amp until it started having noise issues. It's just noisy at idle, noisier than I like. Otherwise, it has very good tone. What I'm using now mostly is a DV Mark Little Jazz. It has good tone, and it's very portable. 10 inch cube, weighs 15 pounds, and sounds far better than I was expecting. I wanted portable and a decent sound, and I got more than I bargained for. It gets as loud as I ever want to play, and I have yet to turn the volume past halfway. The tone is pretty variable, and depends on placement, so it can take a little fiddling to get it in the right place and height, but as long as it's elevated and/or tilted back, it's OK, and can be great. Flat on the floor it's too bassy. I was afraid the 8" speaker would be shrill, but it's the opposite.
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I've had an AI Clarus 2r Series III for maybe 7-8 years. When I bought it, it came with a Redstone 8" cab. I never got on with the Redstone and have decided I just prefer the sound of a 12" speaker. I bought a Raezer's Edge Stealth 12 and that works much better for me, although it is decidedly less portable. In search of a more portable solution (one fairly convenient trip from the car is the goal), I got a tweed Deluxe type amp- sounds great, under 30 lbs, plenty loud. The recent threats on solid-state amps made me pull the Clarus out again and plug it in. I was absolutely delighted by it. It sounded much warmer than I remembered; indeed, with EQing I was able to make it sound remarkably like the Deluxe, only cleaner. There is more note separation with the ARI than with the Deluxe and the tone can be a bit brighter without sounding harsh.
I read a tip here on the forum about the AI amps, which was to run the master volume fairly high and then use the individual channel gain to control the volume. This gives the amp a much warmer tone. It's not quite smoky but sounds excellent for jazz. It seems to flatter all of my guitars nicely. It's also definitely better for my guitars with piezo pick ups then the Deluxe is.
I used it at my last gig. One difference was that the cabinet is much more directional then the open back cab of the Deluxe, so it was actually a little bit harder to balance myself against the rest of the band. I think that, for the sake of convenience and ease of set up and teardown, that I will continue to use the deluxe more for gigs than the AI. However, I was really happy and impressed once again with the sound you can get from a solid-state amp. And for Jack's sake I will mention that I am not seeking the classic Gibson plus Fender Twin sound- I am usually looking for something more pianistic and find that the mids cut of most Fender amps is quite annoying. So I don't particularly care if the EQ centers are not in the same places they are on a Fender.
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I've never played an SS amp that was perfect but for my clean tone the Gallien Krueger MB200 coupled with my Earcandy 1x10 ported cab is probably the closest I've gotten.
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I have one of the 1st gen Jazzkats - 8' spk, all SS. Sweet little amp - nice EQ, a range of effects, 2 channels, one voiced for voice or acoustic amplification. Compact, light, good looking.
I also have an Acoustic Image Corus Series III. Compact, rugged, powerful. Proper tweaking of the knobs on the amp and guitar gives me a righteous jazz tone with my ES-175 ('06). Nice selection of effects. I mostly use a touch of Hall Reverb. AI's service is legendary (and hopefully, unneeded). The tilt-up legs are a nice touch. The sound really is "3-D".
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I really like all 3 of my Yamaha G100 IIs (1x12, 2x12, and 1x15). I tend to gravitate towards the 1x15. Note: I'm not a gigging player.
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If you want to find an Evans amp, try hanging out at the Steel Guitar Forum. There are usually one or two Evans available most of the time.
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I continue to be impressed with my $100 Orange micro terror, if these things had an fx loop and decent tone stack it would be my #1 amp, makes me want to try a Yamaha thr although it seems like 20w is some sort of sweet spot for driving a good single 12".
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Disagree totally. Not anything like a fender. Way more mid content. It's like fender with a high mid boost. Sounds great with a strat which is my theory of how they voiced it.
Of course the ultimate ss amp is a modeler. My Axefx AX8 sounds amazing with an inexpensive, cheap, powered pa head. Blows away any other SS Amp.
Originally Posted by jads57
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I like the Yamaha G series. I use the series I, a G50 210 and a G100 115. The 115 has a premium speaker that can handle anything and stay clean, very nice. There is a series I G50 112 around here too which make me as bad as Joe. If the speakers are tired on these they are worth a upgrade.
A really under rated amp is the old Randall RG Commander I and II series from before they went metal. The normal channel was voiced for jazz, while the second had more bite, gain and the effects, spring reverb and a nice natural sounding tremelo. Series II has the effects loop. They were designed to be a Fender alternative and the preamps were made to break up at higher gain like a tube so you can go from clean to grit to dirt turning the dial.Last edited by Cavalier; 02-10-2017 at 07:49 PM.
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Less than $100 ($84.99 on Amazon) and an excellent bedroom amp!!! Hooked up to a Celestion Greenback it has great low volume jazz cleans and with a Tele it purrs like a Vox just starting to overdrive. Just a little bigger than a standard pedal.
Some may find the British Invasion to be mid-rangey, but for me it's voiced just right for very low volume playing.
Oh, and the Quilter MP II is also a winner!
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Jack Z. disagree all you like. I know you like Eric Johnson can hear the difference in types of batteries in your effects LOL! For most of us players Quilters sound like an idealized Fender Platform amp. After 42 years of professional playing and owning almost every amp imaginable including 2 real Dumbles I think if it works for me most players (95%) will be very happy!
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Originally Posted by jads57
Originally Posted by jads57
This is a live question for me and it can be answered without subjective claims. the classic fender blackface tone stack, bass, mid treble, has a really big mid scoop in it. It's the fender sound: mid scoop. very pretty sounding, obviously very much loved. You can't really get a flat signal--even with bass on zero, treble on zero, mid on 10.
(http://www.duncanamps.com/technical/tonestack.html)
I find the classic fender tone stack irritating to use, and have settled on Baxandall-style controls
Does the aviator reproduce the fender stack? Or does it have something like, say, Henricksen, with boost/cut set bands?
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Call names and make personal attacks all you want but in the entire time you've been claiming that your aviator sounds just like a fender you have never once posted a clip demonstrating this. So as far as I'm concerned, it's not a matter of batteries but of snake oil.
Originally Posted by jads57
Jack Z. disagree all you like. I know you like Eric Johnson can hear the difference in types of batteries in your effects LOL! For most of us players Quilters sound like an idealized Fender Platform amp. After 42 years of professional playing and owning almost every amp imaginable including 2 real Dumbles I think if it works for me most players (95%) will be very happy!
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Back in the 70s I had a SS 2x12 (100w?) combo called the Simms-Watts Ike Isaacs. It had enormous clean headroom and would probably have rivalled something like the Lab Series L5, though it seems to have disappeared off the map years ago, with almost none turning up a e-bay. Gosh, that thing was loud!
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Jack I was actually complimenting you on your fine hearing ability just like Eric Johnsons. My point is most people including Pro Musicians find the Quilters to be great "Fender Clean Type" pedal platform amps. After owning several different models as well as giging with them reguraly in everything from Jazz Duo,Trios, as well as Rock Pop Blues bands I feel pretty confident in my statement.
Sound Clips only go so far on computers. It's best to actually try one out on a gig preferably.
PB&J: The Quilters seem to emulate the Fender type sounds on the Aviators best. The Micro Pro series offers that as well as more voicing options and other features like a Booster w/ different options as well as a Limiter and Tremelo. I would suggest contactiny Pat Quilter for more technical specifics. All I can tell you is at age 59 and being a Proffesional Guitarist my entire working life. I've been through all of the major brands as well as many Boutique amps as well. And this is the most consistant pleasing Clean tone I've ever had. And the fact they weigh very little is a great bonus!
Cheers!
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Chunking, does it work for Jazz improv?
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