Quilter Tone Block 200

[Headshot]

well, sorta N(used)AD...I bought it at a local GC, but it is still on "police hold" till next week. I am looking forward to getting it home and messing around with it. Does it need a character pedal in front...like a Joyo American or something?

[jads57]

No it sounds great as is. But I do use an Xotic Sweet Boost pedal just to enhance the frequencies I like.
Congratulations on a great amp that can cover everything and any venue small to largest arenas. Just be careful to not over power your speakers!

[Spook410]

It is set up to sound sorta-kinda like a blackface Fender already so the Joyo American would be duplicative. BTW.. these amps have a direct out (XLR) and sound great into a full range sound system even without speaker emulation. Think you're going to like it a lot. And yea.. careful about power ratings on speaker cabinets.

[Gitterbug]

Rather than starting a new thread, I'm joining this one with a question: Can anybody share fresh A/B experience on Tone Block 200 vs. Raezer's Edge Luna 200R? I'm familiar with the relatively recent threads posted by J. Zucker and Mark Kleinhaut.

The reason for my query is that, after quite a few episodes, I got hold of a Luna 200R. Do I like it? Yes, but... While the clean sound is super, and there's no noise until you turn the reverb well beyond noon - well, that's all it does. It's said to be good for all instruments, but my lowly Squier bass, which is loud and clear through bass micro amps such as MB200, Elf or BAM200, is a far cry compared to these. By contrast, the new 200-watt Quilters seem to be far more versatile. I have an older version with Tri-Q and need to get rid of that before buying yet another 0.5K+ amp for test purposes.

Without going to details, I have great respect for Geoff Felsher's responsiveness throughout what became an Odyssey of sorts. Yet, I'm wondering whether I'd be better off with a Tone Block after all. It's a tone vs. features question, and I'm looking for an answer.

[Spook410]

.. I have an older version with Tri-Q and need to get rid of that before buying yet another 0.5K+ amp for test purposes.

Feature set is different on the new Quilter models but thinking the new Tone Blocks will sound basically the same as the Tri Q models?

[Ric Lee]

ToneBlock 200 201, Micro 101R and the Overdrive 200. And now own a Luna 200R a Laney IRT Studio 15, a Carr Sportsman and a 2 6V6 Deluxe and a Fender Champ clone built out of an old Police Radio with a Triad Transformer.

Have two razors edge cabinets now 6 inch speaker and a 10 inch extended range with a tweeter and a 2x12 Soldano cabinet.

For me I could never quite get the sort of overdrive character I wanted out of a quilter.That’s probably just preference though as I’ve seen some musicians who really enjoy them. I think for an audience it would probably work just fine.
After many many amps and too much gear I’m just trying to get things to fit a particular purpose it’s kind of difficult to find something that hits a lot of checkboxes in the exact way I want.

If I want beautiful clean tone I use either the Carr sportsman or more often now just the Luna with one of the razors edge cabinets or the Carr with the Raezers edge cabinet.If I want some overdrive I’ll either use the Champ or the Laney depending on what sort of character I want.

Clean sound available with the Quilters was good but I just always found myself tweaking the knobs trying to find something else never really was happy with the overdrive, It was always a sizzle nature to it that I couldn’t dial out. Again it’s probably my preference as I’ve seen plenty of musicians get on with it just fine. Chasing versatility always left me displeased with gear when what it was doing a really good job of it was doing just fine.
Since I got the razors edge cabinet I’m much more happy with my sounds for solo Jazz guitar so that the main part of the sound profile I want.
Then again the Quilter may do just fine for you. I see there have been updates and there is now a Quilter Overdrive 202 and a ToneBlock 202 so I imagine there’s probably been some tweaks to the circuit. I honestly haven’t even put one of my distortion or fuzz pedals in front of the Luna though I may eventually try that down the road. Sorry if my post wasn't too helpful!

Rather than starting a new thread, I'm joining this one with a question: Can anybody share fresh A/B experience on Tone Block 200 vs. Raezer's Edge Luna 200R? I'm familiar with the relatively recent threads posted by J. Zucker and Mark Kleinhaut.

The reason for my query is that, after quite a few episodes, I got hold of a Luna 200R. Do I like it? Yes, but... While the clean sound is super, and there's no noise until you turn the reverb well beyond noon - well, that's all it does. It's said to be good for all instruments, but my lowly Squier bass, which is loud and clear through bass micro amps such as MB200, Elf or BAM200, is a far cry compared to these. By contrast, the new 200-watt Quilters seem to be far more versatile. I have an older version with Tri-Q and need to get rid of that before buying yet another 0.5K+ amp for test purposes.

Without going to details, I have great respect for Geoff Felsher's responsiveness throughout what became an Odyssey of sorts. Yet, I'm wondering whether I'd be better off with a Tone Block after all. It's a tone vs. features question, and I'm looking for an answer.

[ccroft]

....Yet, I'm wondering whether I'd be better off with a Tone Block after all. It's a tone vs. features question, and I'm looking for an answer.

Feature set is different on the new Quilter models but thinking the new Tone Blocks will sound basically the same as the Tri Q models?

The ToneBlock 202 does have a different tone stack than earlier models, including 200. If you haven't seen it, you should check out the discussion from a year ago for some comments from a guy who works at Quilter, a fine demo from Tim Lerch and some personal experience from myself.

Quilter Tone Block 202

I'm still very happy with my amp, but I haven't bought anything new this year.... seriously considering checking out the BlockDock 10TC just for the fun of it :) :)

Gitterbug: I know you have a vast experience with speakers. I'd be very interested to hear any comments you might have about the Celestion TF-1018.

[Gitterbug]

Gitterbug: I know you have a vast experience with speakers. I'd be very interested to hear any comments you might have about the Celestion TF-1018.

I'm sorry, my experience is not so vast and I'm focused on Neo speakers. Looking at the specs and curves, this pro audio speaker should be ok for guitar, with a typical peak at 2-3 kHz (but less of the the likewise typical valley just below), and lots of spl beyond 5 kHz. The stated 100W RMS power handling measures up to Celestion's heaviest 12" guitar speakers with magnets weighing a multiple, so the obvious question is, why isn't this being offered in a guitar speaker's guise? To draw a parallel to Eminence, their Betas for instance are nominally pro audio stuff but much used for jazz guitar. Ultimately, the proof of the tone is in the listening. There are favorable reviews e.g. on the Gear Page, and Quilter uses these attractively priced speakers in some of their cabs. As an aside, I tend to favor 10" over 12" for "ordinary" jazz guitar.

[Spook410]

The ToneBlock 202 does have a different tone stack than earlier models, including 200.

Did not remember this thread so thanks for the reminder. Still not sure how different the Tri Q would sound from a newer one. Per petermelton who was kind enough to share his Quilter insights as a sales manage..) "The clean channel on the Overdrive 200 is the same as the 101 Reverb and is actually very similar to the Vintage mode on the Tone Block 202 except that you have more range with the Tone Block 202's active controls. Full Q is a fatter sounding than Vintage and the EQ points are in different places."

That and the FRFR out on the newer models.

Still.. mine is a TB201 Tri Q (which I like) but haven't used it much. And don't have one of the newer ones for an apples-to-apples. That's what happens when you go over to the dark side of modelers.

[Headshot]

Brought it home today, and plugged into a Peavey Sanctuary speaker. Still tweaking, but happy with it so far. I am currently running guitar>Soul Food>Joyo Analog Delay>Holy Grail Reverb>Sanctuary...seems pretty versatile with Tele/Strat single coils as well as humbuckers.

[jads57]

Try it with some good powerful guitar speakers Neo or Not you'll be really HAPPY!

[Headshot]

Well, after a few weeks of tweaking, I now have a Boss FDR-1 pedal in front. Trying single coils and humbuckers through the rig...might try a different cab.