Quilter SuperBlock US pedal amp laden with features

[Ray175]

Also showing now on Thomann's European sites at a surprising 235€ with 2-3 weeks for availability. I expected it to be higher, so that's excellent news

For once the tax authorities have given me a refund, so I've just ordered the Superblock UK and also a Toob 12S with a Blackbird AlNiCo speaker from our ever present Gitterbug (thanks Markku!). With luck I hope this combination will take me close to the sounds of the 1964 AC30 Top Boost that I had back in 1975 - at 25% of what a real vintage one would cost. The Toob 12S will also give me a different voicing to the excellent Metro 6.BBG that I already have.
I consider all this as a set of early birthday presents, since I have my 66th birthday on 18 May!

[Hammertone]

...The MircoBlock and InterBlock both had the more traditional solid state setup. The SuperBlock is our first pedal amp to feature the tube amp-like low damping factor scheme. Pat had a bit of a breakthrough and figured out a way to make it work with the external supply....

Peter: Tell me more about this one - I WANT it.

[medblues]

Peter: Tell me more about this one - I WANT it.

Did you photoshop that image yourself ? Or are there some out there with the typo ?

[Hammertone]

Did you photoshop that image yourself ? Or are there some out there with the typo ?

Of, course, I have no idea what you mean. Just responding to Peter's post about the fabulous Mircotone. My understanding is that it's the result of some extensive modelling of the sound of Vaclav Mirco and the Mircotones, who were big on the polka scene in the Sheboygan area back in the '60s. Sure beats carrying around Mirco's rig:

[Jim Soloway]

Hey all, well, as hard as we try to keep things under wraps it seems that without fail our product releases always get out a little early. No big deal! A little buzz is welcome. Now that the amp is out I can clarify a few of the power questions in this thread. So I hope this doesn't come off like a company trying to shill their product and instead just provides some manufacturing / design insight.

We do design our own power amps. A big part of our "thing" has to do with how the amp interacts with the speaker. To the best of my knowledge all of the off-the-shelf power amps are setup with a low output impedance / high damping factor. Nothing wrong with that, but tube amps have a high output impedance / low damping factor relationship with the speaker. This setup in a Class D system is a one part of our patent. The MircoBlock and InterBlock both had the more traditional solid state setup. The SuperBlock is our first pedal amp to feature the tube amp-like low damping factor scheme. Pat had a bit of a breakthrough and figured out a way to make it work with the external supply.

As for power at different impedances, the output voltage of any amplifier rises and falls at different frequencies as it meets the speaker's impedance. On a bench you will get a different rating on 4 or 16 ohms vs 8 ohm, but it will "feel" very much the same with this amp. Internally the amplifier is using a lot more than 25 watts to do what it does, but we say it is as loud as a 25 watt tube amp and will show that on a bench.

Hope that helps!

This sounds like an amp I might really like.

[John A.]

Hey all, well, as hard as we try to keep things under wraps it seems that without fail our product releases always get out a little early. No big deal! A little buzz is welcome. Now that the amp is out I can clarify a few of the power questions in this thread. So I hope this doesn't come off like a company trying to shill their product and instead just provides some manufacturing / design insight.

We do design our own power amps. A big part of our "thing" has to do with how the amp interacts with the speaker. To the best of my knowledge all of the off-the-shelf power amps are setup with a low output impedance / high damping factor. Nothing wrong with that, but tube amps have a high output impedance / low damping factor relationship with the speaker. This setup in a Class D system is a one part of our patent. The MircoBlock and InterBlock both had the more traditional solid state setup. The SuperBlock is our first pedal amp to feature the tube amp-like low damping factor scheme. Pat had a bit of a breakthrough and figured out a way to make it work with the external supply.

As for power at different impedances, the output voltage of any amplifier rises and falls at different frequencies as it meets the speaker's impedance. On a bench you will get a different rating on 4 or 16 ohms vs 8 ohm, but it will "feel" very much the same with this amp. Internally the amplifier is using a lot more than 25 watts to do what it does, but we say it is as loud as a 25 watt tube amp and will show that on a bench.

Hope that helps!

OK, so if I plug the speaker in a Deluxe Reverb into this pedal and turn it up to 4 on the volume dial, will it be the same perceived volume and distortion as when plugged into the DR's amp? [I guess as measured by a SPL meter for volume and an oscilloscope for power and THD if we're talking about a bench]. If yes, that's a pretty darn loud and (almost kinda) clean box.

[medblues]

Of, course, I have no idea what you mean. Just responding to Peter's post about the fabulous Mircotone. My understanding is that it's the result of some extensive modelling of the sound of Vaclav Mirco and the Mircotones, who were big on the polka scene in the Sheboygan area back in the '60s. Sure beats carrying around Mirco's rig:

Very very impressive Hammertone, respect !

[Hammertone]

The ball really got rolling after the release of The Mircotones seventh album, "Unplugged!", in '74, which broke new ground in terms of expanding the sonic repertoire of the concertina. Shortly thereafter, the band went fully electric and Mirco collaborated with Cordovox as well as Sansabelt to break new ground - I'll find their eighth album - I have it around here somewhere. That album had a lasting if uncredited influence on various artists, including Pat Quilter, who, rumour has it, swore that one day he'd "put that Mirco sound in a little box" so that all the world could hear it. Others claim he said he wanted to "put Mirco in a small box" - not sure...

More to come, of course.

[orri]

Yes, they do. The EQ controls are active.

Could you please clarify a bit more?

My assumption is when Jehu says "new (more adjustable) tonestack of the 202", they are referring to the differences between 101 and 202?

My understanding (perhaps wrong) was that 101 and 202 tone stack differs in the way that the 202 has a "voice" selector where you can select Vintage/FullQ/FRFR where the Vintage setting is the same/similar to the 101 tone stack (and the two other settings are "new")?

Are there more differences in the tone stack between 101 and 202?

[Herbie]

Could you please clarify a bit more?

My assumption is when Jehu says "new (more adjustable) tonestack of the 202", they are referring to the differences between 101 and 202?

My understanding (perhaps wrong) was that 101 and 202 tone stack differs in the way that the 202 has a "voice" selector where you can select Vintage/FullQ/FRFR where the Vintage setting is the same/similar to the 101 tone stack (and the two other settings are "new")?

Are there more differences in the tone stack between 101 and 202?

I think that yes, TB202 has more ’adjustable’ EQ than 101. With the 101 I could not get rid of the brightness, with 202 it is question 0,5 mm turn.

As You can read I am not a technician but to my ears the 3 EQ’s are also in better places in 202. And overall, the sound is usually just good with TB202. Only tweaking You need is to adjust to the room You play.

[petermelton]

OK, so if I plug the speaker in a Deluxe Reverb into this pedal and turn it up to 4 on the volume dial, will it be the same perceived volume and distortion as when plugged into the DR's amp? [I guess as measured by a SPL meter for volume and an oscilloscope for power and THD if we're talking about a bench]. If yes, that's a pretty darn loud and (almost kinda) clean box.

We have a dedicated gain control and master volume control vs just a volume control on the Deluxe, so you would have to factor for that. The master sets the output wattage and doesn't change the tone aside from any physical effects of pushing a speaker harder. If you wanted to compare with our amp to your Deluxe you would set the master to the equivalent wattage of the Deluxe (almost all the way up) and then use the gain control as your volume. I doubt the numbers will line up perfectly because we set the taper of the gain control to have more range on the clean spectrum with most of the dirt coming in from 7-10, but you should be able to dial in any distortion & volume equivalent.

[petermelton]

Could you please clarify a bit more?

My assumption is when Jehu says "new (more adjustable) tonestack of the 202", they are referring to the differences between 101 and 202?

My understanding (perhaps wrong) was that 101 and 202 tone stack differs in the way that the 202 has a "voice" selector where you can select Vintage/FullQ/FRFR where the Vintage setting is the same/similar to the 101 tone stack (and the two other settings are "new")?

Are there more differences in the tone stack between 101 and 202?

On the 101 Reverb the bass and treble controls are passive like a Fender - they only go up. The Tone Block 202 has active EQ controls so you can cut and boost the set frequencies.

The voice switch does a few things. On Full Q and Vintage it sets the voice of the controls on 5 and the frequency band that each control affects. Full Q is the original Quilter voicing based on an early Marshall. Vintage is similar to the 101 Reverb. On FRFR the EQ is flat on 5 and the output impedance / damping factor is changed to what a conventional solid state power amp does.

[Ray175]

Now that the Superblocks are hitting the streets we're beginning to see a few personal videos being posted as opposed to the usual "promotional" ones. Here's one from Greg Ruggiero that I came across today, funnily enough pairing the Superblock US with a Toob 6.5" Metro (I also have one). Love the sound, with a nice blend of acoustic and electric.

PS - just received my second Toob yesterday (the 12S) which will marry up with a Quilter Superblock UK currently on its way from Thomann. The future looks good

[christianm77]

Now that the Superblocks are hitting the streets we're beginning to see a few personal videos being posted as opposed to the usual "promotional" ones. Here's one from Greg Ruggiero that I came across today, funnily enough pairing the Superblock US with a Toob 6.5" Metro (I also have one). Love the sound, with a nice blend of acoustic and electric.

PS - just received my second Toob yesterday (the 12S) which will marry up with a Quilter Superblock UK currently on its way from Thomann. The future looks good

The superbollock certainly sounds good, but it would have been helpful to hear the reverb.

[sgosnell]

I don't like the sound that much. It has that Quilter sound that I refer to as nasal. I just cannot like it.

[Gitterbug]

The superbollock certainly sounds good, but it would have been helpful to hear the reverb.

Greg actually had the reverb set at 9 0'clock but it does not come too well through in the recording. He says the reverb is fine, with a longish trail. I have used a 101R and still have a ProBlock 200; both have an excellent reverb.

[ruger9]

Now that the Superblocks are hitting the streets we're beginning to see a few personal videos being posted as opposed to the usual "promotional" ones. Here's one from Greg Ruggiero that I came across today, funnily enough pairing the Superblock US with a Toob 6.5" Metro (I also have one). Love the sound, with a nice blend of acoustic and electric.

PS - just received my second Toob yesterday (the 12S) which will marry up with a Quilter Superblock UK currently on its way from Thomann. The future looks good

Wow, color me impressed!

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

I don't like the sound that much. It has that Quilter sound that I refer to as nasal. I just cannot like it.

Quilter usually goes for a Fender sound, which just makes me wonder about the UK version even more. It may be less nasal, to your ears. (Everyone has their own tastes)

[Ray175]

Quilter usually goes for a Fender sound, which just makes me wonder about the UK version even more. It may be less nasal, to your ears. (Everyone has their own tastes)

I'll post some comments when I receive mine in a week or two - on the demos of the Marshall voice the UK comes over with more mids than the US (not surprising) and plenty of mids and "chime" (in the sense of upper harmonics) on the Vox voicings. It will be played through a Toob 12S Jensen Blackbird, a Toob 6.5 Metro BG, and my main points of comparison will be the Tone Master Deluxe Reverb (with Jensen Neo speakers) and a tc electronics BAM200 head (plus memories of when my Princeton Recording still worked). Sadly, I still haven't had time to finish my home studio and learn all the asociated kit, so recording sound sample won't be possible at this stage.

[christianm77]

Quilter usually goes for a Fender sound, which just makes me wonder about the UK version even more. It may be less nasal, to your ears. (Everyone has their own tastes)

Sounds like it would cut tthough live to me.