Evans Custom AE200 - Quilter 101 + Block Doc 10TC + Cab

[Archie]

Bid on these two at auction this morning and collected them this afternoon.

The Evans sounds very good. Looking forward to trying the Quilter head through the Two Rock cab.

The Evans AE200 is 8" Eminence Speaker.
The Quilter Cab has a 10" Celestion TF1018 Speaker.

The Quilter 101 mini head offers s slightly less conventional Q adjustment and a selection of pre determined tone stacks; like a Roland Cube. It is 50W, not the usual 100-200W quilter like to make. The head is affixed to the back of the cabinet using a metal bar. You can change the head to any 101 or 202 series Quilter head. So for example if I wanted to upgrade to the newer 202 tone block, I can get one and put it in the back of the 10" Cab.
Or likewise I can buy a 12" doc block cab and put the 101 mini head in the back of that.

It's an interesting design. Feels a bit cheesy at first and I wonder how much the cab design and speaker acoustics suffer to accommodate this modular combo making idea? Won't get to play them in earnest till tomorrow or the weekend but will report back.

Initial impression (quickly played at auction), is the Evans sounds much deeper. Will bring more analysis shortly.

[jazzkritter]

AH: Initial impression (quickly played at auction), is the Evans sounds much deeper.

Not surprising…I had the 101 and although some say they like it, it was nigh impossible (for me) to get anywhere’s near a satisfactory warmth. The TB202 on the other hand… warm and wonderful.
Have fun going back and forth with them!
jk

[Archie]

AH: Initial impression (quickly played at auction), is the Evans sounds much deeper.

Not surprising…I had the 101 and although some say they like it, it was nigh impossible (for me) to get anywhere’s near a satisfactory warmth. The TB202 on the other hand… warm and wonderful.
Have fun going back and forth with them!
jk

What speaker size did you try the 101 through?

As mentioned, I'm looking forward to running it through the Two Rock cab, which is considered quite dark.

[Franz 1997]

The Evans could be a recent Evans AE100 re-issue, IF it really has an 8" speaker as you say, and not a 10"; they stopped making them around 2010, but there was a re-issue maybe 5 years ago, I think in quite limited numbers, maybe 100 in total. I imagine most of those amps stayed in the USA. From the pics, I'm not sure which model it is, the 8" or the 10".

The Evans ( both AE100 and the AE200, with a 10") is a very unusual amp; almost the opposite of plug-and-play, it quite possible to get a bad sound from them. But this slight niggle is outweighed by their truly enormous versatility; they can get almost any sound, within reason. One Evans quirk is that the preamps vary from year to year; some have 'enhanced bass'' ( meaning, put bass on 1 or less); some have little bass and less treble. Scott Buffington, the owner of Evans, changed the circuits quite often. The one thing they do seem to have in common is that treble rarely if ever needs to be above 2, at most. The secret to getting a sound out of the Evans is the manipulation of the Body and Depth controls, particularly the depth control, which i think is a very innovative feature and extremely useful. The Depth control affects the thickness of the top string sound fundamental, and can thus make a thin-sounding spruce top sound much thicker. One useful starting point is to start with Depth on 50% and Body on say 3. The rest can be adjusted to taste, just like a conventional amp. The Expand control can also be very useful, depending on the particular circuit and year. The speaker is ( or was) an Eminence Beta 8" or 10", which is a pretty thick-sounding PA speaker. The old model AE 100 used to put out around 150w, but I suspect this re-issue model will be more like 100W. Evans amps are quite rare in the UK; only a few were imported in the 2000s, and looks like your amp is quite a find in the UK. Not surprising: Evans is a one-man family business, and the amps are expensive. But the AE100 can really punch ( that word again) well above its size, as can the AE200.

They are excellent and complicated amps, but worth it if you can get the hang of the controls. Many players can't be bothered. NB it's good to know someone here who has the schematics and can repair them, if ever needed. Watch out for cabinet rattles.

PS If it really is an AE200 with a 10", the same comments apply, except that it will be 100W rated ( into 8 ohms) rather than the 150W of the older AE100 ( 8"). Otherwise, the same amp.

[jazzkritter]

My go to is an Eminence Delta Pro Neo 12”. Its a first generation one so its 12-13 yes old now. It lives in my 74 PR. Similar sound to a EVM12L. Similar not equal))). Tends to warm side, not at all harsh or punchy to my ear. Ive read the new ones are supposed to be much better. Im going to put into my block dock 12 and see what happens. Maybe next week, doctors appts every freakin day this week.
im thinking a new one for Christmas.
jk

[Archie]

The Evans could be a recent Evans AE100 re-issue, IF it really has an 8" speaker as you say, and not a 10"; they stopped making them around 2010, but there was a re-issue maybe 5 years ago, I think in quite limited numbers, maybe 100 in total. I imagine most of those amps stayed in the USA. From the pics, I'm not sure which model it is, the 8" or the 10".

The Evans ( both AE100 and the AE200, with a 10") is a very unusual amp; almost the opposite of plug-and-play, it quite possible to get a bad sound from them. But this slight niggle is outweighed by their truly enormous versatility; they can get almost any sound, within reason. One Evans quirk is that the preamps vary from year to year; some have 'enhanced bass'' ( meaning, put bass on 1 or less); some have little bass and less treble. Scott Buffington, the owner of Evans, changed the circuits quite often. The one thing they do seem to have in common is that treble rarely if ever needs to be above 2, at most. The secret to getting a sound out of the Evans is the manipulation of the Body and Depth controls, particularly the depth control, which i think is a very innovative feature and extremely useful. The Depth control affects the thickness of the top string sound fundamental, and can thus make a thin-sounding spruce top sound much thicker. One useful starting point is to start with Depth on 50% and Body on say 3. The rest can be adjusted to taste, just like a conventional amp. The Expand control can also be very useful, depending on the particular circuit and year. The speaker is ( or was) an Eminence Beta 8" or 10", which is a pretty thick-sounding PA speaker. The old model AE 100 used to put out around 150w, but I suspect this re-issue model will be more like 100W. Evans amps are quite rare in the UK; only a few were imported in the 2000s, and looks like your amp is quite a find in the UK. Not surprising: Evans is a one-man family business, and the amps are expensive. But the AE100 can really punch ( that word again) well above its size, as can the AE200.

They are excellent and complicated amps, but worth it if you can get the hang of the controls. Many players can't be bothered. NB it's good to know someone here who has the schematics and can repair them, if ever needed. Watch out for cabinet rattles.

PS If it really is an AE200 with a 10", the same comments apply, except that it will be 100W rated ( into 8 ohms) rather than the 150W of the older AE100 ( 8"). Otherwise, the same amp.

The newer Evans amps seem to have a 'Db' symbol on one of the input channels. The older ones (or the ones no longer listed on the site) read 'Hot'. I assume that means higher gain. Mine reads 'Hot'.
The auction listed it as an AE200 8" but on inspection the speaker reads 'Eminance Delta 10A'. The cab seems to be made out of birch ply?

I did have a fiddle with the controls you mentioned at the auction house and you're right, they do bring an interesting dimension into the amp.

There was also a Polytone Minibrute 2 (or 4) I forget the designation. They have far too many knobs, like many of the new school jazz amps. I don't care for that. I like simplicity. I'm very much like Joe Pass when it comes to amps.

Saying that I look forward to having some fun trying the amps, cabs and switching them all around to see what works best.

[Archie]

My go to is an Eminence Delta Pro Neo 12”. Its a first generation one so its 12-13 yes old now. It lives in my 74 PR. Similar sound to a EVM12L. Similar not equal))). Tends to warm side, not at all harsh or punchy to my ear. Ive read the new ones are supposed to be much better. Im going to put into my block dock 12 and see what happens. Maybe next week, doctors appts every freakin day this week.
im thinking a new one for Christmas.
jk

Kritter hope the appointments go well!!

Quilter have cornered the 'a head for Christmas' market.