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I'm thinking about a new amp. I hear enthusiasm about all three of these for jazz but I haven't heard them. Rich Severson (sp?) who reviews archtops on YouTube gets a nice sound from his Quilter. I play an ancient Polytone with a 15. I'm just wondering if there's something better out there and if people have actually compared these amps. Thank you so much!
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03-24-2024 10:25 PM
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I have a Henriksen Bud, original issue, that I've used for several years.
I've played a couple of Quilters in music stores.
I don't think I've even seen a Fuchs.
So I can only really comment on the Bud.
The Bud I have is the original issue, 19 lbs, heat sink on the back. The newer variant is about 6 pounds lighter and might come with built-in BlueTooth. The Bud is clean. Period. The amp is an FRFR amp in a 9-inch cube. If clean is what you're looking for, this will do it, and it seems lots of jazz players like it for that. It also works well with acoustic instruments and vocals. If you want a blues tone or anything other than clean it's not in there - you'd have add a pedal or two. It's loud enough for any place I'd be likely to play, but I'm an amateur.
The Quilters I tried did a pretty good job of emulating Fender amps. If my financial condition were other than what it is I'd probably get an Aviator Cub. In my limited exposure to them I was very impressed.
Obviously, I can't say anything about the Fuchs, sorry.
Sound aside, here are some things that distinguish these amps:
Size:
the Henriksen Bud 6 is a 9-inch cube, has 120 watts, and a cabinet designed to get the most out of a small speaker. It's extremely portable. The other Buds have larger speakers, weight a bit more, have larger cabinets, and sound a little darker than the Bud 6.
The Quilter Aviator combos are not much bigger than the speaker used. The Aviator Cub is around 50 watts, and higher powered models are available.
As for the Fuchs, I know nothing more than is revealed by the manufacturer's website.
Weight:
The Henriksen original Bud weighs about 19 pounds. The more recent Bud 6 weighs about 12 pounds.
The Quilter Aviator Cub weighs around 20 pounds.
The Fuchs ...?
Price:
Quilter Aviator Cub is around US$700.
Henriksen Bud 6 is about US$1400.
The Fuchs combos seem to be priced north of US$2400.
These are three very different amps. If one were asking similar questions about cars, one would be comparing a Ford pickup truck with a Subaru Forester with a BMW. Which is the right amp for you depends on what you're looking for, and you didn't really describe that. Between the Henriksen and the Quilter, the Henriksen is probably closer to the Polytone.Last edited by dconeill; 03-25-2024 at 02:35 AM.
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I have three Henriksens (Bud 6, Blu 6 and Blu 10) and I have a Quilter Mach 3 Combo. I have owned many of the following:
Polytones
Fender Tube Amps
Acoustic Image amps
Mesa tube amps
British tube amps (Marshall and Vox)
Henriksen does Polytone/Acoustic Image solid state amp sound with less weight and greater reliability
Quilter does tube amp sound (British and American) with less weight and greater reliability
Either Henriksen or Quilter can be great for jazz guitar depending on what you like.
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Fuchs has nothing in common with Henriksen or Quilter. They are light, clean, compact solid state amps.
Fuchs is in the same category as Rivera, Swart, Morgan, Louis Electric and other small builders making high-quality, "boutique" tube amps. Nuanced overdrive sounds, mil-spec parts, heavy, and expensive.
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+100 on the comments above regarding the vast differences between these amps (or at least Fuchs vs the other two). All three are great amps, and their prices range from $300 - $3000+ !
@voyage, do you have a budget, or even a "vibe" you are shooting for?
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That may not be entirely true for Quilter. The 50W and below models are nothing like a Fuchs amp. But the big ones (202s, Mach 3, and the now D/C’ed 200W Machs) are serious competition for high quality tube amps. They’re also half the cost of most good boutique 1x12s and weigh less than half as much.
Originally Posted by Hammertone
I already have a DockBlock 12HD with a 300W Celestion BN12-300S and have been watching for a deal on a 202 head to put in it. MF had a “mint” (factory packaging, full manufacturer’s warranty) open box Quilter OD 202 over the weekend that I got for $550 - it’ll arrive Wednesday. I fully expect the combo to be a 25 pound powerhouse equal to an equivalent high quality tube rig. If it’s not, there’s a 45 day return. But from my experience with Toneblock 202s I tried, I’m optimistic about this.
No, I did not need another amp. So I just posted my DV Mark EG250 on the For Sale forum. If the OD202 won’t deliver as good a jazz tone as the 150W Raw Dog, I’ll pull the post and return the Quilter. The Celestion in the DockBlock is a wonderful speaker and the DB is light and solid. So I’ll keep using it as my big cabinet. But I had to try this. I’ll report when it arrives.
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Hi Markwhy. I mainly play through my old velvet covered polytone with a 15. At least there was felt at one time on it. There's some heavy window screen material tacked on to cover the speaker and paint has dripped down the screen. All before I got it 20 years ago. It's very warm and soft. But people seem to like newer amps these days so I'm wondering if they sound better than the polytone.
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Depends on a couple of things.
1.) Gigging and schlepping your amp from venue to home,etc
2.) How much do you want to spend?
3.) Can you really hear the difference between tubes and solid state?
4..) And if yes to last question are you looking for Pristine Clean or Edge of Breakup type tone? If so to pushing power tubes ,go lower wattage and perhaps 6V6 type of tubes
My choice is the higher wattage Quilters and or the older original Aviator models. Never been let down in 8 to 10 years of gigging in all venues from auditoriums ,bars, church gigs, Jazz Duo, even direct applications.
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You might also consider an Evans amp.
Home - Evans Custom Amplifiers
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Some impressions: The Bud is loved by archtop players. I'm not saying others don't love it, but I'm certain about the archtop guys. The Blu has a different EQ stack (center frequencies aren't the same). So, the Blu is not quite a single channel version of the Bud. Some describe them as FRFR. I posted extensively about my dive into this rabbit hole -- trying to use a powered speaker. The gist: I'm back to my JC55. I continue to think about the Blu because the EQ range is tighter and the weight. Originally Posted by voyage
I've heard a Fuchs once. At the Zinc Bar and Vic Juris (now, sadly, gone) was playing it. As you might imagine, it sounded terrific. It looked like it might be heavy.
I've heard a couple of Quilters. Both sounded very bright to me.
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I've got a JE300 on its way to me as we speak. Looking forward to playing my New D’Angelico NY2FP through it. Originally Posted by jasguitar
I've always preferred 12” speakers for Jazz.
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What is"FRFR" and "JC55?" Thanks
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How does an Evans sound compared to a Henriksen?
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Sorry, didn't mean to be obscure. Full Range Flat Response, like a PA speaker. Originally Posted by voyage
Roland JC55 amp.
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Much brighter. Originally Posted by voyage
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I have a couple of Fuchs amps, an ODS 100 and a Train 45. They're outstanding. The ODS 100 is a stellar clean amp with miles of clean headroom. Liquid distortion. The Train 45 is a stripped down rock 'n roll amp. Although they're both made in the model of other more famous amps, they both have Andy Fuch's fingerprints on the sound.
They're heavy, big iron tube amps, built for big stages. Wonderful at what they are. Not the first amps I plug my archtops into, but there's no real reason not to use them for that, either.
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