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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, the big ones are heavy, and expensive. [ed. well, the world evolves. Andy is now making lightweight hybrid amps. Hooray for Fuchs amps! I will happily continue to play my lightweight and very simple Fuchs Blackjack 21 V.1, which is as uncomplicated as it gets, along with various other small tube amps.]Last edited by Hammertone; 07-09-2026 at 09:45 PM.
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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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Although this is an old thread, I wanted to make a few points (with our newfound notice here on this forum). I think Hendrickson builds a nice amp at a fair price. I DO take issue with any amp really being giggable with a 6" speaker. I have heard the larger models sounding really nice for jazz.
I've seen, heard and played Quilters. They are okay, but I saw guys set them up, dial them in, and they sounded good. Then the band kicked in, and they spent half the night tweaking and tweaking and turning up to be heard. This was in a rock/blues jam environment. They are inexpensive because QSC (Pat Quilters sound reinforcement company) has a factory in China, thus the low prices.
The Evans and Polytone amps are amongst the most tube-like tube feeling amps I've experienced as a tech and as a player. Polytone (as a company) is dead in the water, so parts and service support are virtually gone. I made overtures to buy the company, but they chose to hang on, despite their brand trademark being hijacked by some creep on Long Island who steals unprotected trademarks. The Evans amps are great, quite reliable and easily serviceable. Not sure if they are actually still being made.
Most importantly, our amps are assembled in the USA of imported and domestic parts and are the only tube hybrid amps of their kind out there. No, they are not the least expensive, but they are unique in sound and feel.
They feature a real tube front end with a real tube limiter, run at a real 300 volts through a switch mode power supply running off an industry-standard ICE power module. The heads are 5-lbs and the combo's are in the low 20-Lb range. Not only do they sound like tube amps (especially with a tube overdrive channel), but they FEEL like tube amps under your fingers. The clean breakup sounds like a tube amp running out of power (gain up master down), even without the overdrive channel engaged. The reverb is a studio grade digital plate style reverb. They will run down to 2.65 ohms, so the output is close to 500-watts. You don't get lost in the mix...
I gig an ODH these days steadily. At 68, I'm rarely up for lugging around a full-blown tube amp, although I do appreciate what they do. I run a 112 ODH combo and I keep a matching 112 extension cabinet in the car for outdoors or larger indoor gigs. I run a small pedal board to cover the various sounds Yacht-Rock requires, and usually carry a Humbucker guitar and a Fender style guitar to cover all bases. As a player, I gained valuable feedback firsthand during the design process, which I feel made these products as good as they are. While I would never claim to be a "jazz player" I did grow up loving Johnny Smith, Howard Roberts, and so many iconic jazz players, which helped me tune my ear to what a good jazz guitar sounds like.
Thanks for having me here.
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I remember the best damn guitar solo I ever heard in my life. It was by the late Vic Juris, when he playing with Lieb, at the Green Mill. Mofo absolutely KILLED it, the solo was that great. My friend there at the time was a classical pianist who was becoming the foremost Barque harpsichord specialist in New England. She was visiting the area with her husband. Her mouth was agape, and she was in shock, turning to me, “OMG where is the functional harmony??” Originally Posted by fuchsaudio
Although this is an old thread, I wanted to make a few points (with our newfound notice here on this forum). I think Hendrickson builds a nice amp at a fair price. I DO take issue with any amp really being giggable with a 6" speaker. I have heard the larger models sounding really nice for jazz.
I've seen, heard and played Quilters. They are okay, but I saw guys set them up, dial them in, and they sounded good. Then the band kicked in, and they spent half the night tweaking and tweaking and turning up to be heard. This was in a rock/blues jam environment. They are inexpensive because QSC (Pat Quilters sound reinforcement company) has a factory in China, thus the low prices.
The Evans and Polytone amps are amongst the most tube-like tube feeling amps I've experienced as a tech and as a player. Polytone (as a company) is dead in the water, so parts and service support are virtually gone. I made overtures to buy the company, but they chose to hang on, despite their brand trademark being hijacked by some creep on Long Island who steals unprotected trademarks. The Evans amps are great, quite reliable and easily serviceable. Not sure if they are actually still being made.
Most importantly, our amps are assembled in the USA of imported and domestic parts and are the only tube hybrid amps of their kind out there. No, they are not the least expensive, but they are unique in sound and feel.
They feature a real tube front end with a real tube limiter, run at a real 300 volts through a switch mode power supply running off an industry-standard ICE power module. The heads are 5-lbs and the combo's are in the low 20-Lb range. Not only do they sound like tube amps (especially with a tube overdrive channel), but they FEEL like tube amps under your fingers. The clean breakup sounds like a tube amp running out of power (gain up master down), even without the overdrive channel engaged. The reverb is a studio grade digital plate style reverb. They will run down to 2.65 ohms, so the output is close to 500-watts. You don't get lost in the mix...
I gig an ODH these days steadily. At 68, I'm rarely up for lugging around a full-blown tube amp, although I do appreciate what they do. I run a 112 ODH combo and I keep a matching 112 extension cabinet in the car for outdoors or larger indoor gigs. I run a small pedal board to cover the various sounds Yacht-Rock requires, and usually carry a Humbucker guitar and a Fender style guitar to cover all bases. As a player, I gained valuable feedback firsthand during the design process, which I feel made these products as good as they are. While I would never claim to be a "jazz player" I did grow up loving Johnny Smith, Howard Roberts, and so many iconic jazz players, which helped me tune my ear to what a good jazz guitar sounds like.
Thanks for having me here.
I seem to recall that Vic swore by your amps. I think I’m gonna put in an order in the next week or two. Good luck.
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At 68, my tube amp days are behind me as well. For the last few years of my professional musician life, it has been Henriksen and Quilter. Originally Posted by fuchsaudio
Although this is an old thread, I wanted to make a few points (with our newfound notice here on this forum). I think Hendrickson builds a nice amp at a fair price. I DO take issue with any amp really being giggable with a 6" speaker. I have heard the larger models sounding really nice for jazz.
I've seen, heard and played Quilters. They are okay, but I saw guys set them up, dial them in, and they sounded good. Then the band kicked in, and they spent half the night tweaking and tweaking and turning up to be heard. This was in a rock/blues jam environment. They are inexpensive because QSC (Pat Quilters sound reinforcement company) has a factory in China, thus the low prices.
The Evans and Polytone amps are amongst the most tube-like tube feeling amps I've experienced as a tech and as a player. Polytone (as a company) is dead in the water, so parts and service support are virtually gone. I made overtures to buy the company, but they chose to hang on, despite their brand trademark being hijacked by some creep on Long Island who steals unprotected trademarks. The Evans amps are great, quite reliable and easily serviceable. Not sure if they are actually still being made.
Most importantly, our amps are assembled in the USA of imported and domestic parts and are the only tube hybrid amps of their kind out there. No, they are not the least expensive, but they are unique in sound and feel.
They feature a real tube front end with a real tube limiter, run at a real 300 volts through a switch mode power supply running off an industry-standard ICE power module. The heads are 5-lbs and the combo's are in the low 20-Lb range. Not only do they sound like tube amps (especially with a tube overdrive channel), but they FEEL like tube amps under your fingers. The clean breakup sounds like a tube amp running out of power (gain up master down), even without the overdrive channel engaged. The reverb is a studio grade digital plate style reverb. They will run down to 2.65 ohms, so the output is close to 500-watts. You don't get lost in the mix...
I gig an ODH these days steadily. At 68, I'm rarely up for lugging around a full-blown tube amp, although I do appreciate what they do. I run a 112 ODH combo and I keep a matching 112 extension cabinet in the car for outdoors or larger indoor gigs. I run a small pedal board to cover the various sounds Yacht-Rock requires, and usually carry a Humbucker guitar and a Fender style guitar to cover all bases. As a player, I gained valuable feedback firsthand during the design process, which I feel made these products as good as they are. While I would never claim to be a "jazz player" I did grow up loving Johnny Smith, Howard Roberts, and so many iconic jazz players, which helped me tune my ear to what a good jazz guitar sounds like.
Thanks for having me here.
I probably have done about a thousand well paid jazz gigs with either a Blu 6 or Bud 6. They are totally gig worthy for a jazz musician. I have done many gigs with my Quilter Mach 3 combo and once dialed in at soundcheck, it has never needed any fiddling during the gig. I still have a Raezer's Edge Stealth 12 cabinet and if my Quilter Mach 3 was not up to the job, I could add that, but so far, that need has not come up.
Peter Henriksen and Pat Quilter both make fine amps for jazz guitar. I have many well paid, professional gigs under my belt to prove it.
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Very kind of you. Man, I miss Vic. He was such a great guy, killer player, and funny too. He was a loyal supporter of the brand and his wife still has his ODS-100 head and cabinet as well as all his guitars, despite selling off a lot of gear.
Hope you take the plunge and enjoy the amp !
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I heard Vic with Strings Attached. He was an awesome player with a great sound. The one time I looked at his amp it was a Fuchs. I think he had an Earthquaker reverb.
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If anyone has an interest in a tube/Class D Hybrid amp, I would look at Milkman. I had their The Amp 100 and it delivered a tube amp sound with it's 12AX7.
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If it makes you happy, that's all that matters. I need a 12 or better, or maybe 2 or 4 tens to feel the tone is full and clean and loud enough without breakup.
Every gig and every player has his own needs and wants and ideas of what "good tone" is. As I said, Hendrickson builds a nice product.
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I hate to intervene, but why is the Henriksen name so difficult to write correctly? I'm puzzled seeing all the many variations here, all more complicated than the korrekt spelling. Given it's the innovator/maker's last name, misspelling doesn't impart the respect it deserves.
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Everything will be ok. It was spelled wrong in two posts, and they were both the same person. Originally Posted by Gitterbug
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