Pedalboard power amp options for guitar and bass for fly rigs

IMNSHO, I've said it before... (and no offense to M44 owners) you don't buy a Magnum 44 because you should, you buy a Magnum 44 simply because you CAN. :)

I mean, it fits in your shirt pocket for cryin' out loud! And it's cheap too. And it's pretty loud.

That said, you won't get a ton of clean headroom and it will color the tone somewhat. But as a backup, it sounds decent enough and it will power a 4x12 to reasonable levels.

But it's definitely NOT in the same league (as in bigly) as the... well, pretty much any Quilter.
 
philipacamaniac said:
Magnum 44 vs Tone Block 101 - what's the consensus?
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My experience is the Magnum 44 doesn't have nearly the clean headroom nor volume of the 101. That being said the Magnum is a great little power amp given the size and cost, it just breaks up sooner than the Quilter and isn't as loud.
 
philipacamaniac said:
Magnum 44 vs Tone Block 101 - what's the consensus?
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Like the others said, each one serves a purpose. I have both. The Quilter is LOUD! Headroom for ages. But it takes a chunk of the pedalboard. The M44 is just the size of a regular pedal, and it is cheaper. Doesn't have as much headroom but it is tiny! Ultimate backup thingy. :)
 
SoProg said:
The crate?
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Sorry, I meant the Quilter, Pro Block 200
The 200 has plenty of headroom...I'm running the gain LOW for excellent cleans and letting the AX8 do the rest.
Just used it again at rehearsal...it's really getting dialed in.
I LOVE the controls as well, Hi-cut, Limiter, Tri-Q...all are super useful for quick adjustments if needed.
Sometimes the 4X12's at the studio will be different, so the controls make for easy adjustments.

I even used the 200 with just my pedalboard, as it has an effects loop too.
Damn if it didn't KILL with that as well.
Tiny package and ALL the punch, I would definitely recommend these for a variety of uses.
I still have my Matrix GT1000, that's a great rack amp, yet for portability it's hard to beat the Quilter.
YMMV, of course
 
I do a ton of jazz, r&B and gospel in addition to rock and country and I've always felt like the Quilter stuff was literally perfect for what I do. The whole guitar world seems hell bent on light break up Fender to crunchy Marshall to all out Mesa gain. But for Funk, R&B, fancy chords, Prince, and big shimmering ambience man! The Quilter is just so incredible. I got the Tone Block right after it came out - always wished for an FX loop. I'm thinking of getting the Pro model. How do the gain settings sound?
 
PhillyGTR said:
I do a ton of jazz, r&B and gospel in addition to rock and country and I've always felt like the Quilter stuff was literally perfect for what I do. The whole guitar world seems hell bent on light break up Fender to crunchy Marshall to all out Mesa gain. But for Funk, R&B, fancy chords, Prince, and big shimmering ambience man! The Quilter is just so incredible. I got the Tone Block right after it came out - always wished for an FX loop. I'm thinking of getting the Pro model. How do the gain settings sound?
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I have the mini head 101 and I love it. I recommend the Pro Block 200 (or the Tone Block 201) since it is the same thing but double the power :D
 
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PhillyGTR said:
How do the gain settings sound?
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If ONLY using the power amp for your gain tone, I personally don't enjoy the gain as much, although I honestly haven't spent a ton of time running or tweaking it that way. The 200 has an effects loop and plenty of headroom. So I simply keep the gain knob at about 9 o'clock, which is totally clean...AND as I said in my previous post, I am using the Fractal AX8, so I get all I need there, as well as EXCELLENT amp and effects choices.
It's really an amazing setup...going direct from the AX8 to FOH, AND having the Quilter/Cab setup, KILLER!!
Doesn't matter what type of music you play, it sounds AMAZING.
 
ChristThePhone said:
Are there any moderately priced still usable small (not rack) amps that would support stereo ?
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I had 2 Tone Blocks side-by-side when I was running a pedal board, but it gets kinda heavy at that point.

Quilter hinted on social media about needing testers for a solution aimed at modeling users. I haven't heard anything more on that front since summer/fall. I imagine it would be a stereo option. I still can't fathom why they haven't done a stereo Tone Block. It's SOOO overpowered as it is, they could just cut everything in half.
 
benvigil said:
I had 2 Tone Blocks side-by-side when I was running a pedal board, but it gets kinda heavy at that point.

Quilter hinted on social media about needing testers for a solution aimed at modeling users. I haven't heard anything more on that front since summer/fall. I imagine it would be a stereo option. I still can't fathom why they haven't done a stereo Tone Block. It's SOOO overpowered as it is, they could just cut everything in half.
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I reached out to them right before buying my 101 about 3 months ago and they said, "we can neither confirm or deny something geared towards modelers ;)" so I bet it is still in the works.
 
benvigil said:
I had 2 Tone Blocks side-by-side when I was running a pedal board, but it gets kinda heavy at that point.

Quilter hinted on social media about needing testers for a solution aimed at modeling users. I haven't heard anything more on that front since summer/fall. I imagine it would be a stereo option. I still can't fathom why they haven't done a stereo Tone Block. It's SOOO overpowered as it is, they could just cut everything in half.
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Totally agree - a Tone Block 200 with stereo outs (100w per side) would be incredible!
 
GtarLover said:
Sorry, I meant the Quilter, Pro Block 200
The 200 has plenty of headroom...I'm running the gain LOW for excellent cleans and letting the AX8 do the rest.
Just used it again at rehearsal...it's really getting dialed in.
I LOVE the controls as well, Hi-cut, Limiter, Tri-Q...all are super useful for quick adjustments if needed.
Sometimes the 4X12's at the studio will be different, so the controls make for easy adjustments.

I even used the 200 with just my pedalboard, as it has an effects loop too.
Damn if it didn't KILL with that as well.
Tiny package and ALL the punch, I would definitely recommend these for a variety of uses.
I still have my Matrix GT1000, that's a great rack amp, yet for portability it's hard to beat the Quilter.
YMMV, of course
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I use the TB200 and the band says it sounds great with the AX8 through a 1x12 open-back cab loaded with a Eminence Beta 12LTA, but it is way overkill! I run the TB200 with the gain at about 30% to 40% and the volume at about 40W, and with the AX8 at about 50% to 70% of max it gets WAY loud. Band tells me to turn it down!
So, I ordered a Mini 101 yesterday and will see how that works out. 2 more lbs in my AX8 gig bag won't be much to add, if I can squeeze it in...
 
No, thanks for the heads up. Wonder how it compares to the Magnum 44.... similar wattage so wonder if the internals use the same tech. Has more functionality though, v. useful.
 
Looks like a newer addition to the line.
For the price, that's hard to beat...
Probably plenty for small clubs.
 
I'm unclear whether this is a full Stealth (bridged) or only one 90w channel. It says 180w peak, but the Stealth Pro is 180w continuous.

Half a Stealth in a half size box is not quite as impressive. It seems to be voiced for guitar though not a flat SS amp.
 
I'm surprised by the Quilter comments. I bought and quickly returned a Pro Block 200 because it did not sound flat at all. I was running my AX8 with cab sims off into the return of the Quilter then into a traditional cab. It always sounded kind of mid scooped with unpleasant sizzly highs compared to other power amps I've used (Carvin DCM200L, Crate PowerBlock, Magnum 44), almost like the sound you'd get going into the front of a regular amp. It was noticeably coloring the tone and I couldn't figure out how to dial it out, maybe it was user error.
 
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