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My SB UK died today, 14 months after I bought it (warranty is good for one year).
First, when I turned it on it emitted a loud kind of shushing static. The master and gain had to be turned way up to get any sound at all through my TOOB Metro 6.5, with pops throughout. Then it just went silent – nothing at all. No static, but no guitar amplification whatsoever.
I turned it off, plugged in headphones, and turned it back on. It works just as it always did through the headphones, with no background noise at all.
Turned it off, unplugged headphones, turned it back on, loud static (plugged it into different outlets in the apartment) with almost no amplication volume at all.
I don't think I'll be purchasing another.
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12-26-2024 09:36 AM
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Did you go back and read the troubleshooting guide in the owners manual? It addresses "hum and noise", "no sound" and "loud noises". Also, I wonder if maxing out your volume and gain after detecting a problem is the best way to go. Regardless, good luck. I'm sure you'll get some valuable first-hand advice from the community.
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That sound like the speaker, or the speaker connections, could be the issue. Obviously it's not possible to say for sure without actually handling the amp, but the first thing I would check is the speaker cable and its plugs, and the cabinet and speaker. It's possible that the failure is inside the amp, but it's easy to check external things first, using a different cabinet and cable if available.
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Thanks for the replies.
Jazzshrink, the troubleshooting chart is basically "make sure you're doing everything we told you to."
There was sound, and then everything just cut out, with no change in LEDs or anything else. The chart doesn't address that.
In the "hum and noise" section, it only addresses hum. I don't have a hum problem – the loud "sshh" sound overpowers everything.
sgosnell, unfortunately here in Paris I only have a TOOB speaker. I've tried other speaker cables to no effect. Since the speaker itself is pretty simple, and it has sat on a closed-in shelf for a month since I last used it, I'm inclined to think nothing really could have changed in the speaker department. Whereas with the SB, since it gave a loud-ish POP when I turned it from standby to on (with the volume on the guitar off, and not a loud enough pop, I think, to damage the speaker) the first time, I lean toward a problem with the SB.
Of course, since the headphone out works fine, it would have to be something in the speaker out area, rather than with the other electronics.
Update: just for kicks, I figured the headphone amp might have enough power to drive the TOOB, and it does, just barely. No extraneous noise from the TOOB (other than the overdrive from the gain knob being all the way up) – just the sound of the instrument.Last edited by Ukena; 12-26-2024 at 12:41 PM.
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Sorry to hear. I would next contact Quilter headquarters. I have contacted them now and then even about small details and they have responded surprisingly fast. I think that they are good people.
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Sorry to hear, Paul! SuperBlocks don't have a reputation of being unreliable, although I know that Greg Ruggiero had problems with his. Twice was enough for him. The way you describe the symptoms, they point to the amp. But do give it the benefit of the doubt. Tomorrow's a working day in Paris, I believe, so grab the amp and Metro for a quick test in a music store. If it's the cab, after all, the two-year warranty expires in January. While the small print further excludes the speaker from the 2-year warranty, I'll send you a new speaker as a matter of course. You don't play Hard Rock Hallelujah, do you?
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Ouch!! It sounds like the ouput stage has taken ill. But with so many Quilters out there, the field failure rate has to be very low or we'd be hearing about it. The first thing I'd do is contact Quilter. I'd be surprised if they didn't work with you to get it fixed or replaced at reduced or no cost, given the short period since the warranty expired.
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I have heard nothing but good things about people who have dealt with Quilter when it comes to fixing their amp. A far cry from say, Polytone (RIP).
Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
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Definitely contact them, they are a reputable company. I’m sure they would like to know as well what went wrong. I’ve never had any issues with any of the many different amps including the UK Superblock I’ve owned now for a couple of years.
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Thanks for all the suggestions – I really appreciate it. I'll get in touch with Quilter.
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I am the second owner of a Quilter now 10 years old. It has made two round trips to the factory for service. I have never been charged for more than the inspection / diagnostic fee and they installed upgrades to components that were still functional in my unit but had failed over time for others.
Long live Quilter!
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I had the same issue with my first superblock US. That was still within the return period, so I exchanged it (and the new one sat on a ship of the coast of California for about half a year).
I tried everything, the speaker, the lead– same symptoms as yours, so I suppose that on both of our amps, the final power stage phased out as Never said.
Good luck with the repair, happy New Year, Stephan
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That’s ironic. I ordered one the summer before that ship dropped anchor off Southern California, and mine ended up bobbing on the Pacific with yours. It was back ordered in July, but the projected delivery date from MF when I ordered it was in early September and I wasn’t in a hurry. Originally Posted by docsteve
When I learned that the MF shipment (along with the entire Quilter order for multiple US vendors) was on that boat, I was concerned that sitting over salt water for many weeks in a simple cardboard box in an unsealed container exposed it to corrosion. So I canceled the order and bought a DV Mark EG250 instead. I waited months before reordering a SBUS until I was sure I wouldn’t get one from the shipbound batch. It appears that my concern was unwarranted.
When it arrived, I was ecstatic. But my Blu 6 was still on backorder, so I bought a Little Jazz from MF……and then the Blu arrived. Throw in the two Microblocks I bought as spares, and I really had too many good little amps. But all arrived and remained in perfect condition. And I couldn’t resist trying a TC BAM200, since so many here love them. It’s also excellent.
I finally sold the LJ and the SBUS, and the Microblocks are currently posted for sale. But every one of these amps has been trouble free. I wouldn’t let one failure push me away from any of the brands.
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You described that the headphones out works well, as usual, only the speaker out does not.
That reminds me on a small Marshall amp I had for repair with similar symptoms. In that case the head phone jack was the root cause.
The output signal in that amp goes via the headphones jack to the speaker jack. This enables to switch off the speaker automatically once the headphones are plugged in.
I suppose this might be the same in your SB, i.e. a bad contact in the headphones jack for the speaker outlet. Headphones and speaker have usually the same output signal from the power amp, there are no discrete power stages. The only difference is the speaker output impedance versus the headphones impedance which is much higher than the speaker impedance in order not to blow out your brain through the headphones.
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Quilter finally got back to me after the holidays.
They suggested that perhaps the STBY switch was faulty, and that I should just turn the amp all the way on before plugging in the speaker. I did that, and no longer get the pops; but there is still a loud hiss coming through the speaker.
I was mistaken about the timeline, and the amp is a few months past the one-year warranty date. They estimate a repair to be $95 - $130, if I take it back to the states with me in March and ship it from there.
I'm weighing whether it's worth $130 to repair a $299 item; I may be able to sell it for $150, I suppose.
I replaced it here in Paris with a Warwick Gnome i bass amp.
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At their price range they should be dependable gear.
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You can probably just remove and send the circuit board to make shipping for repairs easier. Of course make sure to get instructions from Pat Quilter first.
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It is. Even an occasional Rolls Royce has a problem. What matters most are the % that have problems, the mean time between failures, and the availability of service and support. There are a whole lot of Quilters out there and (IIRC) 3 reports of failure on this forum. Originally Posted by Alter
I've had 2 current production Fender amps shut down on stage in the last 2 years - a "custom" SF Vibrolux and a Custom Shop HW PR.
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Service and support are the Quilter’s weak point here in Europe. They have only one dealer, Thomann in Germany, and luckily I have not had to try their guarantees.
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Thomanns guaranty is impeccable, i have returned an amp that blew up a speaker, an amp that arrived with a broken tube, etc, friends have returned really expensive keyboards etc. Ups picks it up from your door for free no questions asked.
Finally borrowed a Quilter Us to try out, sounds great so far but i haven't gigged it yet. I think the speaker being a bass speaker (eminence beta 10A) helps tame the brightness everyone speaks of.
For comparison, the small backpack in the back contains a Zt Lunchbox!
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I contacted Quilter with a tech question and (Surprise!) exchanged messages with Pat himself. Originally Posted by Herbie
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I agree - but I think a bass cab & driver balance rather than tame the brightness. The high end is there and contributes to a balanced archtop sound. The best archtop & jazz sounds I got from my SBUS came from my RE Bass 10 and my RevSound RS8 (in that order). My Quilter BlockDock 12HD was also excellent but a bit brighter. I sold the SBUS before I got my BlockDock 10, which doesn’t go down as low but is a bit tighter as low as it goes. But I suspect the 10 would be a bit on the bright side with it. Originally Posted by Alter
I was also very pleasantly surprised at the depth and richness of the Toob Metro BG+ with the SBUS, especially in the lowest half octave added by the 7th string. It was a great combo for low volume jazz gigs.
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It has been a gear testing week for me. I also finally bought a Bam 200 from Thomann, mainly because i can use it as a bass amp with this speaker (or to go direct), cause sometimes i play bass gigs (although i try not to cause they stress my hands). This enclosure is made similar to the first henriksen enclosures and sounds great with everything. Great with a DV Mark 50 and even with my Marshall SC20 i liked it more than all other speakers for a fusion sound.
I was basically worried about the volume with the Quilter US being only 25 watts with an 8 ohm speaker, but i can definitely gig with it.
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As pointed out in my recent post, the Quilter SuperBlock US is louder than its reputation. In my non-scientific trials, actually louder than the TC Electronic BAM200 through a 97dB Jensen Tornado Special Edition. So, why am I using the BAM on the (rare) gigs where I feel SBUS is not enough? Probably because 200W exceeds 25W on paper, because it's darker and rounder, and because it stays clean to the hilt. My rock guitarist son uses the BAM as the power amp for his modeling rig: a Kemper Profiler Stage and a Toob 12F cab loaded with Jensen's N12D semi-FRFR speaker (150W max., 99.8 dB sensitivity.) Originally Posted by Alter
Last edited by Gitterbug; 01-19-2025 at 04:50 PM.
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The best sounding cabinet I've found for the SBUS is my Vibrolux Reverb, with Cannabis Rex speakers. The Fender amp died and I haven't found a place to get it repaired, but it makes a fine cabinet. With the two 10" speakers in parallel, the SBUS can get seriously loud if cranked, and the sound is wonderful. I would never take that monster out of the house, even with the amplifier removed, but it's great in the bedroom. The Toob Metro BG+ doesn't sound as good, nor does it get as loud, but I can carry it using my little finger. Compromises must be made.
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