Quilter Micropro Mach2 8" and the Henriksen Bud

[cronus10]

So I finally registered to post on this site after looking for around it for some time. I recently within the past few months started to get into jazz from a blues background. I picked up an Eastman AR805CE, which is a pretty cool guitar. It didn't really work well with my Vox AC10C1. In particular, the bass notes were very muddy and unpleasant. After doing some research here, I found people loved the Henriksen Bud, and a local shop had a used one for sale. I checked it out this weekend, and with my AR805CE I thought it sounded very flat and one dimensional, and it didn't seem like it complemented the guitar all that well. I then tried a Quilter Micropro Mach2 8" combo, and it seemed to come alive to me. I went to the store expecting to get the bud, but ended up taking the Quilter home with me. I've started to wonder if there's something wrong with me since I wasn't loving the coveted Bud. Maybe my ear isn't as developed as it should be? Did I make the wrong choice in the end? I know amps are pretty subjective, so it's whatever sounds good to the user, but I was just a bit surprised how disappointed I was with the bud. Just curious if anyone else has had the same experience.

[marcwhy]

Welcome to the Forum, and to the dangerous rabbit hole that is "gear!"

Bottom line: if you like the sound, then you're good! [And you may or may not get a different amp later!]

Enjoy making music!

Marc

[jads57]

I went Quilter 5 years back and have only bought more Quilters. They are the answer imo, for a great Fender type Clean as well as other interesting applications with the 1st channel.
Congrats!

[fep]

I'm a Quilter owner, micropro 200. I like to dial in the gain to where it normally sounds clean but when I pick louder than normal there is a hint of gain, that way it fattens the sound up a bit. And then pedals in front or it, a great platform for pedals. So jazz or blues, you can dial it in.

[Skip Ellis]

I use a Quilter 101R head and couldn't be happier

[mickmac]

The Bud works best for "acoustic sound" . My Avaitor works best for me in loud Fender sound Ilike both but for different uses. The Bud eq is very flexible .My old L-50 sounds fab with contact mic. mickmac

[Cunamara]

This guy seems to agree with you and has the evidence to back it up:

[Woody Sound]

I actually have *both*. Been vacillating between the two. The quilter 8 is great for getting multiple tones, from squeaky clean to rock dirty. The Henriksen sounds fab for clean, but if you need any dirt you'll need a pedal.

[cronus10]

This guy seems to agree with you and has the evidence to back it up:

I've seen this. Also saw another video of his with basically my same guitar, with that amp. Only difference is my AR805CE has a single fixed neck pickup, while his has 2 pickups. I haven't been able to get the tone he's getting from that setup, something I'm looking to try to replicate. Mine still sounds pretty acoustic even through the pickups.

[jazzimprov]

I started for a Bud but then heard the Quilter and that was it. the sparkle got me!

[rpjazzguitar]

Anybody have any impressions about the difference between the Quilter/Bud/Little Jazz.

The Quilter has a lot more things you can control from the panel.

OTOH, the Quilter weighs as much as 19lbs of concrete whereas the LJ weighs as much as 15lbs of feathers.

And, the LJ is one third the price.

Does the Quilter sound that much better?

[fep]

That is a beautiful tone, imo. Some of it is in his hands no doubt. I'm guessing flatwounds (I can hear some pick click but no string squeak from his vocal mic).I can see the eq Bass Mid Treb at 12 o'clock, 12, 10 respectively, Reverb and dwell at about 10 o'clock, it looks like he's on the "brown" amp setting. He's on his front pickup.

[Bflat233]

Wondering: has anyone used the 12-inch speaker / cabinet extension with the MP-200-8? Seems like a very good answer to the problem of getting more volume from the amp with an 8" speaker in a combo setting. I've got the Gen 1 MP-200 and am looking for a the speaker cabinet in brown.

[fep]

Wondering: has anyone used the 12-inch speaker / cabinet extension with the MP-200-8? Seems like a very good answer to the problem of getting more volume from the amp with an 8" speaker in a combo setting. I've got the Gen 1 MP-200 and am looking for a the speaker cabinet in brown.

I have and it is loud and really sounds awesome, imo, with both the 8 inch and the extension 12 inch speaker. My understanding is without the extension speaker the amp puts out 100 watts, with the extension speaker the amp puts out 200 watts total.

[Bflat233]

I have and it is loud and really sounds awesome, imo, with both the 8 inch and the extension 12 inch speaker. My understanding is without the extension speaker the amp puts out 100 watts, with the extension speaker the amp puts out 200 watts total.

Thanks, Fep, yours is a great endorsement.

I was thinking about getting a 10-inch or a 12-inch model (Mach 2) but then thought, wait, why do that? This is a great amp ... I'll just keep my radar on for a used extension cab.

Q: is yours the Mach 2 or the first generation?

[Woody Sound]

Wondering: has anyone used the 12-inch speaker / cabinet extension with the MP-200-8? Seems like a very good answer to the problem of getting more volume from the amp with an 8" speaker in a combo setting. I've got the Gen 1 MP-200 and am looking for a the speaker cabinet in brown.

Sometimes I plug into the 12 cab at the bottom below the Quilter. For a REAL treat, I'll bypass the Quilter's internal speaker and just use the head to go into both RE full range 12-ERs at the left Glorious sound.

[fep]

Thanks, Fep, yours is a great endorsement.

I was thinking about getting a 10-inch or a 12-inch model (Mach 2) but then thought, wait, why do that? This is a great amp ... I'll just keep my radar on for a used extension cab.

Q: is yours the Mach 2 or the first generation?

I have the original micropro 200 - 8 inch speaker.

[jazzimprov]

I had the 8 but returned for the 12.
I found the 12 had more bottom and the 8 a little high the high range

[coolvinny]

I understand the Blu has a different sound than some of the Buds (I can't keep up but perhaps they've now made them more similar?? at one point they were different) i.e. the Blu is a bit more "electric" sounding whereas the Bud was "cleaner". I found my Blu to be quite warm and electric sounding, a bit more so than my Mambo.

My point is that I think the Blu is more similar to the Micropro than the Bud (to the Micropro).

[MaxTwang]

The Bud is clear, precise and immediate while the Quilter is more like a tube amp (approximating the coloration and inefficiencies of a tube amp). The Little Jazz sits somewhere in between. I wouldn't say Bud or Quilter is better/worse but they are completely different. Don't regret buying the one that sounds best to you, OP made the correct decision.

[Groyniad]

I've used polytone, AER, Rivera, acoustic image/ RE cab, henriksen, mambo and finally Evans.

The two Evans amps I've had in the last four years - a newish re 200 and an older version of the same amp - seemed way better to me than the others. I had been very happy with a Henriksen - but after using an Evans the Henriksen sounded dull and muffled. The mambo was also very two dimensional compared to the Ron Eschete Evans amps. The Evans can be very bright and silvery - but this can be combined with rich, fat middle and bottom end - or dialled very well down (especially on the newer ones). It's streets ahead of the other popular amps - it seemed to me.

and then I found Quilter (micropro 8).

it's actually funny how good it is. well it makes me laugh anyway. I no longer get annoyed for one reason or another with the amplified sound/response of the guitar. Everything balances perfectly - and there's a different feel between pick and string, a sort of 'give', which is super musical. (I bet this is familiar to players of classic tube amps. but I've never experienced it before - even with a Jazz Suprema)

it doesn't much like to feedback - almost all the very interestingly different sounds it offers work pretty well - with low, middle and high balancing effortlessly. it gives me six or seven versions of a useable well balanced sound (each of which can be adjusted effectively with b,m,t controls). And on top of this it gives me a whole extra channel with a single tone control - a single volume control, and the reverb - which produces perhaps the most appealing sound of all (with a bit less bite in the attack than sounds on the other channel). The single tone control of channel 1 works so well - and contrasts so strikingly with the ultra-clever sound shaping used on the main channel.

on top of that it has a hi-cut control - and a limiter control - which have very striking effects on the overall sound. the hi-cut mellows things out - and the limiter balances everything out even further (at the cost of losing some of the freshness of the sound).

if it had just been the brown setting (without hi-cut or limiter) - or even just channel 1 - it would be by far the most appealing and useable amp I've ever plugged into.

I was lucky to find a 12'' quilter extension hd cab soon after getting the 8'' combo. I'm not going to embarrass myself by talking in public about how I feel about it.

[Bflat233]

Love the pictures of your rigs, guys, thanks!

The Micropro Gen 1 has been out there for a long time, so we'll see how patient I can be ... automated searches for the 12" cabinet on Craigs List and Reverb, locked and loaded!

[Groyniad]

But despite the wonders of the Quilter offering - I still really like the Evans RE 200.

(I use 16'' and 17'' archtops and play mainstream jazz - and I've never used a pedal in my life.)

[christianm77]

Wahey! Groynaids back!

[Groyniad]

hey Christianm77 (sounds a bit formal somehow) - thank you so much for your friendly welcome. I have been practicing too much and posting too little. Delighted to see you are still around!