Louder than Quilter Super Block

[Bach5G]

I had a chance to play my SB at a jazz camp recently. Going through an Ear Candy cab with an 8” Eminence Beta.

Me, two horns, bass, drums. It was just loud enough. Just barely.

I like the unit and the configuration. Is there a Quilter head that would be louder, like loud enough for a big band, that would otherwise be similar to the SB?

[jads57]

Tone Block 202 200 watts! Louder than any Horn Band, Lol! Love Mine as well!

[marcwhy]

Try a 2x8 cab! [Or an extension cab, or a 1x10, etc] No need to get another amp.

[Stringswinger]

My Quilter Mach 2 head combined with my RE Stealth 10 is loud enough to do a rock gig.

[Herbie]

I am afraid that Quilter does not have a louder pedalboard amp. If You like the brand, there is always Tone Block 202, which gives 200W power. That should be enough even for a bigger band!

There is other pedalboard amps which are louder than SB (BluGuitar Amp, Milkman 50 etc) – but they are not Quilters.

But Your speaker is not the loudest choice. Its sensibility is only ca 95 dB, so if You find a speaker cab with a speaker closer to 100 dB, You’ll get noticeably more volume.

I have that same 8” Emi Beta with a Quilter TB202 housed together in a DIY combo. 10”x10”x10”, about 7,5 kg. I love it!

[docsteve]

I play my SB against five horns plus rhythm. In the rehearsal room, I have a 12“ cab and can blow them away if I want to. Otherwise I use a Toob Metro 6.5 speaker. The bass player thinks it looks like a kitchen appliance (sorry Markku) but admits that it sounds great and is plenty loud.


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[Christian Miller]

I had a chance to play my SB at a jazz camp recently. Going through an Ear Candy cab with an 8” Eminence Beta.

Me, two horns, bass, drums. It was just loud enough. Just barely.

I like the unit and the configuration. Is there a Quilter head that would be louder, like loud enough for a big band, that would otherwise be similar to the SB?

I have the exact same amp. Speaker makes a huge difference.

So before looking for a bigger amp, may I suggest a larger and more sensitive (efficient) speaker? So a larger cab?

Your speaker has a sensitivity of 95.1db

A 10” Lil Buddy for example has a sensitivity of 98.8db

A 12” Cannabis Rex had a sensitivity of 101.8db

Speakers of the same size don’t all have the same sensitivity either.

EDIT: the 8” eminence 820H has a sensitivity of 96.1, so a fair bit higher than the Beta.

This makes a big difference (db is not a linear scale.)
I made a gigging jazz amp out of my PRRI but swapping out the speaker it came with.

I’m not sure what the specs are on Markku’s TOOBs (they’ll be somewhere) but there’s a very significant difference in the volume between the Toob Metro (8”) models and the TOOBs with larger speakers (10” and 12”). As I understand it with my limited brain, the smaller speakers use a lot of energy pumping out the bass?

I can recommend both the metros and the regular TOOBs. There’s no shortage of volume. Even the larger cabs are extremely lightweight. Like 1kg - 5kg sort of territory depending on the type .

Edit: I looked up the speakers for the Toob metro and they are about the same sensitivity as your speaker. Maybe there’s other factors at play.

I would say that if I had a gig with drums I’d probably bring the larger Toob if I could. Ymmv as they say.

im sure those who have knowledge can expand on the physics.

Alos bear in mind what’s a good speaker for a blues player is not the same as a jazz player. In jazz clean headroom is king for most of us, so higher sensitivity helps with that. Otoh rock and blues players may prefer a bit of speaker break up, so may favour less sensitive speakers that colour the sound nicely.

[Herbie]

As Christian wrote, the small speakers tend to be unsensitive. But even 10”:ers can be a lot louder.

Here is some tested hi efficiency results:

The 6 Loudest 10" Guitar Amplifier Speakers - Guitar Speaker Guide

Cannabis Rex has many friends among jazz guitarists.

[Christian Miller]

Seeing the stats, I’m wondering if a cheeky 12” speaker mod for my Princeton is in order… MOAAARRR POWAAAAHHHH

[Jim Soloway]

Is that my old Ear Candy cab? Mine came to me used with a blown Radio Shack speaker and I put in the Beta 8. That's a speaker intended to take a lot of power without breaking up. I ran mine with a Galien Krueger MB200 which drove it beautifully. As noted so well already, you can either up the power or put in a speaker better matched to the Superblock. The latter is almost certainly a lot less expensive than the former.

[omphalopsychos]

A 112 cabinet with a cannabis rex will do the trick for you. I recommend avoiding the 10” cannabis rex though, possibly one of my least favorite speakers ever.

[John A.]

Another option might be the Aviator Cub combo. It’s exactly the same pre-amp section as the SBUSA, but 50 watts. I’ve used one at a blues session with a loud band, and it’s plenty loud enough for that. But that would mean ditching your cabinet as well as your amp. There’s also the Tone Block 101R head, which is just the BF preamp of the SBUSA (i.e., no tweed or blond input) with 50 watts.

[Tom Wright]

I'm happy to find another Eminence fan. I also have an MB200 I run into a single 8", but also a twin-8" ported cab with the same cones. At 4 ohms it is hugely loud.

[jads57]

If weight is a problem there DVMark 1x12” 150 watt cabs that weigh under 20 lbs.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

A Toob 10 is a serious speaker. I've used mine with my SBUS on some loud blues gigs, and it's always come through. Here it is with the band at our Saturday gig over the weekend. It was an outdoor party complete with pig roast, and I was told by guests sitting at outdoor tables around the corner how great it sounded.



Sound output level also depends on your pickups, and I don't recall seeing anything about the guitar you're using. My FrankenPaul (pictured) has an Alnico V EMG 707 in it that puts out a maximum of 4.5 volts if you hit it hard with power chords (which I don't do). My Tele 7 has Lace Alumitones in it that probably put out 2 to 3 volts - I can't find that spec. My Ibanez archtop has a Benedetto B7 (also Alnico V) that puts out less than the others despite its 14.1k DCR. The neck Lace pickup is as loud through the SBUS with the master volume at 3 o'clock and the gain at 10 as the Benedetto is with master at 3 and gain at 12. And the EMG is noticeably louder than either of the others at the same settings. The KA floater in my 17" Eastman and the 12 pole set KA HW in my 16" Eastman are both about the same as the Ibanez.

So your pickup may be the limiting factor in your loudness. If so, the front end of a SBUS will take a fair amount of input voltage before it starts to sound grotty. A simple clean boost pedal may get you where you want to be.

[Gitterbug]

Just to point out that Toob Metros have 6.5" speakers, not 8". Their sensitivity is in the 91-92 dB zone, except the SICA 6D 1.5SL used in the full-range FR II model does 94 dB. Quilter people have told me that they can't pack more power into the Superblock size, but I think the separate power source is the limiting factor. The 50W 101R is begging for a successor, with features borrowed from newer versions and - puleeze - darker voicing.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Just to point out that Toob Metros have 6.5" speakers, not 8". Their sensitivity is in the 91-92 dB zone, except the SICA 6D 1.5SL used in the full-range FR II model does 94 dB. Quilter people have told me that they can't pack more power into the Superblock size, but I think the separate power source is the limiting factor. The 50W 101R is begging for a successor, with features borrowed from newer versions and - puleeze - darker voicing.

Yes, I think there is a gap in Quilter's amp head lineup: a 100W one channel amp.

[omphalopsychos]

I owe this group a review, but I recently got a milkman 100w head and a barefaced audio 1x12 cabinet. It has pretty much beat everything for me for portable rigs. When *ultra* portable is a requirement, I take the henriksen bud.

[LifeOnJazz]

The 50W 101R is begging for a successor, with features borrowed from newer versions and - puleeze - darker voicing.

I'm on board with that suggestion!

[Bach5G]

I’m playing Teles with Fender single coils.

I do have a 15db clean boost pedal (TC Spark) around. (I’ve never used it). I’ll give that a try.

[jads57]

I found the Quilter 101 at 50 watts a bit underpowered for my Clean Tone needs. Always better to have the extra horsepower of the TB202 and turn it down. But speakers and cab size also affect the volume perception as well!

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I’m playing Teles with Fender single coils.

And there you have it. I couldn’t find the output of stock Tele pickups. But here’s the range of an early 2000s Duncan Tele Stack for various picking efforts on a Tele as measured and posted by a TDPRI member:

Normal single note playing = ~50mV peak
Rhythm playing an open E chord as hard as fast as possible = ~200mV peak
An open guitar cord laying on the bench = ~25mV peak
Touching the tip of a guitar cord isolated from ground (human body 60Hz antenna...50Hz for our Euro friends) = ~2 volts peak

Stock Tele pickups are even lower. My EMG is a power station compared to them. Your boost pedal should solve the problem. But it will also boost the electrical noise from ambient EMF, line power noise, etc that plagues most Fender single coils if you play near fluorescent lights, refrigerators, cell towers, etc etc. SC Fenders make themselves known as soon as they plug in on the stage at the club in which I play weekly. The RFI, buzz, hum, etc is widely known as “the sound of Fender”.

If it’s noisy when boosted but you get the volume and tone you need, you may be better off with a swap to higher output noiseless pickups.

[Herbie]

I'm on board with that suggestion!

Before I bought the TB202 I had the 101R, so I am not with You! The brightness was terrible. TB202 is similar in many ways but better sounding and much more flexible.

[Herbie]

I’m playing Teles with Fender single coils.

I do have a 15db clean boost pedal (TC Spark) around. (I’ve never used it). I’ll give that a try.

Maybe You could check if there is room to rise the pickups a bit. It can give You more volume from the start.

F.ex:
How to Balance Pickups on Strats and Teles - Premier Guitar

[ccroft]

Herbie and me agree!

Before I bought the TB202 I had the Aviator 8. The brightness was terrible. TB202 is not similar in any way, better sounding and much more flexible.

I'm not sure why 202 doesn't get as much love around here as the SB's. Is it size? Price?