Opticaleye

Ahem...lack of trade agreements

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1474026912' post='3135075'] I think due to volumes, and perhaps good old fashioned greed, it seems UK 'dealers' (really necessary in 2016?!) add a huge chunk for essentially storing stock. [/quote] I think it's more to with tariffs and regulations tbh. It works the same the other way round too with European gear. I couldn't help but notice that there is a £600 difference between a Sandberg Marlowe DK in the US to the price in the UK and the Basswitch DI costs nearly £100 more over there.

I remember when the Markbass LM II came out and it was the same price in dollars as in pounds and that was built in Europe! It was still a bargain compared to other 500w amps at the time.

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1474017195' post='3134896'] @Opticaleye, will you have a chance to gig or rehearse with this soon? [/quote] I have jam night with the One10 on Tuesday, a rehearsal with my TKS1126 on Wednesday and a pub gig in Witney on the Saturday (24th). The regular equipment at the jam is one Aguilar SL112 but I'll take my modified Markbass Minimark (modified to work as a cab only as an option) to put underneath for a bit more speaker area and 4ohm in case the drummer's too loud. I have a really good feeling about this amp. It sounds very high quality. I was taken aback by the bottom end headroom and "touch response".

Something else arrived today too.... [url="http://s139.photobucket.com/user/optical_I/media/IMG_0079.jpg.html"][/url] It doesn't sound this small

There's now a UK dealer https://www.wembleymusiccentre.com/quilter-bass-block-800-bass-amp.html

It doesn't get simpler or easier than this. http://www.quilterlabs.com/index.php/products/bassblock-amplifiers/bass-block-800 Deceptively powerful EQ that's very easy to dial in your tone. I was going to use my Basswitch as a more powerful pre but there's absolutely no need.

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1473782360' post='3133085'] Boomers to me just go dead then stay dead. They sound very much like a round still. [/quote] My body chemistry means that strings last a long while . I've tried just about every pressure wound and half/ground wound available and while I like a few none sound like flats IMO. I find Boomers have a "thump" similar to flatwounds even when new. I tried them after reading that Bob Babbit said they were his favourite round for that reason. I also have a set of the newer Roundcore Boomers which I like too. As I said in the earlier post they still sound like roundwounds though.

I got it from here http://www.euroamp.com/produkt-kategori/quilter-amplifiers/ £641 all in, including deluxe padded bag.

My first thoughts on it's arrival. Here's a pic. (I've included the Boss pedal for scale. [url="http://s139.photobucket.com/user/optical_I/media/IMG_0074.jpg.html"][/url] Obviously as I've yet to try it at rehearsal or live i can only give my opinion based on how it sounds in my man-cave. At home, at least, I can say it has first of all a fantastic tone. My Markbass TTE has a very tubey vintage tone and the Quilter also sounds tubey but in a different way. There's something about the low end that I really like which is really difficult to put into words, the best that I can say is it seems limitless. That's not to say that it's too bottom heavy though as I actually found myself boosting the depth control without it it sounding unbalanced. That may change though when I get to play it loud but a good sign. The tone controls are a little unconventional but incredibly powerful and it's quick and easy to dial in a good tone. The Contour control can be dialled all the way to the right (for maximum treble cut) and it still doesn't sound muddy. A very clever design indeed. The Gain control seem to add tube-like harmonics the higher you set it and starts to break up around 7 or 8 on the scale of 10. The Master control is graded by maximum wattage (at 4 ohms) and it's really easy to get a good tone at low volumes. All of the controls have a notched feel as you turn them and the build quality is first class. I also tried using my Basswitch DI direct out into the Direct in connector on the back. This bypasses the gain and tone controls (but not the mute switch) and sounded excellent also. This will be an option for when I use my EUB as well as BG. It acts like a two channel amplifier. I also tried a Zoom B3 in the same manner and while it sounded good I didn't get that sweet low end that I had going in to the front panel or via the Basswitch. [URL=http://s139.photobucket.com/user/optical_I/media/IMG_0076.jpg.html][IMG]http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q310/optical_I/IMG_0076.jpg[/IMG][/URL] In summary then it just sounds great with all my basses (the tone from my maple necked Sandberg Umbo with TI jazz flats was just incredible) and I can see why it's being compared to way more expensive amplifiers.

The Quilter has arrived I will post later in another thread but early impressions are that it has massive punch. I'm going back to try it some more !!

I've also owned both types of Markbass 2x10's (that are still available) and they most certainly did not lack punch with my LM2.

I regularly play through a TH500 through SL112's and I find the sound lacks authority. Nice tone but very wishy washy in a band mix. I don't know how much this has to do with the cabs though. I've tried a few ICE powered heads and none sound good to me. My Markbass TTE however is much better and has all the h*ft that I could want and excellent vintage tone. I'm expecting a delivery today of my new Quilter Bass Block 800 (which also doesn't have the Ice module) which I've heard great things about.

I've tried a few sets. Like most strings they work better on certain basses but they're more like a slightly muted round really. I find GHS Boomers to have more "flat like" characteristics personally and not much different in feel to the quarter rounds. Still undeniably round wound though.

Sold Torquil my Lehle Sonic Spark. Great guy to deal with. A very smooth transaction indeed !

Well I saw Paul Barrere from Little Feat using one of those Crates too so fair enough. A lot of reviews of the tone block 200 I've seen say they're great and they have a very ardent supporter base so I'll just have to wait and see......

It looks quite an innovative eq section that is supposedly very musical to operate. If the icons on the front panel are any indication turning the depth control to the left acts as a variable High Pass Filter . With the master control I think the idea is to set it at the wattage your cabs are capable of and then use the gain to set the volume although I guess you can run a lower wattage and higher gain. Anyway, a more technical description of the design here. http://www.quilterlabs.com/index.php/products/bassblock-amplifiers/bass-block-in-depth

I figured I could probably get a better price if I was prepared to wait... But I've been looking at the development of this head for quite a while and I have a feeling that this will go with my TKS 1126 cabs and Two Notes Le Bass really well.

$599 RRP over there. One of the FB groups for Quilter has a list of where the first batch are going to be stocked in the US.

Missed off delivery. £641 all in

I ordered it from a dealer in Denmark. It was the price in Euro's on the site plus £9.50 bank fees. http://www.euroamp.com/produkt/quilter-bass-block-800/ Comes with a deluxe bag.

They're only just released in the US. I was told maybe 14 days before they arrive this side of the Atlantic.