BassManGraham

Don't have enough space or time to contrast and compare my amps. Plenty of good reviews and youtube clips about but a quick summary. Edit: I have been using Markbass Cabs for over 10 years and more recently (last 5 years) Vanderkley or Barefaced with all the Class D amps mentioned below. Have used MARKBASS SA450 and Little Mark 500 for around 15 years, both excellent amps, the SA450 no longer in production. Little colouration so sound of bass very evident. Lots of tonal choice and VLE and VPF controls are great. Plenty punch and power. No mute Switch. Good DI out. Good value overall. GENZ BENZ ShuttleMax 9.2 and Streamliner 900. My preference is for the Shuttlemax which I have been using the most over last 5 years or so and I marginally favour over Markbass. Great sound, two channels, loud , punchy, excellent DI out feature laden but which I very rarely use. I find my Shutttlemax cuts through mix better than the Streamliner which is a great simple little amp particularly for warmer older school sounds, three valve preamp and far less features than the Max, Sadly Fender pulled the plug on the amazing Genz Benz range over 5 years ago. I have little doubt that the GENZLER MAGELLANs are excellent just waiting to try one out. GK 500MB, bought as a back-up, but excellent amp as first choice. More colouration than other amps here with a distinctive GK sound (which I really like), seems very loud for a 500W amp.great overdrive and boost. High end can be a but hissy and a little noisey Good DI. Great value for money. Phil Jones Bass D400 with C8 cab. I love the PJB stuff of which I use a variety and the D400 is most recent. Excellent clean HiFi sound, great for studio and practice. Nice low B for such small drivers, excellent for acoustic instruments. PJB gear does cut through the mix nicley, but to even begin to compete with other amps here and loud drummers here one would need to consider the D1000, which is close to a grand! SANSAMP RBI and CROWN XLS 1002 power amp. Great set-up, classic Sansamp grit for Ampeg-like tones, 1100W of power.but getting into rack gear here. QUILTER BASS BLOCK 800, Portability, great tone punch and power at a very competitive price, only Markbass and GK come close at this price point. The Depth and Contour controls provide all I ever need.( Siimilar idea as Markbass VLE AND VPF). I was very pleasantly surprised by this little beauty at under €500!! The QUILTER DI/line out is great and DOES vary with Gain and Master volume. Not overly impressed with T.C ELECTRONIC great fun TONE PRINT stuff but sound a bit synthetic and under powered to me. Had two combos, both with unusable humming DI outs!! Have gigged with HARTKE gear nice punchy sound, like the old HA3500, if it didn't weigh a ton. The new TX600 is nice but seems very quiet compared to GK, QUILTER, MARKBASS etc. Used an AGUILAR TONE HAMMER 500, very good indeed, nice gritty punch but cost quite a bit more than the QUILTER. I started out 45 years ago, with HIwatt 100, then Fender Bassman135, and then Acoustic Control Corp 220/406 which was my favourite. Have used HH, Peavey, Laney, Trace, Carlsbro (less said the better), but am now firmly in the Class D club, for portability as much as anything. In summary the QUILTER is a USA built unit that should be seriously considered by any player. BTW I have no connection, allegiance or affiliation to Quilter, but think I know a bargain when I see one. Hope my self-indulgent ramblings are helpful. Cheers

That might be my review on Thomann!

Well after several gigs and a couple of rehearsals with my new QUILTER BASS BLOCK 800 I am as pleased as punch. I am now using it at all gigs. Way too good to have as a back-up. A fellow player was very impressed with my sound last Saturday night (and surprised at the price). Quizzed me about the amp, took photos and went off to buy one. A great range of usuable musical bass tones, plenty of punch. Simply marvellous ever player should have one

I owned a CMD102P for many years along with several Markbass cabs. You can link it to any 8 ohm Markbass cab they all should great. I bought it with a STD 115HF which sounded massive. I also used it with a STD 102HF, a TRV121H, a TRV151P, and a STD104HR. I loved the sound with the bigger STD 151HF and STD 104HR cabs, but even though they were lightweight Neo cabs they were quite large to lug around. Soundwise the STD104HR was my probably my favourite, but the STD102HF and TRV102H, ran a close second but were much more portable.I had nine bits of Markbass kit and have only retained a mini121P combo and TRV121H cab which are great. My least preferred extension cab was the TRV151P, but even that was pretty good. The 102P is probably the best combo I have owned and I have had a few, try as many cabs as you can. If buying again I would add a STD102HF. The common theme here is that in my opinion any H designated cabs with controllable compression drivers are better than the P designated cabs with Piezo Tweeters. I have disconnected the tweeter in my Mini121P, and control the highs with my extension cab. I would have done the same with my 102P. The tweeters can be a little hissy and distort at higher volumes whereas the compression drivers sound cleaner and clearer Good hunting.

I didn't really need it, but that has rarely stopped me! Haha

Well my new Quilter arrived yesterday. I initially plugged into my PJB C8, and was very pleased with power, sound and tonal palate. Will be putting it through it's paces at band rehearsal with my Barefaced Super 12T, before doing a few gigs next week. First impressions are very good indeed. I was a little apprehensive about lack of usual EQ bass, middle and treble tone controls etc, but contour shaping controls work well and offer a great range of usuable tones, all I will ever use or need. Not dissimilar to those VPF and VLE controls on Markbass amps. I will report back after some gigs.

Many thanks for all the advice and comments above, much appreciated. I clearly need to get over to Bass Direct to do some head to head comparisons between EICH, Trickfish, Mesa, Genzler Magellan, Vanderkley and all. Difficult to fit trip in for the foreseeable between gigs (good complaint) and family stuff. In conclusion, I have gone against my credo of never buying an amp without trying it first, but there is severly limited, if any availability of really top class bass amps in Ireland. So with recommendations from venerable and trusted sources, a couple of Youtube demos, my impatience being what it is , and no signs whatsoever of my cronic G.A.S. abating, I have pushed the "add to cart button" for the Quilter Bass Block at €499 i.e. about £436 @ current ROE. It seemed rude not to. Anything else on the wish or try list is going to be between 2 to 4 times that, and a visit to UK dealers would approach the cost of the Quilter, so I 'm taking a punt! I will report back in due course Cheers

Interesting! I used to love Trace stuff in the 80s, but the weight of it sent me elsewhere, never had the same feeling for Ashdown. My brother had an ABM and I was rather underwhelmed by it, but I have yet to hear the RM series. Must get to a bass bash this year!

I do like the sound of EICH amps, but a bit confused as specs show 500W into 2 ohms per Speakon output (unbridged) whereas whatever cab configuration I want to use would amount to total 2 ohms i.e. 4 ohms per Speak on output. wondering if that would reduce the 500W quoted?

Yeah I always prefer clean and on the rare occasion I need extra drive or grit, I have a Sansamp and an MXR 80 DI which can deliver far more drive than I would ever use. Ideally I would like to try head to head comparisons, but it would cost less to get the Quilter than the logistics of getting back to UK and finding enough stockists. Just need to persuade the good lady it is an appropriate birthday present, no more jumpers please!

Many thanks for your advice. Much appreciated.

Thanks QSC power amps have a great reputation. I have always loved all Jeff Genzlers amps, but at well unde 500 quid the quilter has to be worth a try. I have often bought amps with all the features, bells and whistles etc, but never use them so I think simplicity is my aim this time around.

Many thanks that's a very helpful and well written review.

Ah thanks Ian, how you keeping? You may have swayed me. A great amp for under €500! Want the possibility of using two 4 ohm cabs for clarity rather and headroom than volume.

Many thanks, I'll look into that. Cheers

Thinking of a birthday present of a new head. Have been using mainly Genz Benz Shuttlemax, or GK MB500, very happily over last ten years or so, backed up by Markbass 121P or Phil Jones D400 for smaller gigs, rehearsal/home practice etc. I use Vanderkley, Barefaced Super 12T cab, or Phil Jones C8 cabs, all of which I am very happy with. Clean, transparent, uncoloured. My main parameters are lightweight Class D, 700W plus, (operating down to 2 ohms would be nice but not essential) I use mainly clean sounds for a wide range of pop, rock, funk music. Was thinking about the Quilter 800 Bass (which seem great VFM), possibly a Mesa Boogie subway 800+. (which go to 2 ohms) or maybe Aguilar 700. Ideally like to hear them, other than YouTube demos, but hard to find any i republic of Ireland. Welcome comments and thoughts from owners of Quilters and Mesas. Any thing else I should be considering?

Any of these luthiers specialise in repairing or retrofitting active electronic circuits? Many luthiers are great at the guitar build and set-up side of things, but often sub-contract out the electronics, I have issues with a dead 2 band Glockenklang Active circuit in my Elwood. I have been sent a Delano Sonar 2 to replace it, but far too complex for me?

Hi I have a BG250-208, nice little amp, tone print is fun, built in tune handy, but would not attempt to gig it, even at tiny venues without an extension cab. I have had two of these and have found the DI out to be very noisey and there is no ground lift to eliminate mains hum. In summary a great portable amp for home practice. It cannot keep up with a drummer and/or most guitarists out there . I would go for the bigger 2 x 10 for smaller gigs or consider a spending a bit more on a larger Fender Rumble 2x10.