Quilter Steelaire Volume

Malcolm McMaster · Post by **Malcolm McMaster** » 25 Jul 2017 2:21 pm

Greg, not sure I can agree with that, if a player using similar gear can use settings way below the ones I have to use and have great volume when I don't , then to me it comes down to problem with my amp.

Bruce Meyer · Post by **Bruce Meyer** » 25 Jul 2017 2:46 pm

I tend to agree with Malcolm.

But Assuming there's no problem with the amp, just the way it was designed, would the addition of a preamp prior to the amp input help?

Garry Vanderlinde · Post by **Garry Vanderlinde** » 25 Jul 2017 3:25 pm

Malcolm McMaster wrote:Garry, had email from Pat Quilter today suggesting just to crank it up,

That's pretty flippant of him.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 25 Jul 2017 5:37 pm

Malcolm you have no idea if the other player's volume is greater than yours without hearing it in person. You only know that the other player is satisfied with the volume they are getting.

Steve Spitz · Post by **Steve Spitz** » 25 Jul 2017 5:56 pm

Malcom, I'm not in any way doubting what Pat said " to crank it up " , but surprised if he would respond in a "flippant" manner.

I had a problem with the channel switch, apparently they had a few which were problematic. I emailed , and received a phone call from quilter, Pat insisted on sending a new amp head at his expense, with Prepaid Freight sticker for return of the unit I had.

He was sincere, and everyone in his organization was very helpful. If you think the amp is a problem, I'd reach out to them. They will want to make you happy with the amp.

If you choose to do so, I expect turnaround time to be quick. Let us knowa if this works for you, I'd like you to be happy with the amp.

Kind Regards,
Steve

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 25 Jul 2017 7:37 pm

I think we have various opinions as to what is "loud enough" and what is "not loud enough". And "compared to what?".

I did a side-by-side comparison of my amps a while ago... the Quilter Combo, a Nashville 112, Fender Steel King, and a blackface Vibrolux Reverb. The TONAL differences (timbre) were astounding! Some thinner, some a fatter midrange, some more lows... And I think those differences can affect how we perceive the volume of the amp. As always, the true test is on the bandstand with bass, drums, rhythm, etc.

Steven Paris · Post by **Steven Paris** » 25 Jul 2017 10:55 pm

Unfortunately, Quilter does not provide very meaningful specifications in their manual---just says "200 watts, 4-8 ohms". Unlike a Peavey Nashville 400, which very specifically provides a specification of 28 db preamp gain at nominal settings (pre at '5', post at '10', 40 mv in) to produce 1 volt to preamp out/power amp in to output 210 watts out at 4Î©. I wish other manufacturers would follow Peavey's lead.

Malcolm McMaster · Post by **Malcolm McMaster** » 25 Jul 2017 11:52 pm

Greg, again I must disagree with you.With all due respect you, I know you do great reviews, but are not physically hearing my amp, so do not know if it has a problem or not.I do know when sitting on stage at a big venue with a not too loud six piece band , that I am having trouble hearing myself, with amp cranked fully up, that something is wrong.In break changed amp head to MB200, suddenly I can hear myself, amp set about two thirds of volume.Secondly when other forum members tell me that they are playing with loud bands but are running at half the gain settings I am, and stating that they have more volume than they know what to do with, that something is not right.Why the discrepancies between the same amp.Could it be an inbuilt low gain problem or is it just a minor problem on a few amps?, who knows, perhaps Pat and Chris will check into it and get back too us.Again I say I love tone of this amp and would hate it to go.
Steve, I don't think Pat was being flippant, I just don't think he appreciated that amp was already cranked up, he answered my email within hours, as both he and Chris have done in past, their customer service has been first class. Since I got amp last year most of use has been in small venues or recording, this was first test in big venue.I had noticed even in small venues that amp had to be set fairly high, but thought tone was great. I did play same Hall a while ago with same band using an unmiced Nashville 112, and had no problem in hearing myself or cutting through mix.
Doug, I appreciate what you are saying about frequencies, I did experiment with various setting throughout the sound check, moved amp into various positions, but to no avail.I am hoping Pat and Chris are looking into this problem and come back to us on it.

Bruce Meyer · Post by **Bruce Meyer** » 26 Jul 2017 5:14 am

The issue is not that complex to evaluate for me. I play with a four piece in a small venue where they complain when our volume is a little too loud.

I have to put the Quilter master at 10 and the 1+2 setting gains at 7 or 8 on both to make it work. Cables are good, volume pedal is good, guitar is good. Don't know why it works for many people with bigger band situations and not works for a few others. Even after before I posted on this thread a few days ago, I was looking for ways to get more gain from the Quilter because I thought the volume was insufficient on two previous gig. The amp sounded great, just breathing heavy.

I've been playing for a while and I know what my previous amps could and couldn't do by comparison. So was there a change, even a "tweak", made in the circuitry in an earlier or later production run that affects gain, or??? Or maybe not.

Dan Robinson · Post by **Dan Robinson** » 26 Jul 2017 8:57 pm

Bruce, just to simplify things, and isolate the issue to your amp alone, can you try this...

Run a cable from your guitar directly into the amp (it has only one input). Select Channel 1, set gain at 7, Master at 10, Limiter at 0. Set all tone controls (bass, lo-mid, hi-mid, treble) to 7. Pick something aggressively.

When you select Channel 1+2 the pre-amps are cascaded (one feeds into the next). With both level controls at 7-8 it should have a lot of gain.

If you don't get "loud" with these tests then I have to suspect some problem with your amp.

Paul Stauskas · Post by **Paul Stauskas** » 26 Jul 2017 9:48 pm

I don't mean to get off topic, but as Steelaire users, what gain/master settings are you guys using for living room/practice levels?

Steven Paris · Post by **Steven Paris** » 26 Jul 2017 10:50 pm

Bruce Meyer wrote: So was there a change, even a "tweak", made in the circuitry in an earlier or later production run that affects gain, or??? Or maybe not.

I think it would be helpful for this discussion for all the Quilter Steelaire owners to post the serial # and manufacture date of their specific amplifier along with their experience as to whether it was "LOUD" enough or not.
I am suspecting a change in the preamp gain structure somewhere along the line; remember that previously, in this forum, we discovered that some Steelaire owners had problems with excessive "hiss" noise and others did not---it turned out that there had been a production change in ~ fall of 2015 from TL084 ICs to OPA1654 chips, which resulted in much lower noise (~-8 db) with the OPA1654-equipped amplifiers.

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 27 Jul 2017 5:42 am

I got mine 2 1/2 years ago and it came with a 'certificate' stating that it's one of the first 50 produced. I think it's "50"... I haven't seen the certificate since I got the amp. Anyway, mine is plenty loud. I've played it with several bands in the past couple of years and never had a problem with volume or hiss.

Steve Riddle · Post by **Steve Riddle** » 27 Jul 2017 7:36 am

I spoke with Chris w/Quilter a day or so ago. He explained to me the difference in the design between the Steelaire and other amps (example NV 400), and how they require settings that are entirely different in the preamp stage. He suggested using mode Ch1+ Ch2, setting the gain on Ch1 at 10, and then adjusting the gain on Ch 2 and the master output level to achieve the desired output volume level. I followed his suggestions and got the the output volume I was looking for. I don't know if it'll work for anyone else, but at this time I think it's going to work for me.

Steve

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 27 Jul 2017 7:52 am

Good advice. I think a lot of steel players are used to the Peavey pre-gain and master-gain settings i.e. pre-gain relatively low and master relatively high. With the Quilter, the channel gains should be set higher for optimal tone and volume. Forget the Peavey settings.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 27 Jul 2017 8:02 am

I resorted to the CH1 + CH2 setting mode form day one just to get anything approximating decent gain. Still nowhere the gain of ANY of my other steel or guitar amps!

Morton Kellas · Post by **Morton Kellas** » 27 Jul 2017 1:27 pm

I ordered my amp on March 28, 2014 and received it the first week of April 2014. It is also one of the first 50 and has been a good amp with great tone and I have never began to get close to needing more volume, even at outdoor venues. I would send it to Quilter and have them check it out, just remove the chassis and send it out to them. It's worth the effort and as you know, they are great people to work with.

Jon Jaffe · Post by **Jon Jaffe** » 27 Jul 2017 4:21 pm

I hear you Greg, but I have not noticed a volume problem. My settings of 8, 4 and 8 is very loud. My volume pedal is completely off in the down position and I play at 30%-40% of the total pedal throw with the remainder for sustain etc. I used it the other night with a loud stage mix and did not have a problem with volume.

admin · Post by **b0b** » 27 Jul 2017 6:46 pm

Malcolm McMaster wrote:Bruce, same problem, just not getting volume, tone is excellent. Asked quilter about it , Pat came back and said just crank it up-- it is already at Master 10. Channels 1+2. At 8.

Just a thought here: maybe the two channels are out of phase. Do you have the same problem running just one channel?

GaryL · Post by **GaryL** » 27 Jul 2017 10:21 pm

I have a Quilter Steelaire that I have used for the past year. I set it using Steve's information and his suggestion (from Pat Quilter's technician) was very helpful. I set my amp accordingly on a gig tonight and had great tone and volume. To myear, I prefer Channel 1 for steel, and to have it wide open makes perfect sense. I will mention that I did not use any delay at all (left it at home!) (Overuse of delay, and reverb, might sound good on stage, but seems to destroy the signal.)

Malcolm McMaster · Post by **Malcolm McMaster** » 28 Jul 2017 12:53 am

b0b, still have same problem when using only 1 channel. Have tried all the options 1, 2, 1+2, still lack of volume.
Steve will try settings you suggest, as I am virtually doing this with with present settings 8/8/10, I am a little sceptical, but willing to try it, having spoken to Pat by email two days ago I am surprised he did not give me this advice, feeling somewhat disappointed that neither Pat or Chris have commented on this post, as I am sure they will have seen it..

Patrick McHenry · Post by **Patrick McHenry** » 3 Aug 2017 9:02 am

yeah mine is incredibly loud... like eardrum shattering loud, louder than the drummer, easily! this is the loudest amp I've ever owned.

you've got something else going on brothers.

Malcolm McMaster · Post by **Malcolm McMaster** » 3 Aug 2017 9:45 am

Patrick, as someone who has been using amps for over forty years, I can say yes we have something going on, unfortunately after trying everything we can, no one, including Quilter, can tell us what the problem with this handful of amps is.

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Quilter Steelaire Volume

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