The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi friends,

I am a big fan of Quilter products. I own a MicroPro Mach II 8-inch combo. It is a great portable rig that I regularly use for solo acoustic guitar, electric 6 string, and banjo gigs. I really enjoy the 8 inch speaker for ease of portability and decent tone across acoustic and electric instruments, and have put somewhere between 100-150 gigs on my Quilter amp.

However, I am looking for a stand alone portable head to play with my PSG. My main amp is a 66 Pro Reverb, which is the cats pajamas. But man, it’s heavy. There are many times when I would love a more portable amp to use for psg. So, I am considering another Quilter in head format. I like....but don’t LOVE.....the tone of the Mach 2’s 8 inch speaker with psg.

I have a 1x12 cab loaded with a Celestion Alnico Cream 90 and am looking for a portable head to run through it, as a dedicated portable psg setup. Ideally the head will have a built in DI with cabinet simulation for the times I need to have a silent stage as well.

My question is for those who have used Quilter products other than the MicroPro....
The Micropro has a great 3 knob reverb, which can be tailored for tone, dwell, and mix. I find these controls very useful to dial in the perfect amount of reverb for whatever venue I am playing. I’ve noticed that the 101 Reverb, and Block series amps have a one knob reverb. I love how portable those amps are, and am considering one to use with my 1x12 cab specifically for psg. Is the one knob reverb sufficient? Or does having th extra mix/dwell/tone controls make a big difference? Reverb is just about the only effect I want to use with my psg, so I would prefer to avoid having extra pedals, etc....

Depending on the usability of the reverb, I will make my decision between another Micropro, a Steelaire head, or a block series head....

I'm using a Steelaire Rack amp with a 15" Eminence EPS-15C speaker.

I also have a 101R amp (101 with reverb). It gets "rave" reviews on the Quilter Facebook page. I've seen posts from tube amp users that like it so much they are giving up their Fender amps. I bought it for lead guitar and as a steel practice amp. I have a Eminence TT-12 speaker and it does a respectable job. Its also "loud" for a 50 watt amp.

Does that mean that you prefer th Steelaire to the 101?

How do the reverbs compare? Does the added 3 knob reverb in the Steelaire make it more practical for playing dirrerent rooms, or is the difference not noticeable in a real world live music setting?

The Steelaire is my gigging amp. But, I don't use the internal reverb (or tremolo), although "it ain't bad". I use a POD X3 for effects (only) such as reverb and delay.

I don't know how the 101R would do on a Pedal Steel Guitar gig. I'm tempted to take it along sometime just to see. I play in a traditional country band and not "loud" so it may work. I've only had the 101R a little while and its connected to my wife's GFI S-10 that only gets played at home. I've tracked a Telecaster with the 101R (direct from the headphone out to a D.I. box to the board) and it had a "Fenderish" sound. It was a "dry" signal no reverb as I like to add effects to the instruments in my DAW.

I use a Steelaire with the stock speaker. It's all the amp I will ever need.

Charley, I use a Steelaire as my gig amp

and really like the amp. It's light and has

plenty of headroom.

Thanks, Terry

One cool feature of the Steelaire is the powered effects loop. I have a Dunlop Q-zone pedal, which gives a Dobro-like sound, hard wired into mine. One flip of a switch, and voila: instant pedabro.

I also have the 101 Reverb head. I don't gig and probably never will but my family back home gets a kick out of hearing me play. I wanted something easier to lug around than my Session 400. The 101R works well on steel, 6-string and keyboard when coupled with a 15" Sica bass speaker (the model that Ken Fox recommends) in a Tommy Huff cab. The 101R head and volume pedal will fit in a laptop bag. I have my doubts as to whether it would be loud enough in a noisy gig environment though but for my purposes, it's perfect.

I use a 101 (non-reverb model) with a Sanrno V8 in FRONT of it. I prefer a Wet Reverb pedal to the Quilter reverb. I know I'm pre-amping a preamp, but this combination has been working great for me for a couple of years. I've got it all in a Rick Johnson cab with a EPS12C, whole thing weighs 31lbs. Sounds best at "normal" stage volumes but it does keep up with louder drummers.