The Steel Guitar Forum

Looking for a gigging amp that has plenty of clean headroom, lightweight, and vintage Fender tube tone. Yes, I understand that combo will require a comprise somewhere, but the tech has come a long way. I feel like either of these options would do the trick, but has anyone tried both and can compare the tone?

Twin Reverb Tone Master
Pros
2 x 12s
Vintage vibe
Controls on the front
$300 cheaper

Quilter Travis Toy 12
6 lbs lighter
More tonal options
TT12 speaker possible better suited to steel?

Both
200W
Tilt back legs
Line out options

Are there other options worth considering?

Brad, I can’t comment on the Tone Master, as I haven’t tried one. All I can say about the TT combo is that everybody that tries it, pretty much flips out over it. You also have to be mindful of other people’s comments that are comparing this new combo, without trying it, to the Steelaire and my TT-12 speaker. That’s a good combo, but this is a whole different experience. These 3 components (202 head, TT-12 speaker, and cab) are pretty incredible together. They might compliment each other more than any other combination I’ve ever tried. I let Bruce Bouton borrow mine to try on a live gig and two recording sessions the other day, and he called me the next day in disbelief. It’s good. Is it for everyone? No. Nothing is. I have always tended to pay attention to people whose opinions carry weight based on resume and experience though.

Good luck in whatever you choose, and I hope you find something that works brilliantly for you. There’s a lot of cool stuff out there!

-t

P.M. sent.

Maybe this matters, maybe it doesn’t, but I believe the Quilter is US made and the Fender is not.

The Quilters are mostly made in China. The Tone Block 202 amp (part of Travis' combo) is made in China.

The Quilter Blockdock 12HD speaker cabinet is made in China.

Just about all the current production has been moved to China. The Steelaire is still US but I suspect as current stock depletes it too will move to China.

I'm also thinking of getting one of these amps. They have somewhat similar power, weight, and price, and both can sound good...So, I think the biggest difference would be the 2 X 12 speaker vs. the 1 x 12.

Is there an advantage of having 2 speakers instead of 1? Having 2 speakers makes the amp almost twice as wide and more difficult to carry due to the larger size alone, not even considering the extra weight.

For this portability reason, I'm leaning towards the Quilter, even at the extra cost.

Jacek Jakubek wrote:I'm also thinking of getting one of these amps. They have somewhat similar power, weight, and price, and both can sound good...So, I think the biggest difference would be the 2 X 12 speaker vs. the 1 x 12.

Is there an advantage of having 2 speakers instead of 1? Having 2 speakers makes the amp almost twice as wide and more difficult to carry due to the larger size alone, not even considering the extra weight.

For this portability reason, I'm leaning towards the Quilter, even at the extra cost.

I’ve never really been a 2 cab or 2 speaker guy. 1 good sounding cabinet/speaker/amp always seems to get the job done for me just fine.

Also, I see that you’re in Toronto. I know that Gear Music in Oakville is a dealer, and they were actually one of the first dealers to have my amp in Canada. Get in touch with them, and see if you can go play through one in the store.

-t

Brad Easley wrote:Looking for a gigging amp that has plenty of clean headroom, lightweight, and vintage Fender tube tone. Yes, I understand that combo will require a comprise somewhere, but the tech has come a long way. I feel like either of these options would do the trick, but has anyone tried both and can compare the tone?

Twin Reverb Tone Master
Pros
2 x 12s
Vintage vibe
Controls on the front
$300 cheaper

Quilter Travis Toy 12
6 lbs lighter
More tonal options
TT12 speaker possible better suited to steel?

Both
200W
Tilt back legs
Line out options

Are there other options worth considering?

Brad,

To Travis’s point, no one amp is right for everyone. I’m sure his signature amp is amazing for steel so I’d suggest trying both out to see what works for you. The TM Twin is replicating a tube twin with its quirks and all and some don’t love its vintage tone stack. Others love that classic sound. Honestly, I think with these choices we live in a great time for steel players. A time where you can get great tone and not break your back!

Best of luck on your tone quest.

well for what its worth, the TT Quilter is spec'd to have a 2nd speaker out jack, an ext speaker at 4 ohms. The new Fenders do not have an ext speaker out. For me , after all these years, this is now a deal killer for any amp I may consider.

On one of my regular duty gigs this is a fundamental requirement as I place an ext speaker on the opposite side of the room. This option , to me, is mandatory.

Sometimes functionality exceeds everything else.

If its not important to you, then there ya go !


But whatever ya do, don't drag one to a gig and then look for the hole to plug in your ext speaker !

Like Johnny Cash sang.."And when we tried to put in the bolts all the holes were gone"

I'd suggest you check out the Milkman Half and Half. These come up used fairly often in the same price range as the other amps you're looking at. Lots of threads on them here if you search

Travis, Thanks for the heads up about the music store in Oakville. I didn't know about it and it's only about a 20 min. drive from where I live. I went there today to test your Quilter amp with my pedal steel. I was hesitant to just order one without hearing it first. Also, thanks for posting a link to the amp demonstration by Shawn Tubbs in your other discussion about the amp; that was really helpful.

I liked the amp and bought it.

I was testing it and it was sounding good (on the Steelaire mode), then I went to the vintage mode and tweaked the eq. a little and it was sounding even better. But then the sound I REALLY liked the most is when I added the "Limiter" knob to full. Shawn Tubbs describes the Limiter knob as making the sound more "squishy" or "lush." I don't know about "squishy," but it's definitely more "lush." (Funny how people associate different words to describe tone.)

What I also liked was the bass. Very booming, but CLEAR and with a "punch." I play a modified ext-E9 with a low B gauge 0.068 and was finding it kind of "flabby" sounding on my Peavey amp with a 15" speaker. I thought I may have to switch to a thicker gauge (0.070), but now I don't think I will have to because the Quilter has such a nice clear bass sound.

Finally, this amp is the perfect size. Not too big, not too small...and like people already know, very light-weight. I also like that there are not too many knobs on it, just the necessities plus a nice bonus knob, the limiter. keeping it simple is better if you can get what you want with more simplicity.

I was hoping to play the amp a bit today at home but I had a long day (including dental cleaning ) and I'm tired. But what I did do is take the amp out of the box and place it on the coffee table. I was sitting there looking at it and I thought "that is a really good-looking amp." It's kind of modern-vintage looking. Very classy.

Tom Dillon: I heave read good reviews about those Milkman amps. I may look into getting one in the future so I can own a good and light-weight tube amp also. For now, I'm going to enjoy this Quilter TT12 amp. Waiting for those tubes to heat up before you can play: Ain't nobody got time for that!

Jacek Jakubek wrote:Travis, Thanks for the heads up about the music store in Oakville. I didn't know about it and it's only about a 20 min. drive from where I live. I went there today to test your Quilter amp with my pedal steel. I was hesitant to just order one without hearing it first. Also, thanks for posting a link to the amp demonstration by Shawn Tubbs in your other discussion about the amp; that was really helpful.

I liked the amp and bought it.

I was testing it and it was sounding good (on the Steelaire mode), then I went to the vintage mode and tweaked the eq. a little and it was sounding even better. But then the sound I REALLY liked the most is when I added the "Limiter" knob to full. Shawn Tubbs describes the Limiter knob as making the sound more "squishy" or "lush." I don't know about "squishy," but it's definitely more "lush." (Funny how people associate different words to describe tone.)


What I also liked was the bass. Very booming, but CLEAR and with a "punch." I play a modified ext-E9 with a low B gauge 0.068 and was finding it kind of "flabby" sounding on my Peavey amp with a 15" speaker. I thought I may have to switch to a thicker gauge (0.070), but now I don't think I will have to because the Quilter has such a nice clear bass sound.

Finally, this amp is the perfect size. Not too big, not too small...and like people already know, very light-weight. I also like that there are not too many knobs on it, just the necessities plus a nice bonus knob, the limiter. keeping it simple is better if you can get what you want with more simplicity.

I was hoping to play the amp a bit today at home but I had a long day (including dental cleaning ) and I'm tired. But what I did do is take the amp out of the box and place it on the coffee table. I was sitting there looking at it and I thought "that is a really good-looking amp." It's kind of modern-vintage looking. Very classy.

Tom Dillon: I heave read good reviews about those Milkman amps. I may look into getting one in the future so I can own a good and light-weight tube amp also. For now, I'm going to enjoy this Quilter TT12 amp. Waiting for those tubes to heat up before you can play: Ain't nobody got time for that!

That’s awesome Jacek! Glad I could help, and welcome to the future of steel guitar amplification. Thanks for trusting me. I try not to disappoint.

Spread the good word!

-t

Hi, just put in my order with GC for the upgraded (?) 800W model, and I have a couple questions...

1. Speaker only handles 300W but amp puts out 800W at 4 ohms...? Seems a bit off...???

2. Has the lesser powered model decreased in price? GC only has the 800W model listed so maybe it's a GC edition or something?

Sure looking forward to getting this; been thinking about it for a while. The extra headroom of 800W sold me.

Landon Johnson wrote:Hi, just put in my order with GC for the upgraded (?) 800W model, and I have a couple questions...

1. Speaker only handles 300W but amp puts out 800W at 4 ohms...? Seems a bit off...???

2. Has the lesser powered model decreased in price? GC only has the 800W model listed so maybe it's a GC edition or something?

Sure looking forward to getting this; been thinking about it for a while. The extra headroom of 800W sold me.

That is a frustrating misprint on the GC site that they seem unable to correct, despite multiple requests. The amp is 200 watts. There is no 800 watt TT model. The only 800 watt amp is the Bass Block.

-t

You will really like the Quilter. I had a Fender Tonemaster Twin and the Travis Toy 12. The TT 12 won and is the first amp I really liked since I had a real Twin Reverb back in the 70's. The Fender Tonemaster Twin was sold shortly after getting the Quilter TT12.

The Quilter TB202 amp can be "Fenderish".

On the Quilter Facebook page there are lots of posts of 6 string pickers ditching tube amps for the Quilters.

Travis, is there much difference in tone between your 12” and 15” combos?

I believe the TR Tone Master specs are a tad confusing. The way I read the specs are that it has a special 200W Power amp to emulate the 85 Watt Tube amp.

This is right from the description

"And when it comes time to fill a stage, the Tone Master has output to spare — 200-watt solid-state amp packs SPLs comparable to the 85-watt tube classic"

and this

" Interestingly, despite the maximum power setting on the back panels of both amplifiers being labelled as a vintage-correct 22 and 85-watts respectively, in order to simulate the punch of a valve power-amp, the Tone Master Deluxe Reverb delivers 100-watts into eight ohms and the Twin Reverb 200-watts into four ohms"

SPL='s Sound Pressure levels


This is some good marketing right here !

I can't tell you anything about the Quilter amp, but I recently bought the Fender Twin Reverb Tone Master and I am highly impressed with it.

I preface my remarks with the following brief history:- my first steel amp in 1976 was a Fender Vibrosonic Reverb with a single Cerwin-Vega 15" speaker in it. That amp was made of a solid lump of Jupiter and weighed about 70lbs. I was young then, and humping it around was not too onerous. Tone-wise, it did the job with ease.

Today I am in my senior years and lugging 70lb amps around is hernia-territory. The Twin Reverb Tone Master weighs less than 35lbs...a welcome relief! It compares very well with the steel-guitarist's "standard amp" - the Peavey Nashville 112, although the Fender cabinet is slightly larger.

As for tone, it is an excellent emulation of the original valve-powered Twin Reverb, remembering that all vintage Twins have somewhat differing sounds due to vagaries of construction, ageing of components, speakers, condition of the valves and other factors. (Apparently the engineers at Fender auditioned several original Twins and used their tones as the basis for developing the digital emulation. They also worked with the people who design and build the current lines of valve amps at Fender.)

There are two 1/4" inputs on the "clean" channel, the second of which is padded by 6dB for high-output instruments. Likewise the Vibrato channel has two inputs, and the second of these is also equipped with the 6dB pad. The clean channel has volume, treble, middle and bass controls, the vibrato channel has the same as well as controls for the reverb and tremolo.

The simulation of the reverb is magnificent, with a full twelve seconds of decay and no sudden cut-off at the end. Specially-designed speakers with high-strength rare-earth magnets to keep weight down are part of the weight-reduction. They are branded Fender but they're made by Jensen for Fender specifically for these amps.

Unlike the original Twins, the Tone Master has a DI out (XLR-socket) on the rear panel with a level-control and an earth-lift switch. There are also two "cabinet emulations" or impulse-response settings via a switch. Position 1 makes the amp sound like it has been mic'd with an SM57, position 2 makes it sound a little "rounder" as it simulates the cabinet mic'd with a Royer 121 ribbon-mic. The cabinet-emulation can be switched off.

Also on the rear panel is a "attenutator", or a Master Volume control, and it switches the amp from 85W to 1W in approximately 3dB (half-power) steps - handy for practicing indoors or in a studio if the DI output is not being used. The tone remains unaffected by the attenuator setting.

Power and a "mute" switch are also provided, and the pilot-light on the front panel glows red when the amp is ready and amber in the "warm-up" and mute modes. The "warm-up" time from a cold-start is approximately 9 seconds, allowing the microprocessor to boot up and all the digital electronics to come on-line, and the light flashes alternately red and amber to indicate this. Once showing steady-red the amp is ready for use.

"Mute" switches off the speakers, but allows the DI output to still function unmimpeded for studio work or recording via an audio-interface.

Visually it is a faithful clone of the valve (black-face) Twin, complete with the tilting-legs on either side, but casters are not fitted. An IEC power socket is provided on the rear panel and the power-supply is universal without switching. The amp is manufactured in China to Fender's specifications. The cabinet is finger-jointed pine instead of particle-board or MDF. It's light, resonant, and strong.

There is a footswitch provided for the Tremolo and Vibrato, and the potentiometers on the front panel feel beefy and solid, although the same cannot be said for the feel of the power amd mute switches on the rear-panel - they don't have the strong spring-action you might expect for their size. Time will prove how reliable they are. Stowage for the power-cord and footswitch is via Velcro strps. Velcro eventually wears out (the loop-tape wears out long before the hooks do) but it can be replaced.

The Tremolo is fully customisable for speed and intensity and sounds superb. Just like the original Twin Reverb there is no efects loop provided, which has attracted some criticism from internet reviewers. However, Fender have done pretty much what they set out to do - faithfully recreate the look, sound and feel of the iconic Twin Reverb with a great deal less weight, a very attractive price and no fragile valves to worry about. They have also looked to the future with a hidden USB-socket in case firmware upgrades are released to tweak the tone etc.

Fully cranked, this amp is LOUD! A Nashville 112 is rated at 80W, the Twin Reverb TM is 85W...not much between them.

The clean channel works very well for steel-guitar, and the vibrato channel gives all the richness of vibrato and tremolo for those users who play Strats, Teles etc. You could have your steel plugged into the clean channel and your Strat in the vibrato channel and play to your hearts content. I don't have access to an electronic keyboard so I have no idea how well this amp goes with them but I dare say someone will comment in due course.

Summarising, this is an amp seriously worth considering by steel-players who want the power (and the look) of a Twin reverb for a large venue but don't want the weight of the valve-amp. I like the tone, the controls all work well, and the addition of the DI output is useful. The attenuator works well and the cabinet is well-built. It is also significantly less purchase-cost than a modern re-issue, or an original, Twin Reverb.

The lack of an effects loop duplicates the original, perhaps not that much of a disadvantage for "traditional" steel-players who tend to be minimalist in their use of effects anyway.

My only regret is I didn't buy it sooner. Hope this is helpful. In my opinion this amp is well worth an audition if you are looking for a Twin Reverb but don't want to break your back, or the bank.

Ned, that’s a very in-depth review of the TR Tone Master. You compare the output wattage of the TR to a Nashville 112 as being virtually equal. Am I missing something in the literature? I was under the impression that the TR is rated at 200 watts, equaling the 85 tube watts of the original TR.

i used a Peavey 112 a long time also a Silverface Twin Reverb and a Silverface Deluxe Reverb.
After trying out a Tonemaster Twin and a Tonemaster Deluxe at my music store i took the TM Deluxe home for i liked it`s sound even a tad more .

I play a lot and am very thankful for this great light amp. Never had any need for more headroom, loud enough for any job i did.

great is the XLR out with amp simulation, don`t need a mic anymore on stage and if i go out from there into the interface to record i get the best telecaster sound i ever had.