I have the MicroPro 200 1x8 combo. It can totally do a loud surf gig. It's pretty much the amp I take out when I'm playing a not super high volume, casual gig. I'd say the 1x12 combo can easily hit the volume of a 50 watt tube combo. However, the built in reverb on Quilters seem to be less than amazing. They've gotten better since the first generation, but you might need to take a stomp to get a super thick surf verb.

A shop I used to work at was a dealer- and the shop I work at now has a used Aviator head. They has 'less' in the preamp section, which I like- I think the idea was that in general it was a blackface fender sound. I don't know about all that- but it covers that clean to mild distortion pretty well. Reverb on it is a bit 'digital', but sounds fine in context.

I play a fair amount of shows with a pickup surf band. It's fun and the money is actually pretty good. We typically play at a couple of bars, neither of which has parking or loading so lugging gear can be a total pain. At times it's a 10 minute walk and I'm old and tired. I've been bringing a Traynor TS-50 1x12, which is nice and light but it's a hair quiet and last Saturday it really got on my nerves. Despite never playing through one, I totally want a Quilter Avaitor 1x12 combo. I'm seeing them used around $650, which is more than I have to spend right now without selling something but I think it could make my life a lot easier and I'm a big fan of my Tone Block. Anyone have experience with the Avaitor series?

Cool, thanks Chris. Sounds kind of perfect. I don't need it to sound absolutely amazing and have amps I love that I can use for my "real" bands if I feel like it. I seem to be playing 2-3 of these bar gigs a month and would be totally fine with something reliable, light weight and that was in the blackface Fender ballpark.

Coworker of mine plays in a well booked Stones tribute band, been playing a '55 tweed live. Amp dies, and he didn't bring his backup - other bandmate hands him a Quilter microblock , and he's blown away.Said the same thing as others have commented that it didn't sound like his tweed, but it didn't sound like another solid state amp, or tube-emulation "It's just a great sound, that gets close to my tweed."He's got rooms of tube amps at home and hasn't been this excited in awhile.Another comment he made is that he's actually playing better - whether its the speed of the attack, I don't know. I'm %99 sure he has his fenders modded with solid state rectifiers. Very subjective, but another thing.In any case, I'm on board.

Got a chance to play with the 101 Mini Head. Going through a Black Widow 1x12 (125w) at 8ohms. I like all the guitar voices and it gets plenty loud for my needs but the gain turned above noon is making the speaker move and fart a bit, especially on the Surf and Jazz modes (100w). I have the low end rolled off, and the Lead mode seems to be the tightest with moderate gain but I'm a little bummed and worried about pushing the Surf mode'; bummed because it's otherwise a good sound.Maybe I do need the next size up, but then I would need a second speaker and that defeats the purpose of this. Thoughts?

Oh this isn't a TL806, it's a closed back Avatar-like 1x12. The GK doesn't fart it out at live volume (granted it has more headroom and isn't even turned up to 25%), but point taken that maybe it needs a different speaker.Backing off the gain is helping for now. I'm playing with the master below noon/25w, and this still seems way fuckin' louder than that.

I picked up a Microblock 45 a couple months ago to bring as a backup amp on a tour. It's not only plenty loud but it also sounds great. Not like "great for the price" or "great for the size". it straight up sounds great! I'd be totally happy just playing it. It was $125 on reverb. Totally insane. I really want to try one of their combo amps.

154 wrote:Oh this isn't a TL806, it's a closed back Avatar-like 1x12. The GK doesn't fart it out at live volume (granted it has more headroom and isn't even turned up to 25%), but point taken that maybe it needs a different speaker.Backing off the gain is helping for now. I'm playing with the master below noon/25w, and this still seems way fuckin' louder than that.Did someone feed it a can of spinach?

elisha wiesner wrote:I picked up a Microblock 45 a couple months ago to bring as a backup amp on a tour. It's not only plenty loud but it also sounds great. Not like "great for the price" or "great for the size". it straight up sounds great! I'd be totally happy just playing it. It was $125 on reverb. Totally insane. I really want to try one of their combo amps.Yep. Take this video. Sounds great.phpBB [media]