[NAD] Quilter SuperBlocks - impressions (2024)

My superblock UK arrived just as we were sitting down to lunch yesterday. A starter, main course, a selection of cheeses, dessert and coffee disappeared in less than 40 minutes, and an hour after delivery the Superblock UK was hooked up to my recently arrived Toob 12S with a Jensen Blackbird 40 AlNiCo speaker at its heart (think Celestion Gold). I bought this combination (Superblock and Toob 12S) to get a close approximation of one of my favourite amps that I had to sell (along with a 1962 sonic blue strat) back in 1975/76 when I was an impoverished student. The amp was a 1964 Vox AC30 Top Boost that I had bought for the princely sum of £40 (60$ in the exchange rate of the time). The aim was also to have different voicings to my Tone Master Deluxe Reverb and the tc electronics BAM200.

I spent 2 hours testing the setup with several guitars

• Ibanez Artist AR 2619 Prestige for rock/pop sounds
• 1961 ES-175D with PAFs which I usually play through a tc electronic BAM200 bass head couples to a Toob 6.5 Metro BG speaker (also used for my violin bass), for a jazz sound
• 1980 Ibanez AS200 for blues and R&B
• 2005 Custom shop 1961 strat in sonic blue (next best thing to the one I had to sell in 1975/76)

I initially set all the controls at noon (except gain, reverb and limiter), but after 20 minutes pushed the bass to about 3 o’clock and middle to 2 o,clock which was a better sound for me.

See Also

Quilter Labs SuperBlock UK 25-watt Guitar Amplifier PedalQuilter SuperBlock USQuilter Superblock - Wie laut an 1x12 Box?Quilter Superblock US

Vox AC30 voicing : vibrant, full sound with chime. Break up comes earlier than using the Toob Metro. Nice 1960s Beatles/Monkies sound. When pushed a little harder gentle break up in Scofield territory – could be a nice jazz sound if it’s one you want to use. When I pushed the gain, breakup became a nice solid crunch suitable for rhythm guitar or bright cutting solos. Best rhythm sounds came from the Artist 2619 with pickups in parallel mode.No creamy fat sounds.

Vox AC30 top boost voicing : super clean until you push the gain, then a nice crunch comes into play, and more importantly the chime now has lots of complex harmonics. No creamy fat sounds except to a lesser degree on the neck pickup with gain and pickups on max. I may be “listening with rosy couloured ears”, but this took me back to when I was 21 years old in terms of the sound I wanted. In that respect the buy is a good one.

Marshall JMP voicing: I don’t feel competent to comment on whether or not this is close to a Marshall sound as I’ve never owned one. However, as a rock sound in its own right this setup is a rocking

beast! Full creamy overdrive and sustain without having to use a TS pedal. Dialed back to the edge of distortion gave a fantastic Keith Richards Honky tonk Woman tone.

All voicings were very responsive to pick attack. At this stage I’m still comings to terms with the limiter control which I’ve not used before, so there are still plenty of areas to explore in the soundscape. I want to try the setup with my Gretsch Electromatic Jet later today to play in Neil Young and Steve Stills territory.

Globally a great setup which I think would be fine playing out in a small venue with a drummer who is not “over-enthusiastic” – otherwise XLR out or miking would be called for. Congrats to Quilter for a great amp which has made me feel younger. Congrats also to our own forum member Gitterbug for designing and producing these great Toob speakers – they really are amongst the best I’ve ever played and in terms of portability are amazing.

Here are some photos showing the setup, and also the other Toob pairing – you don’t get more compact than this! In the final photo you can see my road warrior 1961 ES-175D and in the background is the Ibanez Concorde 754 Everly Brothers that took me 46 years to find after my original was stolen in 1976. In the foreground is the Fender Tre-Verb pedal which I use with the BAM200 (great plate reverb)