Voted Best in Music 2023!! Thank you!Quilter Labs SuperBlock US 25W Fullerton Style Guitar Pedal Amp
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The Quilter Superblock US Pedal Amplifier takes Quilter's extensive experience in engineering professional quality solid state guitar amplification and compacts it into a fully featured 6.5" x 4.25" 25W pedal amp. Equally useful for practice, stage or studio, the Quilter Superblock US proves that size does not always matter, and it's also an excellent value.
The Quilter Superblock US features:
- 25 watts power, 4-16 ohm load - 1/4" speaker output
- Designed also to work without speaker cabinet attached
- 1/4" instrument input
- 3 position switch for 3 classic Fullerton tones (Tweed, Blonde, Black)
- Master volume control to set overall volume and amp power
- Gain control to regulate overdrive characteristics
- Limiter control to control dynamics and feel of the Gain control
- Active 3-band EQ
- Reverb control
- Headphone output
- XLR line out for mixer or DAW
- 3 position cab sim switch for line out and headphones
- Serial effects loop
- On/Standby/Off switch
- Includes 24VDC 3A power supply
- Can use 9VDC 300ma power supply for quiet practice or headphones
As a preface, Quilter is the "Q" in QSC Audio; and with the 2021 release of their Aviator Cub 1x12 combo, we got a taste of just how well Quilter could emulate classic amplifier tones in a lightweight solid state format. The Superblock series takes that technology and puts it at your feet for a package that is as great sounding as it is convenient.
The US series has three voice settings that correspond to three eras of "Fullerton" amplifiers. The "57" setting has a slightly looser feel and darker midrange of a tweed-era amplifier, while the "65" has the sweet top end and spank of a good blackface amp. The "61" setting is a less familiar emulation of the short-lived blonde amps of the early sixties. The 61 is the brightest of the settings, but otherwise is fairly similar in attack and feel as the better known 65 style.
Which is "best" for you is a matter of taste, your guitar, and your speaker cabinet. But with any of the settings the tone and "feel" of playing through a real amplifier is impressive (we've tried them through both an open back 4x10 bassman style cabinet and a 1x12). The 3-band active EQ section is immensely flexible and provides a far greater range of tone shaping than traditional passive controls on a tube amplifier. We were particularly impressed with the amount of low end we could dial in, creating a far more substantial sound than we expected out of a little black box. The gain control is gradual and attack sensitive, doing an excellent of rendition of just a hint of clipping up to the point of "angry" but never truly a high gain. The limiter control sets a hard "ceiling" to the attack and is essentially like half a compressor. When using overdrive it can vary how tight/loose the amp feels, and amount of sustain and lingering harmonics. Overall the 3 voice settings sound very much as you would expect them to sound, but not in an exaggerated sense. It's all very natural.
All of this is available through your speaker cabinet, headphones, or an XLR line out to a mixer or DAW. The headphone and line out feature speaker emulation, or full frequency response. There is an effects loop, or you can put your pedals in front of it, or both. It's tiny but you treat the Superblock just like an amp, which it is. And the Reverb sounds really good, so you can leave that pedal home.
Can you gig with it? Yes. It will hang with a band -- at least during practice -- but volume it not limitless. How loud it can get is also function of your speaker cabinet, speaker efficiency and load (for example 10" speakers are typically far less efficient than a 12"). For a small gig and a lighter style of music you'll probably be fine. But for clubs and louder venues we would always use a cab and the XLR out to the mixer. And the quality of the line out is excellent so don't worry about that. If nothing else the Superblock is the best backup amp you'll ever own.
Quilter consistently engineers well thought out and extremely musical products, and the Superblock US is no exception. If you've been skeptical about pedal amps and whether they truly can deliver "real amp" quality sound, the Superblock may change your mind.