Quilter Elevate

[mbenigni]

This seems like a well-considered product in some ways, and I like Quilter's solid state tones quite a bit, but there are also a lot of weird choices here that make it feel pretty niche in the end. With the interface, I can't see this appealing to the crowd that is buying a lot of solid state preamp pedals etc because they don't want to use tube amps, but also don't want to go digital, and I can't see it appealing to the crowd that has already embraced digital and this type of workflow. I'm sure the build and fidelity will be rock solid, and the Quilter stuff is head and shoulders above Sansamp in sound imo, but it's truly a shame that this ends up feeling like a product for no one.

I still think it's odd that Quilter haven't put out a power amp pedal. Maybe they have a deal with QSC where they can't do power amp-only products, but with how many guitarists (pro and amateur) buy their amps purely to use as a power amp for modelers or solid state preamp pedals, and the general market for this sort of thing, it seems like an obvious thing, especially if they make a stereo version.

OMG stereo Quilter power amp in a pedal format? Shut up and take my (reasonable sum of) money.

 

[mbenigni]

Uhh, it's a built-in invitation for signal interruption nightmares. It's called a "normalled" patchbay. All the jacks are switching jacks. If there's nothing plugged in to either of a pair of connectors, the signal is "normalled" to the default routing scheme. In this case, there are 11 positions in the patch bay, so the signal goes through 22 sets of contacts in the switching jacks. Assuming the default routing places everything in cascade (aka "series"), a single open switch would interrupt everything. Good luck if that happens on a gig....

Having never seen that monstrosity before, I have no idea of its vintage, but that kind of patchbay was common in larger mixing consoles at least as far back as. the 1980s.

Whether the effects themselves were any good - definitely not a given - there are very good reasons the idea never caught on.

Yeah, I can see a dozen reasons at a glance why these would be impractical. Still cool from a gear-nerd perspective (i.e. at a safe distance) though. :)

 

[JiveTurkey]

Yeah, I can see a dozen reasons at a glance why these would be impractical. Still cool from a gear-nerd perspective (i.e. at a safe distance) though. :)

The Boss version a few posts below looks great

 

[mbenigni]

The Boss version a few posts below looks great

Best for an all-Boss board, which never would have been for me, but yes - very elegant.

Kind of relics of a lost era though, with multi-FX solutions having come so far.

 

[Baba]

The Boss version a few posts below looks great

Best for an all-Boss board, which never would have been for me, but yes - very elegant.

Kind of relics of a lost era though, with multi-FX solutions having come so far.

I always wanted one of those, and never got one, so that triggers my nostalgic/midlife crisis gas.

I either owned, or also wanted, (I can't remember, lol), an ME-5, back in the day.

Shit, I think I wanted ALL of the ME series products at one time or another.

 

[mbenigni]

I always wanted one of those, and never got one, so that triggers my nostalgic/midlife crisis gas.

I either owned, or also wanted, (I can't remember, lol), an ME-5, back in the day.

Shit, I think I wanted ALL of the ME series products at one time or another.

Yeah, I imagine most of us have lists of gear we wanted when we were broke kids. And after waiting long enough, some of it gets really cheap... before it vanishes into obscurity (and then gets stupid $$$ again.) But nostalgia purchases (for me, VG-anything comes to mind) would probably just collect dust while I played through newer stuff that (mostly) works better.

 

[synthpenguin]

OMG stereo Quilter power amp in a pedal format? Shut up and take my (reasonable sum of) money.

Right? It seems like a no brainer, but I do wonder if they have a deal where they can’t compete with QSC so directly (even if the latter doesn’t have a pedalboard amp specifically). Going by some of their docs and input modes, Quilter clearly knows a lot of people buy their amps just to use as power amps.

I’m curious what sort of price they could get to if they did a power-amp-only unit though. I’m guessing that (and the power supply etc) is a decent chunk of their cost, but I have no real idea how much.

And maybe I’m wrong about the QSC thing and we will see one sold as an addon for their Elevate and DirectAmp (sort of like the rumored power amp for the Friedman preamp pedals)

Yeah, I can see a dozen reasons at a glance why these would be impractical. Still cool from a gear-nerd perspective (i.e. at a safe distance) though. :)

Oh yeah, they have a lot of downsides. I just think they’re neat :) And a cool snapshot of a short era.

 

[mbenigni]

Right? It seems like a no brainer, but I do wonder if they have a deal where they can’t compete with QSC so directly (even if the latter doesn’t have a pedalboard amp specifically). Going by some of their docs and input modes, Quilter clearly knows a lot of people buy their amps just to use as power amps.

I’m curious what sort of price they could get to if they did a power-amp-only unit though. I’m guessing that (and the power supply etc) is a decent chunk of their cost, but I have no real idea how much.

And maybe I’m wrong about the QSC thing and we will see one sold as an addon for their Elevate and DirectAmp (sort of like the rumored power amp for the Friedman preamp pedals)



Oh yeah, they have a lot of downsides. I just think they’re neat :) And a cool snapshot of a short era.

Does QSC own Quilter now? I wasn't even aware. In any case, I doubt QSC would try to limit Quilter in this way - profits is profits. It's probably just the typical calculus of, "How many would we sell? At what cost/ liability vs. what profit? Etc."

But yes, I would love to see a nice stereo power amp that benefits from Quilter's know-how. If it had pass-thru AC and/or a couple DC outs at strategic voltages, for integrating with various preamp solutions, all the better!

 

[synthpenguin]

Does QSC own Quilter now? I wasn't even aware. In any case, I doubt QSC would try to limit Quilter in this way - profits is profits. It's probably just the typical calculus of, "How many would we sell? At what cost/ liability vs. what profit? Etc."

But yes, I would love to see a nice stereo power amp that benefits from Quilter's know-how. If it had pass-thru AC and/or a couple DC outs at strategic voltages, for integrating with various preamp solutions, all the better!

My understanding is that Pat Quilter retired from QSC (which he started) to form Quilter Labs for guitar centric products, but no they’re totally independent. The deal thing is total conjecture on my part (which maybe I shouldn’t do haha), and mainly just because it’s surprising to me that they’ve never done a product like this. That said, they do market the FRFR voicing on the TB202 as “for modelers” now (I don’t remember if they always did this).