Quiter 101 / Aviator Cub high end ‘harshness’?

[Mark Evans]

I’m considering simplifying my home/jam rig, moving towards a Quilter power amp and/or small cab. I play primarily lap steel, clean with FX, jam/ambient/americana blues style.

I like simple, so the 101 or 101 Reverb would cover my needs - tho a used Aviator Cub is only about 20 lbs and has the stuff. 30-50 watts be enough. I’ve seen used in my price range.

I did a forum search and a common thread from past posts was complaints about the harshness of top end on these amps. I did see a YouTube post review by a jazz player that was agreeable to the 101
https://youtu.be/jJnmaxdeClk?si=o-xQ7UNM-7j1HYFo

I’m curious to get input from other players before I make a leap. Plus there is the whole combo vs finding woodworking skills to munge together a cabinet (I have a nice new Celestron VT 10” that’d be fine)

[Tim Whitlock]

I have tried out both the Aviator and the 101 for steel. I found the tone lacking for both, though I admit I am an unapologetic tube snob. I could see possibly using the Aviator live, if nothing else was available, mainly due to its adequate power. The 101 is rated at 50 - 100 solid state watts, however I found that most of the volume is in the distortion range. Played clean, I could not get nearly enough useable volume - felt like maybe 10 watts. That said, it sounded ok at pretty low volume at home. I know some great players swear by Quilters and use them, and I recently heard one guitar player that sounded fabulous through one. Not my cup of tea for steel at all.

[D Schubert]

In general, the Quilter amps are equipped with a clean high-fidelity Celestion speaker with considerable power ratings. I replaced the speaker in my Quilter MicroPro with a 10" Weber speaker with alnico magnet and hemp cone. Only rated for 50 watts, but at usable volume it's a much sweeter sounding combination, without the intense treble response.

[Dave Grafe]

Quilter's TT12 with the ToneBlock 202 has a rather subdued high end, very well behaved