NAD: Quilter Aviator Cub

[nightchef]

I’ve been getting by since forever with one guitar amp, a Reverend Hellhound. It’s a versatile, good-sounding, switchable 40/60 watt master volume tube combo, and works well for most any gig I could throw at it. So I’ve never felt any urgency about supplementing it, but recently when it seemed to be developing a farty/buzzy thing on bass notes that a change of tubes didn’t fix, I felt like “this is a sign. You need a second amp.” So a-shopping I did go.

I knew I wanted it to be lightweight (the Hellhound is middling at 38 lbs.; I wanted something lighter than that). I knew the clean tones were what mattered to me, and I knew I wanted it to lean Fender rather than Vox, Marshall or Mesa. I also knew I didn’t care about tubes/solid state. I’ve always played through tube amps, but I know SS amps have come a long, long way.

Yesterday I went to the Boston Guitar Center and tried a bunch of Fenders: Tone Master Deluxe Blonde, Custom ‘68 Pro Reverb and Vibro Champ, Blues Jr. IV. They all had good points. None of them made me feel like “that’s the sound.”

Then I tried the Quilter Aviator Cub. That was the sound: chimey yet round, solid and coherent yet full of harmonic complexity. The only thing I wasn’t sure about was whether it had enough clean headroom. And I knew that South Shore Music in Weymouth had both a Cub and the more high-powered Quilter Micro Pros in stock. So I went there to check them out.

A half-hour later I walked out with the Cub in my greedy paws. To me, it sounded obviously better than the Micro Pros—more vibrant and three-dimensional. More like a tube amp, in short. And it gets plenty loud for most of what I do. (For the rest of it, that’s what the Hellhound is for.)

The web demos I’ve seen don’t really do justice to how distinct the three voicings (Tweed, Blonde and Black) sound. It’s like having three different amps. The Tweed is dark and woody, with a bit of midrange honk. The Blonde has a neon-sign brilliance that will effortlessly jump to the front of any mix. The Black is that classic slightly scooped late-60s Fender sound: sparkly top, round bottom, smooth understated mids. I found that my Strat likes the Tweed and Black, my Ibanez RS-1010SL (PRS-like solidbody with humbuckers) likes the Blonde and Black, and my new Gretsch seems to like all of them.

The interaction between the gain, limiter, and master (Speaker Volume) controls allows a great variety of tones at almost any volume (though if I have one complaint, it’s that the master goes from almost inaudible to wow-that’s-loud a little too quickly). I’m particularly enamored of the psychedelia-ready, no-longer-clean-but-not-quite-dirty sustain I get with the gain and limiter both at about 2:00; think “She Said She Said” or the opening lick to “Mr. Soul”.

It’s a fun little beast; a lot of amp for $599.

[Glennwillow]

Congratulations on that new Quilter amp!

I found this demo from Jay Leonard J that I thought was quite well done. It sounds fantastic to my ears!



Wow, I am just a little big envious! Good for you!

- Glenn

[roylor4]

Thanks for the review and congrats. I have been looking at the Cub and was considering the Mach 2 last year, but since we weren't gigging, it didn't make sense $-wise for me. I have 3 amps for gigging, but really want simple, great tone and just as important - lightweight.

Bugera V5 for small gigs or for harp (better for Blues harp than guitar IMO). A Super Champ X2 and a Orange Micro Terror with a 10" cab. The Orange setup with a Tech 21 Sansamp as a pedalboard is my favorite - but more moving parts than I would prefer. The X2 is versatile and has fantastic Tremolo, but I like the idea of the light weight and reliability of a SS amp. If we need more juice than 15-20 tube watts, I just use the Sansamp.

Your review has me almost ready to pull the trigger.

Enjoy your new amp.

[darylcrisp]

thanks for posting the review, i've been looking at a couple of the Quilters but its all online as nobody within hours carries them. I like a lot of things about Quilter.

d

[Song]

Congratulations on your new Quilter! I have a mach 2-8 with a 12" hd extension. It's what Quilter calls a micro stack, and what Steve might call loud.
Oh I did email that Quilter guy and he said it can be operated at full volume.

[Dogsnax]

Thanks so much for the Aviator Cub review. Timely for me - I just pulled the trigger on one yesterday.

I've been vacillating back and forth between the Quilter 101 Reverb / BlockDock 10 TC and the Aviator Cub. Finally decided to go with the Aviator Cub. I'll be moving overseas next year and I want something light and reliable. After doing some research, it looks as if my guitar/amp services might be limited.

I grew up with tube amps and I'm interested in experiencing the latest in SS technology. Quilter seems to get excellent reviews and I'm sure the Aviator Cub will serve my purpose (mostly home practice and some small gig playing).

Thanks again for the review!

[GoPappy]

Nightchef, I'm bumping this old thread to the top to see if we can get an update on how you are liking the Aviator Cub. I'm thinking about buying an amp and the Aviator Cub checks a lot of boxes for me.

[Steve DeRosa]

Been eyeing one of those for my wife, who's almost exclusively a rhythm player and doesn't need channel switching or unnecessary bells-&-whistles - just waiting for them to also market a Brit-style version based on the SuperBlock UK...

[BoneDigger]

Congrats! I just got one of these last week! So far, I'm liking it a lot!

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by nightchef

I’ve been getting by since forever with one guitar amp, a Reverend Hellhound. It’s a versatile, good-sounding, switchable 40/60 watt master volume tube combo, and works well for most any gig I could throw at it. So I’ve never felt any urgency about supplementing it, but recently when it seemed to be developing a farty/buzzy thing on bass notes that a change of tubes didn’t fix, I felt like “this is a sign. You need a second amp.” So a-shopping I did go.

I knew I wanted it to be lightweight (the Hellhound is middling at 38 lbs.; I wanted something lighter than that). I knew the clean tones were what mattered to me, and I knew I wanted it to lean Fender rather than Vox, Marshall or Mesa. I also knew I didn’t care about tubes/solid state. I’ve always played through tube amps, but I know SS amps have come a long, long way.

Yesterday I went to the Boston Guitar Center and tried a bunch of Fenders: Tone Master Deluxe Blonde, Custom ‘68 Pro Reverb and Vibro Champ, Blues Jr. IV. They all had good points. None of them made me feel like “that’s the sound.”

Then I tried the Quilter Aviator Cub. That was the sound: chimey yet round, solid and coherent yet full of harmonic complexity. The only thing I wasn’t sure about was whether it had enough clean headroom. And I knew that South Shore Music in Weymouth had both a Cub and the more high-powered Quilter Micro Pros in stock. So I went there to check them out.

A half-hour later I walked out with the Cub in my greedy paws. To me, it sounded obviously better than the Micro Pros—more vibrant and three-dimensional. More like a tube amp, in short. And it gets plenty loud for most of what I do. (For the rest of it, that’s what the Hellhound is for.)

The web demos I’ve seen don’t really do justice to how distinct the three voicings (Tweed, Blonde and Black) sound. It’s like having three different amps. The Tweed is dark and woody, with a bit of midrange honk. The Blonde has a neon-sign brilliance that will effortlessly jump to the front of any mix. The Black is that classic slightly scooped late-60s Fender sound: sparkly top, round bottom, smooth understated mids. I found that my Strat likes the Tweed and Black, my Ibanez RS-1010SL (PRS-like solidbody with humbuckers) likes the Blonde and Black, and my new Gretsch seems to like all of them.

The interaction between the gain, limiter, and master (Speaker Volume) controls allows a great variety of tones at almost any volume (though if I have one complaint, it’s that the master goes from almost inaudible to wow-that’s-loud a little too quickly). I’m particularly enamored of the psychedelia-ready, no-longer-clean-but-not-quite-dirty sustain I get with the gain and limiter both at about 2:00; think “She Said She Said” or the opening lick to “Mr. Soul”.

It’s a fun little beast; a lot of amp for $599.

I think these are great amps for clean and edge of breakup stuff, I really do. And as you say, a lot of amp for the money. I've tried two (I'm a real fan of Pat Quilter) and just can't get much of a dirty sound from them, either from the on-board circuits or from pedals (which, IME, they really don't take very well.) Just not much character, at least from my hands and rig.

But for those not needing that, I agree they're great amps.

[nightchef]

Originally Posted by GoPappy

Nightchef, I'm bumping this old thread to the top to see if we can get an update on how you are liking the Aviator Cub. I'm thinking about buying an amp and the Aviator Cub checks a lot of boxes for me.

Good timing; I've only recently been using it much again after a bit of a hiatus (I haven't had many electric guitar gigs over the past year). I had gone through a phase where I was a bit discontented with the Cub because of a subtle but persistent upper-mid peak that was causing mild ear fatigue in extended sessions at anything above bedroom volumes. I was seriously considering replacing the speaker or selling the amp, but I saw a few threads on Quilter forums that suggested allowing time for the speaker to break in.

These past few weeks, I've been rehearsing for a sub gig with a rootsy cover band next month, and all of a sudden, the break-in seems to have happened. It's still a fairly bright amp, especially in the Blonde and Black voicings, but that nagging overemphasis around 4K seems to have subsided. For this gig, I'm mostly using a Strat with Mojotone Quiet Coil 58 noiseless pickups, and going into the Tweed input with the gain and limiter both at about 2 o'clock, bass and treble at about 10:30, and mids at noon, I'm getting a nice balanced sound -- clear and forward but full, and just short of breakup. Running a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 into it gives a nice Sticky Fingers-style crunch. I was getting a lot of compliments about my sound at rehearsal the other night.

And man, that thing is light. My pedalboard is heavier (and I don't have a ton of pedals).

[GoPappy]

Nightchef, thanks so much for the update. This little amp has really piqued my interest. Like you, I've read a number of comments that the speaker needs some break-in time. Sounds like you're getting there with yours. Good luck on your upcoming gig.