Quilter SuperBlock US: 6 Month Update! | Guitarkind (2024)

Raise your hand if you’ve had this happen: You acquire a guitar or piece of gear, and are smitten with it. Then somehow, you wake up one day and realize your feelings have changed. I reviewed the Quilter SuperBlock US back in February, and was impressed. I thought it helpful to give a Quilter SuperBlock US: 6 month update. In this post I’ll discuss my long term impressions of the Quilter after 6 months of ownership, to see if the shine has worn off with time.

Why I Bought The SuperBlock

In my original review, I outlined the reasons that led me to purchasing the SuperBlock in the first place: Among them were the always present maintenance issues of tube amps, as well as the global tube shortage (which, as of this writing, has not improved).

The other reason was when I took a look at the context of the majority of my guitar playing. Given the recent surge in compact amplifier designs, I know I’m not the only one who is asking: “How much amp do I need?” At the same time, I didn’t want to feel like I’d compromised, and bought a practice amp.

Why I Liked the SuperBlock

Fortunately, the SuperBlock allayed any concerns I had about it not being a “real” amp. In my review, I point to the reasons to like the SuperBlock. Among them are the simple, intuitive controls, compact size and weight, thoughtful feature set, and friendliness with pedals. And of course, the sound. The SuperBlock takes inspiration from vintage Fender amp designs, but is is not a clone of them. The Limiter knob acts as a compressor-like control to smooth out the transient peaks, mimicking the response of a tube amp.

Do I Still Like The SuperBlock?

Heck yeah! In the over 6 months that I’ve owned the Quilter, it’s been completely reliable, and has continued to sound inspiring. It has at no time felt like a “toy” amp, or practice amp, as some small amps do. And that’s important, because as I alluded to previously, some gear sounds great initially, but eventually shows its weaknesses.

Sometimes, there is a characteristic or flaw that becomes apparent in an amplifier’s sound that becomes tiresome. Often, the solution involves understanding the amp’s tone stack and fine-tuning, or using a different pedal or effect. That does not always work though, and once you become aware of something you don’t like, you can’t not hear it.

Fortunately, that isn’t the case with the SuperBlock US. The three voicings—’61, ‘57, and ‘65—all still sound authentic and convincing to my ears.

I’m not a knob-twister by nature, meaning that I don’t mind doing a little tone tweaking, but I don’t like to spend inordinate amounts of time at it. To be honest, I haven’t been twisting knobs much on the Quilter—and that’s a good thing.

I typically have had it set on the ‘65 Deluxe setting, and have played around with the Midrange, Limiter, and Gain controls to dial it in for specific guitars. Recently, I switched over to the ‘57 Tweed channel, and have been enjoying the increased grunt and thicker mids of that voicing. Check out my article on the 1961 “Blonde” voice for more details on the particulars of the sounds available there.

Do I Miss Tubes?

As a lifelong tube amp player, I wondered if I would miss tubes after using the Quilter exclusively. The answer is “not really”. Undoubtedly, there is a magic to tubes, and I won’t deny that. The harmonic richness, sweet compression, and gentle breakup of a good tube amp is hard to beat.

The price you pay for tube magic is higher than it used to be, though. Today’s tube shortage, and the prices retailers are asking, are making many question if they still need tubes at all. Also, the idea of adjusting the bias on amps never appealed to me, and that’s something I’ll never have to worry about with the Quilter.

Final Thoughts

I have really enjoyed the Quilter SuperBlock US, and expect that I’ll continue to do so far into the future. There’s nothing about the sound or functionality of the amp that has started to annoy me. For the price, I think it’s a steal. The tones are realistic and convincing, and come in a light and compact form factor. You get 95% of the tone of a good tube amp with none of the disadvantages.

I’m currently running the SuperBlock through a Mesa/Boogie 1×10 cabinet, and my next adventure is to begin exploring how different cabs sound with it. Stay tuned.