I tried a Quilter Avaitor Mach 3 yesterday

[Don]

A local music store finally received a couple of Quilter Aviator Mach 3 combo amps yesterday. This is a solid state (half of you just stopped reading this), two channel, 200 watt, 1x12" combo with 6 voices per channel, tremolo and reverb, and it only weighs 21 pounds!

It was good, but not great for me. Part of this was user error, I'm sure- there are a lot of knobs, some of which I haven't experienced, still, it had a "tone" or "timber" that wasn't pleasing to my ear. I was being very critical- I wouldn't want to pay a lot for an amp, eventually not love its sound and have to sell it in the current local used gear market. To be fair, I've spent 40 years tweaking and playing tube amps and half an hour playing this amp.

On the plus side, I have no doubt that it would work very, very well in almost any situation, from playing at home to any gig or jam session. It's capable of being played much louder and much quieter than any tube amp I've played. In fact, if you have to keep it under 90 db or so, it sounds better than a tube amp. It sounds pretty good at TV volumes.

I kind of equate this to switching from dairy milk to almond "milk". At first, I thought it was terrible, then I tried a lot of different types and brands of non-dairy "milk", then I grew to accept as not being milk but as being acceptable, and now I like it and don't like the taste of dairy milk anymore.

[Michael Smith]

The Mach 3 seems kind of expensive for a solid state amp. I only own one solid state amp, the Fender Princeton Chorus (the one with the red knobs). I think it was made in the late 1980's and is a 2 x 10. It has it's place for clean tones and can be really loud, but the distortion channel is bad, and I haven't had much luck getting a decent tone with distortion pedals either. Mine has an actual spring reverb tank and the chorus sounds pretty good in stereo.

[phantomman]

Incredible as it may seem, Fender's Princeton Chorus amp was once their top-selling model in the early/mid '90s.

[Michael Smith]

Incredible as it may seem, Fender's Princeton Chorus amp was once their top-selling model in the early/mid '90s.

That's interesting. I just looked at the Fender price list for March, 1994 and the Princeton Chorus listed for $530. I think I paid $225 in the late 90's for mine from a guy at my company.

A buddy of mine used one for a blues gig when his main amp was unavailable, and he got a decent tone out of it. Perhaps he used the effects loop for his distortion pedal rather than on the front end. I may have to try that with mine.

Edit: they must have introduced the Princeton Chorus in 1988 because the January 1988 price list shows the price as "TBA"

[phantomman]

Tried to PM you re Buck/Clay but the TFF's server said your inbox was full.

E-mail me direct if you wish to continue the discussion.

[Michael Smith]

Tried to PM you re Buck/Clay but the TFF's server said your inbox was full.

E-mail me direct if you wish to continue the discussion.

I just now cleaned up my sent and received messages, so PM should work now. I had moved some received messages to the "archived" folder, thinking they wouldn't count as part of the 20 maximum, but I guess they do.

[Bill Moore]

I wish I had been smart enough to buy all the Fender amps back when they were cheap!
In the 70's our local dealer had a shelf full of 60's Twins, Pros, Bassmans, and even a few Deluxes. Took them in trade for the "better" Silverface models he was selling! I gave $100 in the late 70's for a "Drip-Edge" Twin just to have one around when folks came by to jam, (I played drums then). (Of course, I later sold it, on time to a guitar player down on his luck, took him a year to pay me off, but gave me a Tele for the final $20.)

[phantomman]

I remember those days, Bill.

I recall seeing blackface Princeton Reverbs going for 150 or 160 bucks and Deluxe Reverbs for $200.

Who knew?

[Bill Moore]

Our local dealer always stocked a lot of the popular Fender combo amps, Twins, Pros, Supers. I don't think I ever saw small Fender combos at his store, seems he always had Gretsch/Valco small "student" amps though. He always had a couple of Bassman 2-12 cabs, and usually 50 watt heads. I'm not sure why the guitar would need 100 watts, but not the Bass, but that was the thinking back then. Nothing was over driven, or even loud until that damn R&R music became a thing! The trouble was, those guitar players would rather have a Montgomery Ward, (Valco) piggyback amp than a Twin combo, (gotta look the part, right!)

[Michael Smith]

I paid $100 for my 1968 Bassman head in the late 80's. Also had a Bassman 135 which I sold a few years ago, and my Super Twin Reverb. All from local pawn shops.

[Don]

I paid $326 for my '66 Vibrolux Reverb in '90 or '91. Even then, prices were starting to go up and I felt the need to grab one while I could!

[phantomman]

I paid $326 for my '66 Vibrolux Reverb in '90 or '91. Even then, prices were starting to go up and I felt the need to grab one while I could!

We should've wised up then!

[phreddybee]

i still have my '71 twin reverb.....but i also have a tonemaster twin reverb.......and a quilter aviator mach.....yeah, i'm that aging guy. the '71 doesn't get out much, but the other 2 do quite well for me.

[phantomman]

My '78 Twin Reverb (with JBL's) hasn't left the house since 2003......too damn heavy! And my '99 TRRI (also with JBL's) hasn't budged since 2008. Same reason. Plus I discovered that I never really needed that much power -- I could get the job comfortably done with my '64 Vibroverb or a Deluxe Reverb (at about half the weight).

[Michael Smith]

I've been toying with the idea of tracking down a Fender Super Six Reverb, not because I need one, but just because. A guy I know said he has a possible lead on one. If I do get it I will have to remove the chassis from the cabinet, and probably the speaker baffle board also (assuming it is removable), just to lug it up 17 stairs to my upstairs music room. In any case, I would remove the chassis for inspection and servicing and also check the speakers for correct wiring and voice coil rub or tears in the cones. Once serviced and re-assembled it would probably never leave my 2nd floor until I am long gone.

[phantomman]

I saw an all-original '71 Super Six Reverb on Ebay the night before last -- NYC area (local pickup only) for $1000. Near-mint condition, I don't think it was ever moved since the day the original owner bought it. I think I can guess why.

[Don]

My Vibrolux Reverb hasn't left the house in many years. Even its size and weight is more than I care to carry. My Dr. Z Cure gets the job done for me, for the most part.

[DanTheBluesMan]

I just brought my '90s Super amp home and into the house tonight. More weight that I care to carry with one hand, but able to tilt it and grap opposite corners and hoof it that way. It's in the office under the bench. It might stay there until I get the basement squared.

It sounds glorious, bass without flab. Going to have the house to myself the next couple of days/nights. Run all the guitars through it. It's going to make a heck of a tandem with the Marshall halfstack. If I get a straight cab for the Marshall to make a full stack, I might commission a 4x10 open back cab for the Super.

Pictures soon, have to do a thread about it.

[Don]

I just brought my '90s Super amp home and into the house tonight. More weight that I care to carry with one hand, but able to tilt it and grap opposite corners and hoof it that way. It's in the office under the bench. It might stay there until I get the basement squared.

It sounds glorious, bass without flab. Going to have the house to myself the next couple of days/nights. Run all the guitars through it. It's going to make a heck of a tandem with the Marshall halfstack. If I get a straight cab for the Marshall to make a full stack, I might commission a 4x10 open back cab for the Super.

Pictures soon, have to do a thread about it.

I love 4x10 Fenders. I had a Concert II 410 for almost 10 years in the '80s. I had a '67 Super Reverb for a while and chose to sell it ans stick with my Vibrolux Reverb because the SR was too much amp for me to carry and use. I serviced a tweed Bassman reissue a few years ago and loved it, even at sane volume levels.
The '67 SR and Bassman were surprisingly lighter than the Concert.

[phantomman]

The '67 SR and Bassman were surprisingly lighter than the Concert.

Likely due to their solid plank, pine-cab construction.

[Michael Smith]

Likely due to their solid plank, pine-cab construction.

The 4 x 10 cabinet I built recently can be lifted with one hand. I used pine boards, and the alnico speaker magnets aren't as heavy as ceramics would be. The 3/4 inch particle board baffle does add some weight.

I wouldn't want to carry it up or down stairs or a long distance, but it's fairly easy to move around the room.