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Topic: Quilter Steelaire Speaker |
Bruce Meyer
From: Thompson's Station, TN
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Posted 30 Jun 2019 4:55 pm
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Have any of you replaced the stock Quilter speaker with a Travis Toy 15? And if so, I'd value you sharing your thoughts. Thanks. |
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Morton Kellas
From: Chazy, NY, USA 1
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Posted 3 Jul 2019 7:45 am
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I have tried it and and went back to the original speaker that came with the Quilter. I thought that the original speaker matched the amp better. Quilter tested several speakers to find the right match for their amp, this is only my opinion which some may agree or disagree with. The Quilter speaker is front loaded so you will need to make sure that you have a proper gasket if you try it with the TT. The 15" TT is a wonderful speaker and sounded great in my Tommy Huff cabinet with a Quilter rack mount. The cabinet dimensions do make a difference. The Tommy Huff cabinet was deeper and with the speaker being rear loaded, impacted the way the speaker sounded. I would leave the stock speaker in the Quilter, as you can EQ it to sound pretty good. I do use a Freeloader which does smooth out the high end. Best wishes. |
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Bruce Meyer
From: Thompson's Station, TN
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Posted 4 Jul 2019 7:08 am
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Morton. Thanks very much for the reply. There's a ton of good information in it. I'm struggling a bit to get a satisfactory, to me, tone from the Steelaire. I haven't used it in a while, but last weekend on an outside gig I did.
When you play through the Steelaire, are you frequently playing at loud volumes? And if so, does it handle it in your opinion? |
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Jack Stoner
From: Kansas City, MO
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Posted 4 Jul 2019 7:14 am
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I have a Steelaire rack and I use it with an Eminence EPS-15C. I was at a steel jam this past winter and one of the guys had a Steelaire combo. His settings were slightly different than mine (don't remember how he was set) but mine and his sounded close to the same.
FWIW, my EQ settings are
Bass 7
Low and Hi Mid 5
Treble 3
I saw a post on the Quilter FB page from someone else with a Steelaire (don't remember if it was a rack or combo)
His settings are
Bass 8
Lo Mid 6
Hi Mid 5 1/2
Treble 3
EDIT/I have Lawrence 710's on my Franklin
Last edited by Jack Stoner on 4 Jul 2019 9:36 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Morton Kellas
From: Chazy, NY, USA 1
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Posted 4 Jul 2019 8:59 am
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Bruce, I don't usually play extremely loud but have used my Steelaire in several outside venues and in halls seating over 500 people and it handled them all very well. I do use the channel 1&2 setting together. I am playing a Mullen G2 and my settings are:
Bass-6
Lo Mid-4
Hi Mid-3
Treble-2.5
Limiter-3
I have never had to max out the master volume. I keep it around 5-7 and the gains 3-4. These settings don't really mean too much because they will vary for each individual depending on the equipment they are using. The G2 is a bright guitar, but the Freeloader tames it down very well.
Don't give up on the Steelaire, this amp EQ's differently than a Peavey. Keep adjusting it to match the equipment you have and you should be able to get a very acceptable sound.
Jack, you always sound good, hope to see you at the steel jam in the fall. |
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Bruce Meyer
From: Thompson's Station, TN
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Posted 4 Jul 2019 11:15 am
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Morton, Jack. Thanks much. As always, you are very helpful.
Because of experience and several other comment chains on the forum, I feel that the Steelaire is suitable for low to medium volume gigs or loud ones where amps are miked. For higher volume gigs, it does not have sufficient power to compete with guitar amps one on one.
In an outside gig last weekend, the guitar players, who trade between bass and guitar each, had their Fenders up at about 5 master. I had the Steelaire at 10 on the volume and almost 10 on the gain. It still was a struggle to keep up. I may need to risk straining my back for anticipated louder gigs and haul the ole' Nash 1000 out sometimes. It delivers. |
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Malcolm McMaster
From: Beith Ayrshire Scotland
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Posted 5 Jul 2019 9:05 am
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Bruce, I had same problem with my steelaire amp head, great tone but sadly lacking in power, back to using my MB200 which leaves Steelaire standing power wise, but not as good on tone. _________________ MSA Millenium SD10, GK MB200, Sica 12inch cab, Joyo American Sound Pedal/ Jay Ganz Straight Ahead amp, Telonics 15inch in Peavey cab, Digitech RP150, Peterson tuner.Hilton volume pedal.Scott Dixon seat and guitar flight case. |
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Jim Cooley
From: The 'Ville, Texas, USA
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Posted 5 Jul 2019 9:36 am
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I have no power issues with my steelaire rackmount unit. I haven't compared the two side by side, but it seems avery bit as loud as my Webb, especially with both channels selected.
Regarding the volume comparison between the Quilter and Fender amps, I wonder if this in an example of the age old difference in perceived loudness between solid state vs. tube amps. Watts are Watts. However an 85 Watt Fender Twin sounds to most ears approximately as loud as a 200/212 Watt solid state amp. If your band mates are using 100 or 135 Watt Fenders, the perceived difference could be even greater. The volume setting numbers on Fender tube amps aren't necessarily linear either, meaning you can get most of your volume in the first half of the dial. So, 5 might really be a lot closer to 10 than the expected "half way up." |
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Malcolm McMaster
From: Beith Ayrshire Scotland
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Posted 5 Jul 2019 10:40 am
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Jim in my case lead player had a 30 watt tube amp with a 12inch speaker cab. First half of gig I could not cut through let alone keep up with him. At interval I changed to my MB 200, still using same cab, 15 Inch Telonics, what a difference, the Steelaire was channels 1+2 gains at 9 master 10, MB 200. Gain about 6 master 8, both amps are supposed to be 200 watts, but Steelaire was left standing. Steelaire has great tone, but even in moderate volume gigs needed cranked up to cut through, MB has good tone, but not as good as Steelaire, but all the power you would ever need. From a personal point of view the Steelaire was a waste of $900. Now looking at V8 or other good preamp with Jay Ganz Dclass 500watt to cut down on weight. _________________ MSA Millenium SD10, GK MB200, Sica 12inch cab, Joyo American Sound Pedal/ Jay Ganz Straight Ahead amp, Telonics 15inch in Peavey cab, Digitech RP150, Peterson tuner.Hilton volume pedal.Scott Dixon seat and guitar flight case. |
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Jim Cooley
From: The 'Ville, Texas, USA
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Posted 5 Jul 2019 11:23 am
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Sorry to hear that, Malcolm. I've been very pleasantly surprised by my Steelaire. It sounds like you got "one of those."
I also have a Ganz "Straight Ahead" amp. It's simple, powerful, very small and lightweight. |
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Morton Kellas
From: Chazy, NY, USA 1
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Posted 5 Jul 2019 11:49 am
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I am with Jim, my Steelaire is as loud as my Fender and I would go deaf if I ever maxed it out. I truly believe that some are having power problems, especially after reading so many post's, but that is not the case with my combo or the rack mount. I guess some of us got the good ones and some did not. I feel for anyone who spent good money and is not happy with the purchase. Best wishes. |
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Malcolm McMaster
From: Beith Ayrshire Scotland
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Posted 5 Jul 2019 11:54 pm
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Thanks Jim.
Morton, the most annoying thing is not one person from Quilter has said sorry, let’s see what we can do to sort it out, all I got was “ crank it up†from Pat Quilter, despite the fact amp was at max. Very disappointed in their customer service, which until that point had been good. _________________ MSA Millenium SD10, GK MB200, Sica 12inch cab, Joyo American Sound Pedal/ Jay Ganz Straight Ahead amp, Telonics 15inch in Peavey cab, Digitech RP150, Peterson tuner.Hilton volume pedal.Scott Dixon seat and guitar flight case. |
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