THE SMALL RIG

Scaled-down on size, but not on horesepower...

I decided, for my second pedalboard to build a compact system instead of another the same size. At the same time I wanted a similar amount of functionality, but simpler and smaller. When I have two Quilter Superblocks it is very difficult not to want to use both of them. However I opted not to build a stereo setup due to the extra complexities involved and I already know that a stereo rig is overkill for any of the gigs I play.

After spending a great deal of time comparing the two amps and swaying between which was my favourite of the two (I still can't choose between them) I discovered which amp works best with certain pedals in my arsenal. It has led me to build the big rig with the Superblock US and its associated pedals and now the small rig based around the Superblock UK.

Althought pushed for space I decided I must have two things on this board that the big rig has. The IR direct out and the noise suppression. They take up a good portion of the space available, but maintain a level of overall performance that keeps up with the bigger, fuller-featured board. This means it'll be up to the job of doing any gig, just like the big rig, just with less options for effects.

This small rig delivers the same useable outputs to the speaker cab and direct to the PA.

The gain options are setup differently with slightly less variation in gain settings, but resulting in a similar function overall."The Sag", my trusty EP Booster clone (with less headroom than a real EP Booster) is always on after the drive pedals: A Tomsline Bluesy (Bluesbreaker OD clone) and a Mosky MM Silver (I have one of these on the big rig too). Both the overdrives are set with a healthy amount of drive and volume boost into the already cooking preamp of the Superblock UK.

Into the Sag the output level of the drives gets soaked up somewhat and starts to overload the circuit of the Sag. This results in a harmonically smooth and clear drive up to a fuzz-like lead tone, but not like an actual fuzz. It's a bit more refined and a bit clearer in the overall mix. It's a nice alternative to the sound of the big rig without being drastically different.

In the FX loop of the amp I have the NUX Edge delay, which is basically the delay side of the Nux Atlantic on the big rig, keeping things familiar between the two. The output of the Nux edge is split with a Y cable that goes back to the amp's FX return and to the Sonicake Sonic IR loader - just like the big rig.

The Quilter Superblock UK is a great amp. I spend most of my time on the 1979 JMP voice (the Marshall-inspired voice), but occasionally I'll switch to one of the AC voices (Vox-inspired) to be a little cleaner. The AC voices sound better to me with the gain set higher (3 o'clock and above) and I tend to prefer the AC NORM to the AC TOP. However there is not a huge difference between them.

I set gain at 3 to 4 o'clock in general and limiter to 2 o'clock and above into a 1x10 or 1x12 cab. My closed-back 1x10 Tonetubby alnico red cab sounds great with this rig when the treble is turned up high and likewise with the IR of the same Tonetubby speaker.

The overall size of the board is 10" x 9" and fits into my small-size RockHouse case. It's a very-small, high-performance setup that is great for taking to rehearsalsand gigs alike. I can see myself using this rig as much as I use the big rig, even though it is missing some of the refinements of the bigger rig. It rocks just as hard.

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