Many guitarists will love the Quilter Aviator Mach 3 after even a cursory review of its features, its portability, and its quality of sound. This flexible solid-state combo dishes out a wide array of tones in a compact, lightweight package, with power-scaling from 200 down to 0 watts to fit any scenario.
The Aviator Mach 3 Is a Robust Flagship Amp from Quilter
The Aviator Mach 3 by Quilter Labs is quite literally one of the most lightweight and powerful combo amplifiers money can buy. The two-channel combo gets its versatility from a channel-independent voice selector switch, which includes six individual settings representing some of the most beloved amps of the ’50, ’60s, and beyond. Onboard effects include reverb and tremolo, plus it has its own effects loop so you can connect pedals. As a pedal platform alone, it performs impressively well for guitarists who derive the majority of their tone from stompboxes.
Great Tone at High & Low Volumes
Quilter Labs equipped the Aviator Mach 3 with a high-quality Celestion Copperback speaker. It offers up a nicely balanced sound for any number of tones. And as a solid-state amp, you’re able to coax inspiring sounds out of it at high or low volumes.
- RELATED: The 10 Best Small Tube Amp Options for Home Use
- RELATED: The 6 Best Practice Amps
The other great feature from this amp is built-in power-scaling that essentially controls the speaker volume. You can dial it in anywhere between 0 and 200 watts, so the amp is ready for everything from the coffeeshop to larger clubs. Because it’s so portable, too, you can use it for quiet practice at home, full band rehearsal, and finally the live performance.
Quilter Mach 3 Review: How Does It Sound?
The Aviator Mach 3 makes an excellent amp for blues, country, jazz, rock, and pop guitar players. There’s truly a ton of variety you can bring out of this little combo thanks to its six voicings.
However, this amp could hypothetically work for any genre based on how well it handles pedals. Lets say you’re a metal guitarist who gets their distortion from a high-quality pedal. The Mach 3 could easily be your platform on which to build your sound — for any genre.
An Amazingly Lightweight Build
Quilter Labs somehow managed to make a two-channel, 1×12 combo weigh a slight 21 pounds. Touted as the performing guitar player’s all-in-one toolkit, it’s important that the amp not only sounds fantastic, but is actually portable. 21 pounds is ridiculously light for an amp of this size and power.
200 Watts of Pure Tube-Like Power
Equally important as the sound coming from the amp is how it feels in the player’s hands. Every guitarist knows the responsiveness of a good tube amp and how direct it can be. It feels like notes are leaping from the fretboard, and it’s such a dynamic and nuanced playing experience.
That’s always been hard to replicate with solid-state electronics, and particularly these days, with digital amp simulators. Somehow the Mach 3 retains much of the “feel” of a tube amplifier, which surely most players will find to be a massive plus. It seems as though there’s very little compromise with the Aviator Mach 3.
Versatile Channeling
Each of the two channels on this amp has its own input. Technically, you could run both simultaneously for two instrumentalists if you ever needed to. We’ve also described the six distinct voicings on either channel that harken back to the glory days of rock. Rest assured, this amp is versatile and effective.
Where Would the Quilter Mach 3 Be at Home?
The Mach 3 is a great all-around amplifier for practice, rehearsal, and gigging. It checks all of the boxes in terms of size, power, and portability — it’s an amp you don’t mind lugging from place to place, because it’s so lightweight.
Tonally, it covers many bases as well. With the exception of high-gain metal/hard rock, this amp can do just about everything else. Leave it to pedals to make up for anything the Mach 3 may be lacking, and you have yourself a formidable, flexible rig that does everything.
Our Take: Impressive Power & Tonal Flexibility in a Portable Chassis
We find the Quilter Labs Aviator Mach 3 to be a genuinely outstanding guitar amplifier. It seamlessly marries the flexibility of a digital amp simulator, the feel of a tube amp, and the portability of a solid-state amp. The Mach 3 would definitely be a gigging guitarist’s best friend, though it’s equally as impressive in the studio as well.
