PRODUCT REVIEW
22
QuiDLeY
BY JoRdAn WAGnER
Working at PG, I get to observe a lot of the
trends that ebb and flow through the industry.
A perfect example is the explosion of small,
low-power tube amplifiers over the past several years. One individual who understands this
trend is Ed Quidley, and he definitely knows
more than a thing or two about low-wattage
amplification. The Quidley 22, his first commercial creation, was the culmination of not
only the sound of a low-watt tube amp, but the
knowledge of their history as well. Extremely
loud tube amplifiers were largely the product
of inadequate PA technology that was unable
to keep up with the expanding seating requirements of rock shows in the past. The obsession
with manufacturing amps that could produce a
clean, loud signal caused small tube amplifiers
to be swept under the radar, only to have their
unique, singing tones rediscovered decades
later. The Quidley 22 aims to encapsulate
those sounds of decades past, with a few new
tricks added in for good measure.
The Quidley has a few more features than one
might expect from a simple, single-channel
22-watt amp. Rather than provide multiple
channels for gain changes, there are two switchable gain stages (Normal and High Gain),
which are selectable from the front panel or the
included footswitch. Combined with separate
high- and low-gain input jacks, these give the
player a total of four available tones to start
with. The tone stack comprises four controls:
Treble, Middle, Bass and Brilliance. The first
three are active controls (cut or boost) and the
Brilliance gives passive control over the upper
harmonics. The Quidley’s rear panel sports an
effects loop, and impedance selector switch and
a Pentode/Triode switch (HI or LOW), so the
amp can operate at 22 watts or approximately
8 watts. The rear panel also provides a Mode
switch (Open or Closed), which is essentially a
negative feedback loop switch—a really handy
feature. In the “Open” position, the amplifier
takes on a less compressed nature, good for
producing the lower gain tones made famous
by Vox and Matchless. When switched to the
“Closed” (negative feedback loop) position, the
Quidley becomes more aggressive, tight and
compressed, geared more towards wide-open,
high-gain tones familiar to Marshall fans.
Plugging in
The instrument of choice to begin testing the
Quidley was a Duesenberg Mike Campbell signature semi-hollowbody guitar. It’s always proven
to be quite a versatile instrument, and the best
tones that I’ve been able to produce with it have
generally come from lower-wattage amplifiers.
I decided to kick off my Quidley experience
