Best pedal sized power amp to use QC with my Mesa 4x12 cabinet?

Quad Cortex
1

I like the form factor of the Powerstage 170 with the QC, but not sure that’s the best option? I don’t like how it has Bass/Mid/High options. I’d rather just have a volume dial on the amp and then use the EQ on my QC so the tone doesn’t get muddied up. The ISP Stealth 180 watt has this, but reviews seem mixed. What’s a good option under $400? Thanks for any help!

2

I like the design of the Hotone Loudster
Which has exactly as you describe only a volume knob. I cannot tell you first hand experience, because I don’t own one. Mayby someone on the forum with some first hand info?

Is the amp powerfull enough? (75W into 4,8,16 Ohm)
Does it sound “neutral”? etc.

3

Yea I did see that one, but wasn’t sure if it’s powerful enough.

4

Have you looked at the Quilter pedal amps?

5

I have both the Powerstage 200 and 700 models and they don’t muddy things up at all. In fact, I find the opposite, they really help dial in your tone especially if you occasionally change cabs or play in different rooms. If you want, you can simply leave the EQ controls set flat and then only use your amp models’ EQ to shape your tone like you usually would. I think flat should have little to no effect but I could be wrong and they may have some effect even when flat. Don’t be fooled though, the Powerstage EQ controls are extremely useful and powerful and I find they have more affect on the overall tone than the amp/preamp EQs do. They work great at fine tuning the sound to work with your real cab and the room you’re playing in.

You can actually get the Powerstage 200 which is not too much bigger than the 170 and it has a button to defeat the EQ section plus you get more power on top of that. It should still fit nicely on a pedalboard.

Just dial in a good amp tone in your QC with the Powerstage EQ knobs set to flat and then if necessary, use the Powerstage EQ as needed like when playing in different venues. It’s super powerful to super easy to simply turn the physical EQ knobs on the Powerstage to fine tune your sound rather than going in the QC amp model and making changes there. I do it all the time and it works great.