In the spirit of condensing touring rigs, Quilter Labs has come up with a handy two-in-one solution where the van is the amp.
Now, it’s worth noting that The Vamp (van + amp = vamp) comes with a disclaimer in that Quilter is not responsible for any noise complaints, broken windows, or bleeding eardrums that cranking a 200,000-watt van may cause. All decibel blistering carnage produced by the vehicle’s built-in octet of 12” speakers – which are plumbed into the chassis no less – is of each user’s making.
Sure, the Quad Cortex – and its even-dinkier younger brother, the Quad Cortex Mini – are handy tools for gigging musicians. I just gigged with one and could easily take my Charvel and QC on the train, something a tube amp user could never dream of, but driving my amp to the gig? Well, that’s another story altogether.
More still, it’s got a spec sheet that would make Jeremy Clarkson need to put a pillow over his lap. 200K watts of Class Q glory, eight 12-inch custom-mounted speakers, signal-synchronized LEDs, a built-in fog machine, and the ability to go up to 60mph combine to leave digital modeler users eating dust. Literally.
It can seat five, and for those curious, it weighs 4,600 lbs. Talk about heavy.
“Every amp we’ve ever built has been about doing more with less,” says Quilter Labs founder, Patrick Quilter. “With The Vamp, we wanted to find out what happens when you do more with dramatically more. The answer weighs 4,600 pounds and comes with its own parking problem.”
Guitar World doesn’t have any inside information, but we believe the famously car-loving Yngwie Malmsteen will be first in the queue. Given that he recently sold one of his guitars (with a free Ferrari), he should have plenty of cash spare.
Quilter Labs adds that its team “spent months wiring, soldering, and questioning their life choices” to deliver a vehicle that, if our data is correct, is the world’s largest combo amplifier. And possibly the only amplifier capable of getting a speeding ticket*.
Priced at $274,999, it’s not the most affordable, but you could also live in it if/when you get kicked out of your apartment for having 10 too many noise complaints. So, you know, it’s futureproof.
See Quilter Labs for more.
*Only if you're driving downhill.
