• GLOW STIC ONE and GLOW STIC TWO!


    GLOW Pedals for Bass, Electric, and Acoustic Guitars!








  • The ULTIMATE in ANALOG tube amp simulating pedals!

    "GLOW Pedals" use the all new proprietary...

    "Solid-Tube-Technology™"(STT)

    Developed by QES to take "tube tone" into the 21st century and beyond!

    • The FIRST pedals to ACCURATELY produce tube tone and dynamics in an all ANALOG format giving maximum tube style compression and classic overdrive at any volume!
    • Indistinguishable from actual vacuum tube amps
    • The "GLOW Series™" pedals will never "clip" like a simple diode based distortion or overdrive pedal! Instead, "GLOW Pedals" use an "engineered" overload technique only found in QES "Solid-Tube-Technology™"(STT) based products.
    • Go DIRECT into any PA, mixer, or even your stereo or computer speakers!
    • All Analog - Nothing Digital - No Latency
    • Exceptionally Low Noise - Perfect for single coil pickups
    • Ideal for Live or Studio use
    • No High Voltage - Standard "Off The Shelf" Power Supply
    • Designed, Engineered, and Manufactured in Port Townsend WA USA

  • James "Hutch" Hutchinson at the QES NAMM booth!



    • Special thanks to ShnobelTone for the great video!


  • "The best piece of equipment ever made! I guarantee it!" - Sir Charles Cleveland




  • "Strung out on it... Awesome. Exactly what I was looking for!" "Started using this "Bass Glow" on the road with Bonnie Raitt last year on the James Taylor/Bonnie Raitt dates and lit up when I heard it. A game changer... especially if one is using IEMs. Sounds great out of the amp as well. Check it out! Thanks to Roman of Shnobel Tone for the introduction and all at Quimper Electronic Systems"



  • "It's a winner! The folks at QES have innovated a new series of products that greatly improve guitar tone. By figuring out how to crystallize the feel and sound of tubes into a transistor based product is a remarkable achievement. I've used the "Warm Glow™" and AcoustaGlow™ direct to house PA's, Bose systems, guitar amps, and as a DI in recording sessions. The tone in every application is warmer, and responds and feels like a tube amp. You never want to turn it off because it makes your signal chain come alive. I also use the "Warm Glow™" to warm up digital effects and amp sims such as the Line 6 Helix and the Kemper Profiling Amp. Another application is as a crunch box in front of a clean tube amp. The AcoustaGlow™ makes my nylon stringed Taylor come alive in fingerpicked, strummed, or flamenco settings. There's more presence and body in overall tone. The "GLOW Pedals" are now staples on my live and fly-rigs and I don't see that changing for many years to come. Kudos to QES!"

  • "I get asked to do a fair share of straight into the board overdubbing, and this "Warm Glow™" has made it so much easier and more toneful... really can approximate my Princeton being in the loop. Glad I found this thing!"










  • "The Quimper "Warm Glow™" pedal is a dream pedal for me. It has served me well when I can't bring an amp on tour do to flying. Backline amps are always a gamble and this little pedal has saved the show numerous times.

    Regardless of the sound system this pedal the gives warmth, presence, and breakup (when needed) of a tube amp. I don't get it. It's like a magic pedal.

    I have had this pedal plugged directed into every PA system imaginable, from an 80's peavey house system to a Bose tower. It gives me the response and sound that allows for effortless playing. Unlike plugging an electric into an average DI the "Warm Glow™" has some magic along with gain and volume so I can set it to give back exactly what I am putting into it. It allows my fingers and guitar to produce the sound they are meant to produce."


  • "I am amazed at the beautiful vintage sound produced by the "Warm Glow™" pedal as a direct box to the PA. I also love it as a boost pedal with my Retrofier Amp - it's replaced my "go-to" vintage amp that I swore by for over 35 years!"













    • Special thanks to ShnobelTone for the great video and demonstrating that going direct can be analog, powerful, simple and sweet!



  • A Quick look at the Controls and Connections of the "GLOW Series™" Pedals

    1. POWER INPUT: Plug in the supplied 12 Volt power supply here.(these are "off the shelf" power supplies and cheap to replace!)
    2. LINE/INSTRUMENT OUTPUT: Connect your balance or unbalanced line output cable from here to a mixer, powered PA speaker input, DAW, OR connect an unbalanced instrument cable to any guitar amplifier input or pedal.
    3. INSTRUMENT INPUT: Plug in your Guitar(Warm Glow™), Bass(Bass Glow™), Acoustic Guitar, Violin, Uke, etc.(AcoustaGlow™), or just about any other instrument. Experiment!
    4. DRIVE CONTROL: (high gain mode): This control's range takes you from clean tube amp tone all the way up to rich and dynamic tube amp crunch (think Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, AC/DC, etc.).
    5. OUTPUT CONTROL: (high gain mode): The range of this control sets the output level of the overdrive mode to balance with the clean mode for perfect rhythm/lead balance.
    6. FOOT SWITCH: Step on this button to go between wonderfully clean tube amp tone (blue indicator), and the equally amazing tube amp overdrive tone (modulated amber indicator). Think clean tube amp AND high gain tube amp in one pedal!


  • "GLOW Series™" Pedals demo sound clips!

    • Blues band 1

      • The setup on this one uses an electric guitar(Tele) plugged directly into the "Warm Glow™", then with a balanced TRS cable plugged into a USB interface. From here it goes into a computer running a Digital Audio Workstation program(DAW). The session has a drum track, two takes of the guitar into a "Warm Glow™" and one take of an electric bass fed into the "Bass Glow™". The only effect added by the DAW is reverb and there is no post production compression for the mix. In fact, there wasn't any mixing involved. The "Warm Glow™" has such wonderful natural tube style compression even when clean, that mixing is very soft and effortless.

    • Blues band 2

      • This one is the same setup as above but without bass and a bit of delay on the lead.

    • "We Shall See" solo - original "Retrofiers" song(our band)

      • This one is a clip of two stem tracks which are both direct recordings using the "Warm Glow™", from one of our original songs.

    • 335 Jazz guitar 1

      • This one uses a 335 type Jazz guitar with flat wound strings and a single P90 single coil pickup in the neck position.

    • Blues harp through the "Warm Glow™"?

      • Stephen Maxwell plays into his new "Warm Glow™" direct, giving him some really nice overdrive and great tube tone. Thank you Stephen for the clip!



  • Frequently Asked Questions



  • There are several ways to use "GLOW Series™" pedals and they ALL sound incredible!

    • Use them to get direct tube amp tone into a PA
    • As tube amp conversion pedals for solid state amps or even acoustic amps
    • Puff up tube amps with even more tube tone, compression, and overdrive
    • Run them directly into digital workstations to get proper amp tone and process from there
    • Use them to convert an amplified PA speaker into a guitar amp
    • Get real amp tone from your stereo!
    • Make any computer speakers sound like a tube amp!


  • "GLOW Series™" Ordering!



  • Retro style Combo Guitar Amp with Tremolo and Spring Reverb!



  • The Retrofier Roadtripper MCM™. The first truly "tube simulating" ANALOG solid state amp!

    • Yes there are so many amps and pedals out there making all sorts of claims, but we can guarantee you that this one is one of a kind. The Roadtripper MCM™ must be heard to be believed. The sound is as retro as the look and has many tube lovers and "tone freaks" scratching their heads :)



    The MCM™'s circuits rival the quality of high end mixing consoles and include proprietary QES techniques that produce tube characteristics that can even outperform tubes!

    The 3 band constant-Q EQ is precise and covers a wide range of tone, the tremolo has a very wide range oscillator and 100% modulation giving some dramatic effects from volume swells to sci fi. The spring reverb is driven by a QES tube simulation and recovered with exceptionally low noise producing a range from sweet background fill to dripping surf.




    The clip below demonstrates the Roadtripper MCM™'s incredible sound quality as heard from it's own balanced line output.

    What you hear in this clip is the amp directly fed into a digital audio recorder while under test in the QES lab. The tone controls, tremolo, and spring reverb are all being used. The feel of compression is actually the tube effect of our very unique preamp circuits. Post production compression was not used.



  • Jessica Lynne gets her new MCM!




  • Retrofier™ Amps on the radio!

    • Watch "Sundae and Mr Goessl" on KNKX Radio featuring our all new Retrofier Roadtripper MCM™ guitar amplifier with tremolo as well as our Retrofier Roadtripper Black Tie Acoustic with vocal!

  • "Makes My Heart Sway"



  • "Strat Tone" Retrofier™ style

    • Tom Harter, a finalist in the Guitar Center "King of the Blues" competition in Appleton WI, test drives a Roadtripper MCM™ during Jason Goessl and Kate Voss's fall tour 2016. Tom's guitar is going directly into the amp using it's beautiful spring reverb and tremolo. No pedals to be found. The Roadtripper MCM™ can't help sounding incredibly huge despite the casual cell phone recording.



  • Retrofier Roadtripper MCM™ Features

    • Available in a wide variety of colors
    • Super low noise
    • All analog - No digital circuits - Zero latency
    • Industry changing analog Solid-Tube-Technology™ circuit developed by QES gives it classic tube style tone and dynamics
    • Very high quality tremolo circuit with wide range rate and depth
    • Built-in metal speaker stand adaptor
    • 8" Jensen speaker
    • Wide band spring reverb
    • Professional quality 3 band constant-Q tone control(EQ)
    • 18 watt (tube equivalent power) QES "Solid-Tube-Technology™" power amplifier
    • VERY lightweight and portable - approximately 15 Pounds/6.8 kg
    • Small and light enough to travel as a carry-on airline bag
    • Can be powered anywhere in the world using simple adaptors or by changing the line cord
    • Tone characteristics and input level configurable by custom order
    • No dangerous voltages as found in tube amps
    • Maintenance free
    • Lifetime warranty
    • Designed, engineered, and hand assembled in the USA
    • Just plain cool!



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    Last updated: 29 March 2024