Got my Quilter Steelaire

Marco Schouten · Post by **Marco Schouten** » 31 May 2014 9:17 am

The mailman delivered my Quilter Steelaire today. I ordered it from the European dealer in Danmark. Bummer, I only had half an hour of time to play with it.
Compared to my Evans, it has a brighter tone, more "twangy". One strange thing I notice is that it seems to react to the guitar faster, more direct. Hard to describe. After the weekend I'll have more time to fool around with it and dial in my tone.

Chris Brooks · Post by **Chris Brooks** » 31 May 2014 9:39 am

Best wishes with your new amp, Marco. I hope you are getting a chance to "play out" with it!

Groetjes,

Chris

Marco Schouten · Post by **Marco Schouten** » 1 Jun 2014 8:35 am

Thanks Chris.
I will use it to record some demo's in the next few weeks.

jerry harkins · Post by **jerry harkins** » 11 Jun 2014 5:28 am

Hey Marco, I have a Quilter Steelaire and yes it has lots of highs being that it's voiced for
Guitar and Steel, took me awhile to get it set to my liking but I really like the way it's sounding! I use a Evans also so the extra highs and mids confused me at first.
The adjustments are more sensitive than I was use to.
Here's how I set mine, first for plenty of power and headroom
I plug into channel one but turn channel 1&2 nobs to 4 or 5.
Then turn the channel nob to 1&2.
My settings are-
Bass- 7 1/2
Low mids- 1 1/2
High mids- 2
Treb- 2 1/2
Hope that helps.

Marco Schouten · Post by **Marco Schouten** » 12 Jun 2014 10:07 am

Hi Jerry, I will try your settings tomorrow.
I ended up with Lows on 6, Low Mids on 4.5, High Mids 5 and Treble at 5. That's with the JCH. For the Sho-Bud I'd probably use different settings, but I haven't played it for a while.
Very different. I really like the reverb on this amp. I have the level between 2 and 3, Dwell at 7 or 8 and the tone at 3.

Strange, but this amp inspires me to play every spare minute.

David Wren · Post by **David Wren** » 20 Jun 2014 2:06 pm

I bit the bullet today and ordered myself a Steelaire Combo.... excited to give it a try, I've got a string of outdoor gigs coming up... the Fender Twin Custom 15 is too heavy (or I'm too old

), and the NV 112 with the 15" Weber, as much as I love it inside... needs a little more oomph!

I'll post my results.

Chris Bauer · Post by **Chris Bauer** » 20 Jun 2014 3:08 pm

I finally had the chance to hear one of these 'in the wild' last night (Gary Morse' recently acquired one). Sounded great and, though I thought the number of controls might make it come off as a bit fiddly, the layout was extremely sensible and I really loved the utility of the remote controller on the leg of the steel.

David Rogerson · Post by **David Rogerson** » 20 Jun 2014 9:34 pm

Have just carried 1 back to Australia from the US, ( thanks to Jim Palenscar & JayDee Maness). Very impressed with the design & very happy with the sound. This the first solid state amp I have heard that sounds equally great on steel & Telecaster. Definitely not a sterile, clinical sound, as has been my experience in the past with solid state, and with the added bonus of light weight puts the icing on the cake for me. Highly recommended.

David Wren · Post by **David Wren** » 21 Jun 2014 7:50 pm

Thanks Chris and David! You guys are making my day.

Come On UPS!!!

Jim Eaton · Post by **Jim Eaton** » 22 Jun 2014 2:32 pm

I have had my steelaire for about 6 weeks now and it has been so easy to dial in great sound across a number of gigs & sessions.
JE:-)>

David Wren · Post by **David Wren** » 22 Jun 2014 8:16 pm

I know Jim.... I told Patty it was your idea for me to buy this amp!

.... I just did an outside gig this afternoon... and used my Fender Twin Custom 15... and it sounded wonderful... then we started packing up, and I picked up this amp.....

Come on UPS!

Jim Eaton · Post by **Jim Eaton** » 23 Jun 2014 7:49 am

My pack-a-seat weighs more that my Steelaire does!
And I think I said "you need to TRY one of these"!:)

JE:-)>

David Wren · Post by **David Wren** » 26 Jun 2014 11:26 am

So, the amp came last night around 8:00..... and now it's noon the next day... so I guess I can stop playing long enough to say this amp is certainly all it is advertised to be.... all based on my playing here in my studio so far.

Very easy to dial in a sweet warm tone, that still sparkles with a high presence... and plenty of punch for my outdoor gigs... to sum up, I'm one happy camper!

Maiden voyage for a live gig is tomorrow night!

I love the sound of my Fender Twin Custom 15... but I'm guessing it's gonna gather a bunch of dust this summer season

... oh yeah, and look for my used hand truck in the "For Sale" section

Thanks Quilter Labs for remembering the steel playing community!

David Wren · Post by **David Wren** » 27 Jun 2014 11:12 pm

So I just unloaded everything from my first gig with the Steelaire amp...

It was an outdoor gig, playing by the American River for a bunch of relaxing river rafters....

The amp was simply amazing... I really don't know what more I could want in a steel amp.... and the rest of band just loved it too!!! I used the direct out to the PA, and it sounded just like the tone coming from my amp... and the tone coming from my amp was oh so nice! Power, tone, great electronics, lot of spare headroom for using my volume pedal... and all in a 35 pound package...

So glad I bought one!

mike nolan · Post by **mike nolan** » 29 Jul 2014 9:36 pm

Did you Steelaire guys notice if the amp got better after a break in period. I just bought one, and I really don't like the mids. It isn't "bad" it just isn't quite there. I am mostly a tube amp guy and next to my Fender tube amps, there seems to be some missing depth. Tried it with a Sho~Bud with an original 705, a D-10 Emmons PP, and a Williams U-12. I have a couple of days to return it, so I'm wondering if it is going to improve.

Jimbo Watkins · Post by **Jimbo Watkins** » 30 Jul 2014 10:13 am

The Eminence speaker will sound overly mid-range honky for quite a few playing hour before it's broken in. I have a Quilter Tone Block and an Eminence EPS-15C which I would have to think is pretty similar to the Eminence that Quilter is using.

I would prefer the Steelaire over the Tone Block for amp voicing and EQ control, but now that my speaker is more broken in, I am much more happy with the tone I'm getting.

The break in period was around 20+ hours of play time.

Not exactly a direct Steelaire response, but hopefully helpfull. Good Luck!

Morton Kellas · Post by **Morton Kellas** » 2 Aug 2014 8:00 am

I have had my Steelaire since the end of March and it has warmed up considerably and just keeps getting better. I also like the sound of it with my Tele as well. I made the mistake of letting an EPS-15 speaker go without giving it a fair chance to break in properly, now I regret it.

mike nolan · Post by **mike nolan** » 2 Aug 2014 9:11 am

Thanks for the info.... I'm giving it another day or so. Great SS amp and pro feature set, so I want this to work.

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 2 Aug 2014 9:35 am

Mike, try running your stereo/computer/iPod through it for some day and a half.

mike nolan · Post by **mike nolan** » 2 Aug 2014 11:53 am

Running some EDM through it right now..... while I go out for the rest of the afternoon.

Lane Gray · Post by **Lane Gray** » 2 Aug 2014 1:05 pm

Enkle Dave Macon?

mike nolan · Post by **mike nolan** » 2 Aug 2014 4:56 pm

Jon Light · Post by **Jon Light** » 2 Aug 2014 5:05 pm

Does this mean that from now on you're gonna need Molly to make this amp sound right?

mike nolan · Post by **mike nolan** » 2 Aug 2014 5:29 pm

Molly and her sister!