Are high powered steel amps becoming obsolete?

Tony Palmer · From: St Augustine,FL

So..back in the day the only amp I would ever consider would be one of the Peavey 300 watt rms or something similar, to have that wonderful headroom and of course for adequate stage volume.
But now even the smallest bands mike the amps through the PA...which was less common years ago.
I'm getting by quite nicely with much smaller amps these days, even doing gigs with a small Roland cube now and then.
In fact having too much stage volume is becoming quite a no-no these days, so wondering if maybe the newest steel amps should be lower powered, lighter and have built in simple effects like delay and boost and focus on super quality components and quality rather than brute power.
I recorded with a 15 watt Fender Princeton and of course got a great sound....who's to say I couldn't do something similar plugged into a great PA?
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Dustin Rhodes · From: Owasso OK

Well a 300 watt SS Peavey and a 15 watt tube Princeton are completely different animals. Given the cheapness of wattage in new class D SS amps there's no reason to limit their power. In tube amps the price goes up considerably with wattage due to the amount of tubes, size of the chassis necessary, and amount of iron needed to put out 100+ watts. Plenty of places don't allow volume levels to make a 100 watt tube amp necessary but I personally prefer the sound of big iron amps even at lower volumes.

Coming from the 6 string side of things I would likely discount any amp with effects built in other than trem or reverb. Effects manufacturers do effects very very well today and there's no reason to have an amp builder do something that's not their specialty and add unnecessary cost and complexity to a product that typically benefits from simplicity and a clean audio path.

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

Only half of the bands I play with DON'T mic the amps, and a Twin sometimes started getting a bit hairy.
I'll keep my Half and Half.
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Mike Brown · From: Meridian, Mississippi USA

I've got good news for you guys! The new Session 115 will be demo'd at the up coming Texas Steel Guitar Jamboree in Dallas.

It's rated at 250 watts per channel stereo, built in digital effects, Peavey Black Widow Neo speaker, handcontroller for effects and more. It weighs 37.5lbs. A 115N extension enclosure available.

Les Cargill · From: Oklahoma City, Ok, USA

Many bands mic the amps and perhaps they should not. And they even moreso should not mic the drums.

IMO, it takes 2x15" @ 100dB SPL /W-m and 1000 watts to comfortably cover vox. Double that for guitars. This for a gig out to 24 meters or so. It takes... more than that to mic the drums and bass.

http://www.doctorproaudio.com/doctor/calculadores_en.htm

The point of 200,300,400 solid-state watts for a steel amp is the same as for a bass amp - headroom.

This being said, I would not object to running a modeller direct with in-ears if it can be managed. And I'd really prefer to play where I don't need much power, but the fact is, I do.

Tony Palmer · From: St Augustine,FL

Wow Mike that new amp sounds like a perfect compromise.
Les, I've gone to hear bands that didn't mike the steel and unless I was sitting in the middle I couldn't hear much of what he played.
I think it's becoming pretty standard to mike everything now. Of course the trick is to balance the sound through the PA...which has become a new problem to deal with!
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Sierra S10 (three!), Peavey 112 and 115, Benoit dobro, Beard Model E dobro, Beard Roadophonic, MSA Superslide, Dean Nickless custom dobro

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

I play 3 regular gigs each month, one is a very large room. we do not mic any amps.
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Len Amaral · From: Rehoboth,MA 02769

The only thing that is obsolete is ME🤓

Anyway, depends what type of music, guitar and band you are playing with I would guess.
Playing C6 or U-12 with the bottom strings not miced to the PA with a loud band you may want and need a higher wattage amp. A single neck E9 with your bottom string a .036 playing at a reasonable volume you may find a lesser wattage and weight amp will do.

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

One thing to remember while contemplating headroom requirements: armpit guitars and lap steels generally play consonant intervals, like octaves, thirds, fourths and fifths. These sound fine with a little hair on them, which is why those old Bob Wills records where Herbie and Joaquin are pushing their amps still sounds fine.
But we OFTEN play VERY dissonant intervals, like divisions of a minor second. Dissonant intervals stick out very badly once the amp starts working hard.
Also, distortion introduces some intermodulation (the difference between the two notes creates a third note, usually completing the major chord implied by those two notes. So when you play the 4th and 5th strings together, the IM distortion creates a G#, and as you squeeze the A pedal, at C, it drops to a G, and as it goes on to the C#, it dives down to the low A.
So it's not that the steel distorts more than an armpit guitar, it's that our hair is less pleasant, so it should be avoided except when we want it.
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Paul Sutherland · From: Placerville, California

I played a club gig this last Thursday night using a 40 watt Milkman. It was mic'd and was easily loud enough. Going to use the same rig at tonight's gig.
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Jamie Mitchell · From: Nashville, TN

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

Doesn't matter how you tune it. The intervals between the start and destination of a change is a series of microtones. And we want those microtones to sound as sweet as the consonant intervals.
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Dustin Kleingartner · From: Saint Paul MN, USA

I was not half as critical of amps before I played steel, and it's becoming a problem. I always think that I need something amp-related that I don't have. Or I am always being hyper-critical of my amps for the most benign deviations from what I think it should sound like.

Example: people in a different thread talking about the new Session 115, and wondering what the price will be. For some reason that makes me feel like I need that amp, and I want to know the price...even though there is no way I can buy one right now (see signature, lol).

I also think that, within reason, most regular guitar amps will work fine for steel in practice situations, even with a drummer playing at about 70% or less
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Dustin Kleingartner · From: Saint Paul MN, USA

Okay, maybe not most regular guitar amps, but A LOT of them
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Richard Sinkler · From: aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana

My NV400 will die when I die. I want

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Tom Quinn · Posted 28 Feb 2016 11:14 am

Nothing sounds as good as my MADE IN USA Peavey amps. But that's for me. I am always wary of being mic'ed as who knows who is running the board.
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Mike Archer · From: church hill tn

im happy using my peavey nash 112

been using peavey for 35 years with great results

the new session 115 sounds promising hope to get to

hear/play through one soon

mike

I should add that I have played through the little walter amp and a few evans and a webb all good
to much money!!!
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Bill L. Wilson · From: Oklahoma, USA

Two wks. ago I played my 1st ever low wattage "Steel and Guitar" gig thru my old '77 Silverface Deluxe Reverb Amp, using an old 1960's Fender Tube Reverb unit in the normal chan. for my Tele. The tone of that amp is amazing for Steel and Guitar. The old Orange Frame JBL-D120F speaker adds to the great tone of this amp. I'm used to playing thru a full Marshall Stack on occasion, but this low volume thing is catching on with me... Even today, (Sun. the 28th) I played guitar at a B'Day party at The Rodeo Opry in OKC. using my newly purchased (from a close friend in East Texas) a one owner '64 Fender Princton Reverb Amp, that has "Tone To The Bone" at low volume....Outdoor gigs this summer will no doubt bring out the big guns, Twin Reverb, Session 400LTD and the Marshall, but for inside, I'm in to these Low Vol. gigs with small amps.

Paddy Long · From: Christchurch, New Zealand

My Telonics TCA-500 will melt a police car at 100 yards !!! Very Happy

love that much power on tap, very versatile amp. Also very lightweight
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b0b · From: Cloverdale, CA, USA

I played almost every gig with a 30 watt Mesa/Boogie Maverick prototype for a long time, until I recently got a Milkman Half & Half. Any gig that required more power had a sound guy who miked it. That's the way things are now.

The reasons I switched were weight, and to get a different tone. I was starting to get bored with the Boogie, and it was heavier. I don't play any louder with the Milkman, and it still gets mic'ed in large rooms or outdoors. With advances in live sound system, high powered steel amps aren't needed anymore.
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Ken Metcalf · From: San Antonio Texas USA

Not obsolete in Texas... ^_^
I play a rack set up with Stewart world 1.2 and also play 22 watt Deluxe Reverb and a 30 watt Fox Bassman.
Tube amps seem to be louder per watt if they are in good condition with fresh tubes and newer speakers.

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

Jim Pitman · From: Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA

Certainly heavey high powered amps are getting obsolete.
I'm very happy with the an amp I built - tube front end driving a very small SE class A output transfomer, reamped with a light weight solid state power amp all unified and built into to a 18" x 18" cabinet with single 12" speaker.
70watts at 32lbs, sounds very tubey.

Tony Palmer · From: St Augustine,FL

One of the points I was making is when you use a high powered amp you would be less likely to mike it through the PA, creating an unbalanced sound, i.e. extra loud for those in front of the amp. Using a smaller amp usually requires going through the PA and produces a more balanced sound. I didn't realize the difference as much until I started listening to recordings of the band under both circumstances.
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Sierra S10 (three!), Peavey 112 and 115, Benoit dobro, Beard Model E dobro, Beard Roadophonic, MSA Superslide, Dean Nickless custom dobro

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

you could always turn your amp down and mic it. probably sound better anyway.

i've been using a $100 used bandit alot lately. it works fine.
otherwise i'd take an ltd400.

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