Recommendations on a New Amp

Jake L · Post by **Jake L** » 16 Dec 2017 6:16 pm

Thanks to a turn in my employment situation, I will soon be getting back into the world of playing steel. Since my departure from the ranks several years ago, I am sure there are new "latest and greatest" amps and such on the market. I was hoping for some recommendations on amps and effects units to look at. I have only owned Peavey amps. I really like the NV 1000 and 400, but am interested to see what everyone is playing thru these days. Thanks Guys!

Mark Hershey · Post by **Mark Hershey** » 16 Dec 2017 7:02 pm

Fender Twin Reverb

Robert Parent · Post by **Robert Parent** » 17 Dec 2017 5:34 am

Music Man RD100 or a rack system (Roland GP100 and Stewart PA-XXX power amps).

Robert

Dale McPherson · Post by **Dale McPherson** » 17 Dec 2017 5:52 am

The new Peavey Session 115. It is awesome.

Dale McPherson · Post by **Dale McPherson** » 17 Dec 2017 5:53 am

sorry double post

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 17 Dec 2017 6:13 am

http://www.gregcutshaw.com/Telonics%20A ... 20Amp.html

Cartwright Thompson · Post by **Cartwright Thompson** » 17 Dec 2017 1:47 pm

Dumble Overdrive Special

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 17 Dec 2017 4:19 pm

Cartwright Thompson wrote:Dumble Overdrive Special

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 17 Dec 2017 4:21 pm

Dale McPherson wrote:The new Peavey Session 115. It is awesome.

Is the new Session 115 made in China or Mexico?

Dale McPherson · Post by **Dale McPherson** » 17 Dec 2017 4:36 pm

Wherever it is made------it sounds good and does what I need for it to do at a reasonable cost. So as a consumer, I am satisfied with my purchase.

George Seymour · Post by **George Seymour** » 17 Dec 2017 5:14 pm

Don't usually pile on these threads...but you want an exceptional good buy:

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=324570

Paul Sutherland · Post by **Paul Sutherland** » 17 Dec 2017 7:07 pm

It's hard to respond without knowing how much you are willing to pay. Also, are you only interested in a combo amp, or is a rack set-up or separate amp head and speaker cabinet something you'd consider? And how much of a factor is weight?

Having said that, anyone buying a new amp in today's market should look at Quilter, Milkman, Telonics, Little Walter, Walker Stereo Steel, Peavey, and Fender. I'm sure I've forgotten some others that should also be looked at.

Paddy Long · Post by **Paddy Long** » 17 Dec 2017 7:30 pm

Telonics TCA500

Tom Cooper · Post by **Tom Cooper** » 17 Dec 2017 8:02 pm

Out of nessessity and practicality I went with old Session and LTD 400. Found both on Craigslist/gtr center and just recapped them and loaded them with Eminence Neos. LTD goes out for all jobs except outdoor, then it's the Session. When I play gtr, I just run it thru a tube preamp. For me steel is just fine straight in. Gtr not so much. Love all the famous name amps and respect them. But I can't afford/lift a real twin. Boutique out of the question. Just don't have the money. Those old PVs are my secret weapon for clean tough power and tone. Speaker has a lot to do with it too. I also use a little Pacer with an Eminence Delta pro, the EV copy. Use that for church gig where I don't need to compete with so much and have in ears. Paid like 80$ for it. Speaker 50$. Don't think it would cut it at a club, LTD handles those. Lots of cool hybrid set ups and new makes but I am kinda having fun with the old original PVs. I have recorded with them too. I had good experience with mine. Not for everyone perhaps. But I really love my LTD. Paid 250 for it and 200 for speaker. 450$ total in it plus recap. 500 maybe? Gig with it every week. Never a problem.

Jack Hanson · Post by **Jack Hanson** » 18 Dec 2017 4:54 am

Tom Cooper wrote:But I really love my LTD.

Me too. Newer is not necessarily better.

Tim Mathews · Post by **Tim Mathews** » 18 Dec 2017 6:19 am

Paul Sutherland hits it on the head for me.

A new Telonics can easily top $3000
Most of the tube entries are $1800 +/-
Even the Peavey entry is $1400

It boils down to how deep are your pockets and what you want to hear.

Just my opinion but when you start hearing about "the creamy growl followed by a soft finish" kind of nonsense? Somebody is selling "sauce"
It's your call wether you reach for the Credit Card to buy your share of the emperor's new clothes, or save your money and just settle for the the old Peavey (fill in the blank) standard.

All the conventions I attended and all the great players I heard were usually playing the Peavey backline amps with their favorite effects units. Sure sounded good to me.
And a good player sounds good no matter what they are playing.

I equate it to the fast car analogy. You can buy a Chevy that runs 0 to 60 in 9 seconds for 20K. If you want to do that in 7 seconds? It will be three times the price.
At the end of the day? Both do the same thing. It is just with one of them, your wallet isn't such an inconvenience to sit on due to its smaller size.
Your mileage may vary.

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » 18 Dec 2017 10:33 am

I don't think that it is a secret that Hartley Peavey did not want to move Peavey products to China, but some products in our line are now(and have been for a few years)manufactured in China, but all are designed by USA engineers here in Meridian, Mississippi. The pendulum swung but I am proud to state that Hartley made the decision to have the Session 115 manufactured here in Meridian, Mississippi on the same single unit line at plant 3 and even by some of the same employees that worked at manufacturing the Vegas, Nashville 400's, Nashville 1000's, Session 500's,etc. in the '80's. The Black Widow 1501-4 ohm SB speaker even still made at plant 3 now as well on that production line.

I was the quality control supervisor in the '80's and there is at least four employees that still work for Peavey in our service department as repair techs that built those steel amps in the '80's. In a sense, it has come full circle. If this is not dedication to the steel guitar industry, I don't know what is.

I think that most steel guitar amplifier companies such as Evans, Webb and even the Fender Steel King cannot claim that they got rich building steel guitar amps. But, Hartley remains committed and he told me that the Session 115 would be his last steel guitar amplifier.

So, make a decision on your purchase before you spend your hard to come by money on a steel amp and you'll find out who has been and is still supporting the steel guitar community.

I also invite you to check out our steel guitar page here;
http://peavey.com/support/steelguitaristinfo/

And last but not least, here are the products that we manufacture for steel guitar;
http://peavey.com/products/pedal-steel- ... m#series-1

I'll throw this in for good measure as well;
http://peavey.com/products/electric-gui ... m#series-4

The Powerslide is a product that was totally conceived by Hartley himself. The idea of his design was for six string electric guitarist to be able to stand up and play "lap style" steel guitar. And you can do just that. Here is a link to this product from the Peavey website;
http://peavey.com/products/electric-gui ... m#series-4

If you should have any questions, please feel free to contact the Peavey Customer Service hotline at 1-877-732-8391, ext. 8105 or me at 1180 Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm CST and I will be glad to assist.

Mike Brown
Peavey USA

Jake L · Post by **Jake L** » 18 Dec 2017 7:37 pm

Thanks guys for all your input. I appreciate it!

Dave Hepworth · Post by **Dave Hepworth** » 20 Dec 2017 1:01 am

Hi folks,a question to Mike Brown.
Slightly off the topic.... but Tom Cooper said he had his Peavey recapped.
I have a Vegas 400 which is working fine to my ears.I realise the older vintage valve amps have to be recapped due to the materials technology at that time in the caps .I know my Vegas is 30+ years old but I'm sure it doesn't contain the old wax/ paper etc caps ,so on that basis does it have degradable caps which need replacing.As I say it seems OK.
Thanks for looking

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 20 Dec 2017 7:16 am

Dave Hepworth wrote:.... I know my Vegas is 30+ years old but I'm sure it doesn't contain the old wax/ paper etc caps ,so on that basis does it have degradable caps which need replacing.As I say it seems OK.
Thanks for looking

Yes, the "electrolytic" capacitors in the power supply do degrade. They'll look shiny and new on the outside, but likely after 30 years that amp could stand to have the main filter cap's replaced, among a few others. It's not like they're shot, and it's not a critical thing to do if the amp is working fine, but new caps will make the power supply more quiet, clean, and robust, and that cleaned up power will benefit the amp's performance. And while in there, it's worth looking at the tiny little 2.2uF (or similar) electrolytic cap's that are in the audio circuit as well. If you replace those with modern Nichicon Muse or Silmic II type audio-grade electrolytic cap's, that WILL be an audible improvement that can make it sound better than it ever did.

B

Jim Sliff · Post by **Jim Sliff** » 20 Dec 2017 10:44 am

What Brad said.

ALL old caps degrade over time and physical appearance can be deceiving.

Gary Dillard · Post by **Gary Dillard** » 21 Dec 2017 7:04 am

Dale McPherson wrote:Wherever it is made------it sounds good and does what I need for it to do at a reasonable cost. So as a consumer, I am satisfied with my purchase.

Mine as well Dale. Love the 115. My car was made in Japan...o crap!

Gary Dillard · Post by **Gary Dillard** » 21 Dec 2017 7:11 am

Mike Brown wrote:So, make a decision on your purchase before you spend your hard to come by money on a steel amp and you'll find out who has been and is still supporting the steel guitar community.

Mike Brown
Peavey USA

Yes! Thank you Mike and Peavey for the support. Love the new Session 115. Except for a few years of playing another brand, I had to come back to a Peavey! Always been there for us...always will!

Dale McPherson · Post by **Dale McPherson** » 21 Dec 2017 3:29 pm

I can remember going to the DJ Convention in Nashville many, many years ago and Peavey would have an entire stage set up of their products for the band and steel players to use. I heard many of the "greats" play using Peavey products. I have always owned their products and appreciate their loyalty to us steel guitar players. Mike, Thank You for your support on the Forum.

Richard Delucchi · Post by **Richard Delucchi** » 1 Jan 2018 9:24 am

I think a lot depends on the pickup in your guitar. I found my infinity with telonic pu sounds best with a stereo steel and the emmons and Zum sounds best with an old Nashville ltd.. Both of those guitars have single coil at 18.5 wind. It's hard because you can not demo anything before buying. Just my 2cents.

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