I love my Quilter Steelaire!

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 11 May 2018 3:58 pm

I just bought a slightly used Steelaire combo amp. After five years of working exclusively through Roland 80XLs I must say I'm delighted.

No slight intended against my Rolands. I have three and all of them have performed faultlessly despite some very hard road-work. But the Quilter amp 'breathes' better and I love the sensation of moving air - absent from the enclosed cabs on the Rolands.

I've only played it in my music-room so far but it's really promising. I don't love the reverb but with a touch of delay from a DD-3 this amp comes alive. It's great for electric guitar as well as my Emmons and all these benefits come in a package that I can lift with ease.

Full marks from me. Many thanks to Forumite David Halverson who was very helpful during the purchase.

Jon Light · Post by **Jon Light** » 11 May 2018 4:08 pm

Interesting re: the reverb. I've got a Pro Block head and I specifically chose it over the Tone Block because it has reverb. I'm not crazy about the verb. It is not lush, for one thing, but worse, it has a bit of modulation. If I were tuning beats out of a string it would be tough with the reverb on because it adds just a bit of waver like a subtle chorus.
I inquired with Quilter and Pat Quilter himself was interested in my report. He indicated that they developed the reverb and crafted it to be exactly as it is & he acknowledged that it's got a bit of warble. He was amused that I could hear it (he claimed that he needed a scope to pick it up) but he said that he was indeed taking note of my comment. It's not awful. Just not as good as an outboard like a Grail.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 12 May 2018 2:04 am

I recently (two weeks ago) bought a new Steelaire Rack. With very little tweaking it immediately became my main amp. I use it with my EPS-15C speaker. The music store in upstate NY that I bought it from gave me a "deal I couldn't resist" price.

I had been looking for a backup amp for my Carvin BX500 amp as Carvin no longer has a tech support or repair department and with all the SMT and no schematic (they have had about 10 different versions of the amp) its basically unrepairable if it would "break". With the new Steelaire the Carvin has been relegated to backup amp.

I like the reverb in the Steelaire, although I'm not currently using it as I use a POD X3 for effects (reverb and delay). But I'm considering just using a DD5 for delay and the Steelaire reverb.

John N Norris · Post by **John N Norris** » 12 May 2018 10:29 am

I am relatively new to the Steel Guitar and the Steel Guitar Forum. I have Gleaned so much from this site. A big THANKS to all the members who contribute their time to share their many years of learning to us younger members. Back in October of 2017, I bought a GFI SD-10 ( Love it )
Have been mulling over a good Steel amp., and finally pulled the trigger on a Brand New Quilter Steelaire ( have not even taken it out of the packing box )
If any of the forum members would be so kind to share with me, the settings you have on your setup, it would be Greatly appreciated. Do you use anything else, such as a DD3

Thanks
John Norris

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 12 May 2018 10:45 am

I'm still toying with mine, John. As I said above I don't care for the reverb so I will eventually hook up an outboard reverb at some point. For now, and I'm only messing around at home just now, I'm using the DD-3 for some dimension and it sounds terrific.

John N Norris · Post by **John N Norris** » 12 May 2018 11:05 am

I am relatively new to the Steel Guitar and the Steel Guitar Forum. I have Gleaned so much from this site. A big THANKS to all the members who contribute their time to share their many years of learning to us younger members. Back in October of 2017, I bought a GFI SD-10 ( Love it )
Have been mulling over a good Steel amp., and finally pulled the trigger on a Brand New Quilter Steelaire ( have not even taken it out of the packing box )
If any of the forum members would be so kind to share with me, the settings you have on your setup, it would be Greatly appreciated. Do you use anything else, such as a DD3

Thanks
John Norris

John N Norris · Post by **John N Norris** » 12 May 2018 11:31 am

I am relatively new to the Steel Guitar and the Steel Guitar Forum. I have Gleaned so much from this site. A big THANKS to all the members who contribute their time to share their many years of learning to us younger members. Back in October of 2017, I bought a GFI SD-10 ( Love it )
Have been mulling over a good Steel amp., and finally pulled the trigger on a Brand New Quilter Steelaire ( have not even taken it out of the packing box )
If any of the forum members would be so kind to share with me, the settings you have on your setup, it would be Greatly appreciated. Do you use anything else, such as a DD3

Thanks
John Norris

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 12 May 2018 11:33 am

The settings I'm using that I got from a Steelaire user on Facebook is Bass 7, Lo and Hi Mid 5, Treble 3.

John N Norris · Post by **John N Norris** » 12 May 2018 11:35 am

That is crazy. I only posted once, but it showed up three times

John

Dick Wood · Post by **Dick Wood** » 14 May 2018 6:50 pm

Try posting -2 times and it should come out just right.

Dan Robinson · Post by **Dan Robinson** » 14 May 2018 8:07 pm

Dick Wood wrote:Try posting -2 times and it should come out just right.

Dickie, this is the Electronics section. That only works if the second post is 180 out of phase.

Allan Haley · Post by **Allan Haley** » 14 May 2018 8:12 pm

John- is your echo pedal on on your keyboard?

Dan Robinson · Post by **Dan Robinson** » 14 May 2018 8:51 pm

John N Norris wrote:If any of the forum members would be so kind to share with me, the settings you have on your setup

Hi John, It's a great amp. I don't own a Steelaire, but borrowed and used it on a few gigs. I couldn't find any bad setting. High marks for its reverb.

"Best settings" will depend on amp placement (on the floor, tilted back, on a rack or chair), the room, single-coil vs. humbucking pickup, and your preferences. Experiment until you find your sweet spot.

Dick Wood · Post by **Dick Wood** » 15 May 2018 6:49 am

I have owned a Steelaire for over two years and I really like it. My settings vary a little from venue to venue but stay close to the same most of the time.

I play a Williams D10 w/710 pups

Bass 6 or 7
Lo-mid 1
Hi-mid 5 or 6
Treb 5 or 6

I sub with different bands and have live streamed the shows which you can see on my FB page under my timeline.Most of the videos are simply what the Ipad picks up with the amp un-mic'd.

Hope that helps to some degree.

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 15 May 2018 7:26 am

Jack wrote:But I'm considering just using a DD5 for delay and the Steelaire reverb.

That's all I use, except it's a DD3. I don't miss the rack stuff at all. Loving my Quilter, and I notice my settings are pretty similar to everyone else. I tend to adjust the Hi Mid and Treble a bit more often depending on the room.

Bass 6
Lo-mid 5 or 6
Hi-mid 3 or 4
Treb 3 or 4

Edited to add: that's the settings with a '67 bolt-on, stock PUs, which some folks would say is a pretty bright/brassy guitar.

Jerry Roller · Post by **Jerry Roller** » 15 May 2018 8:02 pm

I got on the forum just to ask for help and saw this thread. I just bought a Steelaire and have used it three times. Tonight I used it at Cowboy Church. I have not been able to get a sound I like. Hopefully it is possible but for me not yet. The treble strings are way too bright when I get the lows bright enough. I donâ€™t like boomy bass strings and I donâ€™t like piercing highs. I can do much better with any Peavey Nashville or Session series. I am sure it is my lack of knowing how to set it. Some of the settings shown here are very close to some I have tried. I sure need some help or a buyer. :(please someone help me.
My highs just sizzle!
Help?

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 15 May 2018 8:17 pm

I haven't played mine out 'in the field' yet, Jerry - only here at home - so I can't be certain what will work best.

I must say I'm quite encouraged so far, though. I do have my treble rolled off at about half. Nothing's fixed yet.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 16 May 2018 2:26 am

When I first tried mine it was "too bright" but after some tweaking it is much better. It is very clean and that can be a "problem" for those of us used to something different.

After using it on 3 jobs, I'm sold on it. Everyone in the band likes the sound better than amps I've used in the past. Even the lead guitar player who is a "must have Fender tube amp" type.

My setup is my Franklin D-10 with Lawrence 710 pickups to a Hilton VP to the Steelaire. Several years old EPS-15C Eminence speaker. I have an old Danny Bentley built Nashville 112 fiber cover that I use with the speaker and set the speaker on top of the cover and the Steelaire on top of the speaker.

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 16 May 2018 4:20 am

I noticed that mine seemed to 'warm up' a good bit after a couple of months of steady gigging. I had to actually boost the High Mid and Treble a bit from where I started when it was brand new. I talked with another owner who had the same experience. I'm not sure, but maybe it's something about speaker break-in?

Another thing I noticed, YMMV: I like the sound better with the Channel Select set to 1 + 2 and both Gain 1 and Gain 2 controls boosted up around 6-7. The Master is used for overall volume. That seems to drive the front end a little harder, enough to create some kind of natural 'fattening' or something. I don't use the Limiter at all BTW, it's on 0.

Tom Wolverton · Post by **Tom Wolverton** » 16 May 2018 5:23 am

Jerry. Maybe the problem is that your speaker still needs to be broken in some more.

Hook Moore · Post by **Hook Moore** » 16 May 2018 6:09 am

edited away,,.

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 17 May 2018 5:51 am

I talked with Travis Toy several times who pointed out some of the finer points of this fine amp....I finally pulled the trigger and bought a perfect Rackmount off E-bay... I think I love this thing.

I normally use a Lexicon MPX1 for Reverb/Delay,... but I really like the onboard Reverb with the ability to change the length of the tail and the tone as well.

I also like being able to plug 2 steels into if I want, so I can move from one to the other without turning on another amp.

Seems like weâ€™re all pretty close in setting these things... here are mine, but still tweaking a little... Liking what Iâ€™m hearing.

Morton Kellas · Post by **Morton Kellas** » 19 May 2018 7:37 am

My settings are the same as Dale's, except I run the low mid's at 3 and the treble at 2.5. I also turn the reverb counter clockwise to around 3 and use a "Freeloader" which really takes the edge off the high's. Boss pedals can brighten things up a bit, so I use a Flashback delay which works for me. I am very pleased with the tone although it is different from the Nashville 400.

Mike Perlowin · Post by **Mike Perlowin** » 19 May 2018 9:11 am

One thing I really like about the Steelaire is the powered effects loop. I have a Dunlop Q-zone pedal hard wired into mine. The Q-zone pedal is set to simulate a Dobro. One flick of a switch and voila: instant pedabro.

Unfortunately the Q-zone has been discontinued, but there are always a few in E-bay.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 19 May 2018 9:21 am

Mike: If you have the patience, could you explain the advantages of a powered effects loop?

I've played for my living for 59 years - you would think I'd know that, wouldn't you? When I use outboard effects I simply put them in line with the VP and to the amp.

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