Best Amplifier

[Ted Kyte]

What is the best amp for a pedal steel?
I see so many using a Peavey ... is there a reason for that?
I have one of the newer Fender Mustang amps and i can't seem to get a sharp crisp sound with my Emmons.

[Charley Bond]

I have a Nashville 400, I really enjoy it with my different removable pickups on my Sierra

[Ted Kyte]

Thanks Charley...

What was your reasoning behind selecting the Nashville 400?

[Larry Dering]

Ted, I can't speak for Charley, but Peavey Nashville was designed for pedal steel by steel players. It has a mid control with selectable frequency. Most of us find this a must have feature. The 400 series has a 15 inch speaker and the popular 112 Nashville is a 12 inch special designed speaker.

[Ken Pippus]

For decades, Peavey was the only major manufacturer who produced amps voiced with pedal steel in mind. Big power, no useful distortion. Bulletproof and dependable.

Lotsa competitive options currently, but none as inexpensive.

[Ted Kyte]

Thanks Larry and Ken...
That’s the answer I was looking for...
All the PSG conventions I see all use the Peavey so now I see why...

[Donny Hinson]

What is the best amp for a pedal steel?
I see so many using a Peavey ... is there a reason for that?
I have one of the newer Fender Mustang amps and i can't seem to get a sharp crisp sound with my Emmons.

The "best" is whatever you happen to like most. Lotta players use them for the stated reasons, and a lotta other players are "monkey-see, monkey-do". You didn't say anything about your experience, but you should be able be able to get a decent sound with what you have, provided you know how to use it. (That takes many years, for most of us.)

[Larry Dering]

Ted, to elaborate on what Donny said, I have a Fender Mustang 111 v2 which is an earlier model than yours. After learning how to tweak the settings properly I can get a proper tone for pedal steel. Since it is a modeling amp it takes a bit to learn how get what you want. Find the Twin Reverb setting and tweak it from there. Don't add delay or reverb until you get a good tone adjusted to your liking. I have used mine on several gigs with good results.

[Ted Kyte]

Thanks Donny and Larry...
Yes I'm a monkey see monkey do guy.... I am a 70 year old beginner I played guitar years ago but crippling RA I can't any more so after not playing anything for about 30 years I decided to give it a whirl....
I will dig out the manual and give a shot at getting my Fender setting for the Twin tweaked...

Thanks guys...

[Larry Dering]

Ted, I can tell you that most all the presents have too much gain and often overkill effects. Once you dial down the gain and get rid of unwanted effects you can dial in some excellent tones. My Mustang is different so I can't give you a step by step, but it works much the same. You would probably be happier with a less complicated non modeling amp, but I know the Mustang can give satisfactory tones. Just takes some reading and knob tweaking. Next chance I get I will look at my basic settings and pass them on if that would help.

[Ted Kyte]

Ted, I can tell you that most all the presents have too much gain and often overkill effects. Once you dial down the gain and get rid of unwanted effects you can dial in some excellent tones. My Mustang is different so I can't give you a step by step, but it works much the same. You would probably be happier with a less complicated non modeling amp, but I know the Mustang can give satisfactory tones. Just takes some reading and knob tweaking. Next chance I get I will look at my basic settings and pass them on if that would help.

Ha... I'm finding that out now...
I got it set back to default and it's getting better...
Thanks Larry....

[Larry Dering]

Ted, once you get the tone you like be sure to save it so it remains set. Best of luck.

[Greg Lambert]

Ted, to elaborate on what Donny said, I have a Fender Mustang 111 v2 which is an earlier model than yours. After learning how to tweak the settings properly I can get a proper tone for pedal steel. Since it is a modeling amp it takes a bit to learn how get what you want. Find the Twin Reverb setting and tweak it from there. Don't add delay or reverb until you get a good tone adjusted to your liking. I have used mine on several gigs with good results.

I am thinking about getting the Mustang GTX50 but wonder if it will handle a steel and does it have plenty of headroom? any thoughts on this Larry?

[Ted Kyte]

I reset back to default and set to Twin 65 but I still seem to get distortion... I have the gain right off...
Any ideas?

[Larry Dering]

Ted, the steel has a pretty hot output make sure you have the master volume higher than your input volume. Are you using a passive volume pedal? I haven't had that problem on my Mustang. You are aware that anytime you switch to a preset the knob position is not what you see. They are at wherever the preset has them remembered. Turn to a preset, then dial the gain down and see what happens. Same with the other knobs. Once you are satisfied with your settings you save them. Only the master volume is not saved and is exactly as you see it.
Greg, I can't comment on the GTX50 for steel since I never used one. Based on guitar reviews I believe it may not be desirable for steel. Maybe lower volume use but it you only play steel I would go for a Nashville 112. The Boss Katana 100 is also in my stable and it's fine for both. The 50s are not as full sounding or as programming useful.

[Larry Dering]

Listen to this girls Mustang 11 and read her comments. Gain off.

https://youtu.be/6Of1tNTOmRQ

[Ted Kyte]

Well with using all the advice here I did a reset to default again, and yes like you said, the controls don't show the actual settings. Still sounded like too much gain, even with it turned right off.
So I started right over and unplugged everything. Ran the PSG directly to the amp not even volume pedal....bingo it was great, no distortion. Plugged the volume pedal back in, still good. Plugged my Zoom R24 back in, still good. I have a gadget board with 6 effect pedals and that was the culprit. I never use them anyway except for the delay pedal a little occasionally and it was fine when I plugged it back in.
So these gadgets don't always have a clean passthrough when there turned off I guess.
So thanks again to all of you for the help. I did learn a lot in this process....only another 30 years of knowledge to pick up now...lol
I still might jump on a Nashville 400 if one comes around....

[Larry Dering]

Ted that's great. And the Nashville is a fine choice.

[Mike Perlowin]

During the years when I was gigging, I used a Music Man 212 H-D (One of the early all-tube ones made while Leo Fender co-owned the company.) This was a regular guitar amp. not designed for steel.

During all that time, NOBODY ever told me I was using the wrong amp. For that matter, nobody ever told me I was using the wrong gauge picks, or the wrong size bar, or that my knee lever setup was wrong.

Who cares what "the best" is? Just play the best you can and stop obsessing over gear. Playing well is all that matters.

[Ted Kyte]

Your right Mike...it's just about what you like. If you don't like the sound, change it or tweak it until you do like it. If it requires changing gear then why not. But don't let it obsess you to the point of quitting. No reason to be unhappy with what your doing.

[Karl Paulsen]

My limited experience tells me that in general an amp deigned for steel or something similar will give you much better results than a small guitar oriented practice amp. I was blessed with a Milkman Half add Half but I also have a Vegas 400 and a Reno 400 and they're all fine steel amps.

For Steel you want something with lots of clean headroom and a big speaker, ideally a 15". A preamp optimized for steel with good mid adjustment helps also


A Peavey Session, Nashville, or Vegas will get you all that and often for 300 bucks or less. They may be heavy but that's a hard deal to beat.

If your budget is between 1 and 2 hundred, a Reno 400 will give you the same Nashville 400 signal path (input 2) including preamp, with a 15" scorpion speaker instead of a Black Widow. Also has a horn that you may want to bypass which is a no-tools-required modification.

If you can get a good steel tone out of your Mustang then more power to you, but old Peaveys are so reliable and cheap that there's not much savings to be had with regular guitar amps. Better steel tone with much less knob fiddling is just a couple hundred bucks away...

[Ted Kyte]

Thanks Karl...
I did get much closer with the recommendations from the forum. But still not quite there yet.
Your right, the knob fiddling can be annoying when you can't quite get what you want but wont quit trying....lol

[Karl Paulsen]

Thanks Karl...
I did get much closer with the recommendations from the forum. But still not quite there yet.
Your right, the knob fiddling can be annoying when you can't quite get what you want but wont quit trying....lol

Fair enough.
I will say though that if the amp isn't designed for the desired application then knob fiddling can get to be alot like turd polishing.

Still, much respect for your measured and non rushed approach. Being here in Chicago it wasn't hard to find good deals on suitable amps. However, I bet if you could put aside 2-3 hundred bucks and just wait, a suitable Peavey will eventually become available within your locale and budget and that it will blow your Mustang out of the water.

[Paul Norman]

The average electric 6 string guitar will vary between 8000- 9000 ohms resistance.
A pedal steel varies from 16000 to 22000 ohms
When you plug that into an amp it has to match.
I tried regular guitar amps with no good sound when I started. They have to be voiced for steel.

[Ted Kyte]

Your right Karl. I give a lot of merit to the fact that steel players helped Peavey design these amps specifically for PSG.
I just bought a year old Peavey Session 115. Should be here on Tuesday...