Peavey Austin 400 for Fiddle and PSG

Kenneth Smith · Post by **Kenneth Smith** » 2 Mar 2020 8:14 pm

Would a Nashville 400 or Session 400 be a better Amp to play my Fiddle and Steel guitar from than the Austin 400?

Paul Wade · Post by **Paul Wade** » 3 Mar 2020 5:13 am

Kenneth
I have a couple of Austin 400 they are good amps
I would disconnect the horn I also play Thur
A Reno 400 amp which is basically the same amp
I used a Nashville 400 cabinet with a 15" 1502 Peavey speaker. Hope this is hopeful

Paul

Pete Burak · Post by **Pete Burak** » 3 Mar 2020 6:59 am

The Nashville and Session are both single channel amps, so they are really designed to only play/gig on one instrument.
Those Austin/Reno amps are fine for Fiddle and Steel, or any two instruments, really. I have had both the Reno and the Austin. Because they have a Horn, I have even used mine for a Vocal mic and an Acoustic Guitar to play a solo set, like it is basically a two channel 210-Watt PA.

Kenneth Smith · Post by **Kenneth Smith** » 5 Feb 2022 5:39 pm

I am still experimenting with the settings for the steel using the electric channel. Could you or would you use the acoustic channel for Steel guitar? Is the Elec. channel design for steel and if so what are some good settings to start with. Should the Saturation on the elec. channel be reduced to 0 ?

Bill Terry · Post by **Bill Terry** » 6 Feb 2022 7:40 am

I unplugged the horn when I was forced to use one for while, that Piezo horn is not steel guitar friendly IMO, YMMV.

EDIT: Given a choice, I MUCH prefer a Session 400 for steel.

EDIT 2: I looked online, and I found the owner manual for the Austin 400 at the link below. It looks like the Electric channel has some pre-conditioning EQ to eliminate the effect of the horn. Give that, I'd say the electric channel would be more likely to work for steel.

https://peavey.com/manuals/80370411.pdf

Danny Letz · Post by **Danny Letz** » 6 Feb 2022 9:21 am

You need a Vegas.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 6 Feb 2022 9:36 am

What Pete said! A two-channel amp is definitely advantageous for two different instruments, so the Austin would likely work better than the Nashville or Session. (The mid-shift control is very useful for pedal steel.) The horn might is advantageous for acoustic guitar or keyboards, but I think it's unneeded for fiddle or steel. It's easy enough to unhook one wire from it and find out for yourself, though.