Question about a light/small form factor setup

Noah Levy · Post by **Noah Levy** » 30 Mar 2022 6:38 am

Hey there everyone,
I have a two-part question, but I'd like to establish the context first. I'm a junior in college and have been playing pedal steel since 2017. In my freshman year, I had a GFI student model fresh from the factory and I played it through a headphone amp (because I have roommates) and if I wanted to jam, I had some small fender amp. This year, my setup is more limited and I have very little physical space for steel. Sadly, because of this, I left my setup at home across the country. That being said, I wanted to ask if anyone knows of a specific model of steel guitar that is super light, reliable, and tonally reasonable? I was thinking of a Zum Encore because I've heard they are super reliable, but it may be out of my price range at the moment. Is a Zum Encore relatively light? The second part of my question, is can anyone recommend a small form factor monitoring setup for one person? The USB-charged headphone amp I used didn't sound the best, so there's gotta be a better way to do it while still keeping the volume to a minimum. Pedal steel is really my first instrument and I wanna keep practicing while at school but in order to do that I need the smallest, lightest, and quietest setup I can afford. What do y'all think?

Thank you guys,
Noah Levy

D Schubert · Post by **D Schubert** » 30 Mar 2022 7:11 am

If it was me, I'd ship the guitar to myself (budget 150-200 bucks). If that's not possible, pick up a budget lap steel and practice slants/chords in various tunings -- E, E7, E6, A, A6, C6, etc. -- that occur with various pedal combinations.

And look hard at a Quilter Superblock US. It functions well with headphones, XLR out, or external speaker. Abut 4x6" footprint

https://www.quilterlabs.com/index.php/p ... erblock-us

Noah Levy · Post by **Noah Levy** » 30 Mar 2022 7:20 am

That seems like a pretty good solution. I may try and sell the GFI to upgrade to something new, but the Quilter Superblock seems to be exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks for your response.

Al Evans · Post by **Al Evans** » 30 Mar 2022 7:29 am

Noah Levy wrote: ...Is a Zum Encore relatively light?

Just under 50 lbs. in the case.

--Al Evans

Noah Levy · Post by **Noah Levy** » 30 Mar 2022 7:44 am

That sounds pretty light to me! thank you.

Ken Pippus · Post by **Ken Pippus** » 30 Mar 2022 7:47 am

It’s light, and it’s a very nice little guitar. Think you’ll find it a significant upgrade.

Kully Stiles · Post by **Kully Stiles** » 31 Mar 2022 2:52 am

Strymon Iridium is the best small headphone monitoring solution hands down. The stereo room reverb makes it feel like youre not wearing headphones and the amp modeling is killer.

K Maul · Post by **K Maul** » 31 Mar 2022 4:47 am

The lightest, most compact pedal steel you’ll find is an EXCEL. Amazingly high quality and it doesn’t take a year to get one once you order it.
https://fuzzypsg.com/int/

Jim Pitman · Post by **Jim Pitman** » 31 Mar 2022 5:58 am

I'm with K Maul. The Excell surely won't disappoint. Perhaps beyond your budget - something to save up for?

Noah Levy · Post by **Noah Levy** » 31 Mar 2022 6:59 am

Thanks for your responses, everyone. I'm probably gonna grab one of the headphone monitoring solutions you mentioned, and probably save up for a new guitar in time.

Thanks again for your help guys, means a lot.

-Noah Levy

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Question about a light/small form factor setup

Question about a light/small form factor setup

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