Preamps

[Tom Mikkelson]

I am new to the pedal steel guitar world and would like any advice or suggestion for purchasing a preamp for EQ and volume control. I have just bought a Carter D-10. Thanks.

[Dave Stagner]

Are you a guitar player coming to steel? Do you have a guitar amp that can make a good clean sound? Lots of classic pedal steel sounds are really just old Fender blackface/silverface tube amps, and many other vintage tube or solid-state guitar amps work just fine. The other major thread of classic pedal steel sounds is Peavey solid-state amps, which aren't necessarily designed for pedal steel.

Speaker choice is very important, too. Even though guitar amps are fine, the speakers maybe aren't. Lots of popular guitar speakers are spongy, mid-heavy, and slow. Pedal steel speakers tend to be much more hi-fi, with deeper bass. JBL and Peavey made the classics, but Eminence makes modern, lightweight pedal steel speakers too.

If you specifically want a preamp, there are lots of good options. There are several modern digital emulators of classic Fender amps from UA, Strymon, etc. TC Furlong makes the Sesh 400, a preamp based on the Peavey Session 400 amp popular with pedal steel players.

My own recommendation would be a Fender Tone Master amp. They're digital recreations of classic blackface amps that sound and feel amazing, and have a preamp out with a modern impulse speaker sim. I use the Tone Master Deluxe, and my tube amp has been gathering dust since I got it.