Milkman "The Amp"

memphislim · Post by **memphislim** » 28 Jan 2024 10:12 am

Tm, is this primarily a guitar amp? I don't see a midrange control so that's what makes me thing "guitar". I know the midrange control for me is crucial in dialing in a good tone on steel. The more control the better. Can you discuss the lack of midrange knob on this if the amp was designed for steel and have you considered doing version with a Mid Shift and Q control?

Steve Lipsey · Post by **Steve Lipsey** » 28 Jan 2024 10:22 am

I've had this discussion with Tim, and had quite a few Milkman amps over the years, and the point is that these amps sound great wherever you put the tone knobs and it is just a personal choice about where you like them...they don't have the technical issues of a built-in midrange bump that needed to be corrected that older amps had...(I think it was bout the characteristics of vacuum tubes long ago, but I don't really remember the reason).

On my new Pedal Steel Mini, I keep the midrange at 12 o'clock, same as the treble and bass...and that is the tone I think works best on my Williams steel/Telonics pickup..

And my The Amp 50 is pretty good also, and just fine for a grab 'n go, but those glowing bottles in the Mini do really add something quite obvious...the notes seem almost physical, they leap out of the amp into the air...so what if my back hurts the day after a gig?

Dave Stagner · Post by **Dave Stagner** » 28 Jan 2024 7:57 pm

I’ve tried an EQ pedal (Tech21 Q\Strip parametric) with the Amp 100, but it did almost nothing to improve the tone. Different, but not better. There’s nothing obnoxious in the mids to dial out. I’ll note for the record that a Fender Deluxe Reverb doesn’t have a mids control either, and it’s been a popular steel amp since the 1960s.

By way of contrast, I’ve also played steel with my old Mesa Mark I, and it has a congested-mids problem that’s hard to dial out, even with a midrange knob. Fabulous amp with guitar, but too honky-sounding with steel.

At this point, I feel no need for any additional EQ with my Amp 100 and a JBL. I set the gain to 10 o’clock, the bass to 9 o’clock, the treble to 3 o’clock, and fine-tune the highs using my Sarno Freeloader. I also use a Caroline Meteore lo-fi reverb pedal, which has a lil’ bit of gain in the reverb/slap. The Amp 100’s reverb is fine, but I like the gnarlier character of the Meteore. The whole thing sounds glorious.

Tucker Jackson · Post by **Tucker Jackson** » 29 Jan 2024 10:54 am

I don't now if Tim is still monitoring this thread but I think I read that he sometimes takes The Amp on pedal steel gigs.

On the Milkman "The Amp 100," since it has a bit of clean headroom (and a 2 volume-knob setup), the 'Volume' knob can serve as a sort of Midrange control too:

Set the Master Volume knob all the way up, then use the other Volume knob to find your mid setting. Adjust Treble and Bass around that.

Obviously, it's not a true midrange control and it would be great if it had one, but as it turns out, the Volume knob has an outsized effect on midrange, so it can serve as a control of sorts and it stays clean for a while as you turn it up...

And as the guys above have pointed out, the tone stack on the Milkman amps plays well with pedal steel -- assuming you're going for a thick, warm tone. I recall our former Captain B0b posting that he had some Milkman amp (something with a mid control) that he could run the EQ on that amp flat and it sounded great. There's no offensive midrange 'honk' that needs to be dialed down as is often the case with, say, a solid state amp.
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Dave Stagner · Post by **Dave Stagner** » 29 Jan 2024 8:29 pm

Two-knob blackface Fender eq stacks (like a Deluxe Reverb) have some mid cut built in, as does a Twin type circuit (even though it has a mids knob). So they’re not “flat” the way a solid state amp might be flat. I’m sure Tim could answer better, but I suspect the Amp eq has a little mid cut relative to a Fender. It seems a little scooped compared to a Deluxe Reverb. That’s how it sounds between my two amps, although it’s hard to be certain because different speakers. It’s definitely scooped compared to my Mesa Mark I, and I robbed the JBL from that amp, so it’s same speaker for comparison.

Tim Marcus · Post by **Tim Marcus** » 30 Jan 2024 9:19 am

Tucker is correct - I use my Amp 100 for pedal steel almost exclusively. My rig is pretty simple:

Emmons S12
Pop Top Boost into a Goodrich L120 passive VP
Amp 100
JBL K120

my settings on the Amp 100 are all top 3 knobs at about 12 oclock. Boost on, knob at about 9 o'clock. Reverb on, just a tiny bit of reverb for taste

on an amplifier with no mid control the volume knob is the mid control, so a good way to get it dialed if you are not liking the mids is to turn the treble and bass all the way down and set your mids with the volume knob first. Then you can roll in the top and bottom to taste.

With both the Amp and The Amp 100 (and now the stereo version) we did not find the need to re-invent the wheel. Its pretty much a fender tone stack up front but since the output is not 6V6 or 6L6 you will notice that the mids are quite different.

If you are not liking where your mids sit, one thing you can do is change preamp tubes because they all sound different - you can talk to someone who knows NOS 12AX7s well and they can tailor the midrange for you. Gregg Levy at Hi-Test is my go-to for voicing amplifiers. He knows which tubes have which scoop, and where (and why) and that makes an enormous difference over the stock JJ tube that ships with the amp pedals which tend to have a more aggressive midrange in comparison.

Its a never ending tone quest - have fun on the journey!

Jacob Yergert · Post by **Jacob Yergert** » 31 Jan 2024 9:22 am

Tim Marcus wrote:Tucker is correct - I use my Amp 100 for pedal steel almost exclusively. My rig is pretty simple:

Emmons S12
Pop Top Boost into a Goodrich L120 passive VP
Amp 100
JBL K120

my settings on the Amp 100 are all top 3 knobs at about 12 oclock. Boost on, knob at about 9 o'clock. Reverb on, just a tiny bit of reverb for taste

on an amplifier with no mid control the volume knob is the mid control, so a good way to get it dialed if you are not liking the mids is to turn the treble and bass all the way down and set your mids with the volume knob first. Then you can roll in the top and bottom to taste.

With both the Amp and The Amp 100 (and now the stereo version) we did not find the need to re-invent the wheel. Its pretty much a fender tone stack up front but since the output is not 6V6 or 6L6 you will notice that the mids are quite different.

If you are not liking where your mids sit, one thing you can do is change preamp tubes because they all sound different - you can talk to someone who knows NOS 12AX7s well and they can tailor the midrange for you. Gregg Levy at Hi-Test is my go-to for voicing amplifiers. He knows which tubes have which scoop, and where (and why) and that makes an enormous difference over the stock JJ tube that ships with the amp pedals which tend to have a more aggressive midrange in comparison.

Its a never ending tone quest - have fun on the journey!

I don't own a Milkman amp, but I did want to say that I absolutely adore the F Stop Reverb/Trem. You make really good stuff! Both effects in the F Stop are exactly what I was looking for and they're in the same pedal! I use it on everything from punk rock to rockabilly to honky tonk.