Ok, I figure a lot of you guys down south of the border live where you can go test out the new Fender Steel King Amps and now that it's been out for awhile, how do they stand up with other amps, such as the Fender Twin and the Vibrosonic, sound wise.
Do they have the tube sound that the other two I mentioned have or do they sound like a solid state amp? I would appreciate any feedback you guys can give me, because I live where there will never be a chance to try one out, and the only way I will hear one is to buy it, and if I don't like it, well.....I guess that's too bad.
Thanks in advance for any responses and ideas you can give me.
Gene
------------------
If You Keep Pickin That Thing, It'll Never Heal!
The Twin and Vibrosonic are guitar amps and as such are a bit underpowered for steel. Also they don't have much in the way of EQ. Some guys are willing to settle for that however,and like them just fine for steel. The Steel King has a full fat tone with a lot of tonal possibilities and a lot of nice features - it's definately a big step up from a Twin.It doesn't sound like a Peavey,Webb or Evans.It has plenty of power compared to a twin. Yes it's a solid state amp but it's definately a Fender type sound - just a hi-fi version. Solid state amps were harsh when first introduced in the 70s and a lot of guys hang onto that comparison but nowadays unless you are a blues guitar purist,I think it's time to put all that tube vs solid state crap to rest. There are some very nice solid state amps these days and this is one of them.Trust me this amp sounds great. -MJ-
Gene:
I just received a new Peavey 112 amp. This amp with my LeGrande 111 or the MCI going through Brad's Black Box, then a Hilton pedal, and a Boss DD/3 has everything I could ever want in a steel amp.I also have a Evans SE-200 and a Sessions 400 and this 112 stacks up very nicely against all of them.The comments I have read and heard on the Steel King speaks well for that amp also.I never have found the manufacturers recommended settings for steel guitar to my liking. But it is a place to start.I think sometimes we buy a amp and then complain when it don't sound like ------( fill in the blank )I am very happy with my Evans but, I didn't expect the 112 to sound like it. It also took about three or four sessions with it before I was totally happy with it's performance.There again this is only my biased opinion after fifty five plus years of steel picking and no hearing aid yet !.Good luck
Gene,
All I can tell you is, if you are a fan of
Fender tone but wished for a higher wattage
version...then the Steel-King is for you.
If you're sort of used to the sound of one
of the other steel amps, then go with one
of those. I have an old '65 Twin reverb and
I can get this Steel-King to sound pretty
darn close tone-wise.
I recently bought one and have gigged with it 3 times and love it.
I can summarize it quickly by just saying it has its own sound...I really don't think it sounds like a Peavey, tube Fender or other amps I've tried...it's somewhat unique.
Probably a lot has to do with the fact that it has a wide spectrum of tone controls.
It's pretty heavy, but the compact size and (supplied) wheels make it quite manageable.
I have one on order. To you folks who are useing one,what brand steel/pickup are you folks useing? Ill be playing my Sho~Buds through mine. I liked them through my Nash 400 pretty well but,I did not care for the sound of my GFI through the Nash.I know its all personal preference. Just wondered if you guys had any thoughts? Thanks.
------------------
Sho-Bud ProII, Pro III custom,
Nash 400,Hilton pedal,Tut Taylor "Virginian"
I play an Excel keyless U-12 w/a 17.5 TrueTone single coil,a 56 T-8 Fender Stringmaster,G&L ASAT-3 w/Seymore Duncan mini-humbuckers and an F-style Mandolin with a bridge transducer type pickup and Fishman preamp.I was playing Chapman Stick thru it the other day also - just to see what that was gonna sound like. All these instruments sound crisp,sweet,fat and punchy thru the Steel King. To me,the most significant feature of the Steel King is its midrange tone quality. Most Peaveys have one narrow sweet spot in the mid EQ and it usually involves a deep scoop somewhere between 2K and 4K to get rid of harshness.Twins/Vibroverbs are worse because there's not enough mid EQ control to do that - tho they can be made tolerable with an outboard EQ. Not so with the Steel King - there's a wide midrange spectrum that's pretty much all pleasing and acceptable.
-MJ-
I can tell you that for years I have used a Roland GP-100 pre-amp/processor into a Nashville 400. I've even been thinking recently about getting a Walker Stereo Steel rig. But, I just got a Fender Steel King and the last two days I have played straight from my Emmons into the front of the Steel King with only a delay pedal in the chain and it is awesome. Last night we were in Jacksonville, FL with Travis Tritt and after our show, Travis' steel player, Steve Sturm, came up to me and was raving about the sound of the new amp. I think he is gonna pick one up soon. Then, today we played the tailgate party for the Miami Dolphins game and Trent Willmon opened the show. Well, Troy Klontz from Brooks & Dunn was subbing on steel for Trent and didn't bring an amp. I let him use my Fender Steel King and dang if he ain't about to go get him one now. I went out front and listened to him playing for Trent and his tone was sooooo good! I have to say that I am very proud of this new amp and I think I will be switching to just my guitar straight into the Steel King and getting rid of all the rack gear.
..with all of the accolades above, if I was still gigging I would try the Steel King. I like solid states because of not having to worry about the hums and hisses of 6L6's and their kinfolks ect, and if a mfg could copy the sound of one without the downsides, then I would be interested. I think I still like solid states better!
I am one of those guys with a limited working knowledge when it comes to adjusting my amplification to make my guitar sound good. Reverb units, delay units, compressors, limiters, fuzz makers, matchbros and a half of kumchatka, geez....at least I can find the on and off switch! Bad enough that I have to deal with my mediocre steel playing. Anyway, this amp has made my life a simple stupid operating procedure, just plug in and play. My band plays inside, outside, damn hot, freezing cold, great acoustics, lousy acoustics, inside a barn filed with meadow muffins and other gigs inside a huge white tent outfitted with an oyster bar. Again, I just plug in and play with confidence knowing that I don't have to turn a bunch of knobs to accommodate the room we are playing in. I guess if my day gig didn't get my rear up at 3 AM every day I would over come my deficiencies, but realistically that ain't gonna happen. So again, my hats off to this amp called the Steel King.
I just play my steels thru a volume pedal - which I don't consider to be an "effect" any more than I consider my bar or fingerpicks an "effect" and then straight into the Steel King. I don't use outboard digital reverb like I do on Peavey amps because the Fender spring reverb is so smooth on this amp as to rival a digital reverb. These days on steel,reverb is the only thing I use and when I plug my mandolin into the 'King,I play it completely dry so I can really hear the "wood". -MJ-
Ron,
I'm not sure why you would want to play a pedal steel without a volume pedal, but for just plain raw tone without any effects the Steel King has a very full , fat , tone very much like Michael described...It's got plenty of power and punch, and the EQ is very adjustable, and very adequate....It does NOT have to hide behind any effects, however it handles these effects very well, if this is what is desired ....Oh, and it sounds great without a volume pedal also ...I have used mine with a Stringmaster, a Zum, an Emmons, and also my little U12 Lamar, and they ALL sound great !!.....Sincerely, Jim<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by James Quackenbush on 06 December 2004 at 06:53 PM.]</p></FONT>
James, you answered my question and thank you. I play steel with a volume pedal, reverb
and sometimes a boss distortion pedal for occaisonal blues and some rock. I try to keep my set up very basic, so I look for good
guitars with natural sustain and amps that
work well and are easy to tweak. I'm very intersted in this new amp.
Ron,
The frequency's in this amp are basically set up for pedal steel ....The beauty of it the fact the the "mid's" control on this amp is VERY effective as it is basically frequency adjustable ....PLUS you have a control that you can either add more or less of what you have adjusted ....Now let's say you have everything set the way you like with your bass, mid controls, and treble, and then the room you're playing in fills up ....You really like the relationship of you tone controls,and the way your steel sounds, but you need to have a little more "presence " in the room full of people...That's where the EQ TILT control comes in....At 12 o'clock it's at middle positon ...Turn it to the right , and it brightens you tone, turn to the left and it add's more bass.....You also have a master volume and a preamp volume so you can dial in how much overdrive, or if you want a little hair on your notes, or if you want to play really clean .....Notice everything I'm talking about here that I am not even mentioning effects loops, or reverb, which the amp has also !!.....It's a tweakers paradise !!...Jim
I'm curious about some comments I've heard about the Twin. A bunch of guys seem to use a twin as their main amp, is it really so underpowered for steel, especially compared to a 112?
I'll put it like this - The Steel King is a lobster dinner with all the trimmings and a Fender Twin is a real good double cheesburger. There was a time between the early 60s and the late 70s that Twins were about as good as you could get for a reasonably portable and fairly loud steel amp. They are what they are and have pretty much stayed the same while other amps have been deveolped and have become more popular because they had more headroom,EQ and other features like loops etc. Fender Twins,like '66 Mustangs will always fill the bill for some guys but I'll take a new Lexus. I don't personally have an opinion about the Nash 112 cause I haven't gigged with one but I suspect it'd work on low volume gigs just fine. What seperates it from a Twin is not so much power - it's just capable of sounding better.
And BTW,yeah the Steel King sounds the same at pretty much any volume. -MJ-
My Steelking arrived today from Bobbe Seymour and let me tell ya, I love this
amp! Sounded great right out of the box, and
with just a little tweaking,both E9, and C6 neck sounded just like I wanted. This amp tweaks very easily and is set up quite nicely. The reverb sounds warrm and there is as much or as little as you could want.
Five year transferable warrennty,and these two cool little velcro strips inside the back of the cabinet,so you can hold your power cord and footswitch securely while
transporting the amp.Too cool!
Thanks Bobbe Seymour, hope you have a lot of these in stock! I think your gonna need em! AND thanks Sam Marshall for this new amp from FENDER!
Now we need Fender to come out with the Steel Queen, a little less power and 25 pounds lighter!
------------------
Dave Zirbel-
ZB Custom D-10 8 x 5, S-12U Kline 7 x6, Dobro Cyclops reissue, 1967 Fender Telecaster, Webb 6-14E, Fender Super Reverb The Mother Truckers The Cowlicks
Will throw my own two