Okay, here is some dreaming. The basic quandry of steelers is: 1) because of the nature of the instrument, we need a massive amount of clean amplification (compared to regular guitar); 2) we want the warm tone of tubes, but clean; 3) we tend to be older, already have a heavey instrument, require extra gear (pedal, chords, seat, etc.), and so don't want a big heavy combo.
One solution is a high powered all-tube amp head. My 180 watt Super Twin Reverb (six 6L6s) in a head cab weighs 50 lbs. (8 lbs more than a NV112), which is about the limit for portable weight of a single component, and has the volume of a NV1000, with warm but clean tube tone. In addition, a separate head cabinet gives the flexibility to place the amp next to the player, with the speaker(s) placed wherever needed. And obviously with a head cab the speaker options are completely felexible.
However, an update of this type amp would be expensive, and maybe it's a dinosaur. But lightweight, inexpensive solid state amps have not to-date been able to model tube amp tone well enough to replace it (witness the thriving tube amp market for regular guitar). We can always hope, but at the moment, my POD XT (possibly the best of the modelers) just does not sound as good as my all-tube amps.
That brings us to hybrids. I am aware of two hybrids that far surpass all the solid-state modelers, and come close to filling the bill. The old Music Man amps had a solid-state preamp with a tube power amp. My conservatively rated 100 watt MM 112RD weighs 44 lbs (2 lbs more than the NV112) and is very compact. It is almost there in tone, but not quite. The highs are too piercing, and the tube preamp warmth is missing. So I say it's close, but no cigar - but it shows the great unfulfilled promise of hybrids. The other example is the modern Vox Valvetronix line. These use a single small tube, combined with solid-state modeling for both the preamp, and a mini tube power amp that gets a solid-state boost. These things easily beat all the solid-state modelers, and truly rival all-tube tone. They are very inexpensive (okay, they are European engineering and Korean production, but I have faith in Peavey to accomplish the same thing somehow). The power-to-weight ratio is in line with solid-state expectations, and could probably be improved by using neodymium speakers and voicing the amps accordingly. The tone, volume, multiple models, and effects that come from these small inexpensive amps are unbelievable. I'm thinking this may be the wave of the future. I'd love to see what Peavey could do with this.
Finally, let's address the two-channel two-instrument issue. It's true that a lot of steelers don't play a second instrument. But virtually all steelers started on regular guitar; and I think more play regular guitar on the bandstand and at home than Mike seems to think. But I think there is much more to this issue than that. Even when many of us play only steel, more and more, we have songs where we depart from the traditional-country clean-steel sound and go to a blues-rock tube sound. If you have a second channel (or amp models) that gives you regular guitar tube sounds, you take care of both the guys who double on Tele or slide-guitar, and the steelers who need a blues-rock tone on steel.
The beauty of this from the product design standpoint is that you can have one amp (or line of amps) that covers those who only play guitar, those who play steel and guitar, and those who play steel with multiple tones. So instead of thinking of separate amp lines for regular guitar and steel, all you have to do is have a high powered hybrid modeler, with one of the models being a clean steel sound (which probably also would be a good clean jazz model).
So here's the picture I am getting. A compact, light, inexpensive 200 watt tube-ss hybrid with dirty and clean models, and multiple digital effects. Like the Vox Valvetronixs, there is an attenuator for the final solid-state boost. So guitar players can dial the final volume down to the 10-50 watt level they need, while still maintaining the sweet spot of the driven mini-tube power amp. The steeler can max out the attenuator for lots of clean headroom and choose a clean tube model, or can choose a dirtier model for blues-rock. Everybody is happy with one amp. I see a line with a 200 watt head, and one or more smaller combos. The only difference would be the final solid-state power boost - the preamp, models and mini-tube power amp would be the same in all fo them, saving production costs. Beyond that, the only think steelers might want is the mid-point selector. But guitar players might discover how useful that is too. Or you could just put in a 5- or 6-band EQ and make everybody really happy.
If I were in the business, that's what I'd be shooting for. I'll pass on the consultation fee, but will be happy to try out a beta model.
