Pedal steel played through a PA

David Fields · Post by **David Fields** » 13 Feb 2007 11:51 am

In the foreseeable future I will purchase me a steel pedal. I don't have the money to buy one, but that never stopped me before from getting any of my other toys.
Now seeing that I don't have the money for a steel guitar I certainly will not have the money for an amp, but I still have fairly good options.
1) I have an older marshall head and cabinet that I play my Strat through
2) I have a nice Yamaha PA system with EV speakers.

Would a steel pedal sound decent through either of these?
Would I need effects to go with either?
Would I need to customize the amp?

Thanks for the help! As always, you guys here are AWESOME on great information. Thanks again!

Dave

Simon Stephenson · Post by **Simon Stephenson** » 13 Feb 2007 1:36 pm

Whichever sounds best to you!

You could buy one of those pods with the amp models and speaker cab simulations in it to start with rather than getting an effects pedal. None will have a steel amp simulation on but you might get the next best thing like a Fender Twin sound and then put it through the PA system.

Just my thoughts although I'm new here...

Bill Dobkins · Post by **Bill Dobkins** » 13 Feb 2007 4:29 pm

I use a Marshall dsl 401 all tube amp. It's the best country amp i've ever used. I play an old esquire converted to a Tele. As long as you keep the volume down they sound great. I use two compressors on my pedal board. One is used strictly as a volume boost.Therefore you can keep the volume down on the amp. If you turn it up a lot you lose the clean country sound .I hooked my new steel up to it last nite and it still sound's great. I wouldn't be afraid to try your Marshall.

David Fields · Post by **David Fields** » 13 Feb 2007 4:38 pm

Thanks for the info!
I would think that it would sound pretty good through either one of them

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 13 Feb 2007 9:24 pm

Double post deleted.

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 13 Feb 2007 9:30 pm

Because of the way the volume pedal is used (pedal steelers typically attack their notes with the volume pedal more than half off), and the need for clean chords and harmony, you need about 4 times more clean headroom for pedal steel than for regular guitar. Without mods that might ruin it for regular guitar, your Marshall will not have nearly as much clean headroom as amps designed for steel. Miking it through a PA will help you keep the amp in its low volume clean range. But if you ever get with a band with loud stage volume, the Marshall might not work well even as your monitor. It may be fine for practicing as a beginner, but eventually you will need what most steelers need, a powerful amp with lots of clean headroom and EQ controls designed for steel. If you watch the Forum awhile, you can pick up something like a used Peavey Nashville 400, or a Nashville 112 for a few hundred bucks.

Most steelers use reverb and/or delay. And if you have the kind of big clean amp you need for country steel, if your amp doesn't have a second dirty channel, you might want a distortion stomp box of some kind to dirty up the tone if you want to play rock and blues. There are a number of multieffects units, ranging from $100 to $300 that will do all of that.

Robert Thomas · Post by **Robert Thomas** » 14 Feb 2007 3:55 am

I have used a PA Amp head for about 35 years now and have never felt the need for something different. I have tried various brands of Amps made for steel but never did like them, but that is my opinion and feeling for what sounds best for my playing.

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 15 Feb 2007 5:35 pm

Back in the eighties I had a Session 500 that went out on me so I took the power unit to the authorized repair shop and kept the cabinet with speaker at home. For a couple of weeks I use a Peavey 6 channel powered PA head to drive that 15" Black Widow and as I remember, it sounded as good and maybe even better than the 500 head. At another point, the same amp went out again (I eventually got rid of it) so I used a Peavey TNT-130 bass amp for steel and it sounded pretty good too.............JH in Va.

Kevin Bullat · Post by **Kevin Bullat** » 17 Feb 2007 12:38 pm

After years of stalling, I finally decided to just run my steel through the bands PA system. At first it sounded a bit thin. Then I bought a SansAmp and it really sounds good!

As I'm the one who always has to set the PA up and all the related stuff, it sure is nice to NOT have to bring my amp and mic it up also.

The SansAmp is the way to go when going direct.

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Pedal steel played through a PA

Pedal steel played through a PA

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