The Steel Guitar Forum

I have a $99 Line 6 "out-of-the-box" small amp and have had a great small sound for practicing at home. Plenty loud with a pretty good sounding verb.

I have also used it at times with a $29 tube pre-amp by ART to feed it (warms up the tone a bit).

For a 'small' amp with pedal steel, I'm really liking my Princeton-Plus http://tube-tone.com/princeton-plus.php. 2 6L6 power tubes and only 42 pounds. I have the Weber 12F150 ceramic but for steel, it might sound a little better with the Weber California.

I have a Peavey classic 30 that I thought that I would use in small places but I haven't heard anything out it yet that I liked. It may be the way I have it set but I've tried all I can think of and it not clear. At this stage it looks like I'll "drag" the 15" around and be happier with the sound.

Jazz Kat "Tomkat" 10" Emmience speaker with two bass portals, weighing in at 20 lbs.

Nashville 112 is a great little amp ! I really like the sound of my Nashville 112, but I absolutley LOVE my Session 500..... however, my back doesn't.

If I don't want extra equipment for small venue ,like a church , I like my PEAVEY EFX 112 .
65w-32lbs w/all effects built in .Otherwise NV 112 more than enough .

Princeton Reverb with a 12" speaker in it.. I play a Headstrong amp Lil' King.. fantastic sound when playing low volume gigs... on the bigger gigs I have just been running stereo Deluxe and princton... glorious...

But I like that old tube sound.. even for steel... even if it is breaking up a little!

I just picked up a stock Peavey Special 130 (Scorpion speaker) that I'm liking a lot, at least in my practice room. Although I can't dial out that typical Peavey mids "honk" entirely, this amp has enough bass oomph to off set it substantially. Since I paid next to nothing for this amp, I can't decide whether to just revel in how decent it sounds for so little money or to put some more into it to make it an ideal single 12 amp.

On the down side, it is NOT light(!) But I've decied that there is an unavoidable correlation among tone/weight/price.

I have a nice little SE-150 with a 15" spkr by Evans that is pretty lightweight compared to my other two amps, thats why I always use it when I go somewhere to play. It has plenty of power & a great sound, just a little on the expensive side.

Ernie

my new favorite small amp..






I wish I had one of these...

Crate Power block (5 lbs) with a single 15" 1501-4 cab. I also use the PB with a single 1501-8 for bass. However, I just scored an old Evans E200 with a 12 inch speaker that is small but has sweet vibe. I believe this is a jazz guitar amp but for steel it sings.

Fender Hod Rod Deluxe. I have several other small amps that I have tried and work well with steel, including 2 Nashville 112s, but the HRD is my favorite right now.