The Steel Guitar Forum

I have the amp I want for PSG, but I haven't found a 'best amp' for guitar yet.

The sound of that best guitar amp is in my head and I've yet to find a real amp that comes close enough.

I had a Mk III 60 watt with no graphic eq, EVM 12L speaker that sounded great with literally anything plugged into it. Bombproof, too.
It got away from me during a period of financial embarrassment; but I know where it lives. Maybe someday I'll get 'er back.Or one just like it.
Worst? Well, my least fave was an early (81) Session 500.
Too heavy, too loud, too sterile sounding with the Sierra I had at the time. I don't like phaser effects and the "string" effect was just a poor excuse for a fuzztone,I thought. Maybe I would have liked it as a steel amp with a 'Bud, but I'll never know now. Useless as a guitar amp from my point of view. Sounded pretty good with keys and bass, though.
Should have dropped the extra couple C-notes and bought the Webb 614-E.

Cheers, Chris

The best sounding amp I ever had was an Ampeg 112 some kind of Jet something or other with 2 EL34s that just sounded wonderful with guitar and pedal steel. I just couldn't find tubes at the time that wouldn't go micro phonic.

The worst amp (and it really wasn't that bad) was a Peavey Bandit 112. It was well made and sounded good and all that but the trim pieces that Peavey hung on that thing would rattle something terrible. After I stripped all the metal trim pieces off it didn't rattle. I ended up giving it to a jazz student that liked it a lot.

Although I'm only playing steel 4 months I have and have brought home many amps from guitar center . My best sounding amp is the one I already had my Vox AD 120 valvetronix. Clear tone with many effects and amp models...spring reverb a little delay...touch of chorus. Have a Peavey MX vtx 4 6l6 1-12 bw...not great...a Renown 1-15 BW..is good, Session 500 15 BW aok...and my newest a chorus 2-12 unknown speaker works... to me Peaveys all sound similar...midrangy..seem to need detailed tweeking...Vox seems to have a softer richer sound....but I do like all my amps...
The Peavey Valvekings were not PSG suitable ,had half stack and the 2-12....but great guitar amps. The mustang 5 and 4 were fun but too digital...if they tubed the preamp they might have something....the first steel amp I bought was a Super Reverb that was awful..didn't know it had a problem.

Best : Sarno Revelation Tube Preamp in conjunction with most any cabinet I've tried.
Worst: Session 400 Limited which I found brittle and dry, even after modding. It was also undependable due to problems with the switching jacks which would cause the amp to cut out.

Played a NV 400 for many years. Never let me down. Traded up to Mr. Sarnos SMS classic and Mr. Furlongs' 12" split. Took some time to get used to but is even better so far. One really nice thing about it is the way the sound seems to carry. We practice with a full band in a living room and then take it out to a hall and I find I can leave the volume in the same spot. Don't know if it's the difference in a closed back cabinet or just the way the speaker/cab distributes the sound but that alone is great. It's really nice NOT to have to turn up the volume to be heard.

Best..Fox Vintage Amp, Second..1975 Session 400. (very reliable, fine sounding unit). Worst..Toss up between a Session 400 Limited and an Evans (could not manage to tame the highs, great amp if you enjoy sounding like Mooney, otherwise not.)

Best would be my Peavey LTD that Ken Fox moded and has the NeoLite Speaker. Chrystal clear tone and highs and warm lows.

Worst would be Randall, 75 lbs of noise to my ears. Never could get it to sound right so sold it. The guy I bought it from sounded great playing thru it.

I've played thru about every amp there is for steel guitar and some that weren't for steel. Here are just my thoughts of some of them.

Session 500----bad overtones drove me nuts
Nashville 112---good but highs aren't zingy enough
Evans amps-----highs not clear and not enough mids
Nashville 400--ok but can get to twangy
Nashville 1000----honk, honk
Dalton Pony-----no highs
Fender Twin ---harsh highs that hurt my teeth
Roland Cube 80-way to mid rangy, great effects
Randall Steel man---absolutly aweful sound and weighs a ton
Walker stereo steel--it really amounts to what effects you use. Great preamp but just too much trouble to hookup
Session 400---twangy, harsh and terrible reverb
The older Peavy 400--Sounds a lot like the LTD but bigger cabinet gives little more lows. Great amp
Show Bud amp-- it's missing something.
Webb---too many buttons and was never able to get sound I like
Vegas 400---great amp for playing two instruments and not bad for steel, just not good enough

These are just my personal findings of some of the amps I've owned. I've heard every amp I've mentioned sound good with somebody else playing them.

Session 400 using Yamaha SPX 900 for rev. 25 years now and still singing like a steel

This one has me thinking! Could be a new best amp, after a bit of tinkering!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-MUZAK-5 ... 264wt_1396

Best...by far...FOX 2 x 10

worst..Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (kept blowing traces and components)

Best Steel Amp - Webb 614E

Worst Steel Amp- Peavey 1000

Best Guitar Amp- Mesa Boogie T-Verb

Worst disappointment, for sure, was my Legend Lead 50, a tube s/s hybrid with a beautiful finger-jointed oak cabinet and woven wicker grill cloth. This thing was good looking and loud as a pimp's suit but I never liked the sound.

Best? I like my Peavey Delta Blues.

Best amp for 6 string - a 71' Super Reverb. Just that particular one.
Best amp for jazz 6-string - Acoustic Image thru a Raezers Edge cabinet. Melted butter tone.
Best amp for steel - Sarno Rev or Classic thru TC split(s).

Worst amp for guitar - Fender "Amp Can". It gave new meaning to the phrase "Wow, I've never heard anything suck so bad." I'd also have to second the nomination of a previous posting regarding Legend amps. Nice look but I found myself saying, "Jeez, this is a really bad-sounding amp."

Worst amp for steel - Fender solid-state from the 70's.

Best: Toss up between Little Walter 50 headn(for clean) and THD BiValve 30 (for rockin' out).

I typically don't buy amps that I don't like, but the amp that I owned that I never got a great sound from was a Webb (one of the first).

Best- Evans RE 200 (light and strong sound)

Worst- Session 2000.(never got the sound I was looking for plus always had a buzz until the internal battery leaked and destroyed some circuitry)

Terry

It seems the best amps I have ever heard live were always played by Buddy Emmons. I tried the same amps and they all sounded bad. Is it me or the amps??

Just some amps I have really enjoyed are for one the older Peavey Deuce (not the the VT series, but the 240 series tube/hybrid). A truly warm amp with a great tube warmth to boot. I played the Artist 240 (with the same 4x6L6GC configurtaion with a 15" speaker) and could not get the warmth of the 212 Deuce.

I have a 1965 Bandmaster with the 212 tilt back cab and it is just awesome for steel.

Another cabinet I played was a Showman with the single 15" JBL and the tone ring. It out performed any of the three 15" speaker cabs I used in the shop. What a tone! I sure would hate to have to carry it around.

Not to ring my own bell, but I love my 4x10 Tweed rendiditon of the 1954 Bassman (protype amp from Fender that was only made for the last 2 months of 1954). I can also say I have no plans of building more amps or staying in the business past the end of this year. However it is an all around great amp for guitar and steel. Just ask Billy Phelps for a recommendation on that one!! He loves using Ken Metcalf's amp for steel gigs when he plays with Ken. Here's the body of an email I got from Ken after another interesting night woith the amp:

Last night I was playing with Neil Flanz and his Fender steel king amp quit.
I told him he could plug into my Fox 4-10 and of course he was very skeptical.
Told him I do it all the time to play steel and guitar.
He handed me the chord to his PP and needless to say his jaw about hit the floor.
He kept saying.. what kind of amp is that... what with 4 tens how many watts ????
We played the last set with both of us using the one amp


I tend to play lower wattage amps now. Anything over 40 watts I do not have in my collection. Most 6 string guitar gigs I play my 1955 Deluxe (5E3) clone and my restored 1952 Gibson GA-75. By far the best tone I have ever had for my Tele in a live situation. If I need a bit more power I have my 5D6C (clone of the 54 Bassman), a 1955 Clone of a Fender Super (but with a 12" baffle) and also a 1965 Bandmaster amp with the 212 cabinet.

I have never tried a transistor amp for steel yet that I liked well enough to own one. Guess I am just an old diehard tube guy.

Best amp I have tried was the Ken Fox amp tone to the bone.They had one at the Dallas show I only wish I could have taken it home with me.It is a great pity Ken is not making them any more.
Spence.

Best - Little Walter 50 & Twin 50

Worst - Everything I played before the Little Walter

best... 73 session 400 with film coupling caps and highly filtered power ala sarno. like 500s too.like fender amps with lower output pups. seems like the consensus is quite varied.

worst.... dunno

I agree with Travis. There is not anything, anywhere that comes close. They are the best for any instrument, they are amazing.

Worst - Anything else

Gary Skelton

The best-this amp, which does not interfere with play. It has a clean and bright sound. It helps when playing with a loud orchestra))
I like my fender deluxe (hot rod)
Do not like all the amp with a dull, poorly set-up sound.

Dan Tyack wrote:Best: Toss up between Little Walter 50 headn(for clean) and THD BiValve 30 (for rockin' out).

I should amend this response. Much as I like my THD BiValve, when I head out the door to a gig or session, I'm going to bring the Little Walter. It rocks pretty good with a Sarno Earth Drive in front of it, and the basic sound of the amp is magical.

I guess I am not very picky. A stock Nashville 112 sounds wonderful to me.

My current rig is a Sarno black box->digitech RP155->GK MB200->15" black widow or SICA in a homemade cabinet. I love it. And it weighs nothing.

I've only been playing steel for about 4 years and went through what forumites suggested I try. I tried a session 400, nash 112 and settled with my Vibrosonic with a D130, and my Webb. I'm a nut for classic steel, so tubes & and lashley with telonics pickups or the fingertip work perfectly. On that note, the telonics pickups are amazing!