The Steel Guitar Forum

I play through my 1977 Vibrosonic until I get ear fatigue then I crank up my Carr Impala 2X12 for a warm, musical sound. Then I go back to the Vibrosonic and am blown away by that 15" JBL and the lows from that.
Interesting thread!
Merry Christmas everyone!

Late 70's Vibrosonic with banjo in channel 1, PSG channel 2 and Princeton Chorus (for Tele) for big rooms. Fender Princeton Chorus (Tele and PSG) for small rooms, or black face Priceton Reverb (PSG only) for tiny rooms. In a loud band I definitely use the Vibrosonic! Always trying new setups, though - the ideal thing would be a three channel all tube amp with three different preamp EQ's - some day. Then I can sell all but one of my amps (backup amp)

peavey stereo chorus 400 w/BW1203's...PSG,Tele,Fiddle and mandolin.

I've used a Mesa Studio .22+ with an Altec 417-8H speaker for 97.74% of my playing for the last few years, but I got a Peavey Backstage Plus from the '80's as a practice amp. Now I'm using it most of the time for electric guitar, lap steel and when it's up and running, the D-8 console. If it needs to be louder, I'll add a microphone.

It's all subject to change...

Hi Paul.

If it needs to be louder, I'll add a microphone.

Are you going to plug that microphone into something? Don't try to plug the mic back into your amp. Believe me, it makes a horrible noise.

Vegas 400 sometimes two. May be changing though, I'm working with a tube amp to see how I like it.

Thanks to everyone who responded and thanks too for the pictures. Here are the results of 53 responses:
Nashville 112 ------- 7
Nashville 400 ------- 4
Milkman ------------- 4
Peavey 400 ---------- 4
Fender -------------- 6
Evans --------------- 3
Walker -------------- 3
Fox ----------------- 4
Peavey Session 500 -- 2
Peavey Session 200 -- 1
Vibrosonic ---------- 2
Steelarire; Fox;
Little Walter; Custom; Randall; Webb
Revelation; Mesa; Peavey Stero; Stero Steel;
Vegas; McIntosh; Furlong
GIC MB ------------------------------ all 1

Thanks again everyone. Gary

Evans SE200.

peavey session 400 with/j.b.l's also, peavey vegas 400
sometimes boss r-v5 1982 dekley d-10 8+7
p.w

Webb 6-14-E most of the time.

Gary, I think you should separate the Fender tube amps from the Steel King, as they really are two different animals, IMO.

Michael

Fractal Audio FX2 with 2 Matrix Q12A cabinets. Small and light.

Webb 614E much of the time, but Roland 80XL for small bar gigs and sessions.

I count, for all instances of Fender amp usage:

Smaller than Twin/Vibrosonic-Reverb: 3

Twin Reverb: 8

Vibrosonic Reverb: 2

Steel King: 1

Not all these uses are exclusive, as some players clearly state that they use different amps for different situations.

With voluntary participation and such a small N, I wouldn't draw any real conclusions from these proportions, in terms of the general steel player population playing out.

The amp that I have been using for most of my single amp gigs lately is a 70's silver-knob Peavey Session 400 that I had modded to the Brad Sarno and Ken Fox specs listed on their Session 400 webpage.
It sounds really good with a Weber Cali 15" and my Sierra S12U with a Wallace True-Tone pickup that says 17.5K on the bottom.
This rig travels from my home to the gig in 3 pieces, Steel (always set up), Amp (with power cord and Black Box in the back), and Seat (V-ped, RV3, cords, picks, wall-warts).
I carry my steel from my van to the stage, the use a small dolly to wheel the amp and seat to the stage.
I haven't used a steel case for local gigs in years now, My steel loads easily into the side-door of my van butted up against the back of the passenger seat.

I still prefer to run Stereo whenever there is room, and then I use my Stereo Steel rig or a Peavey Stereo Chorus 400 that I have in a head, with two 15" speaker cabs.
The stereo rig requieres one more load-in/out trip for the two cabs, and a little more wiring-it-up time (I run the RV3 in the parallel effects loop on the Stereo Steel) but it sounds great!.

As many Rolands as have been bought in the past year, I was surprised to see that no one uses it on stage!! I have two of them and use either one or two, depending on the venue size. Maybe everyone else only uses it at home. I use my NV400 at home!

Tonight I'm playing in a loud club so I plan on using both my Dual Showman head with a 2-12 cabinet and my NV400.

Been using the Roland Cube 80XL for all gigs, practice and home use--the NV112 as a backup.

Small stage/rooms, GK-MB200, Larger stage/rooms, Stereo Steel.

Two Session 500's.

Loving my StereoSteel w/JBL's

Peavey Basic 50, slightly modded....she'll do about 350 in the top and floored!....

Peavey Session 400 with a Sarno Black Box and a Goodrich pot pedal. Emmons push-pull guitar. At virtually all gigs the amp is mic'd, so the volume is fairly low. The sensitivity (master volume, sort-of) is almost never over 5, and sometimes it's down to zero.