The Steel Guitar Forum

I am sure I will get varied opinions on this, but is there one or two amps in particular that really bring out that perfect tone on a fender stringmaster more than others. has anyone actually compared several amps side by side for a comparison?

Jack,

I like your pickin' regardless!

Hope you can come and help us out on our next Marshfield Steel Guitar Show! Bring that thing with you!

GOD bless!

Terry

I think a Fender Twin Reverb rules in this department.

I agree with Erv, and I'd also add that for lower volume gigs a Fender Deluxe Reverb or a Pro-Reverb are both ideal. The Pro-Reverb is a very under-rated amp. Like a Super-Reverb but without the unwieldy size.

Basically, any Fender tube amp is ideal.

Herb,
Have you tried the reissue Twin Reverb with the 15" speaker?

I have a '74 Super Reverb that I had a tech restore to blackface era specs, and my Stringmasters sound amazing though it. It IS a pain to move, though, so it stays pretty much as a home/recording amp. My Deluxe sounds very good at a bit lower volume.

Yep, Fender amps sound great with Stringmasters.

Erv
I haven't tried the RI TR w/15. I used to have a 1972 Vibrosonic that was great but the weight/power ratio didn't make it a gig amp for me.

I still have the Twin Reverb that I bought new in 1967.
It is an early silver face before master volume.
I ordered it from Fender with JBL speakers.

Needless to say, I had to put castors on the bottom and lift handles on the sides but it really is a tone monster!

My vote is for any Fender tube amp, the older the better. I like 15" speakers for pedal steel, but 12s and even 10s work fine with non-pedal steels. I have a Pro Reverb, but am not crazy about it. It is the same size and almost as heavy as a Twin, with half the power. If you don't need the volume of a Twin, I'd go with a Deluxe with an efficiet speaker, and maybe a bigger tranny, if you need a little more volume than a stock Deluxe. If you like the 10s of a Super, but not the size and weight, then a Vibrolux would be good. The only problem with the old Fenders is that the prices are getting too high for the average working musician.

This is an impossible question to answer!

What tone are you looking for?

A JTM45 Marshall sounds good. A tweed fender sounds good. A blackface deluxe sounds good...... They all sound good!
Its all what you like the tone of. Try every amp you can get your hands on and decide on your own. Sometimes there are some real winners out there that you wouldn't expect. My personal favorite is a Supro with single 15" and 2 6L6 tubes. has no model number, but it is the right size, right volume and the tone is fantastic.
You wouldn't expect this one to sound great for steel, but to me it is better than my 59 bassman for steel.

While a black vibrolux reverb and a super reverb have similar tube compliments, it appears the only difference is the speaker configuration, they are very different sounding amps. Both are very good sounding amps.

try em all, good luck!

I like my Hot Rodded Fender Princeton Reverb for my Stringmaster...it is like they were made to go together...Terry V.

The amps I use regularly with my Stringmaster are either a re-issue 59 Bassman LTD or an old Rickenbacker M-15. Both sound nice, with the Ricky having a bit more bite.

I played through a friend's Standel, and of course that sounded amazing too.

T

A recent thread on this very forum gave extremely high points to the Roland Cubes. I like the sound of mine.

It's pretty hard to beat a Twin Reverb. The Fender I have right now is a VibroSonic reverb, '74 era with 15" speaker. I would rather have a twin, although for big sound mine is OK. That's what Jerry Byrd used in later years too, an old twin.

BILL

The TWIN REVERB is a bit heavy if weight is a concern. I found the DELUXE REVERB (one spkr vs two) has a great sound for my CUSTOM T-3. Or, you might consider something really light in weight but packs a great sound, the ROLAND CUBE 30 (or 60). They each have a "tweed" setting, referring of course to the FENDER amp.

Music Man HD 130

Fender Steel King

It might be easier to ask what amp sounds BAD with a Stringmaster plugged into it !!....I sure can't think of many !!... .........Jim

zzzz

According to Volume needed...All Fender,Non Master Volume Twin Reverb, Super Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, Princeton Reverb..If you need REALLY loud...Hiwatt 100 watt head..w/ 4x12 cab. the clean headroom is unbelievable!

thanks for all the opinions, it's apparent to see one common theme here and that would be a tube amp for sure.

The 'Bedroom Boys' may prefer the heavier tube amps, for me even 'though I have a roadie, it's the Peavey Nashville 112.
I THINK I could probably stretch to anything that sounded better, BUT IMHO there isn't.
FWIW.
1. Tubes on the road with all the vibration etc. don't last long and are inconsistent and generally unreliable.

2. In a home situation where the amps location is static they MAY be a better choice. But the line between 'Warm' and 'Distorted' is a very fine one to SOME ears.

I prefer super clean and any "Warmth" to be added via external effects.

In the past 5 years I've tried the AER Compact 60, Roland Cube 60, and Nashville 112. All have really nice tone for Hawaiian (which I use the Stringmaster for). Portability is a key factor for me personally. If I could easily schlep a Twin - I would. But I agree with Basil - reliability and portability are two things 'tubies' sometimes don't excel at. Lately the Roland Cube 60 set on 'blackface' has been doing a good job for me. At home I use a Princeton Reverb. If you need to provide backline for Hawaiian players, you indeed will make lifelong friends of you give them a bunch of twins (or something similar)!

Chris

Tweed Pro Amp with a 15"er, if the volume situation is manageable.

Hands down, It's a Fender Twin Reverb w/JBL's. These two rigs compliment each other and as far as the weight of the amp, It's worth every pound. I've learned the hard way...."Think before you lift" ......Bill