The Steel Guitar Forum

Is this amp good for pedal steel? Comments please!

Thanks, Joe

-depends on how you're going to use it and your own tonal preferences, but, I tried one for a short while and decided to go with its big brother the Deville. Even with the 2-12 Deville, I've ended up tweaking/replacing stuff and using an outboard eq to dial in the depth of tone that I like to hear. I think that I recall several other posts addressing the HR Deluxe and there are lots of cats who'll weigh in both pro and con on the suitablilty of the Deluxe for pedal steel.

Joseph, I have one and it is used primarily for string by my son. But, it is a great steel amp if modified. There was a recent post by Ken Fox that I re-posted as well. It contains 2 simple modifications that affect the EQ & Reverb circuitry and they greatly enhance the amp. I also replaced the preamp tube nearest the power tubes from a 12AX7 to a 12AT7. This give the amp considerable more headroom for only 40 watts as well as smooths out the tone.

I have used this amp several times on gigs and around the house and it is indeed a great steel amp in my opinion. Lloyd Green used to use one in the studio.
Dave

It's a great amp for guitar and an OK amp for steel at moderate volume. I used one now and then on the gigs and it was fine for the smaller rooms, but the headroom will kill you if you have to crank it up. I stepped up to the big brother, Hot Rod Deville..huge difference. Even with the 6 string, if you are playing big fat chords off of the front PUP of any guitar it will break up anywhere close to bandstand volume...but if you rockin out or bluezin' out...this is what this amp was made for...It may actually better than the Deville for this because it is not Screaming LOUD when rockin out....

For a small room , rehearsals, or playing at home, it's a great little amp, a bit bright but you can dial it in.

tp

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I'm using one for pedal steel these days with a matching Rick Johnson extension cab. If you like tons of headroom this is probably not the right amp though. The extension cab does help a lot. I just use mine for recording and an occasional not-very-loud-gig.

A couple of weeks ago I tried my Fender Hot Rod "Deville" for my steel and the 'tube' tone was just a killer! Played Saturday with a big band and it held up for volume and with warm, sweet clear tone. In the 70's, I used Fender Vibrosonics and always loved the tone but the weight was just too much. I'm looking for a second "Deville" when I need more power.