The Steel Guitar Forum

I am getting started with my Carter Starter and I have a Peavey 5150 2 12 combo. Its a nice amp for my guitar and doesn't do to poorly for my PSG either. But it doesn't sound amazing.

My main PSG influence plays out of a Fender Twin Reverb.

I have the opportunity to trade my 5150 combo for a Roland Jazz Chorus. I know that this would be great for my guitar but I am not so sure about a PSG.

What do you guys think?

This question has come up before. I know for sure that there are some players who think highly of the JC for steel and I do not question their taste or judgment but I do not share their experience. The JC, for me, is a rehearsal space amp that I roll my eyes and make do with because the guitarist got dibs on the good amp. At best, an unexciting choice for steel. At worst.....well, I have always contended that in the real world you need to be able to get a usable sound out of any amp at your disposal and I was able to do so with the JC. But I enjoyed playing a 5150 a lot more. For amazing.....well, that's why there is the amp-of-the-month-club. Well, not really, but if there was, I'd be a charter member. Of course, the obvious question your post raises is: why not find a way to get a twin?
Again, I won't argue with different opinions---just differ with them.

The Rolands have a great sound...with the chorus. But when you aren't using the chorus, the sound is pretty ho-hum. Since you seem tilted towards the tube stuff, keep what you've got and invest in a small graphic EQ. You've got 120 watts of clean tube sound, all you need is some EQ power to make it sound decent for PSG.

The JC is (IMO a pretty cold sounding amp and I doubt it would be an improvement over the 5150; although the 5150 has a high gain structure that's hard to get a round, full sounding clean tone out of. They also tend to have a lot of hiss - it's just inherent with all those extra gain stages. You have to have ultra-quiet, tested, and expensive preamp tubes to even hope of taming the noise issue.

If you like Twin Reverb sounds, why not sell the 5150 and buy a used SF Twin? Actually, if you're going to be using the amp for guitar as well a Pro Reverb might be a better choice - it can be set up to play clean and will be nearly as loud as a Twin, but warmer sounding with guitar. However, you end up with a compromise either way - it's almost impossible to use one amp for both and get optimum tone for both guitar and steel.

Personally, I don't care for the graphic EQ's - they seem to take away far more than they add IMO.

I agree with Jim. Don't like EQs. A SF Twin would be a good choice as a good tech can set up one channel for steel and the other channel for guitar. That's what my tech did.

What do you recommend for setting up Channels?

1 for Steel (assume Normal)

1 for Guitar (assume Reverb)

My tech did some sort of "Tweedy" mod to the normal channel. I have no clue what he did. My guitar needs are different than a lot of other guy's though. I play clean, with at most, the slightest bit of grit, and I always play with my fingers. My amp was a Quad Reverb that was converted to blackface specs except for a few steel-oriented mods. Slope resistor, and a couple af caps if I remember correctly. It's in Rick Johnson split cabs with a JBL 15" speaker. Sounds great for my Tele needs.
PS: I think Jim is right for most guitar/steelers. I lucked out.

The best ChoiceIs buy my Fender Steel king New in the box i used It Once. 640.00 Shipped To your door. All Paper work book Warranty Card Casters and fender Cover. Why Sell it because I like My Evans 200 SE better. thanks Randy.

But it doesn't sound amazing.

it will take a few years before you can get it to sound amazing...no matter what amp you use
all kidding aside let someone like Bobby Bowman sit down and play any guitar with any amp and it will sound amazing.
it was Jeff Newman that said the players that we all want to sound like have all been playing 30-50 years. to a huge degree , its not the equipment it has to be in the player

Calvin... I think you have discovered the "Secret". Without proper technique, no amplifier sounds good. The SOUND can not be bought. If it could, we would all sound like our favorite hero of the moment. There is no substitute for Practice. JMO