What's evryone using for an amplifier?

William Matthews · Post by **William Matthews** » 14 Apr 2007 4:12 pm

I am going to use my old bass rig. How about everyone else?
my old rig sounds pretty good with my bass, I hope it will be ok with my new Fessenden SD-10.

Jim Saunders · Post by **Jim Saunders** » 14 Apr 2007 5:25 pm

I can just imagine the answers this will get. I don't want to sound rude, but it's like asking what kind of car do you all prefer. You will get many NV112's, Fender Steel Kings, Evans, Webb, NV400, Session 400, etc. The final answer will be whatever you want it to be.

Robert Dominick · Post by **Robert Dominick** » 14 Apr 2007 5:55 pm

Fender Steel King

Ken Williams · Post by **Ken Williams** » 14 Apr 2007 6:48 pm

I use a Peavey Session 400 limited. Sounds fine to me.
I have a 30 watt Marshall that I use as a practice amp. It's the best sounding practice amp I've ever played through. I'm not sure what the bigger Marshall amps sound like with steel.

Ken

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 14 Apr 2007 7:18 pm

I have tried many bass rigs with pedal steel, just for the heck of it to see what they sound like. Believe it or not, the better ones all sound too crisp and shrill. The reason is that they either use 10" speakers, or a 15 with a tweeter. These full spectrum speaker systems (and the full spectrum amps to drive them) give better definition to bass, and also reproduce pick noise and slapping, which many bass players want. Steel guitar tends to be shrill and whiney, because of the solid full-length body (no narrow neck and neck joint to absorb overtones) and the single bridge pickup. Pedal steelers have traditionally gone to 15" speakers to tame the highs. The result is a thicker, more mellow sound. The fact is that steel amps and speakers have evolved to sound good with steel, and bass amps and speakers have evolved to sound good with bass.

On the other hand, inexpensive and practice bass rigs sometimes have a single 12 or 15 with no tweeter. These sound dull and muffled for steel - not enough highs.

All that being said, Susan Alcorn in the current thread about 15" speakers for steel posted that she liked to play pedal steel through bass rigs. But she speaks of likeing the challenge of trying to get good sound from a different sounding rig. So different people like different things. But don't expect to get a standard or traditional steel sound from a bass rig.

My favorite steel amps are the powerful and clean playing Fender silver-face Twin family. I use a Dual Showman head or a Super Twin head with 15" JBL D130 speakers.

William Matthews · Post by **William Matthews** » 14 Apr 2007 9:04 pm

Thanks guys, my bass rig is a bear to move ( Alembic F2B preamp, McIntosh MC2300, and 2 Hard trucker cabs one with 1 JBL D130 and the other one has 2 JBL D120s. I just wanted to know what modern technology has brought to the steel community that will sound good live, and not need a semi to move.

Sidney Malone · Post by **Sidney Malone** » 14 Apr 2007 9:58 pm

G.D. Walker Stereo Steel gets my vote! www.stereosteel.com

My suggestion is to try as many as you can till you find the one that fits. I've tried most of the popular choices and a few others that were available to plug in to. When I tried the SS I knew that was "IT" for me as far as amps go.

Michael Douchette · Post by **Michael Douchette** » 14 Apr 2007 10:31 pm

"What's evryone using for an amplifier?"

Mostly black sorta boxy things, with a bunch of wires and junk in 'em. Has a big round thing, too, that gets pretty loud.

Jamie Lennon · Post by **Jamie Lennon** » 15 Apr 2007 2:05 am

I use a Peavey Session 500, heavey enough !!!
But I get a great tone through that amp, with a Profex 2

Dan Beller-McKenna · Post by **Dan Beller-McKenna** » 15 Apr 2007 3:29 am

Fender 65ri twin with a Black Widow 1501-4, and a Peavey Reno that sounds surprsingly good with its old Eminence 15" and a plastic tweeter!

Dan

Jude Reinhardt · Post by **Jude Reinhardt** » 15 Apr 2007 5:47 am

My amps never leave the house. I play my 8 string Cougar through a Peavey Envoy 110 in the music room. My kitchen amp which the lap steels get played through is a 15 watt Crate and my workshop amp is a 10 watt Crate.

Jude

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 15 Apr 2007 8:18 am

Hey William, about 10 or 12 years ago I was using a Session 500 which I had to put in the shop for a couple of weeks so I used my wife's Peavey TNT 130 bass amp with a little stomp box delay unit and to my surprise it sounded great. At times I actually thought it sounded better than the 500. When we did a gig together she had to use her amp so I still had the 500 cabinet (as I'd just taken the power unit to the shop) so I hooked up a Peavey 6 channel powered mixer to the cabinet which also sounded good. At the moment I have a NV 112 which I use mostly and sometimes an old Randall Steelman 500 which really sounds great......JH in Va.

Paul Arntson · Post by **Paul Arntson** » 15 Apr 2007 9:50 am

Nashville 1000. Probably could have been a 112, but the local music store made me a deal I couldn't refuse.

Lately I've been taking a solid state Fender Deluxe 90 (single 12 at 90W) to practice. If I bring only a lap steel and a telecaster, I can load in all in one trip with the Fender.

My Fender 400 sounds waaay better through the Nashville, of course. For Tele with the Nashville, I bump the high end via the fx loop using a RT902 Real Tube preamp. Best of both worlds.

If I didn't have the Nashville, I would put a 15" Weber Californian in my Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10. I bet that would be pretty traditional sounding.

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 15 Apr 2007 9:57 am

William, that sounds almost like Jerry Garcia's guitar rig! That Alembic (Fender) tube pre, the Mac 2300 amp, the hard truckers...

Brad

Rich Gilbert · Post by **Rich Gilbert** » 15 Apr 2007 10:47 am

Early 70's Sho Bud Single Channel Amp w/ JBL D130. Sounds perfect with my early 70's Sho Bud Pro I.

Johnny Thomasson · Post by **Johnny Thomasson** » 15 Apr 2007 11:13 am

I have a late model Peavey Nashville 400 with the factory mod and a '65 Fender Twin Reverb (not a reissue) with a single JBL D130. I kind of go back and forth as to which sounds best with my steel (Sho~Bud Pro II 8+4). Different, but both good. But the Twin is the best match with my '51 "No-Caster", hands down.

William Fraser · Post by **William Fraser** » 15 Apr 2007 11:37 am

William, I have tried various amps for steel , mostly out of curiousity,I currently am checking out a session 400 limited, I wanted to see what all fuss was about.I use a 65 Fender Super reissue & I like it, altho I don't recall replacing tubes this much in the 60's. The difference between amps is like nite/day an amp voiced for steel has soo much more bottom, I can't believe the C6 Lows, session 400 amps are cheap! & work great. I did try my Bassman with 2-12's & it sounded good, nice as a matter of fact ,but no reverb. I hear the new 112 is good & light also. Good Luck with the quest Billy Lee

Casey Lowmiller · Post by **Casey Lowmiller** » 15 Apr 2007 11:50 am

I have a large collection of amps...but I take my pick from about 5 amps that work for steel.

Traditional steel amp wise, my Session 500 is great but too heavy to haul around much, the LTD 400 is great & alot more portable. The Fender Twin is awesome but also heavy.

For a non-traditional steel amp, I bought a Fender Keyboard amp for dirt cheap & I'm getting some nice tones out of it & it's extremely portable. I also have an old Peavey Envoy 110 practice amp with a Blue Marvel in it that sounds good & is super light.

I wouldn't mind trying Steel King & a Nashville 112.

Casey

Tom Jordan · Post by **Tom Jordan** » 15 Apr 2007 12:30 pm

Roland Blues Cube 60. I got this for non-pedal and tele use when I took a break from PSG. I'm getting a great sound out of it in rehersal with my "new" Dekley and it will get tested at a "big gig" in a couple of weeks. We always keep easy stage levels and use a sound company for the front sound.

I'm thinking I'll end up with a FSK in the near future but for now the Roland is sounding really cool. I've done some club work with it and didn't get close to "clipping out." I always hear the argument that a small amp won't carry a PSG but is fine for guitar or lap steel...I see it differently. My lap steel has much more bottom end with .056 bottom string and my tele with .052 low E. My E9 was a .034 for the largest string. All are single coil. The PSG pickup has more output but I don't play it any "louder" than the others.

Tom Jordan

Jim Dempsey · Post by **Jim Dempsey** » 15 Apr 2007 1:51 pm

Musicman 65-115,great for my Strat and Steel.-Jim

Jay Yuskaitis · Post by **Jay Yuskaitis** » 15 Apr 2007 2:24 pm

Fender Twin Reverb, for over 40 years, maybe time to try something different, and submit to current times. Jay Y.

Sean Nolan · Post by **Sean Nolan** » 15 Apr 2007 3:00 pm

Fender TV Front Pro w/ 15" Jensen P15N

Johnny Thomasson · Post by **Johnny Thomasson** » 15 Apr 2007 4:03 pm

I use a 65 Fender Super reissue & I like it, altho I don't recall replacing tubes this much in the 60's.

Have you tried SovTek 5881s? I put them in my Twin years ago, and haven't changed since, though it's probably time I did. They gave the amp more umph, and a smoother tone at the same time. They run much cooler than any other tube I ever used. After a 5 hour gig you can grab one and hold on, whereas other tubes would blister your hand. They get hot, but not so hot you can't hold on. Don't know about now, but when I bought mine they were a fraction of the cost of other premium tubes. Give them a try.

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 15 Apr 2007 4:15 pm

Jay, regarding the use of your Twin, if it (or your back) ain't broke, don't fix it. It's hard to beat that sound.

Brad

William Matthews · Post by **William Matthews** » 15 Apr 2007 4:31 pm

Yes Brad, as a young man, I always loved Jerry and the Boys, also I am a HUGE NRPS fan and Buddy was my fave. Seeing that the Dead and NRPS used the same gear interchangeably, I figured it would be a great setup. It sounds great, but it is a real bear to move on a nightly basis. I know.. I did it for years.

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