The Steel Guitar Forum

i'd like to get a small tube amp for my 37 rick bakelite......what do you suggest for a cheap/affordable choice that still has some good power and tone for backing songwriters at small venues and recording. i stress 'affordable'.
otherwise, my smallest amp is a pv bandit.
i regret not grabbing a white (fender) tube amp when i had a chance.

How can a musician express a desire for a top drawer tone and sufficient power.......

and yet in the same sentence say they want 'a CHEAP amp'. I don't understand it, I'm sorry.

My LA-400, 12 inch, 250 watts, makes my Ricks sound like brand new and up town.....

HOWEVER, my early 1930's VOLU-TONE, 1965 Epiphone 10 inch, my early 1940's Harmony and Tiny Oahu.....with 8 inch speakers...

Do a great job of making the RICK sound super good.

They produce a clear, pristine sound and can also get as fat and mellow as one might want. I particularly enjoy the vast range from uppers to low, low end.

These can usually be found in shag-nasty little music stores and are all called by their teen-age rock and rollers....."PRACTICE AMPS".

I've found Rola Speakers to have a special quality about them.

What do you consider "affordable"? The silverface (70s era) Fender Princeton Reverb or Deluxe Reverb are still relatively affordable, and are used by many players. You might consider a Fender Blues Junior (15 watts, 12 inch speaker, reverb) as a more modern alternative.

This belongs in Electronics, so it's moved there from Steel Without Pedals.

I have a mid 50's M88 5 watt Ricky that I play most of my stuff through. It has a MU gain stage with lots of substain. I would say try to get an old national valco Supro or Ohua amp that was mad for steel guitars.
Phill

My 5 watt Gibson Les Paul amp (a reissue of the original in the 50's) sounds pretty good. I think it was $500 or so. One knob (off/volume).

The Fender Blues Junior with an upgraded speaker is not a bad choice depending on the sound you are looking for. I paid 225.00 for mine and added a Vintage 30 speaker.
Lefty

I'm very happy with my Fender Blues Junior. It can play clean or nasty at any volume. Nice reverb and adjustable preamp gain. Not to big or heavy. At only 15 watts, I was surprised at the output. Plenty enough power for any venue I ever plan to play. I got the blond one with maroon speaker cloth from Musician's Friend. Cool old school vibe.

thanx for the good ideas. i don't know why some can't understand that all i want is something perfect for next to nothing. what's confusing about that, ray?

A stock Peavey Classic 30 sounds great for lap.

I also use a Blues Jr most of the time. Actually I like the tone I get from my VibroChamp better but it doesn't have the depth of the Jr.

I would suggest one of these:




$150.00

Small tube amps listed already are good. I like my Roland Cube 60 - very versitile, reliable, light, and LOUD if you need it. Surprising tone. If they put a sweep mid on it - I'd use it for pedal too.

5-watts can be not enough power, even for singer/songwriter types, especially if there is a powerful PA. I do really like the little Fender Champion 600 I have though. Too small to gig with unless using an extension speaker.

I'd echo the Fender Blues Jr. or Pro Jr (my fav) as they are small, (relatively) inexpensive and can get bloody loud!

Peavey Delta Blues with the 15 inch speaker. Amazing tone!

I had an Epi Valve Jr. as pictured above for a while, and would not recommend it for lap steel - 5 W doesn't provide enough clean head-room and volume for playing live (unless you are going for an overdriven blues tone), with my P90 equipped lap steel I coul already make it break up at "neighbour-friendly" volume levels 8and I live in a city apartment). Besides, the Valve Jr. sounds really dark and muffled in stock form (though apparently Epiphone changed that with the newest - the 3rd one already - version of this amp).

The Blues Jr. would indeed be a good choice, a Peavey Classic 30, too, those new Kustom Defender amps look promising (haven't had a chance to try one), and let me add an amp I used myself for a while with lap steel: the Carvin Vintage 16!

I'm sorry if I unintentionally offended you in any way. Your post simply sparked recollections of the era in which I grew up.

Kids starting out on accordians, typically were gifted with double or triple bass, or whatever they're called, accordians, that were so huge and heavy and even by today's pricing, were EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE! After a couple of years, these same kids would, more often than not, give up music and go into ballet or whatever.

Kids getting into piano, often saw the family home being renovated so dad could move-in the most expensive GRAND piano.

When I was in my early teens, it was not how many tubes or diameter of the speakers that counted, but how many necks my steel could have. My first 15 inch Fender Bassman was totally mush, however my 4 x 10's Fender Bassman was a great amp.

Economy or thrift is IMPORTANT but avoid CHEAP for you likely will never attain your desired level of sound.

Ditto on the Blues Jr. I have the Fender LE Blues Jr. Lacquered Tweed Jensen. It will get plenty loud for most applications and the tone works for me.

I also have a Fender Vibro Champ. There's no reverb on the unit so you have to solve that issue a different way, but the amp is sweet with both guitar and lap steel. There are still good deals to be found on them, as well.

that's ok, ray..i can take it. i was just playing with you........i knew what you meant, and perhaps 'cheap' wasn't exactly what i wanted. however, i've always been a fan of stumbling on great deals..as i think both of us have on a rick at one time or another if i recall a past post of yours.

ok, i'm off to ballet lessons now....

I like my Classic 30 as well as my little 15 watt Vellocette. For heavier sounds, I really like my SansAmp PSA pre-amp.

Now, Chris. As for being off to ballet lessons... It seems to me that you had some pretty good luck with a ballerina or two at one sordid point. Ballet lessons might be a bit like the proverbial fox guarding the henhouse...

I have the blond blues jr and love it. Its 15 watts is PLENTY of power for me, I have never been drowned out by a drummer and I've never had to go past 4 with the master volume. I also like the fact that it is small, light, compact. I did replace the speaker due the old one busted or crapped out. I was surprised at how much a new speaker improved the sound.
I've played thru a the valve jr and didn't like it. It only had one setting and I was worried it that a drummer might drown me out.