The Steel Guitar Forum

I received the Pedal Steel Amp last month and have had some time now to play a couple months of gigs with it. It is fantastic! The EQ points are all in the right places--there's a wide sweep of all kinds of different sounds in there. The amp has just a bit of harmonic richness to give nice full round sounds at all volumes. The EQ on the reverb is interesting, fun to mess with the balance of settings between the main EQ and the reverb EQ. It is fast and powerful (probably due to the big transformers and solid state rectifier, I suppose) but smooth and lush where you want it--great dynamic response and feel.

I've had/have a number of old Fender amps and Fender-type circuit amps dating from the early 60s to modern reissues and boutique amplifiers, and this one is my favorite. I was previously lugging a second amp around for 6-string but have been using just this one for both steel and 6-string lately. I was previously using a Reissue Fender Custom 15 for louder steel gigs, but it is going up for sale now--it is a cool amp for the price but no comparison to the Milkman. The Milkman is a bit of a leap price-wise (and I was nervous about that) but I'm glad I made the leap.

Tim is a sonic artist in and out, you can hear it in his playing, and somehow he has managed to extend that tastefulness and artistry into the circuits of his amplifiers. He has produced an amp that sounds and feels familiar all the while bringing forward more punch, texture and overtones like you've never heard before. Play one if you ever get the chance.

What a great review! I just met Tim here on the forum last week,having never heard of his work ..a really communicative pro and nice guy... would love to hear clips of your amp if you can post them Gibson...

Will do Chris. I just did some recording with it last weekend but the studio layout was a little weird and I had to use an 80 foot cable run(?!?!), no joke. When I get some a little more representative I'll be sure to provide. If you haven't checked out the clips on the Milkman site--try those. The character of those sounds were immediately recognizable when I first plugged this thing in.

Thanks... I did listen...was curious to hear your rig too..

Glad to see another Milkman user sharing the love here....seems that few of them are on the Forum, for some reason....

Some more demos on the Milkman Sound site (Pedal Steel Amp, Guitar Amp, more)
http://www.milkmansound.com/Milkman_Sound/Home.html

and in the Facebook Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/247033812066574/
e.g., Tim playing in Lia Rose
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lia-Rose ... MTA0In0%3D

Hey Tim (if you're readin' this)
Anywhere I can see a frequency response chart for the Jupiter speakers used in the amp?

Jay - I only use a Jupiter speaker in my 5W and 20W amp models.

The big dog pedal steel amp has a SICA neo 15" speaker and you can find the plots for those here:

http://www.sicaspeakers.com/pl15b3s.html

that said, the new model I am working on to be released next year may have a custom designed Jupiter 15" speaker that is modeled on the JBL D130 series. Chris from Jupiter is working on a prototype for me and I will probably have it in hand in January. Until that speaker is perfected, I will be using the SICA speakers because they sound the best (to my ear) for pedal steel. They are also very lightweight!

Thanks to all for the kind words about my amps - I am really looking forward to building some more in 2013, and releasing my new 2 channel "Sideman"

specs of the new amp are as follows:

Milkman "Sideman" Amplifier:
≈50W output with 6550 tubes (can also use 6L6GC)
cathode biased output
2 channels - one voiced for steel, the other for guitar
reverb on both channels
tone knob on reverb
15" Speaker (SICA or Jupiter when its ready)

Like all other Milkman amps its made with the good stuff:
US made Watts turret board
US made Mercury Magnetics transformers
US made Allen Bradley Resistors
US made Jupiter capacitors
US made Mojotone cloth wire
US made solid pine cabinet with birch baffle

I am going to price this amp very competitively - depending on configuration, it should live in the $2500 range for the 15" combo

happy holidays everyone!

-Tim

Tim Marcus wrote:...the new model I am working on to be released next year may have a custom designed Jupiter 15" speaker that is modeled on the JBL D130 series. Chris from Jupiter is working on a prototype for me and I will probably have it in hand in January. Until that speaker is perfected, I will be using the SICA speakers because they sound the best (to my ear) for pedal steel. They are also very lightweight!

Yeah...I know, but did you check out their Standard Lite series. Better frequency response at the top end.
I found the Premium Lites a bit lacking in that area. Keep us posted on the Jupiter prototype next month!
By the way, does Chris only use ceramic magnets?

Chris will make alnico speakers too. They are very expensive at this time though.

I like the idea of a d130 type speaker with a more affordable ceramic magnet. I can't wait to see what he comes up with!

Regarding the SICA speakers - I like the 350W but I am happy to build an amp with whatever you choose. After all - the amp is for you! If you have a vintage JBL or a black widow you love, I can make it work. It's less expensive for me to make an amp with no speaker and let the buyer experiment with a few types.

I settled on the SICA because I found it to match the amp best out of what is available for new production. It's also the highest quality new production speaker I have seen besides Jupiter. There are more factors than data sheets for me

But Chris doesn't use any Neo magnets, right?

he does not at the moment but he is open to suggestions

neo magnets, like alnico, are really expensive. I want to try and find a good lightweight ceramic 15" solution - I know Chris can do it.

He sent me a prototype hand made hemp paper cone 12" speaker with a ceramic magnet and it sounds more hi fi than either alnico or neo - we are on the verge of something very big!

So, so far this week the guitar player in my band used my Milkman Guitar Amp at our last gig instead of the silver face deluxe or blackface twin...he said there was no question what he liked best....and today a local steel player asked very nicely if he could borrow my Milkman Steel amp for a high-profile gig....people are starting to understand the Milkman mojo....

Just wonder how it would hold up under heavy and hard 6th playing...

Thanks Steve! The Milkman sounded amazing...it had major punch.. when i hit it hard it gave back in a big way. I really loved the tone and feel. The amp felt very 'articulate'. I was playing my Fessy with a truetone. I am really interested in the 'The Sideman' prototype that Tim is working on now. 50 watt version: one channel voiced for steel and the other for guitar. many of us are looking for one amp for both...this could be it.

Jason I am so glad you liked using my amp! Steve told me he set you up on a date with it. I might quote your testimonial on my website if thats cool.

The sideman prototype is coming along - I should have some more to report on that next week. My goal is to have it be every bit as majestic sounding as its big brother, but weigh a bit less and cost a bit less. For those interested, I am posting the progress as I go on my facebook group page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/247033812066574/

go ahead and use it! great! And by 'articulate' I mean very responsive to touch. huge dynamic range. now i gotta go back to my Vibrasonic....

Tim Marcus wrote:he does not at the moment but he is open to suggestions

neo magnets, like alnico, are really expensive. I want to try and find a good lightweight ceramic 15" solution - I know Chris can do it.

He sent me a prototype hand made hemp paper cone 12" speaker with a ceramic magnet and it sounds more hi fi than either alnico or neo - we are on the verge of something very big!

Have you tried the new Eminence steel player's neo 15? It's supposed to be very JBL-like. The Weber Neo 15 is a wonderful sounding speaker but at 75 watts it just doesn't handle much volume.

I haven't - maybe I can get them to send me one to demo.

The fact of the matter is that I will put any speaker you want into my amps. You can send me a vintage JBL, or whatever - I can voice the amp to anything.

A vintage JBL will be a good match for the new amp model, because it will not go near 75W. That said, those JBL speakers are a bit heavy compared to neo speakers. My goal was to make this amp 10 pounds lighter than my pedal steel amp (because of the slightly smaller transformers) I am on track to do that but who knows what the speaker will add. The Jupiter should be here next week, but in the meantime I am going to put my SICA in there and start gigging with the amp.

You guys really should go back and answer David Wright's question. Dave is a killer steel player who plays the major shows and is a tone guru. If he's interested in your amp, you should be pleased.

I agree on the SICA standard lite, it does have a great top end and also a far better low end than the Eminence Neo. I also light the Premium SICA, but it is more like a 1502-4 BW for tone. The SICA 15" Standard Lite is more like a BW 1501-4SB with an even better low end response.

David Wright wrote:Just wonder how it would hold up under heavy and hard 6th playing...

I honestly don't know because I rarely play C6

Dave Zirbel did some C6 playing out of it on a gig we played together about a year or so ago - he would know more. There is a lot of low end, and a nice growl that will suit the C neck as much as it suits the E neck. There are some C6 samples on my website that dave played.

Also, Greg Leisz uses an extended E9 steel out of the amp regularly - the low notes are in the range of the C neck and do sound quite wonderful. Hope that helps - sorry I missed your question before!

Here's a sneak-peek at the new Sideman. I am still waiting on the speaker to arrive - should be here this week. I used the amp on a session this weekend with very good results. Big bottom, silky highs and deep usable reverb. The guitar channel has snap and can get crunchy if you dig in.




the amp weighs in at 35 pounds before the speaker has been installed. So depending on what speaker you want, you can determine the weight. WIth the Jupiter it will be about 42 pounds. SICA will be 43 pounds. Not sure what the Emminence and JBL weigh but you get the idea.

Nice looking amp......

Rick

www.rickjohnsoncabinets.com

Tim,
A money order is going to the post office today ! Looking forward to putting your amp to work.

Hey Tim ... very interested in hearing the 12" Jupiter speaker.