The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi
No way I'm finding a proper steel amp in this part of the world, and shipping is expensive when it comes to amps.
What will you recommend as a good steel amp that wasn't necessarily designed for steel?
Like Fender, Peavey, and other popular world wide brands.
I can only think of a Fender Twin.
Also, changing the factory speaker in a six string amp is an option in this case, I heard.
Thanks!

What amps are you considering that are easily available to you?

The Music Center carries Peavey and Roland amps among many others. The Roland Cube 80 is a good amp with lots of users.

I think you want to look at amps that aren't necessarily designed for guitar (although the Roland Cube 80 is not an example of that). Look at bass amps or even keyboard amps.

Unless you hate the weight, few amps sound better than the Twin you just mentioned. And I'm not convinced that a single 15 offers a lot of improvement over the stock 2 12 setup.

+1 Brad!

I have a Roland Cube 40, little brother of the Cube 80, and this thing sounds phenomenal! I am very pleased with the versatility of this small amp.

I would have purchased the Cube 80, but already having large gigging amps, I needed something small for my practice room, and the Cube 40 fit the bill perfectly.

PV Bandit 65

Music Man RD-100

The big Peavey tube amps like the Mace and Deuce can be good for steel. but they're getting on in years.

I don't mean the Peavey amps designed for high gain metal applications.

Don't rule out bass guitar combos or heads. I personally don't like steel into a closed back cab but some do.

I also really enjoy gigging with a Peavey Bandit... but I use the transtube model. Very easy to find and cheap.

Music Man amps are also excellent for steel, depending on the model.

My 1976 212-HD (serial # 399) sounds great. It's one of the ones with the tube pre-amp that was changed to solid state in '77 or '78. I'd still use it if it didn't weigh so much.

Rani,

I had the same problem as you when I started out.
If there is a music shop in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, go there and try them all out.

I recently I bought a Crate 65 (solid state), which sounds different but just as good.

Good luck!

Roland JC-120.

PV Bandit. i put a 15" spkr in and it sounded great

2 X Roland Cube 60, fitted with Eminence Legend 12" speakers.

Since many steel players double on guitar (I am one) it can be a challenge trying to find an amp that sounds good for both. The reason is the characteristics of what makes a great steel amp are exactly the opposite of what makes a great guitar amp. For steel, you want tons of clean headroom & a 15" speaker. For guitar, you want an early breakup, and 10" or 12" speakers.
because I run a stereo delay & pan the straight signal & the delayed signal into 2 separate amps, carrying a 3rd amp wasn't an option. For average gigs, I run a PV Renown w/1-15" BW. Sounds great for steel, but lame for guitar. I have a '76 Twin w/JBLs, but since my hernia insurance ain't paid up, it never leaves the house. I found a viable alternative in THIS, a PV Blues Classic. Same as a Classic 50, but with 1-15" speaker. In fact, I swapped a local music store my Classic 50 for it; he figured the 2-12" Classic would sell faster than the 1-15". (Same store I swapped a Twin for a Vibrosonic for the same reason 15 years ago). The Blues Classic has that tube warmth for guitar, but the 15 can handle steel with plenty of headroom, & it sounds great for both. In fact, the settings stay the same for Tele & steel. Mine is the only one I've ever seen or heard of; if you find one, don't pass it by without giving a try!

Thanks everybody for the great advises!
Sorry it took some time to get back here.

Quilter MicroPro 200, with your favorite speaker.

I am currently using a Carvin BX 500 that measures 14" x 9" x 3" and has 500 watts of power. It only weighs 5.8 LB and sells for less than $350.00. It has ton's of features, but no reverb. I am using a Wet Reverb in the effects loop. It sounds great with a Peavey 1501 speaker. You will need a speaker and cabinet, or do like I do, carry another amp but unhook the speaker wires. Make a separate speaker cable about 12 ft. long and you can have the amp sitting beside you. I have a cheap aluminum tool case from Harbor Freight that I carry it in. I open the case up like a book and stand it on its end. This makes a perfect "table" to sit the amp on.

I really like this amp. At 5.8 LB the shipping should not kill you.

Carvin sx200 is what I play through, Works pretty well with built in reverb and stuff

Let's invert the original question. What amp made for steel also works well as a guitar amp?

Answer: The Quilter Steelaire. It's designed to be a duel purpose amp. It even has a tremolo circuit for guitar players.

I can personally recommend the Dr.Z EVZ 50, hand wired and very much Fenderish in sound...also from Germany, the Kemper Profiler with the 600 watt power amp inside. That thing can handle most any situation you can imagine and tones that cover most amps made...

Does anyone use the Fender Deluxe solid state amps for Steel? Just curious how they sound? I'm thinking I'd like to pick up something to leave at church, (just one more thing I don't have to carry back and forth). I see them on Craigs list in the $100 price range.

Steve; Try a Peavey Bandit Transtube 65. They are very reasonable also. Plus the weight is a factor I have to consider. Would like to try a Black Widow 12in in it. It's not like the 400's or 112's of course, but my 67 push pull sounds pretty darn good through it.

My very limited impression is that I can get usable sound out of pretty much any guitar amp as long as I have an impedance control or tone knob for the PSG.

I've relied on the Sarno Freeloader to get ok live tone out of very bright, spiky guitar amps, but I was definitely sacrificing those high overtones others might consider necessary.

I didn't really miss them with the full band going, though.

Mike Perlowin wrote:Let's invert the original question. What amp made for steel also works well as a guitar amp?

i use a Vibrolux, cause it's biggest amp.
sometimes it's perfect, sometimes a little underpowered, but, it works!

I love my mid-1960s Silvertone 1484 TwinTwelve that my uncle gave me. 2 distinct channels, so I can run my electric guitar thru one channel, or have separate channels for lap & pedal steels.

The heads on these piggyback amps were hardwired into the speaker cabs, so I separated them and now run the output into a single 15 BW. Nice tones available for steel guitars and lead guitar. Even sounds pretty good with my reso plugged into it.

Also - I agree on the JC-120. Such a great amp. Had a bandmate who kept one at our practice space for me to use.