The Steel Guitar Forum

I play in a twice monthly jam group, "Americana" genres: everything from bluegrass to sine rock 'n roll. Nearly all other instruments are acoustic, and I'm looking for an amp that would sound decent for both a vocals mic and my lap steel. Any reasonably priced ones out there? Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

"some" rock 'n roll! Gotta get a better proof reader!

The Cube Street is a portable amp with a guitar channel and a vocal channel--pretty much designed for busking. Runs on batteries or a power supply. It's not high powered, but would mix well with acoustics, and can get pretty loud. It's a nice little amp.

Dave

David, what are you playing through now and are you happy with the sound. Many acoustic amps have a good vocal channel and a instrument channel. I use the Roland AC 60 with good results but I don't need a lot of volume. If I do want more power it has line outs for the PA. New it was 500.00 and has reverb, and chorus. They also made a AC 90 with 90 watts.

Look at a Quilter combo. I have a MicroPro Mach ii combo with the 8 inch speaker. The speaker is based on a pro audio driver, not a regular guitar speaker. It sounds great with my steel, electric guitars, acoustic guitars and banjo. It has a second channel with an xlr input. I have used it at many gigs to sing through and play. It works very well.

There is a DI on the back too, so you can send an xlr to the board if necessary.


Highly recommended, and very portable.

I have never used the mic channel of my Quilter but I'll let Charley Paul's testimony cover that. I am really happy with my MicroPro Mach 2 HD for pedal steel and there are many guitarists using this with major positive reviews. It is a 12" combo with a neo speaker and weights 22 lbs, something that thrills me no end. Not cheap. It is pro gear.

Jon, I also have a Quilter micropro mach 2 12 inch combo, not the HD. I've been less than satisfied with the sound for pedal steel unless using a Peavey E115 additional cabinet. I added a Peavey TG raxx tube preamp to the front end for my tastes. I haven't tried singing through the 2nd channel.

Thanks for the responses, everyone. Larry - I play my lap steel through a Micro Cube, Cube 80XL or Brugera V5 Infinium, depending on the situation; Micro Cube for this jam. I'm finding some limitations with the Micro Cube (I'm just 2+ years into playing), but the other two sound good to me. I'm not a singer, and what prompted my initial question is that in the jam group in question, the person who had been providing the mic and amp no longer is physically able to do that. My wife does sing, though, and it would be nice to schlepp just one amp, not 2 to the 2-3 times per month jam. We are both retired, neither is a professional (!) musician, so the pro gear is out of our reach. It looks like the Cube Street or CS EX will fit the bill the best and offer the option of battery power (for those camping jams that we also attend). Just gotta sell some gear now or otherwise find some bucks.
Thanks again for the input.

David, I would look at the Peavey acoustic amp line. The 208 has 2 channels. Only 30 watts but one side can handle an xlr mic input. Also the Peavey Ecoustic 112 can be had for under 200 used with more power. I bought a used Fender acoustasonic 90 watt 2 channel for 200. Plenty of power and handles a microphone well. Both channels have separate eq. Hope you find the right gear to fit your needs. I have 2 older Crate taxi 30s that are battery powered and they serve me well for no power source gigs. Good luck.

Larry, I've read a lot of varying/conflicting opinions about playing steel through an acoustic amp. I'll be interested to hear what you say about playing steel through the 2 Peavey acoustic amps you mention and the Fender Acoustasonic as well as the Crate taxi 30's. I play mostly 8-string C6 with high G. I presume the vocals sound good through the acoustic amps. How are the vocals through the Crates? Thanks.

The Cubes are nice.
I'll toss out the idea of The Fishman Loudboxes.
they come in several flavors, including a new battery powered edition.
I've got an older Loudbox 100 that is a very nice mini vocal PA.
while it is best for vocals and acoustics, And i've used it in that capacity for pretty loud gigs, I've also put my upright Bass, telecaster, and steel through it at low volumes.

worth a listen.

David, the Crate Taxi 30s, sounds fine with the lap steel but the vocals are just passable. For sure the acoustic amps do a better job on vocals. I have a bigger Crate 125 that can handle both well but they are no longer made and it was around 600 new. Not a portable amp, needs a plug in. I did use a small mixer with the Taxi and it did better on the vocals but who wants to carry more gear and cables. I seem to find that bigger gear hhas a better sound overall. I often use those Taxi amps as powered monitors and they do well at this if 30 watts is enough.

David,

Could be more than you're looking to spend, but the Bose S1 Pro has three channels can run on batteries and sounds fine, for a tiny box.

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=340069

You might check with George to get his opinion.

Best,

Lance

Thanks so much for all of the input. I decided to try a Vox DA-5. Getting a used one delivered for 80 bucks. SGF member David Doggett said some very positive things about it in a couple of older threads about playing steel in acoustic groups. It has a mic input with separate volume control, is battery powered and more powerful and has a larger speaker than the microcube. Once I get a chance to try it out, I'll report back.

Great David. Hope it works out for you.

Late to this chase but here is 2 more cents..

I have a Genz Benz Shenandoah 160W 2 ch acoustic amp (basically a 2way PA in a lightweight combo cab). On board Phantom power and semi parametric mid eq.. excellent piece of eqt.

I have tried it with steel but it is way too hifi straight in... . but steel first through a guitar preamp with an emulated speaker output would solve that issue. Decent sounding and very lightweight. This amp is one of my most used pieces of gear.

Finally had the chance to try out the VOX DA-5 with the except-for-me-all-acoustic Americana jam group. The separate volume control for the mic input was just the ticket, and I really do like the sound of the VOX and its 5 Watts. Plenty of power for both the vocalist and my lap steel.
Thanks to all for your inputs. This turned out to be a very nicely priced solution to my situation: $80. I'm not enough of a player yet to warrant some of the more professional-grade suggestions offered, but I do appreciate everyone's comments. This Forum is a fabulous group.

Best to all, and keep on steelin' !

David

In his OP David Becker wrote:sine rock 'n roll

This is a variant using only pure tones. Very relaxing.

David, that's great you found a solution. As you can tell by the suggestions we all have different needs and budget. Enjoy yourself with your new tools.

I just noticed someone already suggested the Cube Street... sorry Should have read every post.

The Roland Cube Street Amp, should be plenty loud enough for the Jam session you spoke of.

It has a great Mic Channel with separate tone controls and effects.
The guitar Channel has some nice amp modeling, and sounds great for steel.