The Steel Guitar Forum

Thinking of getting a different amp other than the one I presently use. That amp is the Fender "Hot Rod" DeVille, with various effects pedals.
Will be using the new amp for practicing and small venues. My initial choose would be the Peavey Nashville 112. But I recently heard some contrary talk about 'Telonics" amplifiers. Quite pricey. Would love to hear from the SGF crowd.

Gene August/ Beaufort, NC

I've played every venue from the Scoreboard Bar to the Bridgestone Arena(17,000+)with my 1-12...

You can't hardly beat them!

SH

I have played with my NV 112 and NV 400 for years. No complaints here. They both are solid as a rock.

I have a Telonics Combo 112, a Peavey Session 115 and a both an original and a new Nashville 112.
All are GREAT amps.

I used my old NV112 at the Gulfport show this weekend and was told my tone was at the top of the chart for this show.

I have always been able to get exactly what I want from all 3 of these amps.

Peavey for solid state, Fender for tubes.
Erv

We are blessed to have quite a few steel guitar amps to choose from these days.

I would love to own a Telonics amp.

I think the Nashville 112 would be fine, though, for your needs.

I am very interested in the new Fender Tonemaster amps . Anyone tried them with steel guitar ?

Been using a NV 112 now for 12 years. I use "NO" effects pedals. My key piece I use always is a Steel Guitar Black Box. I play County Fairs and Festivals. All outdoors. I carry a Delay Pedal with me and use it on a rare occasion. Sometimes a Humid day or just PA issue. Played for 60,000 here also. NV 112 has plenty of power. For the price you can't beat the voicing it has for Pedal Steel or non Pedal Steel. Playing E9th or C6 I can leave my settings almost untouched. I back off the Low setting some playing the back neck. The only other Amp I owned that had a great sound was a Peavey DPC 750 with a Profex II driving a pair of E115 enclosures. I had all the Newman presets. I used that system all through the 90's. Had a very competitive sound.

Brendan Mitchell wrote:I am very interested in the new Fender Tonemaster amps . Anyone tried them with steel guitar ?

Im with you on this Brendan. From what I have heard on the demos this amp sounds super great and low weight is definitely a plus. I'm just a little afraid to invest that much on an amp that I have not tried out first.

Well, interestingly enough, I own and use a Hot Rod Deville now and then, but I am a 50/50 double duty player . It is NOT a regular duty amp but it is indeed very stellar for Steel. Plenty of very clean gain and EQ. There was a time I did use this amp every weekend, early 2000's
thru late 2000's , an excellent performer. Back in that period I had been using using a HR Deluxe but it was short on headroom , the fix wasn't swapping speakers and tubes, the fix was moving up to the 60 watt Deville !

It sounds nothing like a PV Steel amp, it's clearly a Fender tone, bright and crisp. But its very heavy , 65 pounds or so. But its a great amp. Mine is a late 90's build.

I own and use several amps, the only STEEL ONLY amp I have is the N112, a great amp. I use it for every STEEL ONLY gig.

These days for small venues, which I play 2x /month, I use a DV Mark Little Jazz / 12. Its a rated 45 watts, 60 with the ext speaker plugged in. It weighs 20 pounds and I am really liking it. My cranky guitar player bandmate who typically is sparse on positive comments also just bought one, he loves it .

Regarding the new Fenders, just be aware that they have no ext speaker out. I personally find this very odd in todays amp market. Probably very good amps but my own need is an ext speaker which I use every gig on the opposite side of the room.

[quote="Gene August".....My initial choose would be the Peavey Nashville 112. But I recently heard some contrary talk about 'Telonics" amplifiers. Quite pricey. Would love to hear from the SGF crowd.

Gene August/ Beaufort, NC


[/quote]

Between those two I would go for the Peavey. To my ear it sounds better than the Telonics. The Peavey mids are more focused so it cuts through the stage mix. I have heard several players using the Telonics get lost in the crowd on stage.

I have a Nashville 112 with a Telonics speaker. The speaker "cleans it up" sort of like the op-amp mod does and cuts some weight off since the Telonics is a neodymium speaker.

But, I bought the amp this way. The $30 chip mod does just as well as the speaker change and a lot cheaper.

FWIW, I tried the op-amp mod with the Telonics speaker and it was too much for me. One or the other.

I tried Quilter amps, the Steelaire and a Toneblock 202 with a 12" Telonics speaker. Both amps had too much highs for me and I couldn't dial in a "full tone". The Steelaire was sold and the Toneblock 202 went back to Sweetwater.

Bob Hoffnar wrote:[quote="Gene August".....My initial choose would be the Peavey Nashville 112. But I recently heard some contrary talk about 'Telonics" amplifiers. Quite pricey. Would love to hear from the SGF crowd.

Gene August/ Beaufort, NC

Between those two I would go for the Peavey. To my ear it sounds better than the Telonics. The Peavey mids are more focused so it cuts through the stage mix. I have heard several players using the Telonics get lost in the crowd on stage.[/quote]

Bout every weekend some steel player will come up to the bandstand and ask"what kind of amp is that?What kind of speaker?"

Me:"Why,it's my Peavey Nashville 1-12 with the stock speaker in it..."

Easily the loudest country band I've ever played with...unmiked...right behind me and leaned up against the wall...

SH

Steve, I agree with you about the STOCK NV112.

I love all my amps, but there is that "something" that I love about the NV112 with NO MODS and with stock Blue Marvel Speaker.

You can't go wrong with any of these.

Bill Ferguson wrote:Steve, I agree with you about the STOCK NV112.

I love all my amps, but there is that "something" that I love about the NV112 with NO MODS and with stock Blue Marvel Speaker.

You can't go wrong with any of these.

Bill,I was sent a"neo"speaker to"test pilot"for the 1-12...I put it in there and tried to love it,but one day I decided to put the"Blue Marvel"back in and there it was...Peavey really got it right with the 112 as a whole...

SH

I have to admit that I've been surprised at the tone and power of the Peavey Nashville 112 at various steel shows. Why I don't own one is a mystery. I have a basement full of amps and effects. I'm happy with several of these but that 112 would have solved many of my tone quest needs.

Greg Lambert wrote:

Brendan Mitchell wrote:I am very interested in the new Fender Tonemaster amps . Anyone tried them with steel guitar ?

Im with you on this Brendan. From what I have heard on the demos this amp sounds super great and low weight is definitely a plus. I'm just a little afraid to invest that much on an amp that I have not tried out first.

A fellow steel player in Sydney is very happy with his Deluxe Reverb . Like you I am reluctant to take the plunge , might ask about hiring one for a while . I have found over and over with equipment , I cannot really tell how it will perform playing with a band . These days I’m willing to sacrifice a little tone for a lot of weight !

Saw a Neil Young Tribute band play the “Harvest” album, Dan Beller-McKenna, pedal steel player and forum member was playing a Fender Deluxe Reverb reissue. I’ve heard Dan play with a variety of steel amps and this had the best sound. He was in a recording studio and they plugged him into the Deluxe Reverb, he sold most of his other amps and now has a Deluxe Reverb and a Twin.

I bought a new NV112 this spring and didn't care for the tone like the one I bought and sold 2 years ago. I Exchanged the Blue Marvel speaker in the NV112 with an Eminence neodymium speaker I had in a speaker housing I had made. Right off the weight went from 42 lbs. to 34 lbs. After a few gigs I got the amp setup right to the tone I love. I don't like a high sizzling tone, something right in the middle and not muddy and not too much bass.
The Eminence did the trick. I also replaced the white knobs.

For your purposes the Boss Katana is the bomb. Under $500. 100 watts with built in effects. Much better and lighter weight than the NV112. Telonics are incredible and worth every penny.

I Hesitated to mention the BOSS Katana 100 but it’s a great amp once you dial it in.

Johnny Cox wrote:For your purposes the Boss Katana is the bomb. Under $500. 100 watts with built in effects. Much better and lighter weight than the NV112. Telonics are incredible and worth every penny.

Much better is subjective and a personal opinion.

And thats my subjective and personal opinion as well !



I have an older N112, it was indeed very MIDDY, I replaced the stock speaker with a Fender Gold Label Emmi, it changed the entire mid range profile. Yes, it is an 8 ohm speaker replacing a 4 ohm, well over 2 years now, now issues. This also allowed me to add an EX speaker plug for another 8 ohm cab which brings the total load back to 4 ohms.

I've been playing a Peavey Nashville 112 for a couple of years and I love it!

I've heard two different steelers with Boss Katana amps. Based on those two, you couldn't give me one of those amps.