Amp setup

[Parker Gill]

I am still relatively new to steel guitar and have been playing a Mullen RP sd-10 straight through a fender blues jr. I am sure most folks on here are familiar with the amp, 15 watt all tube. I’m having a hard time getting the right sound out of the amp. It always sounds dry and like it’s lacking gumption. I was wondering if anybody else played through this amp, and if so, what have you found that works for your sound? Wondering if maybe this amp just doesn’t have enough for a pedal steel.

[Daniel Morris]

Parker, your thread should probably be in the Electronics section.

[Daniel Phelps]

I am still relatively new to steel guitar and have been playing a Mullen RP sd-10 straight through a fender blues jr. I am sure most folks on here are familiar with the amp, 15 watt all tube. I’m having a hard time getting the right sound out of the amp. It always sounds dry and like it’s lacking gumption. I was wondering if anybody else played through this amp, and if so, what have you found that works for your sound? Wondering if maybe this amp just doesn’t have enough for a pedal steel.

Hi Parker,
The blues jr will get you a sound, but you might try a peavey Nashville 112. In any case, with the steel, you need more power. You typically want something clean and loud. I personally thought a fender deluxe reissue sounded great, but I couldn’t get it loud enough to play over a drum set.

In the meantime if you want to save for something nice, you can get an inexpensive multi effects unit and play it with headphones. Just use a clean sound and add some reverb and delay to your liking. You’ll be pleasantly surprised I bet.

Daniel

[Jim Kennedy]

I have one that I play guitar through. I have never played my pedal steel through it. These are designed for guitar players who want some grit at lower volumes. The first gain stage is pretty hot,and the el84 power tubes are biased pretty hot as well, allowing them to break up without being pushed to hard. I have played harmonica through mine a couple times. It is hot enough that I can barely control the feedback even at low volumes. The pup on your psg is putting out about twice the signal of a guitar pup, pushing the amp pretty hard. While this amp provides an easily overdriven sound and plenty of harmonic content for guitar players, it just doesn't have the clean headroom needed for playing pedal steel.