The Steel Guitar Forum

I been thinking of purchasing a Quilter-Steelaire amp, I was impressed by Albert Sveddal's video demo on this amp along with his Williams S12.

I've accessed several Forum posts on this amp, digested the pros & cons.

What I need now is more info from those who purchased this amp who are satisfied and also those who are dissatisfied with the Steelaire.

All opinions welcome. I know of the power issue from various posts.

I know this might sound strange, but if you view Albert's youtube video can you get your Steelaire & steel to sound similar to Alberts's'. I know each steel player likes to sound like himself while playing, make adjustments to his liken. Everyone is different in the tone they seek.

Has anyone had minor or major problems, was it repaired by the Quilter Company?

Do you own other amps?

How does the Milkman compare to the Steelaire?

If you have time please respond.

Thanks Ken

PM Sent

I personally love the Steelaire. It has more than enough power for me. I really like the “old school” vibe of it, both in sound and in looks. In fact I just ordered and received a second one.

Yes I’m a dealer but this isn’t “sales talk”. The Steelaire just suits me.

The Steelaire is a great buy. I usually run Milkman The Amp direct, using the 'pedal out' into the Steelaire rack power amp /speaker cab if needed. I have also ran a Revelation pre-amp into the power amp of the Steelaire successfully. The total Steelaire package itself sounds good and is easy to dial in backing off the low-mid knob.

I had a Steelaire rack model head and used it with an EPS-15C speaker and it was good. I thought the Steelaire combo amp would sound the same so I sold the rack and bought the combo amp. I couldn't get a sound I wanted out of the combo amp, too much highs. Even swapped the stock speaker (which is voiced to have more highs according to Pat Quilter) and installed an EPS-15C but still mostly high and mids. I even sent the amp back to Quilter, at their request, as we thought there was something wrong with it but it checked out OK. Sold the Steelaire combo after 4 months.

I like mine, it has more of a 'Tube' vibe than any of the other SS amps I've owned (or own).. There is something about the way it 'feels' that just works for me, unlike other Class D amplifiers I've played through. Tommy's comment about vintage vibe is spot on.

Here's an article that's a few years old, but there is a lot of good info about what Pat Quilter does to make his amps sound good, and how it's a bit different.

https://georgedyermusic.com/2016/11/24/ ... amps-work/

EDIT: Sorry, the nerd in me is creeping out, too many years as an engineer/musician.. here's Pat's patent on the tone shaping that he does. If you're silly enough (like me) to actually try and read it, it's cool. It's also referenced in the article I linked. What he does IS unique...

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20130136278

I've been playing a Steelaire since 2014 and I like it a lot. It has a tube-like tone and I love the reverb. The reverb sounds a lot like the old Fender spring reverb, and I like that. And of course, the amp is lightweight.

I played a Fender Steel King for several years prior to owning the Steelaire, and at first I was disappointed in not hearing the thundering lows of the Steel King in the Steelaire. But after a few gigs and after a few compliments from my bandmates I was sure I made the right decision. It sounds warm and sweet to my ears.

I'm very happy with mine. I Especially like the tone control on the reverb. The tremolo is not very useful, but there are occasional times, mostly when chiming or playing the melody on the bass strings, where it's a really nice effect.

I had a Dunlop Q-zone stomp box that simulates a dobro, hard wired into the powered effects loop, so I have a ped-a-bro sound at the flick of a switch on the leg mounted remote.

This particular stomp box is no longer being made, but there are usually a few for sale on E bay.

The one thing I'd change is that I'd like to see the built in power supply for the effects switchable between 9, 12, and 18 volts.

A lot of us had problems with the output, see previous posts on this, tone was great but some units appear to be totally under powered, having to run it fully open ( Chanel 1+2 gain at 9 and master at 10), even then my Nashville 112 was louder. Despite speaking to Pat Quilter, all he said was “Crank it up”, CEO Chris Park never replied to my emails,.Would not recommend it unless you physically try it out first. Again I stress tone was great, just no power and non existent customer service.

I've been playing through mine for about 4 fours years and I love it. It's light, has tons of headroom and great tone. Liked it so much I bought a Mach 2 combo for my guitar and love it too.

Customer service could not be any better.

+1 No volume problem with my Steelaire. I've played it on dozens of outdoor gigs with a full band, including this weekend.

As far a customer service, Quilter has been awesome. I've called them a couple of times with questions and spoken to Pat Quilter. My first Steelaire was one of the early ones (2014) and after two years of use the channel control switch died. Even though the amp was out of warranty, Quilter installed a new switch, no charge. They told me to simply remove four small screws and slide the head out of the cabinet and send them the head. I had it back in one week! And I'm in Massachusetts and they're in California... 3000 miles away. They must have done the repair the day they got it and shipped it back the same day. Customer service? Awesome!

Malcolm McMaster wrote: ... non existent customer service.

This has not been my experience.

I previously mentioned that I have a Dobro simulator pedal hard wired into the powered effects loop.. i brought the amp to Quilter to have a set of casters installed, and they saw my Mickey Mouse wiring effort and re-did it, free of charge.

Jim and Mike, you obviously have not experienced the lack of customer service that I experienced, and as I understand, several others did.When I contacted them, Pat Quilter’s answer was “ Crank it up” , sort of hard to do when gains are at 9 and Master at 10, when I pointed this out he never got back to me again. I emailed Chris Park several times and got no response, so if you guys recon this is good customer service then so be it I still recon it is total crap. Not one person from Quilter contacted me after that to say sorry you are having a problem what can we do to help or sort it out. I will not be buying anymore Quilter products or recommending them to other players, as I lost a lot of cash on selling it on.

There are times when stuff falls through the cracks- even in the best of businesses- despite all good intentions. Sorry you had a problem Malcolm.

I'm really happy with mine. I sold my first one, tried a bunch of stuff, and came back to it. I have a rack model and had Rick Johnson make me cab for it. I find that running an analog delay (even just slightly on) through the effects loop really warms the amp up, although I don't find it to be a sterile sounding amp. I'm really happy with mine.

Thank you Jim.

I’ve had excellent customer service from Quilter. (See my post above)

Doug, happy it worked for you, but some of us felt badly let down.

Steelaire is on it's way, ordered it today from Guitar Center.

I want to thank all who responded with my request for info on the Quilter. I watched several youvideos on this amp it helped thow me over the cliff, including the great & helpful info received from all who posted. So in a few days I'll be jamming with a new amp.
Thanks
Ken

Be sure to get the switch box that clips on to the leg of your steel.

Earlier I mentioned that I have a Dunlop Q-zone pedal, which can give a Dobro-like tone, hard wired into the powered effects loop. I also mentioned that although this pedal is no longer being mace. you can often find the on E-bay.

Here's today's listings for them.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R ... e&_sacat=0

Kenneth, you might be aware, but if not, Quilter currently has a rebate offer for purchasers of Steelaire amps:

https://www.quilterlabs.com/index.php/r ... soryrebate

Enjoy that amp!

Kenneth,

A little late but I have a Steelaire rackmount with Telonics speaker and I like it a lot! Be sure to verify but I believe that Guitar Center has a 30 day return policy if you aren't happy.

As I previously posted I couldn't get a sound I liked with the Steelaire and a Franklin D-10 steel (with Lawrence 710 pickups).

I now have a GFI Ultra D-10 with Lawrence 710 pickups. I recently (Thursday) picked up a Quilter Travis Toy model amp. Bingo! within 2 minutes I found "my" sound. With my downsizing, the Quilter TT fits in as its 27lbs compared to 44 for a stock NV112 and 10lbs lighter than my customized NV112.

Jack, do you prefer the GFI over the Franklin?