The Steel Guitar Forum

I'm looking to buy a new system for my steel and I want to go with components. Does anyone have any comments on G.D. Walker Stereo Steel equipment? Are there any other components I should research? I'm also looking at Duane Marrs Speaker Cabinets.

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Bobby Brocius, ZumSteel D-10, 8x8, Blue, BL910 PUs

Bob...

I have used the Walker Stereo Steel system for over a year now, and I am very pleased with it. I highly recommend them, and Gerry is a great guy. Call him and talk to him about them.


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Billy Easton
Casa Grande, AZ
Where the Sun Always Shines

Bob,
I have Gerry's complete system including the "tuned " cabinets he makes and the Stereo
Steel combo (with the Digitech effects unit) and cabinets have served me well over the two years I've played through it .
It is light weight, user friendly, more than enough punch and great sounding .

I've played through many amps and systems but this one is the best I've ever encountered . I don't think you can go wrong
if you decide to buy it .Gerry is a fine guy to deal with too and will do exactly what he says .

Let me know if I can be of further help .

Regards,
John

Bob, I have a mid 90's Evans Rack stereo rig. It sounds really great only it is HEAVY and a lot of trouble to haul around to small gigs here and there. However, If I take a 2 or 3 nighter, I do take the Evans. It's extra trouble pays off in tone. Because it don't matter where I am Pal, I can get really great tone with it. If it was more portable, it would be the perfect rig. Just my experience, It personally nearly ruined my ears playing through that Evans stereo equipment 5 nights a week. You get so used to that big stereo sound, then try to go back and make a smaller portable amp sound good, you just don't hear it as well. Because of that, I've forced myself to leave the Evans rig at home and go back to using a single amp. Its been a process of retraining my ears. I'm back to using my old Peavey Session 400 90% of the time. Talk to Jim Smith about his stereo rig. I think it is the Walker. I think he told me that it was really light weight and says it sounds really good. If Jim says it sounds good, I believe him. Best regards.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Bill C. Buntin on 29 August 2001 at 07:36 PM.]</p></FONT>

Yep, Bill is right, I love my Stereo Steel. I believe the power/pre amp is around 13 pounds, 300 watts per side, and takes two rack spaces. It has all the controls you could ever want, even an auxillary in for a CD/tape player and a headphone jack. GD Walker is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet and is more than willing to go over every detail before and after the sale.

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Jim Smith jimsmith94@home.com
-=Dekley D-12 10&12=-
-=Fessenden Ext. E9/U-13 8&8=-

Ditto to what Jim said...I've had three years experience with the Stereo-Steel now, and I like it even more than when it was new. You have an cost option on the speakers...I chose the JBL's.

Gerry Walker does have one minor defect though....he rides a "Goldwing" instead of a "Harley"! www.genejones.com

I've been talking to Gerry about an amp too. I'm tired of lugging the MosValve 500 power amp around. The MosValve is a great amp but it's H E A V Y.

Just have to convince the wife the MosValve is heavy.

At one time I had the Stereo Steel rig, a Mossvalve 500, and a Stewart 1.2 power amp. I set them all up in my living room with the same preamp (Boss GX-700) so I could switch between them for a sound test. The Stewart sounded very clean with no tonal coloring, the Mossvalve did sound just a bit warmer than the Stereo Steel but the weight factor plus the built in preamp of the Stereo Steel led me to keep the Stereo Steel and sell the rest.

P.S. I put JBL's in my speaker cabinets but honestly can't tell much difference from the Black Widows that it came with.

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Jim Smith jimsmith94@home.com
-=Dekley D-12 10&12=-
-=Fessenden Ext. E9/U-13 8&8=-

I must agree with everyone here!! I've been playing through one of Gerry's rigs for about 4-5 years and I still get that great feeling that good tone gives you everytime I turn it on!!! I had tried several of the Peavey amps before I got the Stereo Steel and after a couple of months would no longer be satisfied with the tone. The light weight and portability of the Stereo Steel is just an added bonus to the great tone and dependability as is the great service from Gerry Walker, that is if you need any.

So where's the number to call to find out more about the Stereo Steel? Thanks, STEVE

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Go here for information on Stereo Steel amps:
http://www.stereosteel.com

I've had mine since 1995. Once you get used to all the features Gerry builds in, you'll have a hard time doing without it. On my gigs, I play about 50% steel and 50% guitar. I use the Stereo Steel's preamp for steel, plus a single rack space processor for reverb and delay. I use the (variable) stereo aux input on the SS to plug in a Digitech floor processor for my guitar, so I can have separate, dedicated preamps and stereo effects for steel and guitar, mixed through the same power amp, both on and ready all the time. That feature alone is indispensible for me. My whole rig, with processor and three space padded rack case weighs about 24 pounds. It sets up quickly and always sounds great. <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jerry Gleason on 31 August 2001 at 07:31 PM.]</p></FONT>

Ditto what everyone else has said- lottsa pros have Gerry's setup(s) as well (Paul Franklin, Maurice Anderson, John Hughey, Bruce Bouton, etc.) and his equipment does well on the road. Gerry is a tone fanatic and offers a one year parts and lifetime labor warranty with his preamps and amps. I've had my setup for 7-8 years now and it absolutely has been trouble free.

Well, I got the info in the mail from Gerry. I am going to give it a go. One thing I have good to say right away, (before I even try), is his price policy. He quotes prices in whole dollars and includes the shipping. I highly respect him for this. I really hate other places that have prices like $19.95 plus $6.95 shipping and handling. Why don't these idiots just say $27.00 and be done with it?

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Bobby Brocius, ZumSteel D-10, 8x8, Blue, BL910 PUs

Bob,
I know you will be very happy with Gerry's Stereo Steel System . I have posted this word of caution some months ago directed to all the owners of this system from a personal experience with it so I'll pass it on to you also .

You will observe a small fan in the back of the amp cabinet that keeps the internal heat down while the amp is active.

NEVER try to take the protective cover off this fan !!! There are four nuts on the inside of the cabinet holding this cover on . If you unscrew four screws you can see from the outside , those nuts will fall off INSIDE the cabinet with all those electronic boards and connections . If even one of those medal nuts touches a connection in there you have probably lost a very fine amp !! If you ever want to clean the fan blades ( they will get dirty ) --use a long q-tip you can get at radio shack and carefully wipe each blade down reaching through the openings in the blade protective cover to get at the blades.You HAVE to get those nuts out of the inside of that cabinet !! It is a long and tough process . It took me most half a day but I probably saved the amp from being destroyed.

I hope this advise will save you an amp . You
will love the system it is great !!

Regards,
John

Thanks John. Good advice for anyone. As for me, I ordered the Preamp only. As my original question stated, I'm going with components. I just don't want a combo of preamp and power amp. For a power amp, I'm looking at a Stewart and a Crown.

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Bobby Brocius, ZumSteel D-10, 8x8, Blue, BL910 PUs

I've been using a Stereo Steel Amp for several months now for steel and lead guitar, and my only regret is that I used (and schlepped) my two Nashville 400's for so long. This unit, with the Quad4 is great, and his added presets saved me a lot of hassle. Gerry is a great amplifier builder, does what he says, plus a little extra.

How do you change effect patches on the Walker setup?
Is there a footswitch or do you keep the unit next to your steel?
Thx,
-pb

Pete, I did not get a foot sw with the unit but the Quad4 has a place for one. I do keep it right beside me. I'm not real happy with the Quad4 unit. It does have 4 inputs and 4 outputs but if I'm reading things correctly, it only has 4 effect processing units. This means that if you have 4 inputs and 4 outputs, you can only get one effect on each. If you run mono, you can have 4 efects at the same time. Of course, I am running one input and then stereo outputs so this means I can have effects as follows: 0 left - 4 right, 1 left - 3 right, 2 left - 2 right, etc. Because of this, I'm keeping my Profex II as I can daisy change many effects together in one program. To say it another way, if you wanted to have reverb, delay, and chorus on both stereo outputs, the Quad4 will not do the job for you.

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Bobby Brocius, ZumSteel D-10, 8x8, Blue, BL910 PUs