The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi Gang, I have acquired two Session "500"'s in the last couple weeks and one is a much smaller,lighter version than the other. I didn't know there were two versions. Does anyone know about this? Thanks for your comments,Bill <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by bill dearmore on 30 August 2002 at 10:56 PM.]</p></FONT>

I also have 2 Session 500's. The smaller & larger version. I was told the larger version was a late 80's., but I'm thinking
they weight about the same. (Heavy) but
I love'em. I did have the Lemay mods put in
both amps. Very good investment. I did have a nashville 400 for a about 3 years but I like the 500 better. Let me know if you want my amp settings. Enjoy your sound.

I just have the BIG one and the "500" does stand for the heft but it is the most awesome sounding steel amp ever made and I installed the LeMay mod and WOW, it's the best. Curly Chalker had used two of them for his big sound. Must of had BIG biceps.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Gary Walker on 31 August 2002 at 08:30 PM.]</p></FONT>

I have a session 500 that I like very much. Since I am very new with the pedal steel I'm not very familiar with the range of settings for the amp. I used some settings that the masters used for my D10 p/p but recently tried a Derby U12(very nice guitar) that sounded so different that it took me awhile to reset the settings to accomodate the guitar. I decided to go back to a U12 p/p (just can't get used to the new sound-Bobbe Seymour is putting one together for me)but I have screwed up the amp settings "something awful" that I can't get my D10P/P to sound good. When the U12 P/P comes I'm afraid I will be in a real trouble with the amp settings. If anyone could help me with the settings I would really appreciate it.

Pre Gain 3 3/4 Low +8 3/4 Paramid -3 Shift
800 High -3 Presence +4 post 5 Rev 4 to 5
Hope this gets you in the ball park.
Autry

I heard that Conway Twitty ordered shorter 500's for his band so they would fit upright under his bus.I don't know if it's true, but it does sound logical because the bays of todays busses are limited to height because of a/c ducting and what-not.

I use the crossover function on my Session 500 for a really full sound. I run out of the low output to a Peavey Basic 60 Bass amp. I think my crossover is set around 180 HZ. I then control the volume of the lows on the bass amp. I can knock the windows out with my boo-wah pedal, but the light bulbs remain intact when I hit a high note.

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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

Moving to Electronics.

I'm sure Mike Brown will have the definitive answer.

-j0ey-

The chassis for the early "short" version of the Session 500 amp was very difficult to manufacture because of the "L" shaped chassis design. So, we separated the preamp and the power amp sections for ease of manufacturing. True, it did slightly increase the overall weight of the amp, but it made the amp more servicable to field technicians and the manufacturing process was less time consuming. Other than that, the electronics are the same.

Hope that this helps.