The Steel Guitar Forum

Do any of you have one amp that you use for both Pedal steel and 6 string guitar?

I just got my first pedal steel a while ago and don't have a very good practice amp for it. I've been using my tiny little 15W Fender Bronco that I've got for my guitar, but obviously it's lacking.

I don't play in any bands and I don't expect I'll be good enough on Pedal Steel for a while to do so, so for now I just want something that can provide decent sound at practice levels for both my steel and normal guitars.

I'm thinking possibly something like a Peavey Classic 30 or the Nashville 112 might work.

Any thoughts?

Edited to add: the reason I'd like one amp is twofold, first cost is an issue, but the main thing is space. I live in a small 400 square foot apartment that's already cluttered with the Pedal steel, electric and acoustic guitars, not to mention furniture. So two amps would be a bit much.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Cory Jensen on 06 May 2004 at 01:36 PM.]</p></FONT>

Fender Twin reverb for my 7 string Rick bakelite.

Peavey NV400 for my pedal steels.

Was never happy with the sound any other way, even though I tried; like using a Fender Vibrosonic or the twin for PSG. Neither amp came close to the sound I got out of the Peavey on the PSG's. The reverse is true on the Rick.

At least that is how it worked out in my case.

carl

Moved to 'Electronics'.

I use a Music Man HD 212. It's not the best steel amp in the world, but it's good enough.
I used to have a Peavey LTD 400 that was better for steel, but not as good for guitar.

I'd love to have a Peavey or Webb or Evans and go stereo, but at the moment I don't play out enough to justify the expense.

I used to have a 3 piece group back a few years, I played lead guitar and pedal steel through two amps, for a while I used a Evans amp and a Nashville 400, then just two Nashville 400s [no mods in either of those]. I used the same setting for both. I made a little box to clip on the leg of my steel so I could switch back & forth from guitar to steel guitar, still have that box & still waiting for my next gig like that!! It was fun and I thought those amps sounded great. Now using just a single Nashville 400 with the LeMay Mods, it sounds super great with either steel or guitar here in my shop.
Ernie http://www.hereintown.net/~shobud75/stock.htm


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Cory - I'm sure you want to keep the neighbors happy, and I think a Twin or a Nash 400 would be way more than you need for home practice. The Nash 112 might work, but I don't know how well they sound with six-string. I recently rehersed with another band and used their Fender Blues Deluxe. It's a nice little 40 watt tube amp that sounded surprisingly good with pedal steel. It's got gain and master volume so you can still get some edge on the guitar at low volume if you want. And you can get them for about $400 used. It may also be called Hot Rod Deluxe.

Cory, I recommend the Peavey Nashville 112 amplifier or the Delta Blues 115 amplifier. I personally own the DB amp and frequently use a Nashville 112 for my smaller gigs where power is not an issue. I don't play steel through the Delta Blues but there are several references on this Forum of guys who have and like it. But, I have used the Nashville 112 at a very small gig where one amp was all there was room for, and it worked out well, tonewise and powerwise.

Hope that this helps. If you have questions about either of these products, please feel free to call me at the factory. 1-877-732-8391 and I'll be glad to assist.

Mike Brown
Peavey Electronics Corporation

Thanks for the responses guys, gives me some amps to look around for.

One of my major limitations in trying out amps is that I live right in the city and don't have a car, so I can't really cart my pedal steel around town to different shops to A/B it with different amps, etc. So, I'll basically have to buy blind and hope it sounds good when I get home.

Recommendations like these help out tremendously.

I use my Peavey Nashville 1000 with my A/B switch and it sounds good with my Emmons LeGrande II (with B.L. 710 pickup) and my G & L ASAT guitar with the large single-coils. These pickups match just about exactly as far as output volume and they are a close match tonally. Everything goes thru my matchbox so I have an instant way of rolling the highs on or off, should I need to. The trick is to not run the lows too hot on the amplifier as too many lows can sure goof up the sound of an electric guitar. The shift knob has to be set pretty close to straight up in order to achieve a good tonal compromise for both instruments.

The best amplifier I have ever used for this specific application (and I wish I owned one) is the good old Peavey Vegas 400 dual-channel amplifier. It's kinda like having two Session 400's in one box. Set one channel for the steel and the other for the guitar and you're cookin'. Vegas 400 amps seem to be getting harder to find used anymore, but a while ago you could buy real good used ones on this forum for about $400 to $475 U.S. funds.

Tim Rowley

I've used a Vegas for years. Far and away the best gigging amp I've ever had. For my style of lead guitar playing (clean) it is unbeatable. If your style is more overdriven, it may not be suitable.
Does anyone know why Peavey stopped making this excellent two-channel amp?

DELETED

My WEBB GP-14 small cabinet w/12" JBL as it has a selector for guitar & fiddle (which I use for my mandolin setting).