The Steel Guitar Forum

I might be in the market for a new amp for my electric guitar and I have also been considering an amp specifically for PSG. Could the Nashville 112 be used for both. I play basically rhythm guitar with the occasional lead. My electric is a Tele if it matters and mostly country rock if that matters. I am a very novice PSG but would like an amp that lends itself more to the PSG. The 112 has gotten great reveiws here and the price seems to be right. Any thoughts? What about compared to the Fender Steel king? Thanks, Bill

Hi Bill, I got my Nash 112 just recently - primarily as a steel amp but also with my Telecaster in mind. I had to sell my old guitar amps in order to buy the Peavey without an opportunity to test, so even though I'm not a gigging musician it was something of a leap of faith. Here's my review.

I've ended up playing my guitar through the Peavey a lot and I think it makes a great six string amp as long as you're not afraid to dial in different settings each time you change between steel and Tele. I haven't gigged with the amp, I'm talking about solo practice volumes here. As an aside I would say the headphone jack is very good also and is one feature the Nash has over the Steel King (which I haven't had the benefit of trying).

I'm using a a Made in Japan Fender Tele with a good pair of (Bareknuckle 'Yardbird') pickups. Straight to the high gain input I've found the N112 has tons of bass which is perfect for telecasting as more often it's a problem warming up the sound. Not here. I have the guitar tone on full treble, the low and mid on the amp at twelve o'clock (0), the high boosted to about 9 on the dial and then I use the presence knob to set the perfect amount of twang. With a bit more experimenting I might be able to cut the bass on the amp to where I have more play on the guitar's tone knob. This is all on the bridge pickup by the way - if you get the neck pickup involved there is plenty of tubey blues-business to be had.

I've been really surprised how much I like the spring reverb. Didn't think I would, but I use it over the reverbs on my PODxt all the time.

Talking of which, a POD in the effects loop adds a huge amount of versatility, especially if you're on the rockier end of country rock. With time you can get it to where you can leave the amp's settings alone and just flip between different POD programs for Tele and Steel.

The N112 is a clean machine - that is not to say it doesn't do rock. Push the pre-gain and you can get some very useable distortion. Not tube amp overdrive but respectable, decent, law abiding, loud. I would think most players would go the stomp box route though.

Much has been said about the incredible tone for steel guitar. (This is where the mid-shift controls really take you to places most amps won't go). I would only add one other thing that has really blown me away, not being at all experienced with steel amps, which is how much it brings out bar vibrato. You can really make the air move with some subtle vibrato, in fact it has made me realise how much I was overdoing it before. You might say the same thing about any amp but the N112 has improved my technique in that regard so I'm happy.

As a six-string amp it beats my previous amps (a Marshall Valvestate and an Award-Session) for country, rivals them for blues and maybe loses out a little in the rock stakes. Add an FX box and you're back in the game. Turning that around, those amps were completely unusable for steel which is why they had to go.

I have had both for a while now. You really need to try them yourself as everyone has different preferences. If weight is a big issue and lower cost is needed, the Peavey 112 is a fine amp.

In my opinion, the Steel King has a much deeper and smoother reverb, more power, a warmer more tube-like sound and more thunderous tight bass.

I tried my 112 with 6 string guitar and the results were very disappointing. Not a bad sound, but not the type of sound you get from a fender Hot Rod deluxe, Peavey Classic or other fine amp made for guitar. If you run a lot of effects and a compressor for sustain, any amp can be made usable. I have not tried my Steel King with standard guitar so I can't say much about that.



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Greg

My Web Site

MSA Legend/Steel King Sounds

just remember please..

The 112 is an 80 watt amp with a 12" speaker..

the Steel King is 200 watts with a 15"...

totally different planets....

If you are looking for the 112 to replace a kick butt Tube amp for the Tele'.

it aint' gonna happen...

A great pair of small lightweight Peaveys for both would be the 112 and a Classic 30...you could AB the Steel to both amps to get a little bigger sound and then just kick butt with the Classic 30 for the Tele....

my take on small venues....

Me, I just carry big amps to the small venues...

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TPrior
TPrior Steel Guitar Homesite
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<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 29 May 2006 at 06:54 AM.]</p></FONT>

Fender Twin for the Tele. Upgrade your pickups. Check out Kinman pickups on the web.

Any Peavey Solid State Amp with a 15' speaker including the NV 400; NV 1000, Session 400; LTD; Session 500; Vegas etc... for the pedal steel with Brad's Steel Guitar Black Box in line.

Use the credit card today and enjoy tone tonight.

Thanks for the great comments about the Peavey Nashville 112 amplifier. It is very difficult to design an amp for steel, but also voice it for six string electric. However, the 112 sounds great for steel and can reproduce a clean guitar sound as well.

It's small and lightweight and is winning over players everyday. Don't let its size fool you but don't expect for it to cover a stadium atmosphere either. Be sensible which amp fits your needs.

If you should have additional questions, feel free to contact me toll free at 1-877-732-8391, ext. 1180 and I will be glad to assist you.

Mike Brown
Peavey USA<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Mike Brown on 30 May 2006 at 11:41 AM.]</p></FONT>

I just got back from the OSGA show in Tulsa, and it looked like staff guitarist DeWayne Bowman was using a Nash 112. He plays an old Tele custom with a humbucker in the neck position and separate tone and volume controls for eack pickup. I don't think I ever heard a better Tele sound. I have no idea how he had it set, but he didn't appear to be using any outboard effects.

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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

I will testify to it's fittness with one rider.

You will be most happy with 24+bit amp modeller like a Podxt.

I was playing a rather large venue here and the guitar player had his Blues Deluxe knocked over and it broke some tubes ( I think it was the BD). His had 60 watts I believe.

For the last two sets he used my 112 after his podxtlive pedalboard and I couldn't tell the difference. Had he chosen an "amp modeller" instead of the "tube preamp" setting he wouldn't have either.

Myself I'm only beginning to bring out the Tele, and I play through a 400Nv and a 112 out of a Podxt with a Blackface Model, but I'd certainly use it for both on smaller gigs when I only use the 112.

"Voiced for a pedal steel"..

I'd like to hear that quantified..



EJL

Maiden voyage for mine tonight. It will get the acid test: tonight, a small room trio, Sat. night, an outdoor street dance. Ain't new stuff fun?

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Marrs D-10, Webb 6-14E

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:</font><HR><SMALL>"Voiced for a pedal steel"..

I'd like to hear that quantified..</SMALL><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

In layman's terms, that means it will play loudly without distortion, and that it has some mid-scoop and bottom end. Keep in mind that most lead players today would have a panic attack if they had to play without distortion, and they could also care less about bass response.

Well, after one night, my jury is still out. After using a Webb for 28 years, the lack of head room really takes some getting used to. And maybe it's just me, or my ears or going, or something is sucking the high end, but I had to turn the presence way up and still couldn't seem to get the high end response. I was using Randy Beaver's suggested settings. I'm going to try a few things, but I think it's a matter of the big change.

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Marrs D-10, Webb 6-14E