Pedal steel amp NOT PEAVEY?

Carl McLaughlin · From: St.Stephen,New Brunswick,Can

What amp other than a Peavey high priced one will work well with a pedal steel and not break the bank.As a beginner i will eventually step up to one of the Peaveys.
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Now have a SX 6 string lap in G,.A Tele plus telecaster, Larrivee acoustic.Also have a Fender resonator guitar with new Quarterman cone and spider,and an Allan tailpiece.Playing through a Fender Super Champ XD,using a little delay on the amp and a Harmonix Holy Grail Echo pedal,set on Hall turned to about 1pm.Just got a Fender Dual 6 Stringmaster style. Bought a Yamaha FGX5 Recently and love it. Recently got a Sho-NUFF 6 string pedal steel in open G.Still learning.

Michael Deering · From: Arizona, USA

I just picked up a perfect Fender steel king off craigslist for $150.00! Not a mark on it and sounds great! I believe they were discontinued 10 years ago.

Benjamin Davidson · Posted 25 May 2019 4:05 pm

Starting out in steel I think there are plenty of low output amps that will do well for Pedal Steel Practice.

For solid state try to find one of the solid state Fender Princetons (DSL series if memory serves). Even a modeling amp like a Fender Mustang or a Boss Katana provide a good starting point.

A low output tube amp isn't too hard to find depending on your price point. I still practice on a Laney 15w when I need to be quieter, and still have a 3 band EQ and digital reverb onboard.

All depends on your budget and your desired tone.

Larry Dering · From: Missouri, USA

Carl, I have a pile of amps including 2 dedicated steel amps. I am now using a Fender Mustang 111 v2 with great results for a lightweight grab and go option. 100 watts and the Twin Reverb setting with a slight tweaking of the knobs plus its reverb and delay puts it in sweet tone area. Sold used by Guitar Center and a few other outlets. There is other options in different amps but having a good speaker and middle tone shift is important to me.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

What do you call "high-priced"? For $300-400, excellent but used Peavey Session 400, LTD 400, Nashville 400, Nashville 112, and Nashville 1000 amps turn up here on the Forum Buy/Sell routinely. As compared to guitar amps, they are an insane bargain.

I often run into mid-late 70s Fender Twin Reverbs and Dual Showmans for $400-600. These are the Master Volume and for the later 70s, Ultralinear output trasformer versions. Guitar players tend to eschew them, but still fine for clean pedal steel.

There are also lots and lots of 70s-90s clean guitar amps that work well for pedal steel. Personally, I've come to the conclusion that it's very hard to beat the older higher-power Fender and Peavey amps for the dough. So I don't really understand this:

Richard Alderson · From: Illinois, USA

New Peavey Nashville 112 can go for $750; but good used ones are available all the time under $400 dollars; Most folks would call $1,000 and over "expensive" and $500 and under "cheap" for an amp. Under $200 = dirt cheap. You can get lots of amps that are serviceable for under $200, read in the Amps section where Bob is sure to re-position this thread. If you are just starting out its nice to have standard amp like the Nashville 112 which will put you on a level playing field with a lot of the other players. Then as your experience develops your ear can guide you from there.
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Derby SD-10 5x6; GFI S-10 5x5; GFI S-10 5x5; Zum D-10 8x7; Zum D-10 9x9; Fender 400; Fender Rumble 200; Nashville 400; Telonics TCA-500.

Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

Some of the older Polytones that were marketed as jazz guitar and bass amps sound wonderful for pedal steel. I've been using this old Mini-Brute II that once belonged to Joe Pass since the early '80s:

Robert Jones · From: Branson, Missouri

Hi Carl. Just wanted to put in my thoughts for an amp. I have been playing through a Fender Steel King for many years now. I played through a rack with Tube Works gear in it until I got too old to pack all that gear around with me. I found out that I can get 99% of my tone I was getting with the rack with the Steel King. It's loaded with a Black Widow 1502.
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Mullen Royal Precision D10 Red Lacquer Pearl inlay 8&8
"Life is too short for bad tone."
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Jimmy Gibson · From: Cornwall, England

Roland Cube 80XL.

Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

Dennis Brion · From: Atwater, Ohio USA

Carl, Sam Lewis has two piggy back conversion steel kings on the forum right now, both beauties, I think $395 maybe less i would have bought one but spent my Mad money on some repair work!
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1969 Custom built d10, Fender 25R practice amp,Dunlop pedal, Peavy Special 130 w/15" Blackwidow, Gretsch resonator, 41 Gibson 7 string lap steel, Epiphone flat top, 67 Epiphone Olympic

George Kimery · From: Limestone, TN, USA

New or used, Roland Katana. Used, Peavey 112.

Len Amaral · From: Rehoboth,MA 02769

I also like my old Polytone Mini Brute I in a low volume or practice situation. A plus if you play guitar also as these amps have a nice tone.
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I survived the sixties!

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

As Dave asked - what do you consider " high priced?" Your question can't be reasonably answered without some kind of context.

A pedal steel guitar is an electric musical instrument - a type of electric guitar - and FWIW to those who have been around the guitar world for years Peavey is considered - with very few exceptions - a "budget brand".

Many of their products have worked fine for players for years - but they are more likely to be amps players would step up *from* - not *to* - IMO.

Do you want an amp JUST for home use or will you eventually be jamming with others - or playing gigs?

There can be a significant difference in performance...and orice...between "home player" amps and even the most basic gig amps.

More info is needed to really be helpful.
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No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

For practice, just about anything will suffice. Despite having 6 or 7 amps, I recently bought a little 15-watt Line-6 amp for practice and "basement gigs". For playing bigger gigs (the type with ridiculously loud drummers and screaming/distorted Tele players), the amp you need will depend on what sound you're after, and what style you play.

Carl McLaughlin · From: St.Stephen,New Brunswick,Can

Learning at home and playing at jams is where i use my steel As a pensioner $400 is a lot for me,been playing music foe many years just not steel,but i know a good sound when i hear it,and like they say you get what you pay for,but sometimes you can find a diamond in the rough.
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Now have a SX 6 string lap in G,.A Tele plus telecaster, Larrivee acoustic.Also have a Fender resonator guitar with new Quarterman cone and spider,and an Allan tailpiece.Playing through a Fender Super Champ XD,using a little delay on the amp and a Harmonix Holy Grail Echo pedal,set on Hall turned to about 1pm.Just got a Fender Dual 6 Stringmaster style. Bought a Yamaha FGX5 Recently and love it. Recently got a Sho-NUFF 6 string pedal steel in open G.Still learning.

Steve Spitz · From: New Orleans, LA, USA

If your looking for a bargain, What about a bass amp ? Likely to be a lot of them available used. If youâ€™re patient, you may find a real bargain. Even more attractive if you own any reverb or delay pedal already.

Most Bass amps are well voiced for steel. Keyboard amps as well.

Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

Carl McLaughlin · From: St.Stephen,New Brunswick,Can

Thanks to all for your suggestions,i may look into a used bass amp, i have a good reverb and delay pedal.
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Now have a SX 6 string lap in G,.A Tele plus telecaster, Larrivee acoustic.Also have a Fender resonator guitar with new Quarterman cone and spider,and an Allan tailpiece.Playing through a Fender Super Champ XD,using a little delay on the amp and a Harmonix Holy Grail Echo pedal,set on Hall turned to about 1pm.Just got a Fender Dual 6 Stringmaster style. Bought a Yamaha FGX5 Recently and love it. Recently got a Sho-NUFF 6 string pedal steel in open G.Still learning.

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Bass amps can be fine, I used a Peavey TNT for a few gigs years ago. But...they're usually heavy, and they can be bulky, too. One other thing to consider is that most all of them are closed-back cabinets. So, they have a lot of "punch" and low end, but they don't disperse the sound very well onstage, like an open-backed combo (guitar) amp.

Douglas Schuch · From: Valencia, Philippines

My advice would be to try to avoid buying anything you have not tried with your steel. I bought an old Fender tube amp once, in a distant city. My buddy was shopping too, and he played his guitar through it, and it sounded great. But it lacked good bass response on the lower strings of the C6, so never got used much.

I also bought a Carvin because lots of people raved about them here on the forum. It had lots of EQ knobs, so surely I could get a tone I liked - nope. I tried it several times, doing A/B comparisons to the amps I had, and it always went back into the box - just was not the tone I wanted. Obviously, it WAS the tone those other guys wanted - so recommendations don't mean much - it's YOUR ears that count most.

This advice goes for budget amps and high-end ones. I remember when Paul F started using the Little Walter amp - lots of people bought them - surely they sound great, Paul uses them. A few months later, there were lots of Little Walter amps for sale used here on the forum. Worked for Paul. Did not work for everyone.

I live far from any of the chain music stores, but some, I understand, give you a liberal return policy. Based on the reviews, if I had such a store near me, I'd go buy a Katana 100 and see what I thought. But I won't plunk money down on one otherwise.

Since I live far from the usual outlets for amps, and also from other steelers, I can not follow my own advice - every bit of gear I've ever owned was bought untried. Out of all the amps I've owned two were built by fellow steelers, with the steel guitar in mind, at least in part (old Stereo Steel amp head only, and Milkman "The Amp"). And those are the only two I've kept. If you can not follow my advice, I think sticking with gear that was made for steel guitar gives you a better chance of success.
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Bringing steel guitar to the bukid of Negros Oriental!

Larry Dering · From: Missouri, USA

Well stated Douglas. We all have a different need and taste for sound.

Russell Adkins · From: Louisiana, USA

I have two combo amps 2 12 inch speakers in each one a fender and an acoustic brand amp both 120 watts each, they sound great however I bought a small harmony(transistor ) 8 inch speaker amp with reverb and playing through that the steel sounds very very good must be a big 10 watts at most so go figure that one out lol.

Ed Boyd · From: Illinois, USA

For what it's worth. I'm gigging with a Boss Katana 100 because it does PSG and acoustic instruments fairly well. If I didn't have to play banjo or dobro or acoustic guitar then I would probably still play my Peavey or Twin. Don't get me wrong I think the Katana sounds great for the money.
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Laquered MSA Classic D10 8+5
Sho-Bud Pro 1
Various Dobro and Banjos
Fender Telecaster Guitars

Alan Cannell · From: United Kingdom

Had a Boss Katana 100 for over a year but was never really happy 100% with it for Steel or Guitar. Spent a lot of time editing the Tone software but it still didnâ€™t match a Peavey Session 400 Head and Blue Marvel for Pedal Steel. So I now have this setup , Roland Blues Cube Tour , Peavey Profex & 1x15â€ Telonics ,which doesnâ€™t hurt the back or the bank balance and has a impressive headroom. Donâ€™t be mislead by the â€œBluesâ€ ..labelling . As been said before , everyoneâ€™s requirements and perceptions are different and Iâ€™ve always tried an amp in a gig and home environment before committing to a purchase. Most of my playing nowadays is in a Rock & Roll Band on Guitar but a Lap & Pedal Steel are still featured when required.

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