fender Steel King update

David Cook · Post by **David Cook** » 2 Apr 2008 4:52 am

Hi, I was wondering how the Steel King was holding up for all you users.This has been addressed in the past but I was hoping for an update. I don't totally trust Fender products anymore having seen what they're putting out. Someone on the forum said they liked their Steel King better than their Revelation preamp/rack setup. Thanks

Howard Tate · Post by **Howard Tate** » 2 Apr 2008 5:31 am

No problems with mine after a couple of years.

Stephen Silver · Post by **Stephen Silver** » 2 Apr 2008 5:34 am

David,

I used the FSK for about 18 months without a hitch and really thought the tone was great (fronted by a SGBB).

I built a rack system around a Revelation in January and the FSK is now relegated to the practice room.

I'm keeping it as a back up.

SS

Steve Norman · Post by **Steve Norman** » 2 Apr 2008 6:45 am

my speaker blew out in less than a year. This happens with speakers sometimes so cant blame fender. I replaced it with a BW. I like it better now. So far the electronics seem fine, and it has been banged around at shows and on tour.

Greg Cutshaw · Post by **Greg Cutshaw** » 2 Apr 2008 6:53 am

Mine's a few years old and gets used for about an hour a day. Very reliable and it's become my favorite amp but there's LOTS of other good steel amps out there now by many different companies. Last night I played my 5 string fiddle through it and it had the same warmth and clarity as the steel does. So that makes it even more useful for me. I just plugged the fiddle in the Hilton volume pedal and used the same settings I use on my steel. If I played out more, I'd get another one!

At higher volumes the speaker can be bit too bright, so like Steve, I'd really like to try the BW speaker.

Greg

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 2 Apr 2008 8:31 am

I sold mine after having too many negative issues with it.

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 2 Apr 2008 9:35 am

No problems with mine. It's close, in tone, to the sound produced by my old Evans FET-500. I've never been able to get that tone out of any of the Peavey amps I've owned over the years.

Larry Robbins · Post by **Larry Robbins** » 2 Apr 2008 12:06 pm

Mine is a few years old now as well and I still love it! No problems. No regrets.

Mike Shefrin · Post by **Mike Shefrin** » 2 Apr 2008 1:13 pm

No problems with mine either. In addition to using it with my Sho-Bud, I've also used it as a jazz guitar amp, and it sounds absolutely great.

Jim Walker · Post by **Jim Walker** » 2 Apr 2008 5:25 pm

The stock speaker in the Fender Steel King Sucks! That being said, I replaced the one in mine with a Peavey BW 1501-4 three months after I bought the amp new. That was September 2006, Since then I have played countless gigs with it and it sounds awesome. I've put it up against nearly every steel amp out there and the only one that could compare was a Nashville 400 with the Ken Fox Mods.

JW

Nigel Mullen · Post by **Nigel Mullen** » 2 Apr 2008 5:55 pm

Had mine for about a year and a half and it developed distortion. I took it back to the local fender dealer and he said there was nothing wrong with it. Living in the "boonies" I knew my chances of getting it fixed were nil so I purchased a new amp (different brand name). The FST is sitting in my basement and it still distorts. I really liked the sound of the FST when it worked. I'm very dissapointed that it only lasted that long because it was very expensive.

Steve Norman · Post by **Steve Norman** » 2 Apr 2008 7:16 pm

Nigel are you sure its not the speaker? Mine sounded like distortion for a bit then started rattling. Swap with a BW fixed it and know I have a better amp. Its worth a try

Dick Wood · Post by **Dick Wood** » 2 Apr 2008 8:05 pm

My FSK is around 3 years old and doing great. It's been hauled all over in trailers to hundreds of gigs,left in the trunk of my car with temps ranging from the teens up to low 100's and not a problem so far.

Rick Johnson · Post by **Rick Johnson** » 3 Apr 2008 4:01 am

I've had my FSK for three years,
no problems, I must say its a
getting sweeter all the time,
guess the speaker is breaking
in.

Rick

www.rickjohnsoncabs.com

Nigel Mullen · Post by **Nigel Mullen** » 3 Apr 2008 6:45 am

Thanks Steve for replying. I'm glad to hear that someone else had the same problem. I'm going to try a BW speaker and see if that corrects it.

Steve Norman · Post by **Steve Norman** » 3 Apr 2008 9:22 am

the resale on the bw 4ohm sbs are pretty high right now,,so if that doesnt work re-sale is easy. Worth a try since the BW sounds very nice to my ears in a steel king. Im with Jim Walker 100% on this one!

Mike Poholsky · Post by **Mike Poholsky** » 3 Apr 2008 1:13 pm

I've had my FSK about a year and a half. The only other amp I have to compare it to is a '64 Twin Reverb. The FSK is NOT a tube amp, but for a reasonable price it sure has quite a few features and lots of power. Its rated at 200 watts. Really like the Eq Tilt, Mid Level + Mid Frequecy controls. Lets you hone in, and minimize, those annoying frequencies that can come up in different situations. Michael Johnstone has a good contribution on the, FSK Settings Thread about how he uses those. Comes with a foot pedal to turn on or off reverb, effects loop, and mute for a tuner. I too put a BW 1501-4 in mine to see if the consensus on the board was founded. Just put it in and haven't had a chance to gig it out yet. Right off I'd say it does sound clearer and seems to handle the low tones better. Can't wait to get my '64 Twin brought back up to speed so I an really do a side by side. I think I know which one will win the tone battle. I'm happy with the FSK as a good amp, with power and controls to cover alot of ground.

David Cook · Post by **David Cook** » 3 Apr 2008 6:41 pm

Mike, Please let me know how your comparison pans out. I have a 60's Twin with Ev's and I'm having Rick Johnson make me a cabinet for the head. But I am seriously considering another amp. Of course a Tonic/T.C. Furlong amp would be the thing but I am wondering about the price.

Mike Poholsky · Post by **Mike Poholsky** » 3 Apr 2008 7:24 pm

Yea David my Twin has EVs too. UHG!!! Thats how I ended up with the FSK. The Twin needs some work and the weight was killing me. I am gigging so I needed something reliable in a hurry. Found the FSK at a great price. The more I use it, the more I like it, as I stated in my previous post. I'll be real happy when I get my Twin up and running again. Definately will split up the guts and speakers.

Mike Poholsky · Post by **Mike Poholsky** » 3 Apr 2008 7:52 pm

OK, just for grins I just did a weigh in. I realized I never have actually weighed that Twin with EVs. For those of you that would rather not know STOP RIGHT HERE!!!

'64 Twin Reverb w/ 2 EVM 12S 90lbs.

'06 Fender Steel King w/ BW 1501-4 59lbs.

FSK isn't light, but 31 lbs. is huge after so many years!

Jim Walker · Post by **Jim Walker** » 4 Apr 2008 3:06 am

Nigel, that's what my amp was doing. Replace the speaker, bet it works perfect.

I think Bobbe at Steel Guitar Nashville keeps 1501-4's in stock. That's where the one I have came from.

JW

Doug Beaumier · Post by **Doug Beaumier** » 4 Apr 2008 9:59 am

2 1/2 years, no problems.

Nigel Mullen · Post by **Nigel Mullen** » 5 Apr 2008 8:57 am

Thanks for your reply Jim. I'm going to try a BW 1501-4 and see if that corrects the problem. We have a peavey dealer locally and he says he can get the speaker for me. I'll let you all know how it turns out. Nigel

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 6 Apr 2008 2:59 pm

Speaking as a dealer for this amp, we have had to drop selling it because of problems. This is and was bad news. Seems as the little fingers across the sea don't do as well as they should in this case. (Wall Mart doesn't even handle them

)
We dropped the whole Fender line because of the company not standing behind what they sell.

This is horrific news I know, but I feel the forum members need to know why we don't sell this line any longer. If you have one, it may last forever, maybe not. Don't count on the manufacturer doing anything about it if it starts giving trouble.

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 6 Apr 2008 3:00 pm

Fender? I love the T-shirts!
Yes, I recommend the Peavey spkr.s in this Fender amp, we do have them in stock ready to ship, thanks to Mike Brown,,,,,,,,,,,, Fender needs an employee like him.

Bobbe