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Topic: Using Guitar Amps for Pedal Steel |
George Redmon
From:
Muskegon & Detroit Michigan.
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Posted 19 Dec 2023 5:14 pm |
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| Quote: |
| There are so many guitar amp options nowadays, I'd love to hear if anyone's getting good results from some of them. |
Yes, Great Results out of ALL of them. I only play through a "Guitar Amp." I personally only play through tube amplifiers. I have only owned 4 steel guitar amplifiers. The completely worthless Peavey Nashville 112, Fender Steel King, Peavey Session 400 (original JBL my personal favorite solid state steel amp), and the Session 500. I have played through an Evans once, it sounded pretty much on par with a Quilter and others. Solid State amps still sound rather lack luster to me. I admit, I do play louder then most steelers who play country. I no longer am playing much country music these days, mostly classic rock groups. But a Great Amp must be capable of not only loudness, but warmth, which solid state amps sadly can't produce. At least I haven't been able to hear it. Every now & then, I will turn on my Classic Marshall 68 Plexi, through my slant 4-12" cab loaded with four Celestion Green Backs, crank only to about 4 on volume, and wait for the phone to start ringing, with my mostly understanding neighbors on the other end, asking if we're jamming today. My favorite tube amplifier? ALL OF THEM. JMHO. |
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Bob Sykes
From:
North Carolina
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Posted 21 Dec 2023 2:03 pm
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I don't own a steel amplifier or play C6 on the gig yet.
It's BF guitar amps mostly for me. Deluxe, Vibrolux, Champ for recording sometimes. My favorite sounding combo is Bassman 50 driving a 2x12" Bandmaster cab. The big dual showman size one. Really full low end. The cab is not too heavy, just too big to fit in a car. The Bassman came with a closed back tilt cab with single 15" cast frame Altec. Did not like it for 6 string. Haven't really tried it for steel.
I have been going light with a Blues Jr. lately. We mic everything. It's okay as long as band keeps a lid on stage vol. Wish it had a second channel/eq for double duty gigs.
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Carters Starter, D10 8+7, SD10
ISO Sustainus Ad Infinitum |
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Casey Saulpaugh
From:
Asheville, NC
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Posted 30 Dec 2023 2:48 pm
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Thanks for all the responses, a lot more guitar amps being used than I thought. Being open to different tones, which all sound good but distinct in their own way, can go a long ways as mentioned. Makes you use your ear, intuition, and actual playing technique to make the most of any amp in a playing situation - these factors seem more worthwhile than searching for an amp to do these things for your playing.
Also, I can see how using a tube amp instead of a solid-state is a must for some players, I too have found it hard to get a certain warmth from solid-state amps that I can only seem to find in tube amps. Not saying solid-state amps can't have a nice warm tone and a great sound overall that feels/sounds "perfect", I just really miss the warmth/bite when sliding into notes with the bar - something often seems missing sound-wise when I do slides with most solid state amps. I hope to be able to try out and experiment with a lot of the amps mentioned in this thread over time, a lot of great options!
Happy Holidays
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Playpedalsteel.com - An online resource for steel guitar. Pedal Steel Guides & Digital Downloads: https://steelvibrato.com/collections/pedal-steel-instructional-ebooks |
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James Holland
From:
Alabama, USA
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Posted 31 Dec 2023 1:34 pm
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I used a Fender Lead 75 recently, obscure 75W dual 6L6 ultra-linear guitar amp from the earliest 1980's. It came stock with a 15" Aluminum cap Eminence, so it looks like a steel amp. I liked it just fine with a passive Goodrich pedal. This amp was designed to compete with Mesa, and is pretty odd, in that the clean and lead channels are in series, so the clean channel acts as a gain stage for the lead channel. Its got a honking big transformer, so its designed to stay clean if you want. It also has a bright switch, and has push-pull EQ pots. The EQ is even more un-intuitive than usual but with great range, which is both good and bad. Pretty good large tank reverb. It weighs a bit under 60 lb, and is similar in appearance but narrower than a 60's Vibroverb:
Last edited by James Holland on 2 Jan 2024 11:39 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Quentin Hickey
From:
Nova Scotia, Canada
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Russ Swanson
From:
Illinois, USA
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Posted 12 Feb 2024 12:35 pm
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Phil Jones briefcase amp. AC or 12v DC powered.
28 lbs. Not old school but great power and sound.
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 13 Feb 2024 1:50 am
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Like many here, I don't own any Steel amps, I own amps I use for Steel.
The longest tenure of an amp I ever owned and used was a Fender Twin Reverb. Clean, plenty of headroom and volume for most any gig or stage. Oh and heavy ! Todays circle of guitar player/amp owners see a Twin Reverb as being nothing but a loud amp, TOO LOUD they say. Near every discussion that involves a TR ,half the participants don't know what they are talking about . "You're too loud man if you bring that to a gig" LOL 
Like Donny , I own multiple amps, some are for some gigs, some are for other gigs, Small room to big stages . My tube amps are rated 15 watts to 60. I don't own a TR anymore , the 60 watt'er is a Fender Deville, its close to a TR and maybe a tad brighter, it offers enough clean headroom for any stage I may be on. But it too is friggin' heavy !
The question with regards to ANY amp used for Steel is, how much clean headroom does it offer and how much do you require for the gig ?
Tube amps are typically divided into two families, 50 watts and under and 50 watts and over. 2 Power tubes vs 4 power tubes. Many guitar players want to play at stage levels with a bit of GRIT ( break up) An amp used for Steel is just the opposite, stage levels with NO breakup (clean headroom) Guitar players will select an amp in the +/- 20 watt ratting and frown on a player using an amp such as an 85 watt Twin Reverb or even the 60 watt rated Deville, claiming " Oh my God you are gonna be too loud" . Well yeah if I'm trying to get the amp to give me grit ! Thats not why we use those amps, we want an amp that won't give us grit. We chase amps for our entire journey that are clean on the bandstand. Which bandstand ? And that's why we may have multiple amps !
As Steel players, knowing our amps and how to use them for OUR performance is equally important to our performance. To us its about tone and clean headroom. We are not Guitar players, we are Steel players. The bigger problem is we may be both on the same gig so we have to carry an amp for the Steel first, well at least I do , or did.
Which brings me back to the Twin Reverb I used for probably 90 % of my double duty journey of over 50 years, I could compromise for the Tele but I could never compromise for the Steel.
Now , finding the tube amp that fits your requirements for tone and clean, that's the hard part, because its probably not just ONE amp. I can tell you this, for me, for over 25 years , non stop, playing in and around the New England region, every club, show and stage, I only owned one amp , a 1970 Fender Twin Reverb. It never let me down. It looked like it was revived from the grave, but it always performed.  When I finally retired it, it was replaced with a 1971 Twin Reverb .
Today, if I'm on a Steel gig and I'm going to use a tube amp, it would be the 60 watt 2 x 6L6 Deville or the 50 Watt Carvin Nomad, which is a 4 x EL84 amp, it delivers but its a totally different sound and just barely enough headroom for the Steel. IF I'm playing mostly guitar and not much Steel, it would be the Dr Z Maz 38, for me its the king of Guitar amps but I can find my way for the Steel, it has enough level and the headroom is sufficient, but nothing like the Deville, and I know it while playing.
Good luck, have fun, 
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years
CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 13 Feb 2024 7:25 am
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I'm no pro and I don't even perform anymore (I never did on pedal steel, just non-pedal) but I've tried a lot of amps. I'm looking for a good sound for recording or just to enjoy at home.
I had a Deluxe Reverb that I never quite gave me the sound I wanted for pedal steel. I bought a Peavey Nashville 112 and sold it a few months later as I couldn't get anywhere near a decent tone out of it. To me, it pretty much sounded like playing straight into a PA system. I had two cheap modeling amps that just blew the Peavey away, the Fender Mustang 3 and the tiny Vox DA5.
I still have the Mustang 3 as it's got decent clean models and it can be used as an FRFR speaker/cab to amplify modelers by plugging directly into the FX return so that the onboard models are bypassed.
Now, I just play through my iPad using THU Overloud or Tonex. My ears need new sounds now and then and modeling offers the best bang for the buck variety. As well, there are hundreds of great (and cheap) tone-shaping and effects app so it's a playground.
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Modified Emmons GS-10 3X4 and too many iPad apps to list.
Last edited by James Mayer on 13 Feb 2024 7:41 am; edited 3 times in total |
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Mike Neer
From:
NJ
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Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
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Posted 13 Feb 2024 8:09 am
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Six-stringers do tend to worry that a steeler's high-headroom-amp might interfere with a guitar player's time-honored privilege to solo nonstop over everything everyone else is trying to do.
In a somewhat-analogous situation to what Tony describes, one of my bands was setting up our speaker stacks (SP4s on top of big subs) and the club owner worried we'd be too loud. I reassured him that "just because you drive a Chevy Corvette doesn't mean you'll be driving it at 150 miles an hour in traffic". |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 13 Feb 2024 2:19 pm
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| Russ Swanson wrote: |
| Phil Jones briefcase amp. |
Do you use that for pedal steel? I have one of those PJB speaker cabs that's a little bigger'n a shoebox, and power it with a TC Electronics BAM 200 that's a little bigger'n a Big Mac. Love it for bass (especially recording), but never tried it with steel. |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 13 Feb 2024 6:38 pm
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| Quote: |
| Six-stringers do tend to worry that a steeler's high-headroom-amp might interfere with a guitar player's time-honored privilege to solo nonstop over everything everyone else is trying to do. |
As opposed to what, Dave? Everybody in the band thinks everyone else overplays and crowds out the one brilliant musician amongst them, usually named “Me”.
I once took the place of a steel player in a band who used two 250w power amps in his rig. He blew out the power transformer for the stage at a street fair during sound check. That was the last straw that got him fired. I didn’t play steel at the time, but the bandleader was okay hiring a lowly Tele player as long as I don’t shut down the sound systems on any gigs with my power amplifier. I was playing a Mesa Boogie MkIIc combo at the time, with a single 12”EV in it. Years later, it made for a fine pedal steel rig. |
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Karl Paulsen
From:
Chicago
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Posted 21 Feb 2024 8:17 am
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My practice space steel amp is a Reno 400 acoustic Guitar amp.
Not quite the same as using an electric guitar amp since the #2 input is the same as a Nashville 400.
I have mounted it a Jazz Classic cab with BW, but it sounded fine for steel in it's original cab with 15" scorpion. It's a nice example of a relatively uncommon but cheap ammo that works very well for Steel.
_________________
Nickel and Steel. Sad Songs and Steel Guitar.
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