PSG Rich Sound

[Ron Wendler]

I so love to listen to a PSG being played and now I'm building one and going to see if I can learn to play it. I'm wondering, cause I know that by itself, played through a regular amp, it has a nice sound but not that rich sound you hear when played on stage. Is it lots of reverb or pedals?

[scott murray]

reverb is the most common effect used, but not too much. delay would be the second

[Dave Stagner]

Some regular guitar amps sound just fine, classic even, for pedal steel. Not all! The amp needs to be clean, tight, and have a well-controlled midrange at higher volumes. A Fender Twin sounds great with pedal steel. A Marshall JCM800 does not. A blackface Deluxe sounds great; a tweed Deluxe does not (not at any real volume anyway). Speakers matter as much as amps. A JBL D-120 or similar stiff, bright, high-power speaker works great. The Celestion Greenback that sounds so great with a Marshall and a regular guitar does not.

When in doubt, stick to amps and speakers that are widely used among steel players - basically blackface/silverface Fenders and old-school Peaveys. Any amp known for its "crunch" will likely be a problem.

[Donny Hinson]

Dave's right, a good amp is one of the primary requirements, but delay and/or reverb can also do a lot to "fatten up" the sound. And sometimes, chorus or phaser effects are thrown in to add depth and really expand the sound. Some players also use processors or a pedal board that allows them to chain a lot of effects together to get interesting and different sounds.