The Steel Guitar Forum Store 

Post new topic Opinions on Quilter Steelaire?
Reply to topic
Author Topic:  Opinions on Quilter Steelaire?
forrest klott

 

From:
Grand Rapids Mi USA
Post  Posted 27 Jan 2018 7:07 pm    
Reply with quote

I'm seriously considering pulling the trigger on the rack mount Steelaire, and I'd love to hear some feedback, pros or cons, from those using it in any of its configurations. I'd be especially interested in what others think of the overall sound, the reverb and from those with the rack version how well it works in conjunction with an effects unit like a Lexicon or TC Electronics.

Thanks in advance!

Skeeter
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Tony Glassman


From:
The Great Northwest
Post  Posted 27 Jan 2018 8:11 pm    
Reply with quote

I have a Steelaire Rackmount and I love it. The onboard reverb is excellent. It has tone & dwell knobs to really shape it.

The amp sounds great with both my Push-pull & LeGrande -very tube-like- with plenty of power. I'm running it through either a 15" BW or two TT-12s and I couldn't be more pleased.

The EQ section is very different than the Peavey and Walker Stereo Steel amps I had been using previously. The mid-range aadjustments are not parametric It's divided into low & hi mid controls. Once I figured that out, I got the exact tone I was looking for.

I'm running an Earthquake Dispatchmaster Delay through the FX loop. The optional leg mounted remote control haa channel switching/cascading, limiter, reverb and FX toggles.
View user's profile Send private message

Malcolm McMaster


From:
Beith Ayrshire Scotland
Post  Posted 27 Jan 2018 10:51 pm    
Reply with quote

I have a Steelaire rack head, run it through either a Telonics 15 or Sica 12, tone is excellent but as several players on here have commented it is drastically underpowered, with a loudish band I have to crank it all the way up to compete, even with moderate volume it has to cranked up, my back up amp a MB200 leaves it standing volume wise. Have been waiting to see if Quilter bring out a mod to amp that will help but so far heard nothing from them.I wonder if this problem only affects some of the amps because I read on here of other players saying it would blow your head off, but again Quilter have not commented on this apparent difference. Only use mine for studio recording now and use the MB200 for live gigs.
_________________
MSA Millenium SD10, GK MB200, Sica 12inch cab, Joyo American Sound Pedal/ Jay Ganz Straight Ahead amp, Telonics 15inch in Peavey cab, Digitech RP150, Peterson tuner.Hilton volume pedal.Scott Dixon seat and guitar flight case.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Tony Glassman


From:
The Great Northwest
Post  Posted 28 Jan 2018 12:35 am    
Reply with quote

Weird. Mine has lots of headroom.
View user's profile Send private message

Malcolm McMaster


From:
Beith Ayrshire Scotland
Post  Posted 28 Jan 2018 1:34 am    
Reply with quote

Tony, at first I thought it may be the mod the Steelaire needs for UK and Europe, but if you look back at previous posts it would seem that it has affected quite a few in US. I did speak to Pat Quilter, who said he probably made the input gain on the low side, and I asked if they were considering a mod, but to date have received no further communication from them. I have a friend who runs a Pro 200 Tone Block into a Telonics 12 , and gets good results, but finds it best to add an eq pedal to give better tone control.
_________________
MSA Millenium SD10, GK MB200, Sica 12inch cab, Joyo American Sound Pedal/ Jay Ganz Straight Ahead amp, Telonics 15inch in Peavey cab, Digitech RP150, Peterson tuner.Hilton volume pedal.Scott Dixon seat and guitar flight case.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Dave Diehl

 

From:
Mechanicsville, MD, USA
Post  Posted 28 Jan 2018 5:31 am    
Reply with quote

I'm with Tony!
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Greg Cutshaw


From:
Corry, PA, USA
Post  Posted 28 Jan 2018 6:00 am    
Reply with quote

I agree with Malcolm. The power section has lots of RMS watts but the amp's overall gain is very low making it hard to achieve high levels of dynamics or volume. I also discussed this with Pat Quilter who agreed that perhaps the amp should have been designed with more gain. Some of the earlier Quilter Steelaire amps had a lot of white noise. Mine did! This was corrected in later builds.


http://www.gregcutshaw.com/
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website Yahoo Messenger

Marco Schouten


From:
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Post  Posted 28 Jan 2018 6:27 am    
Reply with quote

Malcolm McMaster wrote:
Tony, at first I thought it may be the mod the Steelaire needs for UK and Europe, but if you look back at previous posts it would seem that it has affected quite a few in US. I did speak to Pat Quilter, who said he probably made the input gain on the low side, and I asked if they were considering a mod, but to date have received no further communication from them. I have a friend who runs a Pro 200 Tone Block into a Telonics 12 , and gets good results, but finds it best to add an eq pedal to give better tone control.


I never heard about a mod being necessary for the EU. Can you tell about it? My Steelaire is one the the first 4 imported in the EU, I don't think it has any mod.
_________________
----------------------------------
JCH SD-10 with BL XR-16 pickup, Sho-Bud Volume Pedal, Evidence Audio Lyric HG cables, Quilter Steelaire combo
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Malcolm McMaster


From:
Beith Ayrshire Scotland
Post  Posted 28 Jan 2018 6:56 am    
Reply with quote

Marco, all UK/Euro amps have a mod to the power supply that stops noise from the 220 supply. It is done at factory.
_________________
MSA Millenium SD10, GK MB200, Sica 12inch cab, Joyo American Sound Pedal/ Jay Ganz Straight Ahead amp, Telonics 15inch in Peavey cab, Digitech RP150, Peterson tuner.Hilton volume pedal.Scott Dixon seat and guitar flight case.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Les Cargill

 

From:
Oklahoma City, Ok, USA
Post  Posted 28 Jan 2018 8:03 am    
Reply with quote

Greg Cutshaw wrote:
I agree with Malcolm. The power section has lots of RMS watts but the amp's overall gain is very low making it hard to achieve high levels of dynamics or volume. I also discussed this with Pat Quilter who agreed that perhaps the amp should have been designed with more gain. Some of the earlier Quilter Steelaire amps had a lot of white noise. Mine did! This was corrected in later builds.


http://www.gregcutshaw.com/



I just don't have gain problems with my Steelaire. I run my (passive) volume pedal in the pedal loop on the front of the amp. It all lines up great.

Then again - a reason I bought a Steelaire instead of a Twin is that I couldn't use a Twin with the volume pedal all the way to the floor. The initial 12AX7 would overload. So that put the price of a Black Box or active pedal in favor of the Steelaire; plus it was one less thing in the gig bag.

Turns out the tradition is to use the volume pedal to avoid too much input to that 12AX7 but I didn't know that at the time Smile
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Bill Terry


From:
Bastrop, TX
Post  Posted 28 Jan 2018 9:11 am    
Reply with quote

I've been playing through a Steelaire combo for several months, plenty of gain and power for me. I use a Goodrich passive pedal into a Boss delay and then into the front of the amp.

I had to mess with the gain settings a bit. It is pretty flexible with a lot of variation available. I finally ended up cascading Input 1 with Input 2 and driving input 1 pretty hot, but that was more of a 'feel' thing than volume thing. I like the way it responds to hard attack, very tube-like IMO. It's weird how so many guys have commented on the low power issue. I've played through Twins and Session 400s a lot and IMO this amp stays up with all of those.

I'm also a big fan of the on-board digital reverb. Like Tony mentioned, the Dwell and Tone knobs give you a ton of flexibility. I'm actually happier with this amp than I've been with any amp in a long time. My 0.02...
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Tony Glassman


From:
The Great Northwest
Post  Posted 28 Jan 2018 11:33 am    
Reply with quote

Another aspect of the Steelaire is the responsiveness of the tone stack knobs. They are scaled from 0 to 10 with 20 detentes (half clicks) . Each "click" produces an audible change, which makes tone shaping more precise.
View user's profile Send private message

Malcolm McMaster


From:
Beith Ayrshire Scotland
Post  Posted 28 Jan 2018 12:53 pm    
Reply with quote

Tony, agree the tone is excellent, just underpowered (well mine anyway), tried different pedals , active and Passive, different sets of leads, ran both inputs together, played about with various settings. It intrigues me how some of these amps can have great output and others don’t. I had emails going between Pat and myself, ( believe some US forum members also contacted him or Chris also) . The sum total of interst from Quilter was “ just Crank it up” which it already was. Extremely dissaponited with their response, Would I recomend getting one - NO , not until they start listening to their customers and act on the problem.
_________________
MSA Millenium SD10, GK MB200, Sica 12inch cab, Joyo American Sound Pedal/ Jay Ganz Straight Ahead amp, Telonics 15inch in Peavey cab, Digitech RP150, Peterson tuner.Hilton volume pedal.Scott Dixon seat and guitar flight case.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Morton Kellas

 

From:
Chazy, NY, USA 1
Post  Posted 28 Jan 2018 1:00 pm    
Reply with quote

I love my Steelaire, very good sounding dependable light amp. I can't imagine ever needing more power. This is not the only amp I own, but it is the one that gets used the most.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Steve Spitz

 

From:
New Orleans, LA, USA
Post  Posted 28 Jan 2018 4:08 pm    
Reply with quote

Apparently some had issues with headroom.

Not me. Mine was plenty loud for my needs.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Doug Beaumier


From:
Northampton, MA
Post  Posted 28 Jan 2018 4:38 pm    
Reply with quote

My Quilter Combo is plenty loud too, even for outdoor gigs. No problems whatsoever.
_________________
My Site / My YouTube Channel
25 Songs C6 Lap Steel / 25 MORE Songs C6 Lap Steel / 16 Songs, C6, A6, B11 / 60 Popular Melodies E9 Pedal Steel
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

George Kimery

 

From:
Limestone, TN, USA
Post  Posted 29 Jan 2018 7:01 pm     Opinions on Quilter Steelaire
Reply with quote

I have been using the rack mount version for about a year now and am very happy with it. The amp reverb is very good, but I prefer my Wet Reverb pedal. Volume is not a prob!em, generally speaking. I wish it had more headroom. When having to really crank it, my 120 volume pedal will bottom out. Unless you are in a really loud band, I think you will be OK with the volume it puts out.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Mike Perlowin


From:
Los Angeles CA
Post  Posted 29 Jan 2018 10:50 pm    
Reply with quote

I like the powered effects loop. I have a Dunlop Q-zone pedal, which creates a dobro-like sound, hard-wired into mine. A flip,of a switch and voila: instant pedabro.
_________________
Please visit my web site and Soundcloud page and listen to the music posted there.
http://www.mikeperlowin.com http://soundcloud.com/mike-perlowin
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website

forrest klott

 

From:
Grand Rapids Mi USA
Post  Posted 31 Jan 2018 9:01 am    
Reply with quote

Thank you all for the great input. It certainly goes a long way in helping my decision.

Skeeter
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

Malcolm McMaster


From:
Beith Ayrshire Scotland
Post  Posted 31 Jan 2018 9:58 am    
Reply with quote

Forrest, if you plan on getting one can I suggest that you try it out personally before buying, a $1000 is a lot to pay for something that may not suit.
What a pity Quilter did not supply any input (if you will pardon the pun) .
_________________
MSA Millenium SD10, GK MB200, Sica 12inch cab, Joyo American Sound Pedal/ Jay Ganz Straight Ahead amp, Telonics 15inch in Peavey cab, Digitech RP150, Peterson tuner.Hilton volume pedal.Scott Dixon seat and guitar flight case.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail


All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Jump to:  

Our Online Catalog
Strings, CDs, instruction,
steel guitars & accessories

www.SteelGuitarShopper.com

Please review our Forum Rules and Policies

Steel Guitar Forum LLC
PO Box 237
Mount Horeb, WI 53572 USA


Click Here to Send a Donation

Email admin@steelguitarforum.com for technical support.


BIAB Styles
Ray Price Shuffles for
Band-in-a-Box

by Jim Baron
HTTP