Quilter Steelaire has arrived.

Ray Gehringer · From: New Jersey, USA

The doorbell rang this morning and it was the Fedex guy with the Quilter Steelaire PSG Amp that I ordered from directly from Quilter.

I played it for about a half an hour so far and will really put it through the paces tonight. My initial impressions of it are great to start with. I started out with the settings that Albert Svenddal used in his demo video: Treble, High-Mid, Bass at 12 o'clock, and used the Low-Mid to kind of shape the sound.

Even with limited time and not too much fussing with the tone controls this amp sounds really nice and the "Plug and Play" aspect is a big plus in my eyes/ears. I plugged my Tele in with the same settings and with minimal adjustment it sounded equally as good and I got a nice grit when messing with the gain.

The reverb sounds real good and lush and this is aided by the Dwell and Tone control in addition to the actual Reverb control... lots of possibilities with three controls for the verb.

The Tremolo sounds good and kind of reminds me more of the old Kustom Amp style of Trem (ie Fogerty brothers from Creedence) then Fender style Tremolo. Not better or worse just different.

It's made my day so far. All the time I got right now. Will add more later.

Ray Gehringer · From: New Jersey, USA

I've been playing my Sho-Bud Pro II through the Quilter Steelaire quite a bit now over the past couple of days and I'm very happy with the Steelaire.

The EQ controls are very responsive, more so than on my guitar amps, and when adjusting the Low-Mid and High-Mid controls I get a wide array of sounds. The 15" Eminence sounds fuller than the guitar amps w/ 12's I've been switching between (74 Deluxe Reverb, Bandit, and a Rivera Quiana.) That said... I need to play through the Steelaire a lot to break in the speaker.

I'm still relatively new to PSG but I can just about get instantly good sounds from the Steelaire. A friend has an old Sho-Bud amp and a Webb amp. I've played through the Webb and can say that the Steelaire is easily on par with it and if anything is more versatile and warmer sounding... and again, it's just plain easy to dial in nice sounds. I'm looking forward to doing side by side comparisons to the Bud and Webb amps when I get the chance.

In terms of tones when using my Tele the Steelaire clean tones sound perfect and it does just about anything my Deluxe can do and even gives the Rivera a run for it's money for slight to medium "break up" tones.

I'm glad I waited on the Steelaire as I'm extrememly happy with it. Sorry for the un-technical descriptions.

Albert Svenddal · From: Minneapolis, MN

Ray, glad you like the amp. I love mine.
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Williams D-12 9x7, Emmons PP D-10, 8X5, Quilter SteeAire amp.

Ray Gehringer · From: New Jersey, USA

Thanks or the Demo Video, Albert. It was very helpful to have a starting point.

The more I play through the Steelaire the more I like it at that. I'd considered other amps while waiting for the Steelaire to go on the market but I'm so happy I that I remained patient. What ever they got going on with the Class D technology really works and I see good things happening for Quilter Labs... I think they will really take off. Frankly I'm very happy to see something new and fresh.

I'll also add that Chris and Nicole from Quilter were a pleasure to deal with and very helpful when ordering and that Pat Quilter actually takes time to answer emails. Great product and excellent service.

Jim Eaton · From: Santa Susana, Ca

I got mine this weekend and have only had about 45 min's of playing time with it so far. I'll have to try Alberts settings tonight.

JE:-)>
_________________
Emmons D10PP 8/4 -75'
Emmons S-10PP 3/4 - 79'
Emmons S-12PP 3/4 -78'
MSA Legend SD12 5/5 -06'
Mullen S-12 4/5 - 1986
Nashville 112 x2 W/Knob Guards - Don't leave home with out one!
Walker SS rack system - 12"BW's
Quilter Steelaire Combo

Jim Eaton · From: Santa Susana, Ca

If your in the Los Angeles area and would like to see and hear my new Quilter Steelaire tomorrow night, check out my post here.
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=263745

I'll also be using it at the LA - Jam this weekend.
JE:-)>
_________________
Emmons D10PP 8/4 -75'
Emmons S-10PP 3/4 - 79'
Emmons S-12PP 3/4 -78'
MSA Legend SD12 5/5 -06'
Mullen S-12 4/5 - 1986
Nashville 112 x2 W/Knob Guards - Don't leave home with out one!
Walker SS rack system - 12"BW's
Quilter Steelaire Combo

Dave Zirbel · From: Sebastopol, CA USA

Hi Jim. Do we get a report on your Quilter Steelair's first time out Very Happy

_________________
Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps

Jim Eaton · From: Santa Susana, Ca

1st gig with the new Steelaire was a lot of fun!
I had worked out settings that I liked playing to tracks at home, but found that I needed to make a few slight tweeks once I got on stage with a live band. I was able to get what I wanted to hear on stage after one song and except for "playing" with the reverb controls on a few songs, I was good-to-go for the rest of the night.
Big sound, clear tone and sustain, let my 79 S10 PP Emmons growl on the low end and ring like a bell on harmonics. Everyone in the band and a few musician friends in the crowd all had nice things to say about how it sounded One of the guys in the band thought it was a tube amp!
Back in 1974, Peavey took the best available technology and gave us the original Session 400.
Quilter has taken the best available technology of today and has give us the Steelaire.
Talk to Jim Palenscar @ Steel Guitars of North County in Oceanside if your looking for one!

JE:-)>
_________________
Emmons D10PP 8/4 -75'
Emmons S-10PP 3/4 - 79'
Emmons S-12PP 3/4 -78'
MSA Legend SD12 5/5 -06'
Mullen S-12 4/5 - 1986
Nashville 112 x2 W/Knob Guards - Don't leave home with out one!
Walker SS rack system - 12"BW's
Quilter Steelaire Combo

Dave Zirbel · From: Sebastopol, CA USA

Awesome. Never had a session 400 but always thought they sounded good. My ShoBud Christmas Tree SS is a real sweet sounding solid state rig too. I do love my tube amps but am also open to good solid state rigs. I would imagine my beloved ZBs would sound killer through a Steelaire.

Thanks for the report!

What was the reaction at the steel jam! Very Happy

_________________
Dave Zirbel-
Sierra S-10 (Built by Ross Shafer),ZB, Fender 400 guitars, various tube and SS amps

Ray Gehringer · From: New Jersey, USA

I gigged my Steelaire for the 1st time... but it was playing standard guitar not PSG. I couldn't have been happier.

I jumped channels one and two together via the channel selector. Set both gains at 3 o'clock and controlled the cleans/grit/breakup with the limiter. When I wanted totally clean tones set the limiter to 3 o'clock and set the master at 10 o'clock.

For break up I turned the limiter to about 10 o'clock and turned the master down a notch.

It all worked out perfectly and got compliments on my tone from other guitar players. Now I have to practice, practice, practice so I can gig the Steelaire on PSG.

Steelaire = good investment.

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

...not exactly the 'rave reviews' i was looking for.
sounds pretty bland to stir up that much lack of excitement.

mostly sounds like an alright guitar amp.

Morton Kellas · From: Chazy, NY, USA 1

Hi! Chris, I posted a review in the section below titled "What's up with Steelaire". I am so very pleased with my new Steelaire amp. I have played it in indoor clubs and 3 times in an outdoor venue with great tone and coverage. If I lived close to you, I would let you take it for a week to try. To my ears, as well as some other musicians, the Steelaire shines, has a great full bodied sound, is very versatile and easy to adjust to your liking. To me, the Steelaire is way more than just an alright guitar amp and I realize that no malice was intended.
I prefer it over my $2000 plus other amp I recently owned. I totally agree with you about there not being enough excitement over this great steel guitar amp. I would hope that more owners would step up to the plate and take the time to post their comments.

Tom Wolverton · From: Carpinteria, CA

I'm hearing it works well for fiddle too.
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To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

Ray Gehringer · From: New Jersey, USA

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

well actually i don't need one, no matter how good it is. my amps are more than capable of getting the most out of my ability.
it seems a little unnecessary to demo a steel amp for steel players on a stel guitar forum with a plain guitar. no way to compare.

Ray Gehringer · From: New Jersey, USA

Chris,

That's nice that you like your amp/amps you and I'd bet you do get the best out of them.

BTW, I do play PSG (intermediate level) and I play standard guitar as I'm sure many others do... figured I'd let the folks who do both know that the Steelaire is not only a fine Steel amp but doubles as a fine guitar amp. I wasn't aware that this would be a problem.

BTW, I never go overboard with equipment reviews as most gear in general is totally subjective and what works for me may not work for the next person. If I like something I say so but will never say it that it is the best thing since sliced bread because we all need to decide good, better, best for ourselves.

Have a nice day.

Abe Levy · From: California, USA

I tried the Steelaire last weekend at Jim Palanscar's store and was really impressed. One of, if not the best, sounding SS amp I've played through (I have not played them all, and am a dedicated tube amp user). It really has a sweet tone. I played through a '67 cut tail Emmons in an effort to reproduce the sound of my '70 cut tail. Up and down the neck on E9 it was really incredible, however when I switched over to C6 I found the low end really lacking. I didn't have a ton of time so only messed with the EQ a bit, but I was really disappointed how the amp dealt with the low end of the Emmons. I am wondering if anyone else has had this experience with the Steelaire? It is certainly possible, as Jim suggested that the low end on the Emmons was not performing up to snuff - old strings? I'd like to hear if people playing C6 (ten string) are having this experience. Other than that, the amp was really awesome and sooooooo light.

Thanks,
Abe
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Mostly Pre-1970 guitars.

Jim Eaton · From: Santa Susana, Ca

No C6th, but the bottom G# & E strings of my Ext-E9 guitars sound pretty good to me. I lower the 12th string E down to C# on my "F" lever for a low root in the A-F position and it has lots of punch playing through the Steelaire.
JE:-)>
_________________
Emmons D10PP 8/4 -75'
Emmons S-10PP 3/4 - 79'
Emmons S-12PP 3/4 -78'
MSA Legend SD12 5/5 -06'
Mullen S-12 4/5 - 1986
Nashville 112 x2 W/Knob Guards - Don't leave home with out one!
Walker SS rack system - 12"BW's
Quilter Steelaire Combo

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