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Topic: Milkman Half & Half Report |
b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 2 Nov 2014 7:38 pm |
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I used the new Milkman Half & Half on a large Halloween dance gig, in a 7-piece band. My rig was set up like this:
Desert Rose S-8  Goodrich 120 Sarno Earth Drive Pod XT Milkman
I dialed in my basic tone on the MM with no effects. I noticed that I can get real loud and the tone doesn't seem to change at all. That's very different from the volume knob on most tube amps.
I had no amp emulation applied in the Pod XT. I mostly use it for effects like delay, auto-wah, rotary and chorus when needed. I had designed my patches at low volume in my living room, and they worked exactly as expected - no surprises.
One thing I wasn't so sure of going in was the Sarno Earth Drive. I'm used to having a separate Mesa/Boogie amp channel for high quality distortion. I'm happy to report that the Earth Drive is a perfect match to this amp. I never even thought of using the Pod XT distortion patch I had prepared just in case. Not necessary - the Earth Drive rocks!
We played an hour set that put the amp through its paces. I used a small amount of amp reverb all the time, and boosted it for slow songs. It's a beautiful sound. I didn't need the reverb in the Pod XT at all.
It being Halloween, I had an opportunity to max out some effects for "spooky" sounds between songs. The amp was miked into the PA, and people were looking around in wonder when they heard the "ghosts" all around them. Great fun!
All told, the amp worked perfectly on its first outing. The entire band was properly impressed with it - compliments all around.
Here's a picture of me and bandleader Kevin Russell in costume. Can you guess who I'm supposed to be?
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George McLellan
From:
Duluth, MN USA
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Posted 3 Nov 2014 3:21 am my guess
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Could you be "Major Hoople" from the old comic strip "Our Boarding House"?
Geo |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 3 Nov 2014 6:10 am
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Or maybe Sydney Greenstreet as Signor Ferrari from Casablanca.
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Mark |
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Stephen Cowell
From:
Round Rock, Texas, USA
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Posted 3 Nov 2014 7:05 am
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... or perhaps Dr. Who #11? Had one of them trick-or-treat at my house, complete with Sonic Screwdriver.
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Too much junk to list... always getting more. |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 3 Nov 2014 7:10 am
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That's what Denise said, Stephen.
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 3 Nov 2014 9:31 am
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You got it, Stephen. Problem is I don't look at all like Matt Smith. I need hair - and a chin! 
Okay, back to amp talk...
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-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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Steve Lipsey
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 4 Nov 2014 10:12 am
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First real test of my Mini....at full band practice (6 people, some with VERY good ears), I set up my Half and Half and my all-tube Pedal Steel Mini with an amp switcher....I'd already figured out how to get "my tone" on both amps...I went back an forth, we played each tune twice and I used a different amp each time - from delicate folky tunes (on dobro) up to screaming rock 'n roll road songs (steel with overdrive pedal)
Bottom line, at practice volume (somewhat lower than gig volume, but still pretty loud, with drums and 4 other people playing) the band could not EVER tell which amp I was using - the tones were so similar in a band mix. And even more telling, I couldn't always tell either (the switcher button had no indication of which amp was on). I'm sold...
They certainly would sound more different if the Mini was pushed beyond 4.5, where I had the volume set - playing loud enough to get the tubes really cooking would have shown a more obvious difference. And the Mini, at 40 watts, generally does get cooking for the louder solos at a gig. Some would like that, others might prefer the more consistent tone of the Half & Half....with the Earth Drive on for the over-the-top solos, the Half & Half and Mini would sound even closer...
Now I've got a problem...I don't know which one I like more....but at least I've achieved my goal of cutting my rig weight in half without sacrificing tone (light Williams keyless in new light Hatton case), seat (that I've emptied of the never-used stuff that accumulated), and 28.5lb 300 watt Half and Half with Telonics NEO 15"....
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https://www.lostsailorspdx.com
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor
Last edited by Steve Lipsey on 4 Nov 2014 10:19 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Tim Marcus
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 4 Nov 2014 10:17 am
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I am having a gig bag made for my keyless williams. No parking anywhere near the venue? No problem! I can toss the steel on my back, carry the seat and amp and walk a few blocks 
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Milkmansound.com |
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Marty Broussard
From:
Broussard, Louisiana, USA
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Posted 4 Nov 2014 11:32 am
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Tim will it be available as a single 12" combo?
(Sorry if you already stated that somewhere)
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RETIRED
Former steel guitarist for Tracy Byrd & The Byrd Dawgs, Mark Chesnut & The New South Band, Mark Nesler & Texas Tradition, Wayne Toups & ZydeCajun, Belton Richard & The Musical Aces
"Technique is really the elimination of the unnecessary..it is a constant effort to avoid any personal impediment or obstacle to achieve the smooth flow of energy and intent" Yehudi Menuhin |
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Steve Lipsey
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 4 Nov 2014 11:54 am
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Marty-
He makes it either way, in the same cabinet, with different (changeable) baffle....that is a good thing, from the testing a group of us did, my Mini in small cab with 12" sounded noticeably better when played through a larger cabinet.
Not sure why I went for the 15" this time, the Telonics 12" can produce the same range as the 15" except for the lowest C6 steel notes....which I don't play.
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https://www.lostsailorspdx.com
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor |
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Marty Broussard
From:
Broussard, Louisiana, USA
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Posted 4 Nov 2014 1:22 pm
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Thanks Steve!
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RETIRED
Former steel guitarist for Tracy Byrd & The Byrd Dawgs, Mark Chesnut & The New South Band, Mark Nesler & Texas Tradition, Wayne Toups & ZydeCajun, Belton Richard & The Musical Aces
"Technique is really the elimination of the unnecessary..it is a constant effort to avoid any personal impediment or obstacle to achieve the smooth flow of energy and intent" Yehudi Menuhin |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 4 Nov 2014 2:08 pm
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The big take-away for me was that Milkman Half & Half plus Sarno Earth Drive can replace my Mesa/Boogie. I've been playing Mesa amps for 30 years. I never expected that a steel amp and a "stomp box" could give me the sound I like for rock'n'roll.
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Tom Wolverton
From:
Carpinteria, CA
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Posted 5 Nov 2014 5:45 am
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Bob, what speaker is in your Half & Half?
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To write with a broken pencil is pointless.
Last edited by Tom Wolverton on 5 Nov 2014 5:46 am; edited 1 time in total |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 5 Nov 2014 9:24 am
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The 15" Telonics speaker, TSNEO-15-4 manufactured by Eminence, 4 ohms.
One disadvantage here is that the amp has a minimum impedance of 4 ohms, so you can't add an external speaker without endangering the power amp. With my other rig, I would sometimes run a speaker on the other side of the stage for the musicians there. Now I have to rely on the sound man to put it in their monitor.
The single 15" speaker does sound great, though!
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Steve Lipsey
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 5 Nov 2014 10:37 am
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b0b- the ICE amp will take either a 4 ohm or an 8 ohm speaker (from the specs)...so you could just put one in SERIES with the one that is there, using a Y-adapter wired in series, not PARALLEL (which is the usual way).. The power goes all the way down to a measly 150 watts.....if you can live with that...
There are a number of posts about how that subtly changes the tonal response of the amp. Some think that the change is an improvement...
See:
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=268475&highlight=
_________________
https://www.lostsailorspdx.com
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor |
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Tim Marcus
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 5 Nov 2014 11:48 am
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you can run 2 4ohm speakers in series with no real loss of power. You will not hear much of a difference if you do it that way. I have a few customers who have no line output from the amp, but rather chose to have an additional speaker output wired in that places the second speaker in series with the first.
The ICE amps are so friggin efficient that they do not budge much when you change the load. Just don't do a 2ohm load because they will go into thermal protection. 4 and 8 ohms are good to go
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Milkmansound.com |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Steve Lipsey
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA
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Posted 5 Nov 2014 2:52 pm
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That is 2.6 ohms (a*b)/(a+b), so you could bring a bag of marshmallows and toast them....
Pretty easy to make a single-to-series-double Y-jack to plug into the amp and then plug both speakers into that...doesn't need to be shielded or anything, just a few inches of lamp cord, two jacks, and a plug...
But you would need two 4-ohm speakers.
If you have two 8 ohm speakers, you could put them in parallel and just not use the internal speaker...
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https://www.lostsailorspdx.com
Williams S10s, Milkman Pedal Steel Mini & "The Amp"
Ben Bonham Resos, 1954 Oahu Diana, 1936 Oahu Parlor |
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Josh Yenne
From:
Sonoma California
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Posted 6 Nov 2014 9:57 am
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b0b I've been using the Earth Drive for a couple of years as my overdrive pedal. I love it too. VERY transparent. Which is what you need for steel I think since it can "understand" some of the overtones of the instrument.
It is nice for guitar as well but, crazy as this sounds, is almost "too" transparent. The pedal sounds good enough that you could just leave it on all the time to give a little life to a sterile amp.
Two gigging steel players in Sonoma county with Milk Man's and Earth drives. We've got to watch out for each others toes.
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Paddy Long
From:
Christchurch, New Zealand
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Posted 6 Nov 2014 5:56 pm
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Yeah the Earth Drive is just the bees knees -- I got Brad to put on a switch in place of the stomp button cos I like to mount it to the leg of the steel - works a treat.
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14'Zumsteel Hybrid D10 9+9
08'Zumsteel Hybrid D10 9+9
94' Franklin Stereo D10 9+8
Telonics, Peterson, Steelers Choice, Benado, Lexicon, Red Dirt Cases. |
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steve takacs
From:
beijing, china via pittsburgh (deceased)
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Posted 8 Nov 2014 1:49 am pedal steel mini
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| Steve what is an "all-tube Pedal Steel Mini"? Is it a pedal and if so who makes it? Thx, stevet |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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steve takacs
From:
beijing, china via pittsburgh (deceased)
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Posted 29 Nov 2014 6:04 am thx b0b
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| Thanks for pointing that out, b0b. stevet |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 29 Nov 2014 10:35 am The Knobs Last Night
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The venue is a bar/restaurant with a stage, not a large room. The band was folk - no drums, not loud. Audience, about 30 people.
I was playing my Desert Rose S-8 with a 12k Truetone pickup, no effects, Goodrich 120 (passive) volume pedal. The Half & Half sounded absolutely beautiful. Here are my settings from the end of the night:
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volume - treble - middle - bass - reverb - reverb tone
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-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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Tim Marcus
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 29 Nov 2014 6:32 pm
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Bob your settings are nearly identical to mine - I used my Half and Half this morning to do a broadcast of west coast live.
I had the amp, a seat, and my keyless Williams in its new gig bag on my back. I was able to carry everything in one quick trip - and could have kept going!
http://instagram.com/p/v_hjs4sijq/
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Milkmansound.com |
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