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Topic: Amp, for Fender 400 and a fiddle |
Andrew Srubas
From:
Minneapolis, MN
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Posted 4 Apr 2015 4:46 pm |
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Maybe I am asking too much but here goes. So I play fiddle (with a pickup) and a Fender 400 in a Cajun band and and I am looking for an amp that I can play both through. I was thinking of trying to get a twin reverb. I could put the steel through the reverb channel and the fiddle though the straight side. I have heard of people doing this very thing and getting a good tone ("good" is a pretty subjective word here. I want that 1950's dance hall tone. like this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1ZWEH3UCys) I am just wondering what other kinds of options I might have.
2 diclaimers: I am poor and I don't know ANYTHING about amps
Thank you!! |
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Richard Wilhelm
From:
Ventura County, California
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Posted 4 Apr 2015 8:06 pm
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You might also consider a SS amp, the tone might even be better and definately cheaper. I get the cleanest sound and great tone with my long scale 400 thru a Fender FM212 with the stock Eminance speakers. I've had a number of tube amps that I used for steel and now just prefer for guitar. The Frontman is the same amp and also is the newer Champion but with digital effects ($300 new). I know of another player (much better than I) who prefer SS amps with his Fenders and he has both short and long scales. The Frontman has a clean and drive channel which is changed thru a floor switch. I'm not sure if the drive channel can be played real clean, I'm not home so I can't tell you. They have 2 inputs that run to both channels, one for normal pickup and one for electronic ones. You could run a dedicated e.q. to an AB box or maybe change both inputs to normal. I improved the reverb with an EHX Holy Grail ($100) which can be placed in the effects loop (pre-amp out , pre-amp in). The Frontman can be bought used from Guitar Center for around $200 and can be obtained from any GC store. They look pretty much like a twin reverb with the silver cloth. I also run a buffer amp before my volume pedal which helps my tone. I have no idea what a fiddle likes.
I really enjoyed the video. It kinda brought back memories back in the day of seeing Doug Kershaw come out of the audience at this club in L.A. and do his Louisiana Man. It could be the Burritos or Linda Ronstadt, he would invite himself onstage, and pratically destroy his fiddle bow in the process.
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_________________
"Be Kind to Animals, don't eat Them"
"If you know music, you°ll know most everything you°ll need to know" Edgar Cayce
"You're only young forever" Harpo Marx
Fender 400, Fender FM212, G&L ASAT.
Was part of a hippie-Christian store in Cotati, California (circa 1976) called THE EYE OF THE RAINBOW. May God love you. |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 4 Apr 2015 11:20 pm
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I'd think about a Peavey Vegas 400, it sounds better than the Nashville and has two separate channels.
Tone-wise, I think you'd be happier with the older Session 400, but you'd have to twist the knobs when you switch axen.
Either of those should be HALF the cost of a Twin.
_________________
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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Dale Boutilier
From:
Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted 5 Apr 2015 5:09 am vegas
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| I have a vegas I made into a head and it's sounds great for steel,guitar and fiddle.. |
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Andrew Srubas
From:
Minneapolis, MN
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Posted 5 Apr 2015 10:30 am
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Can you still get that kind of '50s tone where it sounds like it's almost distorting? When the 400 came out, what were the amps people were using? Can I get that sound with a more modern amp?
To be totally honest, other than here say, I don't really know the difference between a SS and a tube amp ( obviously one has tubes and I guess that gives you a warmer more natural sound ). I have no reason to prefer one or the other. I am sure there are reasons, I am just uneducated on what they are.
I am also open to the idea that I just can't get an amp that does both instruments well. Although it seem like a twin might. I know several several people who love a fiddle through a twin and it seems many a person likes twins for steel too.
I'm not locked into the idea of having anything for extra cools points. While I can appreciate cool vintage stuff, I am just too poor to get into it. Getting the "sound" is my main goal.
I really appreciate all your guys's help. When I search and read older post, it is clear that there are much more stimulating threads on amps but I guess we all start somewhere! |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 5 Apr 2015 12:51 pm
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The problem with using the amp to get that "hairy edge" sound is that if you want more, there's nothing left. I'd get a big clean amp and use an Earth Drive or Sparkle Drive to dial in the dirt before the amp.
Because the lap steel sounds great with dirt, pedal steel and fiddle much less so.
I hope to show the Sparkle Drive doing just that soon,, since it seems folks think I do OK with getting nerdy for the camera.
_________________
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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Edward Rhea
From:
Medford Oklahoma, USA
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Posted 5 Apr 2015 5:46 pm
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It a "no brainier" for me, anyway...and only an opinion. Nothing sounds better for a fiddle/vintage steel, than a Twin Reverb. The headroom and the volume are worth the weight of the amp. If you've no objection to lugging around an 80 pound amp, you'll most likely be satisfied with it. Good luck! 
_________________
“TONESNOB†|
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 5 Apr 2015 5:52 pm
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Rereading your OP, the Twin WILL have better tone.
And the Vegas is only marginally lighter.
_________________
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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John Dowden
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 5 Apr 2015 7:59 pm
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Andrew, I'll agree with a few people and say that the twin is the animal you're looking for. Louis Foreman mostly played through a Twin and Super Reverb, as did Tony Thibodeaux, Dick Richard, Robert Bertand, and countless others used Twin's and Super Reverbs because they realized tubes helped warm up the sound of an amplified fiddle. Even Dewey played through a 68 Deluxe Reverb for most of his life.
If I were you I'd be on the lookout for a Silverface era Twin Reverb from the early 70's before Fender went to the ultralinear design (around 1976). Get it as cheap as you can and have it serviced by a good amp tech, and while they're in there get the reverb put on both the normal and vibrato channel. |
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Matthew Dawson
From:
Portland Oregon, USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2015 1:45 am
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| Another vote for the Twin. The guy in the video is playing one and that is the tone you want so why not? |
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Andrew Srubas
From:
Minneapolis, MN
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Posted 6 Apr 2015 3:35 pm
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yeah, looks like I need to come up with like 1500 bucks... ow
thanks everybody! |
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Edward Rhea
From:
Medford Oklahoma, USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2015 3:54 pm
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Check your email Andrew! I know of a nice SF Twin for sale.
_________________
“TONESNOB†|
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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John Dowden
From:
Louisiana, USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2015 10:06 pm
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I wish silverface twins were going for 1500 dollars  I'd make out like a bandit on the two I have just sitting in my closet. |
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