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Topic: Steel Amp Head? |
Jason King
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 5 Apr 2015 6:14 pm |
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| Is there an amp head out there that works well for steel? I have an old Peavey 2x12 cab that would work well for a home practice amp. |
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Jason Lynch
From:
Essex, United Kingdom
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Posted 6 Apr 2015 12:24 am
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| little walter, or milkman. both a bit pricey. |
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Matthew Dawson
From:
Portland Oregon, USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2015 1:43 am
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I really like my Bandmaster Reverb but some would say it doesn't have enough clean headroom for pedal steel. Most places I play mike the amps so the headroom issue has never been a problem. I don't currently play with any loud drummers though. Any vintage Black or Silverface Bassman, Bandmaster, Showman, or Concert head would suit me. Put a 5751 in the first tube position of whatever channel you favor. Bandmasters are cheap and you can put a Bassman output transformer in later if the bass response isn't enough for you (no problem for me with the stock OT). That said, I have a Milkman Sideman on order......
Last edited by Matthew Dawson on 6 Apr 2015 1:55 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Micky Byrne
From:
United Kingdom (deceased)
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Posted 6 Apr 2015 1:45 am Re: Steel Amp Head?
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Some use the Galleon Krueger MB 200...It only weighs 2 pounds, but it's 200 watts. It is a bass amp though, but as I said "some" steel players use them 
Micky "scars" Byrne U.K. |
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John Limbach
From:
Billings, Montana, USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2015 3:37 am
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| 1970's Traynor YBA-1 Bass Master or YRM-1 Reverb Master |
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David Nugent
From:
Gum Spring, Va.
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Posted 6 Apr 2015 3:54 am
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| The Quilter 'Steelaire' is available in a two space, rackmount head unit. These amps are receiving rave reviews from owners. Steel Guitars of North County (Jim Palenscar) stocks them I believe. |
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Les Cargill
From:
Oklahoma City, Ok, USA
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Posted 6 Apr 2015 4:15 am
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There is the Quilter Tone Block. It lacks a full preamp.
Since you said "home practice amp" there is the Fender Super Champ X2 head that may work for that. It's at least at an interesting price point. I ran mine thru a 15" Eminence steel speaker ( which is not your 2X12 ) and it sounded quite good. Steel sounds less good through a Marshall 1936 cabinet.
It's not in head form factor, but in the past I have used inexpensive Fender solid state amps for six string. They can sound pretty nice for steel so long as you don't drive them into clipping. I believe the current production is the Fender Champion 100. I have not tried it.
Somebody is selling an interesting looking Class D poweramp in the "New Products" section. Again, may require a preamp. http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=282246 |
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Cartwright Thompson
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Posted 6 Apr 2015 6:37 am
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| Quilter Aviator, or better yet, Quilter Micro Pro. |
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Malcolm McMaster
From:
Beith Ayrshire Scotland
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Posted 6 Apr 2015 8:19 am
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Micky, MB200 is a great little amp, use mine built into cab with 12inch Sica Neo speaker, 200 watts of power, sounds vey similar to my 112 ,but lot more power ,total weight is 21lbs, if you used 15inch it only adds a couple more lbs.If need be I can slip amp out of cab if doing flying gig,only weighs 2lbs and can be put in my hand luggage, and just plug it into any available speaker cab at gig.
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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. |
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Micky Byrne
From:
United Kingdom (deceased)
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Posted 6 Apr 2015 9:10 am
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Thanks Malcolm...that's food for thought if I want to treat myself. I have a couple of Roland XL80's..one is a spare, and the one I use stands on a cabinet for a Nashville 400 (I still have the head though)..In the cabinet I've attached a Peavey Neo magnet to the B/W basket, took all of 5 mins to attach it on. Suprising how just a few pounds lighter makes such a difference to us older Geezers 
Micky "scars" Byrne U.K.
www.micky-byrne.co.uk
Sho-Bud and Carter uni's and heaps of toys |
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Alex Cattaneo
From:
Quebec, Canada
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Posted 6 Apr 2015 10:39 am
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| Cartwright, why the micro pro over the aviator? Did you try the Steelaire too? |
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Cartwright Thompson
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Posted 6 Apr 2015 10:54 am
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| I haven't tried a Steelaire. I had an Aviator, and used it on a bunch of gigs. It worked very well but I have since bought a Micro Pro and like it a lot more. It has much more eq control and just sounds much better. It has a lots of things that are of no use to me (vibrato, overdrive etc., I don't like the reverb at all) but I really like it on the whole and use it all the time. With a pine 1x12 cab, and a neo speaker it is super light but it can hang with a loud drummer all night. |
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Tom Gorr
From:
Three Hills, Alberta
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Posted 6 Apr 2015 11:43 am
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Mesa Boogie amps...particularly the clean channels are very close to Fender designs. Lots of head options in that camp.
If you are looking for tube amps... I would go with something with at least two 6L6 power tubes.
That said...near any amp with a decent clean channel will probably work ok.
It is how the amp voicing matches with the speaker voicing that is probably more critical.
What model of speakers in the 2x12? |
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George Kimery
From:
Limestone, TN, USA
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Posted 7 Apr 2015 10:44 am Steel Amp Head
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| There has been some positive posts about the Carvin BX 500 Bass Amp head. $319.00, incl shipping. Has a 12AX7 tube in the pre-amp section, 600 watts, graphic EQ, and weighs just a few pounds. I am interested in trying one. No built in reverb, but I use a Wet Reverb anyway, so that is not a problem for me. Search the forum and Carvin's web site for ore information. I think it is worth consideration. |
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Fred Justice
From:
Mesa, Arizona
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Posted 7 Apr 2015 11:01 am
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Jason just about any old Fender head with bass,treble, and mids, coupled with an RV-3 for reverb will fit the bill my friend.
Hook such a rig up to that 2-12 cab you got, and presto a practice amp is born.
_________________
Email: azpedalman@gmail.com
Phone: 480-235-8797 |
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John Russell
From:
Austin, Texas
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Posted 7 Apr 2015 5:33 pm
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| I agree with what Fred J. said. Trouble is finding a Showman or Dual Showman for less than $1000 in any condition. The Dual Showman with reverb is a little bulky. Neither of those was ever re-issued to my knowledge. Same for the Bassman head. Mesa Boogie amps are great as are Music Man heads but a little hard to score. Looks like a good business opportunity. Many of us have nice speaker cabs and don't enjoy dragging Twin Reverbs around anymore. |
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Paddy Long
From:
Christchurch, New Zealand
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Posted 7 Apr 2015 6:55 pm
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Telonics now have the TCA500 amp available as a head only option -- very lightweight and 500 watts of power, well worth having a look at ... contact Dave Beaty at Telonics Pro Audio
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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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