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Topic: What's the difference between a Steel Amp and a Regular Amp? |
Joey Ace
From:
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 12 Dec 2008 1:42 pm |
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I was asked this question by a new Steeler, when I told him I might be selling my Nashville 400.
I could go on and on about voicing, high power, etc.
But the real thing is the Nash 400 just sounds great and is a classic workhorse for Steelers.
I know many of you folks can answer the question better.
Go for it. Thanks. |
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Peter Siegel
From:
Belmont, CA, USA
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Posted 12 Dec 2008 2:08 pm
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Guitar amps are designed to distort.
Steel guitar amps are designed NOT to distort.
peter |
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Leslie Ehrlich
From:
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
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Posted 12 Dec 2008 2:35 pm
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But I like distortion! 
_________________
Sho-Bud Pro III + Marshall JMP 2204 half stack = good grind! |
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Larry Bell
From:
Englewood, Florida
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Posted 12 Dec 2008 6:36 pm
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So use a GUITAR AMP
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Tommy Shown
From:
Denham Springs, La.
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Posted 12 Dec 2008 10:14 pm
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I could recall some 30 years ago, when I first started playing. And the guy in the music store told
me that steelers love clean. I personnally don't like distortion. I like it clean. I left a band because the leader wanted me to distort my steel.
Steel guitar is a beautiful instrument and the sound is so beautiful, in fact too beautiful to mess it up with distortion. Now I'll use alittle delay, reverb, chorus, and sustain in order to enhance the tone. |
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Leslie Ehrlich
From:
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
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Posted 12 Dec 2008 10:29 pm
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It was the sound of a distorted pedal steel guitar that got me interested in the instrument.
I don't use much gain when I play - just enough to make it grind. In the end it still sounds like a pedal steel, but with a thicker and fuller sound.
And if I'm playing guitar or steel, I like to go heavy on the mids - the more 'honk' out of an amp, the better.
_________________
Sho-Bud Pro III + Marshall JMP 2204 half stack = good grind! |
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Ken Byng
From:
Southampton, England
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Posted 13 Dec 2008 3:45 am
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Headroom. That and the B/W speaker makes the Nashville 400 a great utility amp for many. I used a NV 400 for steel guitar and Telecaster for nearly 30 years. The Fender Twin is one of the few guitar amps that sound good for steel and lead guitar.
_________________
Show Pro D10 - amber (8+6), MSA D10 Legend XL Signature - redburst (9+6), Sho-Bud Pro 111 Custom (8+6), Emmons black Push-Pull D10 (8+5), Zum D10 (8x8), Hudson pedal resonator. Telonics TCA-500, Webb 614-E, |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 13 Dec 2008 9:13 am
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Peter has it dead-on. Most steelers want a clean, pure, powerful sound - and most guitar players want anything but clean and pure!  |
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Joey Ace
From:
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 14 Dec 2008 1:29 pm
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Headroom is an excellent answer.
Any others care to add to the response to the question? |
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Joseph Barcus
From:
Volga West Virginia
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Dave Mudgett
From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
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Posted 14 Dec 2008 9:05 pm
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As long as we make the proviso that some guitar players like clean amps and some steel players like amps capable of good-sounding distortion, that stereotype of "amps typically designed for pedal steel are clean, amps typically designed for guitar have some type of distortion circuit" has some truth.
But there are other issues. Aside from wanting a sound largely free from harsh distortion, most pedal steel players need an amp that can handle a fuller range and longer clean sustain than most guitar players. This has a number of implications for the typical modern pedal steel amp:
1. Not only is the amp linear, but it has a wide frequency response - it can handle frequencies from low to high well. This is often not true of 6-string guitar amps.
2. PSG amps generally need a powerful EQ capability, because the combination of complex and often moving chord voicings, loud clean volume, long sustain, and wide frequency range can give very unpleasant intermodulation distortion. I find this especially true in the midrange area, and is one of the reasons I think having a good active EQ like Peavey puts on its PSG amps is important.
That's my take, anyway. |
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