Cheap amp for telecaster and pedal steel?

[Telecastoff1]

I own a Nashville 400 and have played my Telecaster thru it for years. I mainly use it for outside, unmic'd gigs where I need the super-sparkly-cleans with tons of headroom. It has been an extremely reliable amp as well. The pedal steel guy in my band plays his Williams and Shobud thru his own Nashville 400 as well and it sounds great. I really like that Black Widow 1501-4sb so much for Tele, that I put one in my Fender Custom Vibrasonic as well, and a very good dual-purpose pedal steel/guitar amp specifically designed for that purpose by Bruce Zinky. The Custom Vibrasonic Amp is an all-tube, two channel amp, but most likely would cost more than what it appears you might want to spend.

 

[T Prior]

its the age old question for double duty, PEDAL STEEL, "NOT A LAP STEEL", and a Telecaster.

The obvious answer always comes back to a Twin reverb which may be the standard for double duty.

The HR Deluxe is fine for the Tele but as stated comes up short for the Steel with regard to headroom. Really short.

But you gotta define cheap, is it $200 or $1000 ?

A nice alternative to the HR Deluxe is the HR Deville 2x12, a bit more power and a bit more headroom. A bit more weight as well ! If you like the tones from the HR Deluxe the easy answer is the HR Deville. I own a PV Nashville 400, PV Nashville 112, Blues Deluxe , HR Deville etc...for double duty , ONE amp, it will be the HR Deville. The PV amps are excellent for Steel but I do not prefer them for the Telecaster , others do, so it's a personal choice. If I'm on a Steel only show, big room or stage, it's the Nashville 400.

DO NOT bother with modifying the HR Deluxe , the inherent 40 watt design and minimal headroom does not get fixed for PEDAL STEEL. I ran around that horn for the longest time, all I did was buy new tubes and new speakers. The reality fix was upgrading to the STOCK HR Deville . That was simple ! It's a great amp, very close to a TR.

IF you are ok with the weight of a TWIN for your everyday purposes , which covers any and all gigs, go grab one, any of them. I toured the NE with the same 1970 TR for over 20 years. Rock Solid. I don't tour anymore and the gigs are much smaller so I recently sold the 71 TR I had been using.

On some gigs today, ( moderate rooms ) for double duty, crazy as it sounds, I carry two amps, the N112 and a Blues Jr. Two rigs. Don't laugh, I played a monthly show for 3 years with this 2 amp rig. It fit the bill perfectly. Use what works.

Lately I have also been using a DV MARK 50 watt head with a 1x12 cabinet for small rooms. Very nice for the Steel, acceptable for the Telecaster. I like it but it may not be a long term answer as nothing beats a tube amp for the Tele. The smaller 40 watt amps like the Blues Deluxe also fit this bill but for bigger rooms they come up short on headroom for the Steel. And that is a huge annoyance for any steel player.

At the end of the day , all the double duty guys are trying to do is find another "TWIN REVERB" in a different box. But that doesn't stop me (us) from looking ! Apparently we all want a Fender Tube amp tone for the Guitar and a PV Steel amp tone for the Steel ! Quite the conundrum !

If I could only have ONE amp, for all purposes, it would be the HR Deville. It does the job.

 

[mad dog]

I'd look for an older polytone III or IV (early to mid eighties), or an Evans amp. There's a real likely candidate for sale on steelguitarforum.com right now.

 

[wildschwein]

Definitely Peavey if you need to save some $.

 

[brookdalebill]

I am (still) a big fan of the Roland Cube 80 models.
The X, XL, and GX are all great sounding, light, loud, versatile, intuitive to use, cheap, dependable, and replaceable.
They also have a closed back cabinet, so they have good perceived low end (bass) response.
The effects, silent chromatic tuner, and looper on the X and XL work beautifully.
My friend John R uses one for guitar and PSG.
He plays a 12 string Universal tuning steel, and various guitars.
I presently own two Cube 80XLs, and a Blues Cube Artist.
GREAT AMPS, IMO!

 

[dsutton24]

The Champ is the classic pedal steel amp. Any of the 'big iron' Fender amps, like the Twin, are great pedal steel amps. But, they're relatively expensive. The Peavey Bandit or the Boss Katana are great solid state amps, and they're cheap. If you want one for both guitar and pedal steel, I'd say try the Katana.

 

[codamedia]

I am wondering if anyone knows a good relatively cheap amp that can do both pedal steel guitar and electric guitar well. I am currently using an old hot rod deluxe which is fine for the electric but does not have nearly enough headroom for pedal steel. I am considering selling the hot rod and getting a Peavey Nashville or Vegas, would that make sense? Any other recommendations?

IMO, you are on the right track with an older Peavey. The Nashville, Session, Vegas... they all great amps - if you want the 15" speaker for guitar

The smallest of the older Peavey amps that can easily handle the task is a Special 130. The mid sweep and 130 watts puts it in a different level than the Bandit... yet retains the portability a 1x12 combo can offer. On the used market these can often be found for $100 - $200.

 

[Telecastoff1]

+1 For the Peavey Special 130. That little amp can do just about anything, sounds great and is a very reliable, well-built amp. And definitely readily available inexpensively. These have a long, proven track record! I gigged two for quite a while and absolutely loved them. In fact, I had two of them running in stereo on a few outdoor gigs. It was the ultimate setup for me. I should never have sold them.

 

[ndeli55]

peavey classic 20 mh. The clean channel is really nicely voiced and doesn't break up much. You may or may not like the distortion channel.

 

[codamedia]

+1 For the Peavey Special 130. That little amp can do just about anything, sounds great and is a very reliable, well-built amp. And definitely readily available inexpensively. These have a long, proven track record! I gigged one for quite a while and absolutely loved it. I should never have sold it.

I gigged a couple of these from '84 - '93.... One was stolen, the other I sold in '93 and regretted it ever since. Just a month or two back I found one locally for $120 CAD... it is exactly how I remember. Loud, clean & versatile... handles my tele, baritone & pedal steel without breaking a sweat. Great amp!

 

[LGOberean]

I've never had any experience with the Special 130. Is it an SS amp? 130 watt amp with the internal speaker, or with that internal speaker plus a cab? What's the impedance?

 

[Dennyf]

I know a boutique pedal builder who plays pedal steel and geetar. I was very surprised to see a Katana show up as his live rig amp for both.

 

[pedro58]

Used: Peavey
New: Katana

 

[hrstrat57]

Yep Bandit of course.

Red Stripe USA would be my first choice followed by the silver label Transtube...but they are all sweet.

 

[codamedia]

I've never had any experience with the Special 130. Is it an SS amp? 130 watt amp with the internal speaker, or with that internal speaker plus a cab? What's the impedance?

1x12 small box ss combo, not much bigger than a princeton. Although it does have speaker outs, it is already maxed out with the 4 ohm original speaker. You could unplug that and use external cabs if you wanted.

Yep Bandit of course.

Red Stripe USA would be my first choice followed by the silver label Transtube...but they are all sweet.

The bandit is great for the guitar, but when you get into pedal steel they fall short when you need to push the volume. I have a silver stripe bandit and the special 130 that I talk about above. When playing the steel, there is no comparison. (IMO of course)

 

[screamin eagle]

Quilter.

Pat Quilter is a steel player.

 

[agogetr]

Bandit 65. My lap steels sound great through mine.

awsome man. my older brothers been gigging about 50 years,some pretty big gigs too. he has a boogie a bf twin a deluxe etc...however he LOVES his bandit! its an old one. i ask him 'why bro?' he says it just has this snappy popping tone he just loves.

 

[agogetr]

Hello everyone. I am wondering if anyone knows a good relatively cheap amp that can do both pedal steel guitar and electric guitar well. I am currently using an old hot rod deluxe which is fine for the electric but does not have nearly enough headroom for pedal steel. I am considering selling the hot rod and getting a Peavey Nashville or Vegas, would that make sense? Any other recommendations?

peavy musician, sunn beta, randall made a good one, a lot of sleepers that go for peanuts. i had a nashville i plugged my guitar in and didnt get a tone i liked, my steel pal said you have to set the knobs just right. not that i didnt try ps. peavey mace if you want tubes i paid 200 for mine.

 

[Kontaktmoi]

A steel guitar uses a VOLUME pedal and needs a lot of headroom. You never play FULL power.. you SWELL the volume up to maintain an even sound level. If you have a SS amp you need at least 100 Watt. I have an Evans LV 500 with a 15 inch JBL 130. That is THE amp ( 197x Emmons 2 x 10 Push pull 8 pedals / 7 levers). I started off with a Fender Black Face Twin reverb that has 2 x12 inch JBL's but I replaced them with a 15 inch Peavey Black Widow. The Black Widow speakers will go FOR EVER.. the JBL 120 can blow if you really play loud with a steel guitar. The Twin was noisy and heavy!. The Evans LV500 is quiet and way less heavy, with great tone and a good reverb . The Evans has a specific VOICING for the wide range of sounds and harmonics that a steel guitar produces. Lots of people use the Evans with a Telecaster or Jazz guitar for that matter as it is so clean

 

[charlie chitlin]

Peavey Delta Blues 15.
I don't know much about steel, but I know steel players often favor 15" speakers, and I know the DB is a fine amp for Tele.