Hi
I have been talking with a company who want to develop an amp specifically for steel and who asked me what my 'wishlist' would be for a steel guitar amplifier. As an inexperienced steel player I thought it best to throw the question open to those with more experience and who perhaps have more specific requirements / ideas on the subject. I have also posted this question in the pedal steel section but I would also be interested to hear if there are any lap steel specific requirements. So, any ideas anyone?
thanks, Andrew
ideal steel / lap steel amplifier
ideal steel / lap steel amplifier
Sugartone Guitars
http://www.sugartone.co.uk
http://www.sugartone.co.uk
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lossfizzle
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 8:55 pm
Re: ideal steel / lap steel amplifier
Good, punchy, dynamic clean tone with crisp (but user-controllable) highs and a nice round bottom.
Nice to have spring reverb on board.
I don't see an immediate need for tubes but then again, I don't see that need with regular guitars either. After going through a phase long ago where I had just about every highly-revered vintage tube amp there was, I've come to think in my old age that tubes are highly overrated. I suspect that even a cheap, tiny, efficient Class D power amp circuit would sound great for steel with the right preamp in front. (You might even be able to run it off batteries, if that mattered to you.)
A little mild, switchable dirt in the circuit is nice, but optional.
An effects loop is also great to have for those of us who want to patch in a rack unit or a computer for wackier possibilities.
Most of all-- a compact, cool-looking, idiom-appropriate package. There are so many lap-steel-suitable amps that are available for almost nothing. (I'm mostly playing through two old Yamaha solid-state amps that cost me well under $100 each off Craigslist; they meet nearly all of the above criteria, and sound great with all of my steels.) If you're going to set your product apart as something worth buying for a few more bucks, the look of a vintage lap steel amp is-- I suspect-- eminently achievable in a reasonably-priced boutique product. With all of the interest in copying vintage circuits and upcharging like crazy for it, I haven't seen many folks making such a thing.
Nice to have spring reverb on board.
I don't see an immediate need for tubes but then again, I don't see that need with regular guitars either. After going through a phase long ago where I had just about every highly-revered vintage tube amp there was, I've come to think in my old age that tubes are highly overrated. I suspect that even a cheap, tiny, efficient Class D power amp circuit would sound great for steel with the right preamp in front. (You might even be able to run it off batteries, if that mattered to you.)
A little mild, switchable dirt in the circuit is nice, but optional.
An effects loop is also great to have for those of us who want to patch in a rack unit or a computer for wackier possibilities.
Most of all-- a compact, cool-looking, idiom-appropriate package. There are so many lap-steel-suitable amps that are available for almost nothing. (I'm mostly playing through two old Yamaha solid-state amps that cost me well under $100 each off Craigslist; they meet nearly all of the above criteria, and sound great with all of my steels.) If you're going to set your product apart as something worth buying for a few more bucks, the look of a vintage lap steel amp is-- I suspect-- eminently achievable in a reasonably-priced boutique product. With all of the interest in copying vintage circuits and upcharging like crazy for it, I haven't seen many folks making such a thing.
Re: ideal steel / lap steel amplifier
I have several guitars both 6 string reg guitars and several steel s 8 and ten strings and i play them through a fender double 12 120 watt amp , should sound good and it does , went to an auction and put down 25 dollars for a small 10 inch speaker solid state spring reverb amp(harmony) pluged every guitar i own into it , much to my surprise it sounds better to my ear than the fender ha blew me away . I was always of the opinion that you had to have at least 100 watts and twin speakers to sound great , not so , i guess its all in what your ear tells you . High wattage and big speakers are great but then again small can sound good also. Russ