They're commonly played through clean amps. That's all.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Pedal steel players tends to favor transistor amps because they have more headroom (most pedal steelers prefer to play with a super clean sound, even at high volumes), while most lap steelers prefer tube amps that breaks up a little.
This is a rather broad generalization, of course. There's always excptions...
Steinar
You'd probably get more helpful info on the Dumbles from Dumble. They're pretty uncommon.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
It would also be a good idea to check out the Steel Guitar Forum.
"No Peddlers" is the lap steel section, and "Pedal Steel" (obviously) is the pedal steel section,- "Steel Players" are where 'everybody' meets. There's some pretty heavy names on that forum,- use the search function and I'm sure you'll find some useful info.
Steinar
True. But that's the center of the steel guitar universe online.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
yea have to pay 20$ to join it
Nope, $5 will do and it'll give you the chance to pick the brains of some of the best players in the business. How much have you spent on instructional books and DVDs lately?
And,- you don't need to become a member to search and read the forum posts, they're free for all.
Steinar
At the risk of repeating myself,- most lap steelers use regular tube guitar amps, no hokus-pocus there. Fenders are very popular, same as the Peavey "Classic" or "Delta Blues", some use Mesa Boogies, and as far as I know David Lindley use a Dumble for his lap steel (not the 'electrified' Weissenborn, he seem to prefer a Roland Jazz Chorus for that).
Not so sure about pedal steelers, but Peavey has always had a huge following in that crowd, there's one model called "Nashville"-something that seems to be pretty popular, and in general,- powerful transistor amps with lots of headroom. 2-400W is not unheard of (I'm not kidding).
For more detailed info you really need to ask them or search on the forum yourself. Myself, I use a 30W PEavey Delta Blues with a 15" speaker for lap steel, not because it's "the best" but because it was what I could afford at the time and it hasn't failed me yet.
Steinar
Fender's brought out a new 200W solid state steel guitar amp. It's a heavy sucker, and it can blow your ears out while still being perfectly clean.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
The Steel King.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
You're right, the Twin is a popular one, but mostly among the more "country-rock" style players. I don't think they modify it though, especially not for lap steel.
Go to the "Electronics" section in the steel guitar forum and search for Fender Twin Reverb,- you'll get over 200 threads, lots of info there, not only about the Twin but also about other amps. It won't cost you a dime, and you can read til your eyes get square and shiny....... ;)
Steinar
Not like a Dumble preamp, but it's got a special preamp according to Fender. Click on the link for "specs." It's also got a limiter to keep it clean "when you play hard," that can be turned on or off with a pushbutton.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Im looking for a special preamp thats made for a lap steel or pedal steel
so its Tuned for it more
Why? What's so special about a lap steel that makes you want to have a preamp 'specially tuned' for it? And if you need to be so specific, then be prepared to have one amp for lap steel and one for pedal steel, because a 'specialized' pedal steel amp will not give you the lap steel sound you want, and vice verca.
Steinar
Because the amps preamp is made for the lap steel or pedal steel they
should be special preamps in them
Yeah, but when so many world class players get by with regular off-the-shelf amps, why bother? I would believe players like Greg Leisz, Paul Franklin, Bobbe Seymour, Cindy Cashdollar, etc, are quite picky about their tone, yet (as far as I know) none of them use customized amps. What exactly is it that you're looking for,- why does it need to be specially designed for lap or pedal steel? Sorry, but I don't quite follow you here.......
Here, as an example, is Robert Randolphs amp list, copied from his website:
2 Crate VFX112 50W amp
Crate VFX212 50W amp
Crate BV 300H head
Mesa Boogie 412 cabinet
Fender Twin amps
Peavey amps
Crate acoustic amps
Steinar
Well, here's Fender's blurb about the Steel King's preamp:
• All-new preamp design tailored specifically for clean, versatile tone shaping
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
From Cindy Cashdollar's website:
"The Fender Twin Custom 15 is the perfect amp for lap and non-pedal steel. It's essentially a Fender Twin with a 15 speaker, so more punch and response for the lows and mids, with the warm Fender sound."
Steinar
