Amps for a beginner

D Jenkins · Post by **D Jenkins** » 14 Mar 2000 4:56 pm

Would a Fender twin recerb be a good amp for a steel. Its virtually impossible to get a steel guitar amp in England and besides I want something ideally I can also play electric guitar through as well. Or do I just have to order an Evans ora Nashville and wait 6 months?

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 14 Mar 2000 5:32 pm

A Twin Reverb is GREAT!!! for steel guitar. Most of what Lloyd Green recorded was with a Twin, and I believe Buddy Emmons used a Twin for his Black Album.

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Jim Smith
-=Dekley D-12 10&12=-

Max Laine · Post by **Max Laine** » 15 Mar 2000 6:34 am

I agree, Twin Reverb is one of the most recorded steel AND guitar amps! One great thing is it has two separate channels, so you can use different settings for steel and guitar. If you want to overdrive it, remember to wear hearing protection, these babies are loud! Use a stomp box to overdrive the guitar channel (Ibanez Tube Screamer etc.)
Don't forget other Fender amps that are same amps in different clothes; Vibrosonic (a Twin with one 15" speaker), Quad Reverb (4x12"), Dual Showman Reverb (head only)...Stay away from the red knob "The Twin", or if you get one REAL cheap you might consider it...Blackface Twin would be the "holy grail" but a nice silverface will do as well. Get it serviced and re-tubed and perhaps "blackfaced" and you have an amp for the rest of your life...

ajm · Post by **ajm** » 15 Mar 2000 7:30 am

In Gerald Webers' book (A Desktop Reference of Hip Vintage Guitar Amps) there is a lot of useful Fender information. There is a silver to blackface conversion chapter, as well as several other really easy mods for most Fender amps.
I don't have the second book but I suspect that there may be some interesting stuff there as well.

D Jenkins · Post by **D Jenkins** » 15 Mar 2000 2:22 pm

Thanks for that. To get a really neat sound what do I need between the steel and the amp. I know this must be the dumbest question for you clever folk, but you guys gotta realise that 99% of people in Britain have never heard of a steel guitar, still less seen one!!!

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 15 Mar 2000 7:00 pm

A volume pedal and two guitar cords.

Martin Abend · Post by **Martin Abend** » 16 Mar 2000 2:08 am

Hey D.

There's a steel guitar shop in the London area called "Hogan Music". I think a link to their webpage is listed in the links-section of the forum.

All the best and greetings from Germany (I know your problems!

Martin

Martin

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S-10 Sierra Crown gearless

Bill Rowlett · Post by **Bill Rowlett** » 16 Mar 2000 8:02 am

Add a simple delay pedal such as the Boss DD-3 after the volume pedal and you will be well pleased with your sound.

Later, you may want to try a line driver/impedance matcher between the guitar and volume pedal.

Bill

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 16 Mar 2000 8:42 am

Hey Max,
Wasn't a Vibrosonic like a Super Reverb with a 15" speaker instead of a Twin? As I recall if you looked in the back they only had 2 6L6's instead of 4. I may be wrong but I don't think so.

Hey D. Jenkins,
I think I'd wait for the Nashville 400 if you possibly could. I have tube guitar amps but a lot of the time I'll take my Nashville to a gig where I'm just supposed to play guitar and it sounds great. It's got lots of power, not too heavy, and fit's in my trunk easier than my 2-12 tube amp. It's very durable too. I was carrying it on a hand truck on top of another amp once and tripped and it went flying onto a concrete floor at a pretty good pace. It only cracked a couple of knobs but still played great. Another time we were playing in a parking lot on the back of a trailer and the drummer was really rocking and it fell off of a tray stand I was using for an amp stand and the reverb made some noise but it never went out and we just picked it up, sat it on a chair and kept on going. Try that with a Twin.

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Have a good one! JH U-12<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jerry Hayes on 16 March 2000 at 08:46 AM.]</p></FONT>

Robert Parent · Post by **Robert Parent** » 16 Mar 2000 8:45 am

You might also look for a Music Man amplifier. IMHO they are a much improved Twin Reverb.

The type of speakers in the amplifier will also greatly change the quality of your sound. I prefer Electrovoice speakers over JBL and others, but it's a personal choice.

Several years ago I had a Twin Reverb and replaced the 2 - 12 inch speakers with a JBL 15. That made a so-so amplifier into something very nice for steel.

Max Laine · Post by **Max Laine** » 16 Mar 2000 9:28 am

Jerry,
We are both right, an early brown VibrAsonic (spelling!) from 1959 to 1963 was as you said equipped with two 6L6's. I was referring to a seventies VibrOsonic Reverb, which has four 6L6 and is identical to a Twin, except the speaker... A good place to have info on Fender amps is here: http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/index.html