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I like "made in USA"

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aren't you the one pushing the European-made Promat Emmons push-pull clone?

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That's not a completely accurate comparison since the Promat guitar is the ONLY available way for a push-pull fanatic to get a new push-pull since none are made in the U.S. Amps are different since there are a number of brands, including Peavey, that are made in the U.S.

During its development, we tested the Steel-King with a D-10 Sho-bud and my own Mullen U-12. I played "Hold It" many times through this amp. My arrangement is from a Tommy Roots video and features plenty of action on those low strings. The amp has also seen a bari guitar (Fender SubSonic),a bass, and several guitars played through it.

I feel the amp is very well suited for guitar. At the NAMM show in Nashville, the Steel-King was used to demo Gretsch and Benedetto guitars. I love to play a Tele and Jaguar through it.

As you may know, Mike Smith has been a big help on making sure this amp is "steel player approved." He first started working with me during the breadboard phase; this is when the amp was made of chunks of existing amps with a rats nest of wires and cables for interconnection. Later, within the first few days of a real working prototype, I took the Steel-King to Mike's studio and he gave it a workout - all over the spectrum with a little extra emphasis on the low end. Using the balanced(XLR)line out, he recorded a bunch of things for a "steel guitar test CD." Later on, he used the amp on his local gigs for a week or so. Everytime, his response was quite encouraging. He & T are great people and great performers!

This amp was also "beta-tested" at the SWSGA spring jam in Apache Junction, AZ. Fred Justice and others made comments that made me go and work on the reverb some more. I had the pleasure of hearing young Jonathan for the first time then - his talent is STUNNING!!!

As Mike mentioned, we have a room out back of R&D we call the "Kaboom Room." We do extended life testing there. We ran our new speaker much harder than we would ever expect a steel player to do and are quite satisfied with its reliability. We used Mike's CD mentioned above. The CD player drove the effects loop in, so the Steel-King power amp, speaker, and cabinet were tested. Of course, we have also performed a lot of our testing with more traditional electronics test gear.

The cabinet is constructed of plywood. The electronics are actually more akin to a bass amp than a guitar amp. You should be able to find the Steel-King's schematic on www.fender.com in the Mr. Gearhead section of our website. If it is not there right now, it will be soon.

There is not a CD input, but a mixer and the effects loop could work for this. Mike Smith's setup requires similar patching.

Another question regards the number of inputs. Yes, there is only one. There is a switch next to the input that provides a 10dB reduction in preamp amplification. This provides headroom for those of you with hot pickups.

Also, I have seen questions regarding the limiter switch. This limiter is not a compressor to protect the power amp. The Steel-King will allow its user to push the power amp into distortion. We have designed it to cilp gracefully, however. When activated, the Steel-King's limiter softly clips the input waveform to the power amp in an assymetric manner akin to a tube. You will only notice its operation near full power. To see it work, push the amplifier so the power amp clip light comes on hard, then engage the limiter. You should see the power amp clip light illuminate far less. The resulting distortion should sound more palatable.

The amp's weight is 66 lbs including casters, cover, IEC power cord and footswitch. We have provided velcro straps in the back of the cabinet to secure your footswitch and power cord during transport.

More later....

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Doug Earnest
The only Zum Keyless U12, Fender Cyber Twin

Thanks for the very informative post.....MUCH APPRECIATED!!!

The "fulcrum" of this control is around 400 Hz. At this frequency, there is little to no boost or cut over the range of the control.

I should mention that all EQ controls are flat (no cut or boost) at 12:00. We have provided a detent on these controls at 12:00 to provide an easy starting point for tuning in your tone. We have done our best to voice the amp so it sounds good when all the EQ controls (EQ tilt, Treble, Bass & Mid Level) are set at 12:00.

I have seen Buddy Emmons post his settings here on the SGF. By coincedence, I find that my settings are quite similar to his.

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Bob
intonation help

Sam

[This message was edited by Sam Marshall on 10 August 2004 at 12:10 PM.]

I've been a electronics hobbiest for many years and am delighted that you are willing to offer such an insight.

Bob
Ve1RLL

I hope you don't mind me asking this, but: In your opinion, or (in the alternative), as far as you know, what is the probability of Fender offering a steel guitar for sale in the U.S.?

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the same as a Vibrasonic, which is pretty good, and way better than any solid state amp

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Well then in that case, why do 80% or more of steel players own solid state amps? It certainly is possible to get great sounding amps that are tube or solid-state, but to make the statement that one particular tube amp is better than any solid state amp in existence is patently absurd.

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I took some pictures last week at the NAMM show in Nashville. Of particular
interest to you and users in your forum might be the ones from the Fender
Steel - King party/jam in the Rennaisance Hotel on Friday night. I'm not a
member of the forum but thought the folks there might enjoy them. Please
feel free to share the link with them http://www.pbase.com/jroy/steelparty

Thanks,
Jim Roy
scottymoore.net

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Where: Designed in Scottsdale, AZ., USA. Manufactured in our facility in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.

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Regards,
Sam

Gretsch does make some lap steels which Fender does sell. We will show them in St. Louis. see: http://www.gretschguitars.com/gear/index.php?product=G5700&cat1=&cat2=&q=&st=1 , and http://www.gretschguitars.com/gear/index.php?product=G5715&cat1=&cat2=&q=&st=1 .

Regards,
Sam

I guess one thing I sort of had in the back of my mind when I asked you the question about Fender steels is that it's my understanding that Fender Japan still manufactures Fender "Deluxe" 6-string and 8-string non-pedal steels.

I'm also aware of the fact that Fender appears to continually rotate Fender Japan products through the US market. For example, a while back it was the paisley and blue flower tele's, P-basses. Recently, Fender Japan '52 Tele and '62 Tele reissues w/Bigsby vibrato tailstops were offered.

Currently, the newest Fender Japan product offered in the U.S. appears to be the Aerodyne Tele and Strat models. It also seems that when Fender offers a particular Fender Japan product in the US it's at a considerably lower price than what you could purchase that product for directly from Japan (e.g. Ishibashi Music).

So, naturally, the thought popped into my head that, "wouldn't it be cool if Fender imported the Fender Japan steel guitars?"

Now that was cool!!

I like the Steel King amplifier, but I will keep my Nashville 400 for now.

The Fender amp that I am most impressed with is the Hot Rod Deluxe! I couldn't believe my ears! What a good sounding amplifier. It must be the tube sound that blows my sock off.

Drew

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Fessenden D-10 8+8 / Magnatone S-8 (E13)

Brad Sarno

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1985 Emmons push-pull,S-10 Marlen,Evans SE200,Hilton pedal

Please email me?

thx