which consists of a pair of Fender Blues Juniors...

Okay, so the vocals, acoustic guitars and the fiddle will go through the PA, and it isn't that big a space, but it will be with a full drum kit, so I could conceivably go into both of the amps, but I still have a couple of questions:

What sort of settings are decent sounding on those amps? Would I want to have them put through the PA on a mic? Before I irritate the booking buy by seeing if I can bring my own equipment (there was a real riot act feel to the email), can this be made to work?

I would have a talk with the sound guy. Explain that pedal steel is completely different than six-string, and that steelers essentially always play through special amps custom made for steel. Steel is a solid-body instrument (without even a joint between the neck and body) with tons of high and mid output compared to lows. So steel amps are voiced for steel with 15" speakers, lots of low end, and less highs. Steel amps have 2 to 4 times more power, but we attack notes with the volume pedal half off or more, and use the extra volume only for sustain and swells. Also, we play sustained and swelled chords as much as single note leads. This causes excess harmonic distortion unless the amp has lots and lots of clean headroom. Even the biggest 100 watt six-string amps do not cut it for this. Steelers mostly play through 200-400 watt amps (don't tell him about the NV-112). And their volume matches six-stringers playing through 30 watt amps. It's just a different animal, and needs its own dedicated amp, not some marginal baby amp for distortion playing six-stringers.

Having had my share of "discussions" with sound techs about the nuance of balancing a steel guitar, I finally gave up on trying to explain why a steel guitarist will never know what his volume will be until he plays with the band. The only thing a sound check does for a steel guitar is to confirm that his "mic is on", so I always give the sound tech something less than the volume that I will expect to play!

However, on my last theater job I lucked out by having a sound man who was a guitarist who was also learning to play a steel guitar so my balance was always "up"!

www.genejones.com

or just borrow a POD and go into the PA

[This message was edited by Dave Van Allen on 15 September 2004 at 11:38 AM.]

Bring your own amp and be sure of your sound. Let me know where the gig is and I will show up and we can "reason together" with the house sound guy. I have a Traynor YCV20 which is the same EL84 15 watt circuit as the Blues Junior and I would not use it as a monitor for my steel as you probably won't hear it over the rest of the band without the crunch totally messing with your hearing. Here's to educating Northeast sound men!

[This message was edited by Thomas Bancroft on 15 September 2004 at 12:06 PM.]

I pretty much count on always bringing my own rig with me. Plain old anvil of a Peavey 400... I'm going to try and call or stop in over there and talk to the sound guy. Probably can get some concessions on it just by asking beforehand. It's more about acknowledging someone's authority sometimes

I was pretty sure they wouldn't be the ticket; when I saw the backline being mandatory, I was a little concerned. When I saw what was specified, I kind of blanched a bit. It seems like a sort of idiotic requirement, but I suppose they have enough people wanting to come with a half-stack and a monstrous head, and wake up all the neighbors... makes it easier to just set the rules this way.

I talked to the sound guy over the phone for a bit, and he didn't mind having the extra amps brought in... which is a huge relief.

---BTW, Sam,--aren't you supposed to come on here and tell Nick how to make a Blues Jr. sound like a Super Twin? C'mon, man, don't drop the ball now.......

[This message was edited by Jon Light on 17 September 2004 at 02:08 PM.]

The ultra-linear output 70's era CBS designs (by Ed Jahns, I believe) are the bane of many guitar players, but I like them for steel and clean guitar, as do others (per SGF comments). I toured for 3 years in the Air Force band using a Master Volume SF Twin. I have found that they are also coveted by Greek bouzouki players (really!).

With the distorted stuff, one Blues Jr. was fine. I've played Led Zep' and 'Skinnerd on it at a Fender Band Jam.

Sam

quote:

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It's more about acknowledging someone's authority sometimes

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You said it.

Have fun!

MArtin

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