I ordered a Fender Steel King Amp from GC Pro a few
weeks ago, and I just received it the other day. I've had the
opportunity to play with it in my studio, to use it at a live
performance, and to record with it. So I thought I'd make the FSK the
subject of Rick's Corner for this issue, and share my experience with
and observations of Fender's latter-day contribution to the world of
Steel Guitar.
First let me say that I am essentially a tube amp
guy. When I play regular guitar, it has to be tubes. When I play Steel
Guitar, I usually like to use a tube amp and a solid state amp. The
reason for this is that tube amps have the warmth, the saturation, the
character etc., but they tend to crap out when I play Steel and "dig
in" - and Solid state amps have clarity and more headroom before
crapout (HBC), but tend to sound sterile and lacking in warmth. So my
theory is that they compensate for each other's deficits and provide a
full complete sound. For the most part, the theory works. I had
been using my Stringmaster plugged into a Music Man HD130 and a Peavey
Session 500, and it sounded pretty darn good.
In my never ending quest for tone, I thought
I'd try using a Fender Custom 65 Twin with the 15" speaker and an FSK
and see how that would sound. So I ordered one of each. I
received the Twin about a month before the FSK and rapidly determined
that it wasn't for me. I know some really great players swear by it -
Cindy Cashdollar and Big John Bechtel to name a few - but I guess my
heavy handed playing style didn't suit it, or maybe the one I got
wasn't 100%. I couldn't seem to dial in a tone that sounded good to me,
even when I tried the settings that Big John had recommended. When I
played chords and slid up the neck (the crap-out test) it crapped out -
even at low volume. My Music Man amps sounded better to me. So I
returned it to my friendly neighborhood Guitar Center, which is
conveniently located 2 blocks from my studio.
When I finally got the FSK, it was a completely
different story. This is a 200 watt amp with a 15" speaker that was
designed and developed specifically for Steel Guitar. It sounded good
right out of the box with all the controls set at 12 o'clock. It did
not sound sterile at all - it has a sweet bright sound that cuts
through the mix without sounding shrill or tinny. I was happy with it
right away, and I soon performed the sacred ritual of acceptance - I
threw the shipping carton into the dumpster.
The FSK has some very handy and Steeler-friendly
features. Right beside the input jack, there is is an input pad which
reduces the input sensitivity by 10dB. This is one of two anti-crapout
controls on the front panel. There is a preamp clip light right next to
the gain control that tells you if you need to reduce the gain or
activate the input pad..
The EQ section consists of five rotary controls that
sound fine when they're all set straight up, but allow for excellent
pinpoint tonal adjustments. The first one is the EQ TILT, which can be
used like a simple tone control or to compensate for room acoustics.
There is a TREBLE control for adjusting high frequency tone. Then there
are two controls for mid-range, the MID LEVEL and the MID FREQUENCY.
The MID LEVEL adjusts the tone at the frequency set by the MID
FREQUENCY. This allows a great deal of latitude in mid-range tone
coloration. And there is a BASS control for low frequency tone
adjustment.
I generally turn off the Spring Reverb in my amps
and use a Boss RV5 Stereo Reverb, but I did try out the reverb in the
amp and it sounds pretty good - better than most. In fact, this amp
sounds excellent with the guitar plugged directly into it using just
the Spring Reverb.
There is a MUTE button that disables all the outputs
except for the TUNER OUT, a handy feature for discrete tuning. There is
a red LED that flashes when the MUTE is active. It has MASTER VOLUME of
course, and then it has a LIMITER switch that prevents signal spikes
from clipping the power amp. This is the second of the two anti-crapout
controls. And there is a POWER AMP clip light to indicate when the
power amp is being overdriven. I find these two controls invaluable,
and I keep them both activated. Players with a lighter touch might not
find this necessary, but it sure is nice to have these options right
there at your fingertips.
The rear panel boasts some great features as well. A
1/4" TUNER out, a balanced XLR out, a GROUND LIFT switch that
disconnects the LINE OUT ground connection to reduce hum, and a
PRE/POST EQ switch to supply the LINE OUT jack with pre or post EQ
signal. There is a rotary LINE OUT LEVEL control which adjusts the
signal level of the LINE OUT jack. And there are 1/4" FX SEND /
FX RETURN jacks to use either as an effects loop or to daisy chain
multiple amps. These all work well and efficiently.
The FOOTSWITCH controls on-off switching of REVERB,
TUNER MUTE, and EFFECTS LOOP. Also included is a vinyl dust cover and
heavy-duty pop in casters.
I have played several vintage Fender Steel Guitars
through this amp - A 57 Fender Stringmaster T8, a 63 Stringmaster D8, a
49 Fender Custom, a 51 Fender Custom, a 48 Fender Dual Pro, a Fender
Champion, and a Fender Champ. These guitars can all be seen at
http://rickalexander.com/BigSteel Without going too much into
particulars, I will just say that every one of them sounded great
through the FSK. I used it at a live performance last Sunday evening,
along with a Peavey Session 500, and the sound was sonic bliss. As I
mentioned before, the FSK has a bright sound that cuts through
everything without ever being harsh or shrill. I even had my old
Stratocaster going through it, and to my surprise it sounded pretty
good!
The bottom line here is that Fender has come out
with a great Steel Guitar amp. I have already ordered a second one, and
I can't wait to hear what two of these bad boys will sound like in
stereo!
Rick Alexander
http://rickalexander.com
