Lower cost Telonics Combo

[Ivor Greenwood]

Ken....I am sure you are right about the Telonics....I also think the guys are right, to believe it is too expensive....If you are using the amp on stage , then it probably is the way to go....But...for part time, or house players then a cheaper version would be the way to go....However I am sure if they take away stuff from the Combo , then it will be end up no better, than current amps , that are already available, at a much cheaper price ...I bought a new Peavey 1000...Great sounding amp, but way too heavy for a gigging player. All the Peavey amps are good, and at a good price ..There has to be a bigger market, by going after the house players....There is a lot more of those, than guys like you, who play a lot of gigs
Its very hard to draw the line on quality and affordable ....I suppose it all comes down to how many units you can ever sell and make it pay....That brings us back to a lower price and sell more amps....Then you end up working harder for the same money....Hell I would not like to be in the amplifier business.....

Malcolm...you better start saving....Book a few gigs at the local old peoples home....There must be work out there for players like you.......
I just wish I could play in the house.......I wouldn't care what amp I was using...Well I would , because I really like to hear sweet sounding guitars......A Fender Strat with a dual Fender Showman, is still the best sound in the music business ..........Steel guitars are a whole different ball game
..
The best amp in the world is never going to sound good with me on the end of it................I can make Racing engines sing, but no joy on the strings

[Ken Byng]

There were a number of pro's at the Dallas Show this year who used the Telonics TCA 500 for the first time. I was in the Sid Hudson room when he tried out a TCA 500. Because he plays with a plectrum instead of a thumb pick, Hudson's tone is thin on the bottom strings. The TCA 500 certainly 'fattened' up his tone. Johnny Cox tried the 15" and 12" versions, and preferred the 12" model. He tweaked and tweaked the amp, and finally got the tone that he wanted. He sounded great through the amp. If anything, the 12" version had a fuller bottom end when he was playing through it.

The one thing with the TCA 500 - you can get close to 'your sound' fairly quickly, but it is the fine tuning that makes the big difference.

[Mark]

As Ken said, there were a number of pro's in Dallas trying out TCA500's, several called by and jammed a few numbers... What's interesting is the way the they set up their EQ, and know exactly what they're trying to achieve before touching a single control. Just for interest, in my opinion one of the best sounds came from Chuck Back playing a push - pull. ... through a 12" combo. Okay Chuck is an awesome player... both on guitar and steel... Here's the interesting thing... he cuts virtually no mid range. And his treble and bass settings were only tweaks. When I looked at his settings I was amazed how little EQ he used; yet his sound was incredibly well balanced. I thought... I'm always suggesting to players to minimise the EQ they use... yet I probably fall into the trap of using too much myself... Watching and listening to Chuck just reminded me again. It's also Interesting his speaker of choice is the 12"... and hearing him on that C6th neck, it sounded so good... certainly not lacking the lows as I might have expected.... A real ear opener!
Mark

[Davie Holland]

Since I splashed the cash for my Pre1000 (after trying Billys one he so kindly offered me on a trial basis only) I can honestly say it has allowed me to find a tone to my liking much quicker both on stage and for recording, so I can get on with the business of playing the steel. This might sound strange, but how many players spend too much time trying to get the "perfect" sound that they are constantly altering knobs etc between songs and sometimes in the middle of songs? And remember, turning the knobs just a little on the Pre1000 can make a sizeable difference in tone...