Amp
 

Spoke to a bassist I havent seen in years last night. He is very well known on Long Island NY,one of the better players. When I finally got around to asking him what amp he was playing through,I got surprised. A Mark IV Peavey..Sunn Cabinet,,all this old school stuff. I would have thought that there would be better sounding stuff than old Peavey heads. He said he feels it`s as good as anything else made today..at least for that old classic Zeppelin,Fender Jazz sound. When I mentioned amps like Acoustic Image,he said he found the sound "STERILE"... So now I am even more confused.

i think you may be confused about what his goals are. the new stuff is great. that old stuff is just as great, especially that peavey stuff. built like fortresses--- but that's exactly it. the old stuff if also heavy or bulky, usually both. the new stuff isn't exactly "better". it's just smaller and lighter. plus all this is just generalizing. is there new stuff that's big and heavy? ya. is there old stuff that's small and light....well, no, but new doesn't always = better. plus he's doing covers from 30+ years ago, that older gear makes sense.

and his opinions could actually be different than other peoples, too. ;)

He sounds way smarter than any of us who buy new stuff on a regular basis ;)

And he's right...it's probably quite a good rig for that kind of stuff. I can think of rigs I like better, both old and new, but it's quality stuff for its day. The Mark IV turned out to be a sleeper and was a real turning point for Peavey IMHO for being taken seriously as a manufacturer of bass gear.

Just curious,,what rigs do you like better?

The usual suspects...Ampeg, Hartke, Aguilar, Mesa, Genz Benz, maybe some old Sunn or Hiwatt stuff...

Sounds like a solid rig to me.

I'm using a 30 year old head on a 40 year old cab, myself. "Better" in some ways is subjective. If his rig gets him the tone he's after, then it is a good rig for him. I can definitely see it working well for a Zeppelin type sound.

Only problem anyone could really have with that rig is it's heavy.

I played a Peavey Mark IV (1988 model) for a few years and thought it was great. Bigger and heavier than my micro, of course, but sounded good, IMO.

Sounds like the guy is more interested in actually playing and making a few bucks than looking at specs and weighing his gear.

Imagine that!

Never played a Peavey head, but have played a few Peavey combos (guitar and bass) and they are very useful amps. Never played a Sunn cabinet, but that will definitely be on my Craigslist watch list I think.

It does seem like a lot of folks around here overthink things.

thank you

my friend's old peavey and sunn rig sounds sweet too, unfortunately the only place i could have found and tried that stuff would have been a shady pawn shop on sunset, so i went with a little hipper stuff

Hmmm... Must not be a typical TB member then. :D


Interestingly enough I speak with decidedly non "pawn shop types" on an almost daily basis about trading/buying/selling/restoring correct vintage Sunn gear. People with rather eclectic tastes in a broad spectrum of interests who find the old rigs quite “hip” indeed.

i'm almost 40 and i've already gotten rid of the sunn, gibson, sears, and vox gear that would have made me a bunch of cash today

the mesa d180 is about as hip as i can afford right now with grown up responsibilities