Mesa 400+ or Peavey classic 400?

[lillinator]

Thoughts and opinions? Both roughly the same price. I had a Mesa before but I think I was too young to understand good tone haha
Anyone have input?

[Caca de Kick]

Depends on what you're after. Both sound great.
The Peavey is 100w more, but weighs twice as much.

[iualum]

...nothing at all against Peavey, but I'll take the 400+ all day long...imo, the Mesa is one of the greatest amps ever produced...

[Calaverasgrande]

They both sound quite different. I would have more confidence in the Mesa build quality, but honestly, the Peavey has two channels which makes a lot of difference for some folks.
The Mesa is also tricky to tame as far as EQ and gain staging. As well as having a mid forward tone. I know on mine I keep the mid knob at about 5 or lower most of the time, and thats a cut only knob!

[lillinator]

Well I play metal but I also play "hard rock". I know all about the Mesa sound I just am a little unfamiliar with the peavey sound. I do however like the "crunch" channel idea considering I like some dirty on my tone.

[NecroticImbecil]

IMO, YMMV, etc. etc., blah blah, woof woof.

Owned both. What I can remember of my own mental lists from when I was debating which one to sell off:

MESA
-Sounds better
-Goes to 2 Ohms
-Well known, robust design means many techs familiar with it, easy to get maintenance/repairs and thus cheaper
-Louder
-Lighter
-Better, more consistent resale value
-Controls take some getting used to, as one EQ knob effects the way another responds. Once you figure it out it's not a problem though.
-Built like a tank, or perhaps tanks are built like a 400+. Only problem it ever had from mid 90's to present was needing tubes. Once.


PEAVEY
-Intuitive controls
-Looks cooler
-Harder to steal
-Seemed to work cabinets much harder. Had the speakers jumping like pistons, but still wasn't as loud as I wanted. I still don't understand that. I was afraid to turn it up.
-Very good clean channel. When driven to distortion, it sounded much nicer than the buzzy "cheap OD pedal" sound the built in overdrive channel had.
-Couldn't find a tech that wasn't afraid to work on it, none had ever heard of it and didn't want to explore new horizons.
-Didn't have it long enough to gauge long term reliability.
-Pricing/resale value all over the map. After months of trying to unload it, ended up taking about half what I paid for it. IIRC the next owner also lost money on it when he sold it.


Comments:


"Louder" may be due to the Mesa taking a 2 Ohm load, thus more cabinets, but I was able to push it harder into 1 4 Ohm cab than I could the Peavey.

Next owner of the Peavey was lucky enough to find a tech who would work on it, and after an overhaul he was happier with it than I had been. I'm not sure of his reasons for selling it, but I do recall he lost out monetarily.

[twinfallsbass]

I've had both, but I kept my Mesa 400+. The weight of the Peavey just did not make it a good choice because I gig a lot, other than that it is a GREAT amp. Also, the Mid knob on the Mesa is a " Cut Only " control, I keep mine between 8-9

[lillinator]

Well I think I have my answer. I'll will be heading back to my classic Mesa rig! Woo thanks gentlemen!

[groovaholic]

I'll go against the grain and say that I prefer the Classic 400.

When properly biased, it is WAY louder than either of the 400+ I owned.

Portability, however, is a very real concern, and the Mesa will hold its value better.

But the Peavey is the monster of bass amps.

[lillinator]

Damn you! Haha it is freshly retubed with EHX tubes and doesn't have a spec of dust. I'm very torn

[lillinator]

Damn you! Haha it is freshly retubed with EHX tubes and doesn't have a spec of dust. I'm very torn

[lillinator]

Well the peavey seller backed out of shipping so that makes it easier haha

[NecroticImbecil]

As always, best to try them both out first yourself if possible. What sounds good to me might not sound good to you.

You may already know this, but:

If you want some distortion (or any effect) with the Mesa, it's actually pretty pedal friendly. Plenty of guitar pedals sound good with bass, except for losing low end. You can get your low end back by blending a clean bass signal and an effected signal with the Mesa's 2 inputs. You can blend the effects loop too, but many pedals don't like to go in the loop.

/Effect Pedal----Mesa IN 1

Bass Signal-----A/B/Y Box{

\----------------Mesa IN 2

This will give you clean, dirty, or both. An A/B box would get you clean or dirty, a Y cord would get you both clean and dirty, all the time. I used 2 as my clean input. I preferred the way it sounded so I put the effects on 1 and used the channel volumes to get the right mix. Some people just use a Y cord and no effect, to run both inputs at the same time for a different sound then either alone has.

Full disclosure: Eventually sold my 400+ as well. Replaced it with a D-180. My "monster amp" fetish was cured by a 400PS. Weighs as much as the Peavey, but drives 3 4 Ohm loads, not just one. Even harder to get worked on.

[kosmicwizard]

If they are the same price I would go with the MESA. It will hold it's value better over time and has a lot of clean headroom. I haven't played that Peavey but my guitarist has an ultra 120 or something like that. I am not a fan of the fake sounding od on that amp. Cheers.

[lillinator]

Well the peavey seller backed out of shipping so that makes it easier haha

[Sartori]

So I guess you're getting the 400+ then,