Peavey Amp

craigc · #1 08-13-2011, 01:27 PM

My daddy plays steel guitar and has always been a big Peavey Amp fan. I am new to playing bass and have notice there are not much discussion on the Peavey amps. Everybody I ask for advice from has recommended Ampeg or Hartke. What is wrong with the Peavey Amps?

kuys · #2 08-13-2011, 01:30 PM

Nothing, I use a Peavey VB-2 and Peavey 1516 cab.

I've played on some of the older stuff as well. Peavey gets a bad wrap as budget gear with an ugly logo. Ignoring the fact that it is some of the most durable gear you can purchase as well as making really lovely sounds.

dhsierra1 · #3 08-13-2011, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kuys

Nothing, I use a Peavey VB-2 and Peavey 1516 cab.

I've played on some of the older stuff as well. Peavey gets a bad wrap as budget gear with an ugly logo. Ignoring the fact that it is some of the most durable gear you can purchase as well as making really lovely sounds.

+1, Peavey is solid, reliable, and good value for the money. They've been building bass amps since at least the early 70s and they're still doing it.

dhsierra1 · #4 08-13-2011, 01:41 PM

tonewise if you find it not quite to your liking you can always throw in a VT pedal or the like in there to get your tube sound if that's more to your liking.

Peavey SS gear tends to be a bit neutral to my ears. That's not a slam and can work to your advantage as it sits well in the mix.

Their tube gear like the VB-2 is very nice indeed

dmrogers · #5 08-13-2011, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by craigc

My daddy plays steel guitar and has always been a big Peavey Amp fan. I am new to playing bass and have notice there are not much discussion on the Peavey amps. Everybody I ask for advice from has recommended Ampeg or Hartke. What is wrong with the Peavey Amps?

Nothing is wrong with Peavey. It is great stuff! I currently have two Peavey Guitar rigs and have had a ton of Peavey Bass gear in the past. All of it is going strong!

I loved my Peavey Firebass 700. With a tube compressor in front of it, it was a great rig.

shoot-r · #6 08-13-2011, 01:55 PM

Not a thing wrong with Peavey bass amps.
Play through Peaveys and every other manufacturers bass amp that you can find in your price range.
Find the one that pleases "YOUR" ears.
Don't worry about what it's brand name might be.

Cb4rabid · #7 08-13-2011, 02:43 PM

Nothing wrong with Peavey. I guess they're just not as popular as Ampeg or Hartke (both of which im not the biggest fan of) but they aren't bad. They're dirt cheap ESPECIALLY if you go used and will outlive your grandchildren's children. Probably one of the most durable if not THE most durable.

ric3xrt · #8 08-13-2011, 03:08 PM

Peavey is like the old Timex watches...takes a beating and keeps on Kicking.
I love my Peavey Gear, But I do use my Hartke stuff more right now.
Only you can decide for yourself. But Don't let anyone diss your peavey rig if its the tone you like.

srxplayer · #9 08-13-2011, 04:39 PM

Peavey makes good stuff. They are solid well built designs at all pricing levels. Unfortunately they are seen a lot as entry level or low priced gear so their image isn't very sexy. Go play some of their stuff.

Their gear was always heavy and this is back when all bass gear was heavy so they do get dumped on a little for that. However, they have introduced a lot of Class-D amps into market so you don't need a hernia belt to load out / load in Peavey gear any more. Just look at athe VB3 and all tube 300 watt head that weighs 37 lbs.

The VB2 and VB3 are outstanding U.S. made tube heads.

**Coolhandjjl** · #10 08-13-2011, 04:42 PM

I have a Peavey MaxBass pre-amp. Top flight gear IMO. Their IPR power amps are also quite nice.

5StringFool · #11 08-13-2011, 04:56 PM

I'm running a VT Bass pedal into a mid eighties TNT 130 and it does a fine job. It's the loudest 130 watts I've ever heard and has a very serviceable tone, especially with the addition of the VT Bass into the signal chain.

**B-string** · #12 08-13-2011, 05:56 PM

If they changed the logo.......they would probably be better though of? Just my thoughts.

craigc · #13 08-13-2011, 06:52 PM

Thank you everyone for the honest advice. Peavey will get a good hard look from me. I have also tested the Rumble 350 also. Sounds great and very light cabs.

**B-string** · #14 08-13-2011, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by craigc

Thank you everyone for the honest advice. Peavey will get a good hard look from me. I have also tested the Rumble 350 also. Sounds great and very light cabs.

Look at the TV if you look at Flunder, not the Rumble.

Rickengeezer · #15 08-13-2011, 07:01 PM

Quite pleased with my Peavey Tour amp, which I bought because I was tired of the Ampeg (SVT3Pro) crapping out at inopportune moments. Three years or so in, not a single glitch with the Tour.

will33 · #16 08-13-2011, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B-string

If they changed the logo.......they would probably be better though of? Just my thoughts.

They did change it for a couple years in the 90's. Hartley said it nearly put them out of business and they'd never change it again.

Yeah, nothing wrong with Peavey. I play a Tmax and a black widow to this day. Most reliable stuff made and sounds good too.

PDGood · #17 08-13-2011, 07:37 PM

I've played Peavey bass amps for years and can't say enough good things about them. I like the sound of the solid state amps. As someone said - they sit well in the mix.
I sat in on a gig one time and there was a Peavey bass amp on stage. The face plate had become melted in a house fire and the graphics were all droopy - it looked like it was under water. Weirdest thing I ever saw but it still played like new. You can't kill that stuff.

I have a friend who works for Peavey and he says when they get an amp design they build a few of them and them toss them onto a concrete floor and see what breaks. Then they reinforce those areas and test again. They keep going until nothing breaks.

If the world blew up tomorrow there would be nothing left except roaches, Peavey amps, and little bits of rock and roll tape.

fingerbun · #18 08-14-2011, 01:39 AM

I use Peavey. It's tough, reliable and flexible.

When I was younger you would see Peavey on a lot of smaller pro stages. I had the choice of upgrading to something like Ampeg or Mesa Boogie, or spending one tenth of the price on a SansAmp, which is what I did.

derrico1 · #19 08-14-2011, 07:34 AM

This forum draws a lot of gear hounds who are about the Next New Thing, ultralight/kilowatt stage rigs, or else unimpeachably cool classic gear.

Peavey (one of the all-time meat and potatoes brands) designs most of its bass line to appeal to working Joes rather than gear nuts. As a result, it doesn't draw a lot of public praise here at TB, except in the occasional thread like this ("hey, I just played a backlined gig through an old Peavey/Hartke rig, and it was surprisingly good").

You can cover a lot of gigs with a decent blue-collar rig and sound great doing it. But TB thrives on a quest-for-tone narrative, so learning to get the sound you want out of your first decent rig runs against the spirit of the place.

**B-string** · #20 08-14-2011, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by derrico1

This forum draws a lot of gear hounds who are about the Next New Thing, ultralight/kilowatt stage rigs, or else unimpeachably cool classic gear.

Peavey (one of the all-time meat and potatoes brands) designs most of its bass line to appeal to working Joes rather than gear nuts. As a result, it doesn't draw a lot of public praise here at TB, except in the occasional thread like this ("hey, I just played a backlined gig through an old Peavey/Hartke rig, and it was surprisingly good").

You can cover a lot of gigs with a decent blue-collar rig and sound great doing it. But TB thrives on a quest-for-tone narrative, so learning to get the sound you want out of your first decent rig runs against the spirit of the place.

Would be hard to argue these points. Some of us do come to help out in the tech end.