Peavey "bad wrap"

[klejst]

Why does Peavey seem to get a "bad wrap" or the what I would call demoted title of "budget or cheap gear?" I know Peavey does however get a lot of praise for building solid products, but are often over looked to other top manufacturers. I guess I just do not see many pro bassists using Peavey gear...at least not as many as Ampeg or others. I myself currently use the Tour 450 bass amp and it is a solid and great sounding amp. I was just curious.

[pastvertical]

Peavey's will NEVER let you down!

I have a Peavey G, Peavey Fury, and Peavey Axcelerator. All solid. All American made and can be had for little money.

My main basses are 3 custom Carvins, but the Peaveys get all lot of play time.

[Russell L]

My Combo 300 let me down twice on gigs. Easy fix, though, just a transistor (I think it was), $25 each time. But still...anything can break down. My old Mark IV head and 115 cabs never broke down.

Anyway, I'm not trashing Peavey because of it. I like their stuff, and I think it all sounds pretty good. It's just too heavy for me these days. The only thing I don't like about Peavey is the look of their logo (except the one on my Classic 30 guitar amp), and those metal stripes going down the sides of some of their cabs. But Peavey products should NOT be getting a bad rap. It's good stuff, IMO. Lots of folks who can't afford high-dollar stuff have been able to make a hell of a lot of music due to the price, too.

My hat's off to Peavey. Thank you.

[KenHR]

My very first amp, bought in '92 when I was just a keyboard player, was a Peavey KB-60. I still have it, and I still use it regularly for bass (I love the tone of my Jack Casady thru it...wish it were loud enough for noisy band use).

That thing has survived falls from 4'-5', being exposed to a blizzard in the back of a pickup truck, and general misuse in my stupid youth. It still works like a charm, and I've never had to bring it to a repair shop.

[Stanley Pugh]

Lets see, my Peavey 100 watt bass amp is now over twenty years old and works fine. My Foundation S is old and is still fine too.
Peavey is reliable for sure.
I am still waiting for my ten year old Behringer to blow up too it is way over due!

[newbold]

Bad Rap/Rep?

I think it's great gear but it bridges tone...neither here nor there AND it's clearly got the budget/entry level nailed. When people step up to somehting else they seem to want something different than what Peavey offers.

Their classic tweed guitar amps are awesome and their SS guitar amps sound GREAT when you crank 'em...or at least the stuff from the 80's did...the aluminum faced stuff anyway.

If this were a slide or pedal steel messageboard this thread would be very different.

When they went offshore so did their quality and USA Peavey is both rare and arguably overpriced for what people expect.

I wouldn't buy a cirrus but if they brought back the foundation or t-40 they'd have instant success with those in-the-know and everyone they can tell.

I would play their tube bass heads in a flash

[Staccato]

The longer the 'bad wrap' continues-the longer we'll enjoy big value for little money...

[gnjpowell]

Peavey - it rhymes with Behringer. OUCH!

[MiJaKo]

Before this past weekend I had my opinions on Peavey too, until I played through the headliner's Pro 500 (through a Hartke 2-10 & 1-15) It sounded nice. Not exactly my tone, but it worked pretty d@mn good.

[bassbombs84]

peavy is for noobs

[grendle]

Peavey makes good heavy duty stuff. I think they get a bad rap because they don't have a "signature" sound, and oddly enough kind of like a P bass, their gear doesn't sound amazing solo, but does sound fantastic in the mix.

[BbbyBld]

peavy is for noobs

I'm tempted to make that my new signature!

Happy to serve the noobs!

[kellyrojo]

Originally Posted by Staccato

The longer the 'bad wrap' continues-the longer we'll enjoy big value for little money...

Exactly. Foundations and Cirrus...shooot! Love me some Peaveys

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by klejst

Why does Peavey seem to get a "bad wrap" or the what I would call demoted title of "budget or cheap gear?" .

Partly because you can buy them anywhere and everywhere, which leads to price wars, which leads to the impression that it's 'cheap'. That's not the case at all, but perception is everything.

[RTomsett]

I have a nice little Peavey practice amp that has served me well, though that's my only experience with them tbh. Their high-gain amps are highly thought of in the (metal) guitar world, certainly, the 5150 being a particular classic...

[Edword]

I bought an almost-new Peavey bass rig in the mid '70s, and found it profoundly disappointing. Never touched the stuff again until two years ago, when my band did a show with a provided backline. The bass amp was an almost-new Peavey 2x10 combo that sounded really good.

[CapnSev]

Originally Posted by billfitzmaurice

Partly because you can buy them anywhere and everywhere, which leads to price wars, which leads to the impression that it's 'cheap'. That's not the case at all, but perception is everything.

I had Peavey stuff when I first started out, and it was near indestructible. Their stuff has a stellar reputation for being so.

I don't feel like they are around nearly as much as they used to be, they literally used to be everywhere like Bill said. They also aren't as cheap as they once were either.

[5StringFool]

I don't have any Peavey basses, but I do have three TNT's (a 130, 150, and 160) and a 212 XXX guitar cab that I run my Blackstar HT5 through and I absolutely love it all. It's rock solid stuff you can afford, let the gear snobs say what they want.

[OzzyGreg]

.
I've had and used a Peavey MkIII Series 400 head now for over 20 years. used it for countless rehearsals and gigs.
It's never let me down.

I only recently upgraded to a different brand, more powerful/lighter head.

The Peavey's gone back into it's case and its staying with me.
I'd never part with it.

Greg

[hdracer]

I own a lot of Peavey gear. All of it great stuff.


Here is one example why so many people swear by Peavey
Peavey TNT 150 - YouTube