Peavy Mark III bass amp

[Konklin7]

I bought this amp brand new for $1049.00 back in 1978 when I was 17 years old. I know full retail, but I was a kid and they gave me credit!. What a beauty! My first killer setup. It came with an 18” 4 ohm black widow folded horn. I later replaced the horn with a refrigerator sized PV 1820 Front loaded 18 and 2-10s). Also used with a pair of SVT flat 8-10s. 30 + years of experience I say that it’s not the best sounding amp but a great all around work horse and built like a tank. Took a nose dive from top of a stack in the 80s ( $69 for repair). One repair in 25+ years. Took it on tour around the world with no case! Carried it in a ****bag and yes crashed down the luggage track on every flight! Wow the good old days.

I sold this amp after having it for about 25 years and regret it to this day. After using all the fancy stuff and busting my privates with and SVT’s I would love to have this amp today (Still looking for one in mint condition). It would take care of 90% of my needs. It’s solid at 2 ohms, has a high current output, and great damping factor so it won’t clip until driven to the max when miss matched with high powered speakers. 210W @ 4 ohms.

[hdbassman2000]

IMO, after owning 2 each of the mk VI and MKVIII tops over the years, i wish i still had them all! i really don't know what it is, but there is something about those heads that sound great...big, fat, warm, round, earthy and mellow...maybe its the big honkin' power transformer. who knows...my apologies to the modern bass amp guys, but with all these little lightweight, fits in your back pocket amps today...eh, they just don't sound the way they should...you can't get tone on a diet...

[christw]

Does the Mark III have the saturation knob that made me love my Century Bass 200? I'm looking to pick up a friend for it with more juice but similar tone and I'm not sure if such a thing exists.

[thumpbass1]

I prefer and still own and use, the later Mark IV version that I bought new in the 80's, but I've played through a number of the Mark III's. I've found them plenty loud with a good 4 ohm cab, and being 2 ohm capable they could deliver some serious air with two large 4 ohm cabs. Naturally you can run two 8 ohm cabs with it and get 4 ohms out of the head. If you can find a good clean one on the cheap they ain't bad at all. Not the most refined sounding heads, but if you like classic rock tones and textures they will deliver.

[hdbassman2000]

i'm all about the classic rock tones and textures...i like to feel the air blowin my bell bottoms! lol!

[searayus1]

I just picked up a Peavey Mark III at a pawn shop for $95...Only problem is I need to c/o the hi gain input jack. First impression is it rocks! I'll run it awhile and post if I notice any issues.

[dhomer]

I used to have a 400 series, and I played through a MarkIV for a couple years. Although I'm very satisfied w/my current Bmax/Carvin rig, I wouldn't mind finding one at a bargain.. I think these heads need an elegant one-cab solution, and I'm currently modeling some 2ohm projects..

[CrUiSeR]

ok in it's day!
solid!
thouugh I would rather have their tb raxx or pro bass 500 offerings

[Russell L]

Played a Mark IV with two 115 cabs for many years with no trouble. Sounded great to me. But, I wanted to downsize and downweight everything. I know where mine is if'n I ever want it back.

[Russell L]

Originally Posted by hdbassman2000

IMO, after owning 2 each of the mk VI and MKVIII tops over the years, i wish i still had them all! i really don't know what it is, but there is something about those heads that sound great...big, fat, warm, round, earthy and mellow...maybe its the big honkin' power transformer. who knows...my apologies to the modern bass amp guys, but with all these little lightweight, fits in your back pocket amps today...eh, they just don't sound the way they should...you can't get tone on a diet...

I beg to differ. My Little Mark II sounds terrific.

[TNTROY]

All i can say is i had a series 400 the one that had the crome knobs and had the distortion knob on it. i sold it a few years ago and regreatted it ever sence. Then i found a mark III in guitar center for 69.00 bucks and grabed it the only real problem is it costed me $40.00 bucks to ship it.. But it sounds just like the old one. i wished i had a Peavey 2 15 cab because the 2 15 crate cab i have is just not a peavey but it sounds great and i love peavey amps. I dont like the newer peavey stuff it just looks cheap made now.... But you have to love Made in USA....

[bassybill]

I had one back in the 80s that I bought used - it was a decent enough amp for its time. I wouldn't want to go back to one now because I'm one of the guys who thinks that modern gear is better designed, more efficient, more versatile and so on. Gear wise, this is a great time to be a musician. But I could certainly gig one of those Peaveys again if I was forced to.

[Red Planet]

Cool ol amp. I used one back in the day.

[accidentprone13]

sorry to revive an old thread, but i found one of these on craigslist for super cheap and am in need of a more powerful head. do you think the mark III handles pedals well (specifically overdrive)? i emailed the guy to go check it out and see what the wattage/ohms are anyways, but just wanted to get TB's opinion!

[Misty Mountain]

Yes, they handle pedals well. I run one and find I can get most any sound I want out of it without any outboard gear, the EQ sections can really give quite a range of textures. I run a tube pre/compressor in front of it, primarily just for the compression to even the volume between strings. Dialing in some additional gain on the head's pregain can give a nice almost fuzz-like effect. I wish I had the Mark IV version as that has separate effects loops for each channel, but they seem to be harder to find. One of the things I really like is that the graphic EQ can be assigned to whichever channel you want (or turned off), so I run it on channel one with a higher pre gain setting to get a little grit out of it for certain tunes, while I use channel two with the GEQ off because that channel with the paramid control gives me the sound I need for most of our material. Unless it starts to give me problems, it will be my gig rig until I save up enough for a VB-2 or I stumble across a T-Max for cheap money.

[Floyd Eye]

My first bass amp as well. Still have it. Tried to use it along with my old Peavey 2x15 as a practice studio rig. Used it for one practice then went back to lugging the rack and the fridge back up the steps after every gig.

At least for my band, this is NOT a loud amp.

[accidentprone13]

Originally Posted by Misty Mountain

Yes, they handle pedals well. I run one and find I can get most any sound I want out of it without any outboard gear, the EQ sections can really give quite a range of textures. I run a tube pre/compressor in front of it, primarily just for the compression to even the volume between strings. Dialing in some additional gain on the head's pregain can give a nice almost fuzz-like effect. I wish I had the Mark IV version as that has separate effects loops for each channel, but they seem to be harder to find. One of the things I really like is that the graphic EQ can be assigned to whichever channel you want (or turned off), so I run it on channel one with a higher pre gain setting to get a little grit out of it for certain tunes, while I use channel two with the GEQ off because that channel with the paramid control gives me the sound I need for most of our material. Unless it starts to give me problems, it will be my gig rig until I save up enough for a VB-2 or I stumble across a T-Max for cheap money.

in comparison to a hartke HA2500 (which runs 175 watts at 8 ohms and 250 at 4 ohms) do you think the peavey would be louder? even if it's 210 watts at 4 ohms? i'm in a two piece band and i am the only stringed instrument, also competing with a bonham-sized kit. so you might say i need some volume.

[LowEZ]

Originally Posted by accidentprone13

in comparison to a hartke HA2500 (which runs 175 watts at 8 ohms and 250 at 4 ohms) do you think the peavey would be louder? even if it's 210 watts at 4 ohms? i'm in a two piece band and i am the only stringed instrument, also competing with a bonham-sized kit. so you might say i need some volume.

If you get two 4-ohm cabs, the Peavey will go 300W into 2 ohms, something the Hartke can't do. At 4 ohms though, the Peavey will be no louder than the Hartke.

[accidentprone13]

Originally Posted by LowEZ

If you get two 4-ohm cabs, the Peavey will go 300W into 2 ohms, something the Hartke can't do. At 4 ohms though, the Peavey will be no louder than the Hartke.

so it would be wise to just keep the hartke for now and use my two 8 ohm cabs until i can get a stronger head?

[LowEZ]

Originally Posted by accidentprone13

so it would be wise to just keep the hartke for now and use my two 8 ohm cabs until i can get a stronger head?

That would be my recommendation, yes.