I love Peavey equipment. I've seen other thread where people post "well Peavey bass amps are indestructible but the tone isn't very good" I've used Peavey bass anps for 23 years now and I love the sound of a Peavey bass amp going through a 15" black widow speaker. I think it is the fattest bass tone going. I've finally gotten a job that allows me the disposible income to buy whatever bass gear I want and I still am "Powered By Peavey". I've played through the other bass amps both expensive and affordable (i.e. Ampeg, GK, SWR, Demeter, Alembic, etc) and I think that they are very good but I still like the Peavey. Its just the sound I prefer. My two cents.Brad Johnson said:
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Be a man, dammit!
- Thread starter Woodchuck
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Woodchuck said:
Yeah, that line got to me too. Not just the "these are the basses WE like" but the "[this] is more of a REAL bass." Is that to imply that the Peavey is fake? That's silly. The bass is a concrete and tangible thing. And if anyone were to make a forgery, it would likely be of something other than Peavey. It's like making an art forgery of an Escher versus a Hank Jones (a name I just made up); which fake may land you more dough? Therefore, the Peavey Cirrus is a real bass and the guitarist's logic is flawed
I hope this fellow learned his lesson the hard way. A band is like a marriage and control-freak members like that guitarist are NOT people I'd want to be in a band with; same way most folks would not want to date or marry a control freak.
And as silly as gear snobbery may be, it's not going to go away and in some cases may help us avoid getting crummy gear. I'll admit, I'm something of a label-whore when it comes to clothing. All my clothing is brand name, because I'm certain I'll get the good quality that comes with the brand name. And even with basses, there is no way I'd play some cheapie bass of a brand I'd never heard of.
Peavey is a name I know and the Fury 6-string I tried out was awesome. Samick is a brand name that often gets a bad rap, even here. But I love my Samick Fairlane 6 bass and I've kinda advocated the Greg Bennet-era Samick basses here and there. I wasn't even considering Samick and was admittedly ambivalent about trying it out at first, but the bass turned out to be great. But either way, it was a brand name I was familiar with, and knew about their history of making instruments for many of the big guys.
I'd buy a Peavey bass head if they would change the way they look. There is something about those white knobs on the Pro series. That's the same reason I haven't considered buying a David Eden bass head. The anodized aluminium look with the red and blue knobs looks real cheap and tacky to me. They remind me of some Fender guitar amps back in the eighties that had red knobs, real cheesy. I'm sure Eden gear is just as good as Peavey, but I don't like the look of either. And of course, I spend more time looking at my gear than using it so that is important. 
Wow, I feel so stupid now for being pretty much solely concerned about the tone I get from a particular head...Joe Beets said:
I shoulda' been shopping based on the looks of the knobs all this time!
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vics said:Wow, I feel so stupid now for being pretty much solely concerned about the tone I get from a particular head...
I shoulda' been shopping based on the looks of the knobs all this time!
You can change how your amp sounds by playing around with all those knobs. But you can't change the way those knobs look. If you own the amp you might be looking at those colored knobs for a long time. Everyone else will be looking at your knobs too. Think about it. Long after everyone in the audience has forgotten about how well you played, they will remember those goofy colored knobs. Sorry, that's never going to happen to me. 
No offense, but you're joking, right? Knobs are probably the most widely available, inexpensive, and commonly changed cosmetic detail on equipment... yes, also including amps... but you can't buy a bag of tone for 3.95 off the rack (or the web)!!Joe Beets said:You can change how your amp sounds by playing around with all those knobs. But you can't change the way those knobs look. If you own the amp you might be looking at those colored knobs for a long time. Everyone else will be looking at your knobs too. Think about it. Long after everyone in the audience has forgotten about how well you played, they will remember those goofy colored knobs. Sorry, that's never going to happen to me.
Oh, and IMHO, no amount of adjustment of the eq on an Ampeg will get it to sound anywhere near an EBS (just as one example). If you like one and don't like the other, there's no way to get there other than owning the right amp to begin with. However, if you're not that particular, and it really is all about the box the amp is in, then I have to give you that one. Myself, I honestly couldn't live with the wrong amp just 'cause the knobs looked cooler. I'd end up pulling my hair out, glueing it to my armpits and moving to Bora Bora to hang around in the palm trees.
I've got an Ampeg B100R. Nobody can see my knobs without getting so close that they'd better be female.
Joe Beets said:You can change how your amp sounds by playing around with all those knobs. But you can't change the way those knobs look. If you own the amp you might be looking at those colored knobs for a long time. Everyone else will be looking at your knobs too. Think about it. Long after everyone in the audience has forgotten about how well you played, they will remember those goofy colored knobs. Sorry, that's never going to happen to me.
This is true. I couldn't believe how much better the quality of my gigs was after I changed the grille cloth on my cabs.
I KNEW YOU HAD TO BE PULLIN' MY CHAIN!Joe Beets said:After slamming the way Eden heads look, I can't believe I'm thinking about a WT-1550. Maybe I could just set it behind the cabinets or spray paint the knobs.
No one's ever questioned my choice of bass, but I have had enough non-bassists "suggest" Ampeg gear to me to put a bit of a chip on my shoulder. The subtle hints and insinuations are too numerous to count, but I have had at least three conversations that went something like this:
Person: It would be great if you got an Ampeg amp.
Me: Ampegs are cool, but it's not the sound I'm after.
Person: Nothing sounds as good as an Ampeg.
Me: Sounds to me like you might want to look for a bassist who plays an Ampeg.
Person: Consider the subject dropped.
Anyway, the point is that I don't tolerate that kind of nonsense whether it applies to basses, amps, or whatever. Sure, there are constructive suggestions about tone and gear that should be listened to, but this just isn't one of them, IMO.
Person: It would be great if you got an Ampeg amp.
Me: Ampegs are cool, but it's not the sound I'm after.
Person: Nothing sounds as good as an Ampeg.
Me: Sounds to me like you might want to look for a bassist who plays an Ampeg.
Person: Consider the subject dropped.
Anyway, the point is that I don't tolerate that kind of nonsense whether it applies to basses, amps, or whatever. Sure, there are constructive suggestions about tone and gear that should be listened to, but this just isn't one of them, IMO.
Ampegs sound best when you tweak the EQ a bit... adjust the preamp... and then... turn the volume all the way down. That's the only time Ampegs don't sound bad IMO.vics said:
About Peavey amps being built like a tank - I've owned 3 of them. An early 90s Mark III (the newer looking one), a DPB300, and a Firebass 700 (the black and red one). The Mark III was my first amp head, and it was amazing. I shouldn't have gotten rid of it, actually. Its 150W power section was easily as loud as the SWR Bass 350 I had. The DPB300 was a rackmount unit, and was a digital bass amp, so it was extremely light. Due to the fact I never had a rack case for it, and the fact that it wasn't as ruggedly built as the Mark III in terms of weight, the DPB crapped out on me after several months. BUT! I bought it used, so it had already seen a lot of playing, and when I get it one of the rack ears was bent (so it was most definitely dropped) and it still lasted me several months of non-stop practicing and gigging. I'd say it was pretty durable for the amount of abuse it endured. The Firebass was built as well as the Mark III, but because of a weird twist of fate, I had to sell it soon after I got it. I got it used for $280, and sold it in a pinch for $350. Find me a 700W bass amp for $280 built as well as the Firebass, and I'll bow to you. I bought the Mark III brand new for $250 and could buy one used now for around $100-150. I bought the DPB used for $150 on eBay. These are all good prices for great amps. Sure, the tone might not be QUITE as good as an Eden, but you can take the several hundred bucks you saved by buying a Peavey and get yourself a real nice haircut to make up for the tone.
No knocks from me about Peavey's amps. They're killer. Especially (but not ONLY) for the price.
