Blown away by a $25 combo amp?

[BlacknWhite]

*Posted this amp a couple months ago this is just a follow up*

I switched to tube amps a couple years ago and never really looked back. Always felt I struggled to keep up power wise with my solid state stuff. I had 100,200,300,500 watt amps. All good quality... Ampeg, Hartke, Traynor, Ashdown. Always felt like I was having to push the amp too hard and I do not like the sound of a SS amp pushed hard. (I play in a loud, big energy hard rock band). Anyways my buddy pretty much gave me this late 80's Peavey TNT 150 for $25 2 months ago and it still continues to blow me away. It sounds great and I can easily keep up with my two guitarist and drummer. I can set it at like 4 or 5 with the eq flat and I'm good to go. With the last SS heads I had they were both 500 watts (Ampeg PF500 and Hartke LH500) and I always had them at about 8 or 9 and you could tell they were at their threshold. I'm guessing its just that the power ratings were more accurate/honest in the 80s? Anyways I am blown away and never thought I would say that about Peavey. I would pick up another for sure if I had the chance.

PS: The Drum kit in the pic is another score I got for our jam room for $150 haha so $175 in total for the kit and combo!

 

[Groove Doctor]

I would pick up another for sure if I had the chance.

That’s the issue - picking it up. They’re pretty heavy IIRC compared to today’s stuff.

They do sound great though.... and $25 is like giving it away! Score.

 

[Roland GR 88]

Tip #12 for TNT's ........ if you carry it by the top handle with the controls facing you the eq sliders will bend and you'll bust a pot shaft or two as you can tell
That side handle and those castors are nice additions

 

[Axstar]

I feel a certain joy when I see big old Peavey combo amps in rehearsal rooms that I never feel for other amps.

For one thing, you can pretty much guarantee that even the most beaten up Peavey 115 combo with all the knobs missing, and which has gone without a service since the '80s, will fire up! And all the knobs will still work!

Those old Peaveys seem to put out 'Peavey watts' as well, as 100 Peavey watts into a single 15'' driver seem to keep up with a drummer. Trace Elliot amps seem to be similar in this regard (though usually at least one thing doesn't work on rehearsal room Trace gear, even if it is just the blacklight down the front).

 

[bwildt]

I have one of those at church. The bad: it weighs a ton. The good: it never gets moved.

 

[basscooker]

I attribute a lot of the Peavey 1x15 cut to the speakers being super sensitive and in those boxes they have one seriously mid focused, in your face timbre. They are loud in the range you need to be loud in.

 

[cm3ohana]

Those Peavey TNT amps are built like tanks! Maybe better than tanks! Great score at $25. Can't even fill up a tank of gas for $25 anymore. Enjoy!!!!

 

[Gaolee]

Old Peavey iron is like old Acoustic Control or old Sunn iron. It's cast iron in all ways, and the watts are some kind of primal watts that haven't evolved to the point of being effete modern watts that wear shoes with thin soles and wash behind their ears.

 

[joebeadg]

I have a tnt150, but with the scorpion speaker, which is also a cast alum. frame. It is a vey good amp. I used to gig with it till I got my Hartke setup

 

[BlacknWhite]

I attribute a lot of the Peavey 1x15 cut to the speakers being super sensitive and in those boxes they have one seriously mid focused, in your face timbre. They are loud in the range you need to be loud in.

That sums it up perfectly

 

[agedhorse]

It was also common for the pot tapers to be such that most of the gain/volume came in the first 50% of the rotation.

 

[BlacknWhite]

It was also common for the pot tapers to be such that most of the gain/volume came in the first 50% of the rotation.

Yeah I did notice that on the Pre gain for sure. Between 40 and 60% you get a massive boost.

 

[Stewie]

Pour beer in it, leave it outside in the rain, drop it off your tailgate on to the pavement. It won't even notice. I sold a TNT130 from 1977 to a guy a few years ago. It looked new despite gigging for years (had a cover). Except for the lack of deep bass, it was an excellent amp.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

What, it exploded?

 

[39-Bassist]

Great score...Those things were probably one of the best things Peavey ever made.
A very solid made and easy to dial in tone!

 

[Aidenn7]

If want to make it more portable.. Tell scoping dolly 2 wheeler.. And ratchet or bungie straps

 

[TerenceE]

I just scored a bloc250 for $75 Cnd and it’s so freaking loud it’s unreal. Weighs as much as a half ton but minor detail!

 

[onestring]

You got a great deal!

Great to see old some TNT love here. I lost my 130 to a fire back in the early 90s. What a great amp. It was my only amp for years and years. Mids where it counted, and it would break up a little with a surprisingly sweet sound when pushed.

I don't remember it being heavy at all, but then again nothing was back then.

 

[wintremute]

Sometimes I think I'm going to get one of these. Then I think about bringing it upstairs to my practice room, and I change my mind.

 

[ThudThudThud]

Peavey amps are loud, but in a nice way..
I gigged a TKO115 (blue details) for years, and never had to turn up past 4 - even in some of the larger rooms.
Was a great rehearsal rig later when I upgraded.
Sounds amazing with a SABDDI ahead of it.