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Do I really need a new rig??

#81
Gizmot said:
I owned Peavey gear a long time ago and it was good for what it cost. When I became more successful as a musician I bought other brands of amps that cost more but were clearly better and had a lot more Cool Guy Factor
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“Cool guy factor” is in the fingers and the ears. Trendy is trendy IMO. Peavey has been good for 45 years. My old Peavey TNT 130 could have covered every gig I’ve ever played. The Peavey here is not quite that robust or probably as loud as the old school TNT but I’m pretty sure it’s enough to audition with and play a few gigs before picking up a new rig.
 
#82
capnjim said:
So talk me out of it, or into it.
I don't even really play in a band. Just jam every now and then.
But I am looking to find a band.
I have a Peavey Max 115 combo, its the newer 300 watt version. Its light powerful and sounds great.
I don't need a new rig. But I sold a bunch of guitars and have money burning a hole in my pocket.
It burns!!
A nice Aguilar tone hammer 500 came up for sale for 450$ cdn (Im in Montreal) which is a really really good deal.
But I don't own a cab. So I search Kijiji and find this for 350$:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

So for 800$ I could have a really nice rig that weighs less than 30 lbs! The Peavey is probably over 50 lbs.
Cheers!
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Actually, it is your duty as a member here to buy both rigs so that you can come back here and talk about them and allow us all to enjoy that gear through you.

So get crackin!

:wacky:
 
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#84
capnjim said:
800$ is still a lot of money to spend on something that probably won't sound way better than the Peavey....it really does sound very good.
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Good call.

The Peavey will keep up with most drummers and guitarists unless they like playing at silly volumes. And they do sound quite good. I'm a bit disappointed at mine dying as it also sounded good at very low volumes in my practice studio. My new GK MB212ii sounds fantastic at band volumes but I just can't get a tone I like at very low volumes..... plus the fan bugs me in the quiet studio.
 
#85
Standalone said:
“Cool guy factor” is in the fingers and the ears. Trendy is trendy IMO. Peavey has been good for 45 years. My old Peavey TNT 130 could have covered every gig I’ve ever played. The Peavey here is not quite that robust or probably as loud as the old school TNT but I’m pretty sure it’s enough to audition with and play a few gigs before picking up a new rig.
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there are people that drive Chevys who think they have Cool Guy Factor - but they simply don’t. If you’re happy with Peavey and they’ve served you well, that’s great.
 
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#90
Standalone said:
There are people who think cool guy factor matters, but it simply doesn't. If you're happy with your condescension and it has served you well, that's great!
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I didn't mean to offend you - or anyone else who likes Peavey gear. All I was trying to say is that I don't know any musicians who aspires to owning Peavey when they're looking to step up to more deluxe gear.
 
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#92
Gizmot said:
I didn't mean to offend you - or anyone else who likes Peavey gear. All I was trying to say is that I don't know any musicians who aspires to owning Peavey when they're looking to step up to more deluxe gear.
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While people may not aspire to own Peavey gear they may end up with it due to budget constraints. They may then find, like I did, that it is more than up to the job (until it died)...... just like Squire basses which are more than up to the job of gigging.

As the OP states, he would like a (percieved or otherwise) higher level brand of amp, however he doesn't actually need one. His Peavey already does everything that he needs it to do.
 
#93
Thanks everyone! Great responses, great advice. I played the Peavey for a couple hours over the last couple days. First thing, its crazy loud. I would never put the gain over 2-3 and the master over 4-5 playing with a loud band.
I like it, and am perfectly happy using it, but, its not the clearest amp. A bit thuddy. I have the bass setting on about 2. It will shake the house. Way more than I will ever need.
The Aguilar sold, no surprise.
I will go check out the cab and Shuttle 9.0.
I think for a 300-350$ investment, it might be a good upgrade.
But the Peavey is pretty good competition so it will have to sound really really good.
BTW...I'm playing a Birdsong Fretless short scale and it has ridiculously high output pickups.
 
#94
A 1 watt AM radio with 2in speaker can sound loud. It is the distortion [non musical] that annoys your hearing and makes you perceive loudness and turn it down/off. Clean non distorted sound could be at 100db and sound normal and a distorted sound[ again non musical distortion not drive or other designed distortion] at 70 db will sound louder but sustained listening is painful while the 100db clean sound is comfortable listening. I'm not saying this is case with Peavey just saying 'Loud' can be misleading especially if quality of sound is poor. Reason audience can sit through 'kazillion watt Rock Band FOH for 3 hours and enjoy every minute and run outside for relief with garage band using moderate power and 'Good enough' equipment. Also beware of Amps that give a wattage spec without also giving under what conditions you get that power. An amp may say 200 watts but in reality it is only 200 watts at 1khz for 1 second at 50% distortion in actual use and 10 watts from 20hz-20khz at 10% distortion while in actual use [not on bench with sine waves] Oh and it can still 'Sound' Loud. I understand that even many Pro amps don't give a full spec on power but once you have experienced quality in real use situations for a time it will be easy to spot the difference.

Yes a great player with lower quality equipment will sound good regardless and a lesser quality player with top notch equipment will still sound lesser but a great player with great equipment will sound Fantastic.

A few quotes that I have found accurate in my 65 years not just for Music equipment but for most anything.

"You are never sorry for buying the best"

"You get what you pay for" [well maybe 95%+ of time]

"Man's greatest affliction is Self Deception"
 
#95
capnjim said:
Thanks everyone! Great responses, great advice. I played the Peavey for a couple hours over the last couple days. First thing, its crazy loud. I would never put the gain over 2-3 and the master over 4-5 playing with a loud band.
I like it, and am perfectly happy using it, but, its not the clearest amp. A bit thuddy. I have the bass setting on about 2. It will shake the house. Way more than I will ever need.
The Aguilar sold, no surprise.
I will go check out the cab and Shuttle 9.0.
I think for a 300-350$ investment, it might be a good upgrade.
But the Peavey is pretty good competition so it will have to sound really really good.
BTW...I'm playing a Birdsong Fretless short scale and it has ridiculously high output pickups.
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If you want clear the Shuttle and Barefaced should be quite capable of clearing your sinuses.
 
#99
Sadly, I haven't had real GAS in over 20 years. But I had Trace Elliott head, a David Eden 2x10, my old 4x10 Hartke, and SWR Workingsman 10, plus my CR5 Smith, my trusty Chavel Fusion 4, a 100+ year old upright & my Messenger upright. Outside of strings (don't get me started on upright string costs), I haven't done a lot including playing out until the last year.

Then David Yates & I started to chat. We are fraternity brothers separated by decades, but both lovers of the low end. He is part of the crew at Trickfish, and he's poisoned me to his amps & cabinets. They're really good. Does someone have $3k they're willing to gift me so I can get one of their rigs? Especially now that I'm playing out?!?!?!

But back to this post, If you're not playing out, you likely don't need a new rig. What you have probably has enough power for anything you're going to do before you need a new rig to play out (and even then). I would look to invest in maybe a pre-amp pedal or a BackBeat first, then save up your pennies for the rig you really want.
 
#100
I say go for it and welcome to the other side! Peavey’s combos are great. They really impressed me but the Aguilar stuff is in a whole different level. A higher level. I don’t understand “the 12” isn’t going to be enough”. My main club/bar gigging rig is a 12”. 1 trip from the car. Keeps up with a Tube guitar amp. Unless you’re playing metal against a 100 watt 1/2 stack, you should be fine. Enjoy!
 

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