Interesting info from Peaveys "Ask Hartley":
Ken Kolberg Asked:
"American made Peavey amps of the past are known as the toughest, most road worthy amps in the world. Are the amps built out of country capable of living up to the high standards set by the American made amps? "
Ken,
I started building amplifiers in the late 50's. By the time I graduated from high school, I'd built quite a few amps for myself and my friends. This practice continued for most of my college career. In 1964, I decided that I wanted to build the best amps available. By the time I had graduated from college, many of the family owned music manufacturers had been bought out by huge companies like CBS, LTV, Norland, etc, etc. When I started Peavey 44 years ago (1965) I set out to do what every musician has always wished for..."good gear at fair prices"...That's what we've been doing since the company officially started June, 1 1965.
Good gear at fair prices was certainly a major objective, but another was building gear that was reliable. Some of my early amplifiers weren't as reliable as I'd hoped for, but by 1965, I had already had quite a few years of building amps under my belt. I used that experience with our first amplifiers, and every year since then, our experience has gotten better and better. One unique thing about Peavey is that we've had 44 years to EVOLVE and grow under the same ownership and management based on our own experience (as well as watching closely the techniques, circuitry, and approaches used by our competitors). Because Peavey is one of the few companies in our end of the music and sound business that has existed 44 years under the SAME OWNERSHIP and MANAGEMENT, we have the good fortune to remember history, so we've always tried to NOT make the same mistake twice. This also applies to closely observing our competitors and not making the same mistakes we've seen them make. This has resulted in Peavey having the most reliable gear available because we constantly utalize our unmatched record of experience. Interestingly, I built my first tube amp before many of the current crop of "amp gurus" were born! Yet, many of these guys claim to have some "magic"...Frankly, I doubt it. I've been in this business a long, long time and I've run into a lot of science & technology, quite a lot of technique (good and bad) and quite a bit of "art"...But NEVER any "magic." Strangely, guitar players (in particular) seem to believe in magic... I've NEVER encountered any "magic." I believe that what people don't understand they consider magic, but if you UNDERSTAND techniques and technologies, then it becomes SCIENCE.
You asked about the quality of our Chinese made gear. Early Chinese stuff was, frankly, not very good. The same was true re: Japanese goods and later Korean goods. Today, Japan makes high quality goods because they went through the "learning curve" with much of the techniques and technology "borrowed" from the USA, UK, and Europe; ditto the Koreans. For the last decade or so, China has been learning the same lessons and has progressed amazingly fast. Peavey was the LAST major manufacturer to move production of low and medium priced gear to China. We resisted that decision until it became clear that all of our competitors in those price ranges had already done so, and it was obvious that USA made gear simply could not compete pricewise with China made gear. When we finally got around to making that decision, we decided that we would design our products here, (including the packaging) and manufacture it in China using components we know and had experience with...This is in stark contrast to many of our competitors, who basically buy "off the shelf products" in China and merely change the faceplate or logo. Because Peavey designs all our products and the packaging (utilizing components that we know will work) our China made gear is apparently just as reliable as our US made gear. In spite of making a considerable amount of our low and medium priced gear in China, Peavey retains extensive manufacturing capabilities in the USA, including our recently opened 19th Street Custom Shop. All in all, we believe that our US based design, packaging, and component selection with Chinese manufacture is a good combination, which utilizes the best capabilities of our USA design team (and their vast experience) and our Chinese suppliers. Customers everywhere "claim" to want to purchase USA made product, but unfortunately, when confronted with American pricing, many opt for Chinese made goods. I suppose that's just a fact of life that has to be dealt with. In any case, I feel like we are offering the best product in every category, whether it's made in our extensive USA facilities or sourced in China (but designed in the USA).
HP
Ken Kolberg Asked:
"American made Peavey amps of the past are known as the toughest, most road worthy amps in the world. Are the amps built out of country capable of living up to the high standards set by the American made amps? "
Ken,
I started building amplifiers in the late 50's. By the time I graduated from high school, I'd built quite a few amps for myself and my friends. This practice continued for most of my college career. In 1964, I decided that I wanted to build the best amps available. By the time I had graduated from college, many of the family owned music manufacturers had been bought out by huge companies like CBS, LTV, Norland, etc, etc. When I started Peavey 44 years ago (1965) I set out to do what every musician has always wished for..."good gear at fair prices"...That's what we've been doing since the company officially started June, 1 1965.
Good gear at fair prices was certainly a major objective, but another was building gear that was reliable. Some of my early amplifiers weren't as reliable as I'd hoped for, but by 1965, I had already had quite a few years of building amps under my belt. I used that experience with our first amplifiers, and every year since then, our experience has gotten better and better. One unique thing about Peavey is that we've had 44 years to EVOLVE and grow under the same ownership and management based on our own experience (as well as watching closely the techniques, circuitry, and approaches used by our competitors). Because Peavey is one of the few companies in our end of the music and sound business that has existed 44 years under the SAME OWNERSHIP and MANAGEMENT, we have the good fortune to remember history, so we've always tried to NOT make the same mistake twice. This also applies to closely observing our competitors and not making the same mistakes we've seen them make. This has resulted in Peavey having the most reliable gear available because we constantly utalize our unmatched record of experience. Interestingly, I built my first tube amp before many of the current crop of "amp gurus" were born! Yet, many of these guys claim to have some "magic"...Frankly, I doubt it. I've been in this business a long, long time and I've run into a lot of science & technology, quite a lot of technique (good and bad) and quite a bit of "art"...But NEVER any "magic." Strangely, guitar players (in particular) seem to believe in magic... I've NEVER encountered any "magic." I believe that what people don't understand they consider magic, but if you UNDERSTAND techniques and technologies, then it becomes SCIENCE.
You asked about the quality of our Chinese made gear. Early Chinese stuff was, frankly, not very good. The same was true re: Japanese goods and later Korean goods. Today, Japan makes high quality goods because they went through the "learning curve" with much of the techniques and technology "borrowed" from the USA, UK, and Europe; ditto the Koreans. For the last decade or so, China has been learning the same lessons and has progressed amazingly fast. Peavey was the LAST major manufacturer to move production of low and medium priced gear to China. We resisted that decision until it became clear that all of our competitors in those price ranges had already done so, and it was obvious that USA made gear simply could not compete pricewise with China made gear. When we finally got around to making that decision, we decided that we would design our products here, (including the packaging) and manufacture it in China using components we know and had experience with...This is in stark contrast to many of our competitors, who basically buy "off the shelf products" in China and merely change the faceplate or logo. Because Peavey designs all our products and the packaging (utilizing components that we know will work) our China made gear is apparently just as reliable as our US made gear. In spite of making a considerable amount of our low and medium priced gear in China, Peavey retains extensive manufacturing capabilities in the USA, including our recently opened 19th Street Custom Shop. All in all, we believe that our US based design, packaging, and component selection with Chinese manufacture is a good combination, which utilizes the best capabilities of our USA design team (and their vast experience) and our Chinese suppliers. Customers everywhere "claim" to want to purchase USA made product, but unfortunately, when confronted with American pricing, many opt for Chinese made goods. I suppose that's just a fact of life that has to be dealt with. In any case, I feel like we are offering the best product in every category, whether it's made in our extensive USA facilities or sourced in China (but designed in the USA).
HP
