Help ID this Peavey bass head

[marsquake]

I love this band and the bass tone is killer too. I'm trying to figure out what Peavey head she's using here. I can't seem to find it online in my searches. Not sure of the signal chain, but I've seen interviews where they report using Big Muff pedals too.

For reference you can really hear it at 1:35 here:

 

[mcrawfordmusic]

It appears to be a Peavey series 400 amp.

Here's an old listing from the UK https://reverb.com/uk/p/peavey-400-series-bass-head

Cool band!

 

[TroyK]

I have no direct information, but it's hard to believe that's not backline. I live about a mile from that stage, I could go check.

 

[Michedelic]

I love this band and the bass tone is killer too. I'm trying to figure out what Peavey head she's using here. I can't seem to find it online in my searches. Not sure of the signal chain, but I've seen interviews where they report using Big Muff pedals too.

View attachment 7421120


For reference you can really hear it at 1:35 here:

I saw them open for Amyl and the Sniffers a little over two years ago(almost stole the show), and to cut down on the backline changeover, Kate had a different Peavey head pushing Gus Romer's SVT cab, and it roared. I guess she's a fan…

 

[Bob_Ross]

Those pics (both OP's post #1, and also post #4) look like Peavey's bass heads — which I believe were imaginatively called the "Bass" — from the mid-1970s. Same vintage as their top-of-the-line "Musician" guitar head. I saw a lot of those in use circa 1975-77.

I also thought they sounded like ass …the guitar heads at least, I don't recall ever playing through one of their bass amps from that vintage.

 

[J Wilson]

1970's Peavey BASS head. Built-in Fuzz !


:

Yes, just like this (except my 215 had the Black Widows and the BW badge at the bottom of the grill), my first real gig rig. This was what we moved from gig to gig back then, making a supposed 200w out of 175 pounds. These things had the tone of a box of corn flakes, but Lordamighty, you could shove this off a roof or down 3 flights of stairs and it would fire right back up, no sweat. Relatively inexpensive in their day, and lots of mom and pop store owners got rich with Hartley and his affordable and usually dependable gear. This was big medicine in its day.

I have to laugh when I see these emulations or effects where they have the presets labeled, and I think two things: At one time or another I played the real one of all of those, and #2, it DOESN'T sound like an SVT through a QSC monitor or your little cabinet with a pair of 8" speakers.

 

[bassplace]

I have a 70's Peavey Vintage tweed guitar amp that is SS pre, Tube power. It sounds great as a bass head but it's way too heavy even with the 2 12's to lug around. From what Ive read they were not considered good guitar amps because they were too clean. I will check out this band, thanks for the tip!

And I just acquired a Traynor YBA-100 to satisfy my tube tone desires. It is awesome so far.

 

[Bruiser Stone]

I had a Peavey Bass 400 amp for a while. Very tough, ok tone (I've heard worse), but the fuzz circuit was kind of neat. I met a doom metal band leader and he geeked out over it, so I traded it.

But I've had much better Peavey gear, especially a tube AlphaBass head that required a lot of work, but when it was finally all in order, it was delicious.

 

[singlemalt]

Around 1980 I bought one of these Peavey heads, the matching 2-15 cab and a Rick burgundy glow for $500. Pretty good deal. Always buy used!

 

[bassman10096]

The Peavey Bass and "Standard" (same guts and similar functionality but intended for guitar) heads were just about first generation for Peavey. Pretty tough to break, louder than the Bassman competition. The built-in "distortion" was pretty useless - solid state dirt wasn't what the doctor ordered.
I had the Standard version along with the heavy 215 cab (purchased in 1973). It refused to die. For decades the only time I brought it out was for expendable-gear situations. The head finally gave out at the end of a July 4th parade I played on the back of a float (generator power) in 105 degree heat. RIP soldier.

 

[shirojiro]

I think the second set of pics might be a Peavey Century. There was a 200 and 120 version.

I have a Peavey Standard 260 with the parallel and series switching. It has a loose sound and is kinda raw, but it sounds great though Bag End S15 cabs. Plus it is loud for its wattage rating.

The overdrive is better than I had remembered and definitely sounds better to me than some of the modern scooped mods /swarm of bees tones that are popular.

Edited to add: the reverb is decent, but I can't find the right footswitch for this amp. It's a 6 pin din plug.

If I didn't have the Standard, I'd want to get one of those Bass 400 amps, but I wouldn't pay the $400-500 people are asking for them. I only want one for nostalgia really.

 

[blacktocomm]

I had a Series 400 Bass I used in a metal band for a few years. Decent tone and loud as hell. The fuzz circuit is a fun gimmick. My Mark IV rig was superior in every way though.

 

[pbass74]

I love this band and the bass tone is killer too. I'm trying to figure out what Peavey head she's using here. I can't seem to find it online in my searches. Not sure of the signal chain, but I've seen interviews where they report using Big Muff pedals too.

View attachment 7421120


For reference you can really hear it at 1:35 here:

It was simply called the Peavey Bass. It was reallly loud! 200 watts with one speaker cabinet and 400 with two cabs. Looks like she has a 2-15 cabinet like I did. I owned one for over 40 years and I'm pretty sure it would survive a nuclear attack. Then I found that a Fender Rumble would do everything I needed for a fraction of the weight and space.

 

[bigtone23]

I saw them open for Amyl and the Sniffers a little over two years ago(almost stole the show), and to cut down on the backline changeover, Kate had a different Peavey head pushing Gus Romer's SVT cab, and it roared. I guess she's a fan…
View attachment 7421159View attachment 7421160View attachment 7421161

That's the Century (120 or 200). It's the little brother to the Bass 400. Puts out about 60W at 8 ohms, 100W at 4.
Sounds killer, the Distortion circuit is massive.
The Century 200 is my favorite head and I gig them a lot. I have 77 and 78 Century 200s.

 

[Michedelic]

I have a 70's Peavey Vintage tweed guitar amp that is SS pre, Tube power. It sounds great as a bass head but it's way too heavy even with the 2 12's to lug around. From what Ive read they were not considered good guitar amps because they were too clean. I will check out this band, thanks for the tip!

And I just acquired a Traynor YBA-100 to satisfy my tube tone desires. It is awesome so far.

From Austin, TX, they started out as bratty old school punk rock(their pawn shop gear aesthetic must be a reflection of that), but lately they've been going in a somewhat doomy, metalish direction.

 

[Stempelloos]

Like was written before, it's a Peavey series 400 bass amp.

There was one in our main practicing space, that we shared with other bands.
It belonged to a guy who played a Gibson Ripper (that he offered me for a decent price).
He also had a more modern Peavey 500 watts for gigs.
I liked the 400 a bit better because of the distortion.


On a side note, beside pointy Spitz in German is also used for a dog breed.

In Dutch you'd call them keeshond.

 

[Pep]

And now we have the latest amp head from Peavey, the F-1200B (1200 watt Class D) with a 610 cab, all retro looking.

 

[Giffro]

PEAVEY AMP HEADS FROM 80'S-90'S ERA

MY 80'S 90'S RIG - MKIV HEAD AND 1820 CAB - AND I STILL USE IT OCCASIONALLY WHEN THE LIGHTWEIGHT FENDER RUMBLE 500 ISNT QUITE ENOUGH.

 

[fretno]

You could get there with a pedal. A DG or something like the Motorbass.

 

[InkCow]

When I saw their show at Bonnaroo last year (on Hulu, not in person), I came away with an unhealthy obsession for an Ovation Magnum.

Although in that second show pic post it looks like some bass version of a Silvertone Paul Stanley?