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how old is my Peavey 1516
- Thread starter Metalstevey
- Start date
Thanks, had some Peavey combos in the late 80's that had those aluminium strips either side, would my 1516 be made before or after the aluminium strip period?
In 1988 (with some layover from late 1987 into 1989) Peavey changed nearly all their products to a gold color in a marketing experiment gone wrong. Everything...logos, the aluminum strips, knobs, etc. had a bronze/goldish hue. The Peavey logos and casings for all their rack equipment and amps had this goldish treatment. It didn't last long. Everything went back pretty quickly to the black/gray Peavey color scheme the next year (with some pink/turquoise/peach trim and knobs introduced in 1990 or so). The 1516 never had the aluminum strips on each side whether gold or silver. It was one of the few cabs that Peavey made that didn't have that feature. The aluminum strips started to disappear around 1988 on some products, followed by thinner ribbed aluminum strips (along with turquoise specked tolex) until they were discontinued all together. A few years ago Peavey reintroduced them on a few bass cabinets in an homage to their old identifiable style. But, Peavey stopped that just as fast as they reintroduced it. Peavey had ONE signature identifiable look back in the 80's, and everything designed since then has wallowed in indecisiveness style-wise. It's too bad Peavey hasn't stuck with "the Peavey look" since then. I personally love it.
The gold stuff is pretty rare nowadays. It looks unique, but not really "good." I had a Peavey EQ-215 (still have it actually) that I bought new in 1988 and it was gold. I bought a new faceplate and all new sliders and button switches back then (it was expensive!) just to get rid of that gold finish and switch it to black. Now as time goes on, I kinda like the gold era.
Your cabinet is somewhat rare. But, it's definitely from that era; most probably 1988. You don't see many Peavey logos survive because gear snob idiots remove them thinking that doing so would fool anyone who would actually care what amp he was using. This, combined with the asinine idiotic notion that Peavey amps aren't quality left alot of Peavey amps logo-less. You definitely don't see many gold Peavey logos survive.
Anyhoo...nice cabinet!
The gold stuff is pretty rare nowadays. It looks unique, but not really "good." I had a Peavey EQ-215 (still have it actually) that I bought new in 1988 and it was gold. I bought a new faceplate and all new sliders and button switches back then (it was expensive!) just to get rid of that gold finish and switch it to black. Now as time goes on, I kinda like the gold era.
Your cabinet is somewhat rare. But, it's definitely from that era; most probably 1988. You don't see many Peavey logos survive because gear snob idiots remove them thinking that doing so would fool anyone who would actually care what amp he was using. This, combined with the asinine idiotic notion that Peavey amps aren't quality left alot of Peavey amps logo-less. You definitely don't see many gold Peavey logos survive.
Anyhoo...nice cabinet!
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You're welcome...that cab's a keeper. Especially since it looks like it has the original drivers including the Black Widow. It's probably a 1502DT which is a very efficient midrangy 15. One of my favorite 15" speakers for bass.
One thing I would recommend however is to modify the crossover to let the highs go to the 15. Peavey uses a crossover in this model that cuts off the sweet midrangy highs from the 15 (they also do this in the 1820 and 3620 cabs). It is simple to modify as it uses two large tranformers as induction coils and a capacitor. The 8s have a capacitor and coil; leave that network alone. This allows the lows to be cut from the 8s. Trace the wiring for the 15; there is another large coil wired in series with the positive lead going to speaker. It simply unplugs. Unplug this coil for the 15 and solder a jumper line in series between the two plug male terminals on the crossover board. This will run the 15 at full range while the lows are cut from the 8s. There will be frequencies shared by both the 15 and 8s that way but trust me it sounds GREAT with this cabinet. Leaving it stock cuts the yummy thick punchy cutting beautiful mids from that great Black Widow driver, and that's a shame. You'll notice the cabinet will be unbelievably louder and a much more "in your face" midrange heavy tone will be produced.
One thing I would recommend however is to modify the crossover to let the highs go to the 15. Peavey uses a crossover in this model that cuts off the sweet midrangy highs from the 15 (they also do this in the 1820 and 3620 cabs). It is simple to modify as it uses two large tranformers as induction coils and a capacitor. The 8s have a capacitor and coil; leave that network alone. This allows the lows to be cut from the 8s. Trace the wiring for the 15; there is another large coil wired in series with the positive lead going to speaker. It simply unplugs. Unplug this coil for the 15 and solder a jumper line in series between the two plug male terminals on the crossover board. This will run the 15 at full range while the lows are cut from the 8s. There will be frequencies shared by both the 15 and 8s that way but trust me it sounds GREAT with this cabinet. Leaving it stock cuts the yummy thick punchy cutting beautiful mids from that great Black Widow driver, and that's a shame. You'll notice the cabinet will be unbelievably louder and a much more "in your face" midrange heavy tone will be produced.
Cheers, the 15" is distorting though and I dont think a new basket will help as the voice coil is badly corroded, I will eventually get a whole new black widow but the US dollar to the Aus dollar exchange rate plus postage is a bit expensive for me at the moment, I will definately be keeping it though because I've always had a lot of love for Peavey, thanks again
It can be fixed. Peavey used to use black foam in the voice coil vent on the back of the magnet. This foam rotted out years ago, and it has most likely got caught in the voice coil gap. You CAN get it out. There's a bunch of old rotten foam goo and trash in the voice coil gap. Use whatever you can to get in there and clean the hell out of it. You can't mess it up...you've just gotta get all the gunk out any way you can. I've used paint stripper and a pressure washer before as well as compressed air from an air compressor. The voice coil gap can be corroded as hell but it will still work. You've just gotta get all the crap outta there. I know exactly what you are talking about. It is most definitely fixable. It only takes a tiny bit of debris in that gap to cause distortion and rubbing of the voice coil. Trust me, you don't need a new magnet assembly and 99% don't need a new basket. Just clean it out good...it might take hours, but it WILL work. I've been there...it's fixable.
I did actually clean it all out, the copper ring on the basket looked to have slightly burn't spots on it and like I said the inside of the magnet is badly corroded, so its worth a shot to get a replacement basket? If it still distorts is it possible to get the magnet separetly?
Yes you can get the magnet separately. But again, the corrosion can be removed and/or cleaned off. It shouldn't matter as long as it's not touching the voice coil. You have to REALLY clean out that gap; it's not just a flat down crevice. It is actually much wider just under the opening; there is a BIG area for crap to be lodged in. That's why it's so hard to REALLY clean. Slight burnt spots on the voice coil shouldn't matter unless the wire is actually damaged; usually they will either make sound or not. Just make sure the voice coil former is round and not out of shape. I've got some old Peavey 1201 Black Widows from the mid 70's that were corroded so bad you would never think they would work; once I got the rotten foam out, they still work as new; they are nearly 40 years old. I used to bridge a CS-1200 into 4 of them for bass; over 1200 watts. They are hard to kill.
The 1516 Peavey cabinets never had the aluminum strips on the side of the grille. Plastic grille cloth, gold logo.
I wish I had my Peavey Gold label black rat fur 1516 cabinet again. I loved it. I have a Silver label 1516, but I just much prefer the Gold label one.
If you post a picture of the serial number I can probably tell you what year it was made. If you email Peavey they even tell you the date it was shipped from the factory. Always very nice people to deal with.
Hey it's probably about as old as mine! It's been in the family since 2001ish, just got back to me about two years ago:
Sentimental Paevstekk: Peavey Mark VI + 1516
I also had the fuzz issues on the 15" cone, which I cleaned out with some 550 paracord and alcohol, prolly while drinking a beer:
Peavey Mark VI sounds like a fuzz pedal, but it's not supposed to.
Sentimental Paevstekk: Peavey Mark VI + 1516
I also had the fuzz issues on the 15" cone, which I cleaned out with some 550 paracord and alcohol, prolly while drinking a beer:
Peavey Mark VI sounds like a fuzz pedal, but it's not supposed to.
I miss my 3620 everytime I see any of those Peavey two-way cabs. But at least the 3620 had those kickback casters... I don't want to think about moving big cabs anymore. What's yours weigh like 70 lbs? Still just plain purty tho.
I'm getting the impression that the crap must be cleaned out of there.
Your one might one of the later builds..maybe 90's the one I had the sliver dust cap BW from the 80's..production finished in the mid 90's
