As a bass player who also plays guitar who just bought a Bass VI, this amp seemed like a no brainer. Ordered the X2 (40 watt 1x12) never having played one, just saw some videos online I’ve had a couple Rumble amps and just recently, the Ampeg RB-110 but wanted something with more variety of tones built in for use around the house. So it was down to this or the new Katana 1x10 amp, went with the Peavey for more flexibility. Anyone here played or owned one?
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No love for the Peavey Vypyr?
- Thread starter mbell75
- Start date
Despite Peavey’s claim, the fact that it is a mainly open back cabinet doesn’t instill in me the sense that it would be good for bass. The design is predominantly guitar centric. Maybe for bedroom practice but not more.
Good point and its marketed as a guitar amp, so I can see why bass players arent interested. Most probably dont even know it has settings for bass. Peavey is perfect to make an amp like this as they are one of the very few who make bass, guitar and acoustic amps. So they have experience with all of them they can use in an amp like this. If I was going to run a standard bass, I probably wouldn't have got it, but it seems like a great choice for a Bass VI. I still might pick up the Katana 1x10 bass amp just to compare and then keep the one I like best.
My stereo has a bass knob, but it's not a bass amp either.
Seems like a great choice for people who don't need an actual bass amp, but if it works for you, then great.
You might be unfamiliar with this amp, but it doesnt just have a bass "knob". Its actually built to play a bass thru and has two different bass voicings, Trace Elliot and Peavey. So it IS an actual bass amp. No different from any other bass modeling amp. However, its also designed to be used with electric and acoustic guitars as well. Gotta love modern technology. You can check out 6:32 of the video below for a quick little demo of a bass thru it if interested.
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What I intended to convey is just having some bass modelling presets doesn't make it a bass amp. The open-backed speaker would be a disqualifier for most folks, I would think.
- Feb 12, 2006
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Agreed, my understanding is that it's marketed specifically as a guitar amp. The bass amp presents might be considered a convenience, but the speaker in an open back cabinet isn't going to be very effective for bass guitar (except maybe at very low volumes)
As a guitar amp, it's got quite a bit of flexibility and a deep feature set, something it's much better suited for IME. It also represents one of Peavey's early advanced technology amps, and the one that has stood the test of time better than the others.
Ah ok. You seemed to imply that it was just like running a bass through a stereo which it definitely is not, it’s designed to be used with a bass and even has separate settings for bass.
Open back is fine by me. It’s an amp for around the house, I’m not trying to gig with it. I’m not even running a standard bass thru it. Quite a few Bass VI players run them thru guitar amps and they sound fantastic. Seems like a great amp for a Bass VI. We shall see. If it’s no good, it will go back.
But yea, I can see where someone playing a traditional bass may be more hesitant to try one.
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I would assume it's emulating bass amps because some guitar players like using bass amps.
Al Kraft
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- May 2, 2016
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Never occurred to me as a solution for bass guitar. Still doesn’t. But I’m glad it works for you.
Aren’t all modeling amps emulating bass amps? Like the Fender Rumble Studio/Stage amps. Honest question. What makes that a “bass” amp and this a “guitar” amp? The half open back?
I have one and it's pretty versatile and does work well with my Bass VI's.
Yea, thats what Ive been saying. Its not just a guitar amp you plug a bass into. It actually has separate settings for electric guitar, bass and acoustic. Its made for all 3 instruments. Given that Peavey is one of the few who makes bass, guitar and acoustic amps, Id imagine they know what they are doing. But yes, the fact that its a half open back cab and the speaker may be more voiced for a guitar, its probably not going to be something a bass player is looking at.
Here is a video I just found of a guy (poorly) playing a bass thru the X1 and X2. 5 string active bass is kind of a torture test for small combo amps like this but it seems to handle it quite well IMO.
40 watts into an open backed speaker is not a recipe for anything other than the least demanding practice amp applications (think beginners, but even there their parents would want them to practice though headphones). Most of us play bass because we like low end; an amp that lacks low end is just not a useful tool.
And you know it lacks low end how? Have you played it or are you just making assumptions? I posted a video of it handling the B on an active 5 string bass just fine. There are plenty of closed back bass amps that fart out on that.
I’m sure it’ll work for lower volume fartin around the house. We sold some of the first version at the GC I worked at back in the day. They broke quite a lot and had programming issues. The pots for the knobs were horrid and suuuuuuuper cheap. I never pointed a customer in the direction of them since Line6 was clearly better… back then. Now? I’m so far removed and out of the game of big box retail instrument sales I have no idea what’s what’s anymore.
