PEAVEY 80'S AND 90'S AMPLIFICATION

[Giffro]

The information in this thread is from a couple of old Peavey Catalogs I have. Not all amplifiers are listed such as the Mark V and Firebass 700 as they were introduced at later dates, but a baffling omission is the very popular Mark IV bass head...I guess even Peavey or it's catalog printer makes mistakes. Anyway...enjoy!

 

[Phlipper]

The glory years.

We have one of the silver stripe TNT amps in the practice building as well as a Mk III. Both still work, but I think the TNT has a blown speaker. And my PV Classic 30 (one of 12 C50s and C30s I've owned)
is USA from this era.

Back when Peavey's were bulletproof.

Back when men were men ... and sheep were nervous

 

[Giffro]

As i mentioned in the welcome message the Peavey MarkIV amp head isnt mentioned in the listing for some unknown reason and it is the very amp I have used for the past 30+ years and still going strong. Picture shows my Peavey MKIV and Peavey 1820 cab. Second pic is when I was checking them out in the 80's for purchase.

 

[Phlipper]

I've always read here that watts are watts. But running a Mk III into an ancient Ampeg cab is the LOUDEST 150 watts I've ever heard. Same with the old red or silver-striped TNT and TKL combos that are, depending on the year, 80 to 150 watts. Seen, heard, and played them with a full band and never felt volume was lacking. So it's kind of odd that today many 250 watt heads and combos are reviewed by users as rather anemic.

Maybe it's cuz we're old and our hearing is shot from years of loud PV combos.

 

[Lammchop93]

I used a Peavey Combo 115 for the first few years of my gigging life. That thing was 100+ Lb, but it never let me down. Fell out of a moving car, down the stairs, etc… and it kept on rocking.

 

[Phlipper]

Thirty years after the nuclear apocalypse, when survivors are finally congregating in cities again and rebuilding society, the first bands will be using a first-gen TNT combo.

 

[FFEJY]

Picture shows my Peavey MKIV and Peavey 1820 cab. Second pic is when I was checking them out in the 80's for purchase.

Someone charged you $1500 for a Mark IV in 1986???!!?!?!!!

That amp retailed for around $499 in 1987. I paid $400 for mine new that Christmas at a local music store.

Talk about getting reemed!!!!!!

Btw...I'm certain the Mark IV was gone after 1987/1988. It disappeared from catalogs right after I bought mine.

 

[StereoPlayer]

I got 2 heads in the early 80’s for less than $1000.00
I recently sold the last one…downsizing.

 

[StereoPlayer]

I had lots of Peavey stuff in my day. Reliable. Decent sounds.
I had 2 Pro-Bass 1000 rack mount preamp’s…very unreliable…

 

[yodedude2]

my back hurts from looking at those catalog pix. yeah i am o.a.f.

i notice no weight specs are listed. smart move on their part.

hey, where's the t-max combo i played back in the dawn of the 21st century? best-sounding bass amp ever? in my mind's eye ...

edit: oh yeah, that kb15 was an awesome 'make anything a bit louder' kind of amp.

 

[theduke1]

I giged a combo 300 for 10 years heavy as all get out, but bulletproof lol
Duke

 

[dalkowski]

I'm certain the Mark IV was gone after 1987/1988.

This. Not a "baffling omission;" the product was no longer in production.

 

[B Dax]

Another one I didn’t see listed is the ED 300. It’s a big, heavy combo for electronic drums that came from the popular KB 300 keyboard combo.

I bought my ED 300 new back in 1989 and still use it regularly with my Roland drums.

It sounds great and is built Peavey tough, but it pretty much stays in my music room now since I just use acoustic drums on any gigs I do.

 

[allen_m]

I’ve got an Alphabass and it’s my main gigging amp, now paired with a later MIC Peavey 1516 cab. I usually bring along a little MAX 160 head just in case though. Thanks for posting this!

 

[Killing Floor]

My first proper bass amp was a TNT combo. And for years I had a Mark IV and the matching 215 with the big office chair casters. I thought it was a great rig. The fuse burned and after a few times replacing it we stuffed a small paper clip in the cylinder and that worked for 3+ years until I got a different rig. Don’t tell anyone, don’t do that. But I was in high school and you can’t say it didn’t fix it because it did!
I always think of Peavey as good gear that is made to be used and built to withstand a little abuse.

 

[burgerdj]

I think Peavey and Trace can be credited with the term “conservatively rated” power.

 

[GMSweet]

Ahhh...Amps of my youth! High school had me running a 4001 Rick into a TKO75 that I added an additional speaker out to the back and ran a Traynor 1x15 extension cab. Ohms? What are those? I remember it being a great sound, but I really had NO clue what I was doing.

From there, I was too cool to have a combo, so the TKO was replaced with a Mark IV with an EV loaded Sonic 1x18 that I topped with a Peavey 210TX. I wanted a Megabass and a 3620, but that was for the rich folks. Eventually the Mark IV was replaced by a Peavey CS1200 power amp, an SWR Grand Prix, and a another Sonic1x18 and PV 210TX. In the loudness arms race, I made sure that when everyone got too loud, I could level them to get their attention.

All of it long since gone, but I schlepped that stuff around New England for years. It makes me miss Daddy's Junky Music too when lots of equipment was available for testing on the floor. I cycled a lot of money through those folks.

-Matthew

 

[Bruiser Stone]

I do miss my AlphaBass. I wish it connected to 8 ohm cabs. But still should have kept it.

 

[AudioTaper]

My first 'real' amp was a 1988 Combo 300. I worked all summer before freshman year washing pans in a bakery to get it used. Then I got into weightlifting just so I could move it around more easily.

Fond memories, but I dont regret selling it for a second...

 

[Killing Floor]

i notice no weight specs are listed. smart move on their part.

These were made before there were bassist forums, that predates weight as a relevant spec for an amp or instrument.