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Peavey Amp

This forum draws a lot of gear hounds who are about the Next New Thing, ultralight/kilowatt stage rigs, or else unimpeachably cool classic gear.

Peavey (one of the all-time meat and potatoes brands) designs most of its bass line to appeal to working Joes rather than gear nuts. As a result, it doesn't draw a lot of public praise here at TB, except in the occasional thread like this ("hey, I just played a backlined gig through an old Peavey/Hartke rig, and it was surprisingly good").

You can cover a lot of gigs with a decent blue-collar rig and sound great doing it. But TB thrives on a quest-for-tone narrative, so learning to get the sound you want out of your first decent rig runs against the spirit of the place.

I'm going to half-disagree with this.

Meat and potatoes gear for working players, absolutely. Good at what it does, yes.

The best tone out there? It's a valid question, and I think for many people there may be better tonal options. It depends what you like.

The thing is, though, that if your sound comes from the PA, and your bass is fed to PA via a DI, what role does the amp tone have?

You can also be suckered by brand. I've played through various more expensive rigs and not liked what they did.

It also depends on circumstance. I want a natural tone for upright and a highly colored tone for electric. Peavey plus SansAmp on electric gives me that.
 
I have used Peaveys before and only had a small problem once. A capacitor on the comp circuit came loose near the end of the show, and the amp started farting. TKO75, IIRC.
I took my soldering gear and a Phillips screwdriver with me the next night and had it fixed in < 1/2 hr. Never let go again.
I also had a Megabass 400W amp run into a 1516 Cab. Never had a problem with the head, except dirty eq sliders, and 1-8" speaker didn't work, but that may have been a loose or corroded connection.

I have noticed, through the years there are many "elitists" who believe that if you don't have the most expensive/popular gear, it's junk, be it instruments, amps or effects, and usually because the hot "player du jour" shills it. BAH, I say BAH! Buy the best you can afford that you like, sound wise, and learn how to use it,how to set it up/adjust it to your liking and build from there. (GAS ALERT!)
Would I buy Peavey again? You bet your sweet bippy I would. :D (Well, as as soon as I can afford it.)

P.S. Sorry for the rant. Also, no offence to any and all other brands. :o
 
i've had several combos,great when you want to sling it in the back of the wife's mini Ford and go jam with folks,,most of the (i'll say older meaning 90ish back) combos you can plug 2 instruments into and jam,but,you have to share the EQ setting however if you value having people stop by to school you,,it's a handy feature(for them),,

anyway i woudn't be scared at all,aquire what you can and have some fun,i bought a Kilobass head and it's just sweet tone on the tube pre-amp side,and it's versitile,versital,:confused:,yeah handy!,i can use any cab with it up to powering 2 8/10's or a 2x10 or single 15,for 325 used?,,,tons of great PEAVEY gear out there

just cruise the pawn shops with cash and offer half what they want,then bicker from there,and of course do the search thing='peavey bass amp' on sleazebay,,,

of course i have no qualms about desiring'other' brands and when and if i get back to making'good money' like i did 4 years ago,i'll prolly jump on an Ampeg silver face,or maybe an antique Fender or Kustom head,,but i'm having fun and that's what counts,and yes,,add a pedal it's like what makes you YOU,,,

ok bro have fun don't let anybody crap on your parade just keep on thumpin,if you look close at pics of MANY old school musicians ya might notice PEAVEY heads cabs and combos in the background,gee! i wonder why;) ok guess i best add one of these=:hiding:
 
When people used to drive Chevy's, they were reliable and sturdy. Not always the sexiest or status gaining, but on the rare occasion that you would have a break down in Moab Utah, or Gallup New Mexico on a Saturday afternoon, even the weekend mechanic operating in his grandpappy's barn would have the right part on hand.

Peavey is the Chevrolet of gear.
 
Turns out that old Peavey amp I played through back in the 70's sounded like crap, maybe because I sounded like crap back then. I now seek out those old amps in Pawn shops, craigslist, et c, because they are great amps that can be got at bargain prices
 
I just got a hold of a Peavey Rock Master. Not a bass head, but I've been using it with my bass and it sounds great. Loud as anything, great tone, and super flexible sound wise. It's got plenty of controls that really talor it between guitar and bass, filtering options, push/pull toggle knobs, etc. I got an old Peavey 4x10 for free about a year ago that was still solid after years of abuse, spills, drops, etc. Heavy as hell, but I knew it was solid and sounded beautiful. I can't really recommend Peavey enough
 
Let me drag my favorite photo out again.....


the_rig_2005.gif
 
Again, I thank everyone for the feedback. I am looking at the Tour TNT 115 and the TKO 115 in the combo line and the headliner in the head line. Going with the 4 x 10 cab or the 1 x 15 cab. This will be plenty for home and church gig.
 
They did change it for a couple years in the 90's. Hartley said it nearly put them out of business and they'd never change it again. :)

Interesting. There were a couple recent threads on the Peavey logo, but I don't recall ever reading or hearing this. I'd like to know more... got a link or other reference?

craigc: Peavey gear is generally good stuff, in my experience; reliable, and well-supported. No reason to avoid it if it meets your needs.
 
The only reason I quit playing Peavey is because I wanted super lightweight stuff. Tried SWR, Fender, and Trace Elloit, and now I'm settled on Markbass. But, my Peavey stuff sounded great, just heavy.

Agreed. I'm willing to compromise with the weight though cause I know whatever is encapsulated in the case will definitely last! haha

On a side note here is my Rock Master, loud as anything!

6013041521_b2777899bf_z.jpg
 
Interesting. There were a couple recent threads on the Peavey logo, but I don't recall ever reading or hearing this. I'd like to know more... got a link or other reference?

craigc: Peavey gear is generally good stuff, in my experience; reliable, and well-supported. No reason to avoid it if it meets your needs.

Logo:

peaveys other logo - Google Search

Can't remember if I saw Hartley say that in a company history write up or an interview or what. He was joking about it but yeah, that pointy logo will be with us for some time.
 

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