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Peavey "bad wrap"

K

klejst

Oct 5, 2010
6,647
3,676
#1
Why does Peavey seem to get a "bad wrap" or the what I would call demoted title of "budget or cheap gear?" I know Peavey does however get a lot of praise for building solid products, but are often over looked to other top manufacturers. I guess I just do not see many pro bassists using Peavey gear...at least not as many as Ampeg or others. I myself currently use the Tour 450 bass amp and it is a solid and great sounding amp. I was just curious.
 
#2
Peavey's will NEVER let you down!

I have a Peavey G, Peavey Fury, and Peavey Axcelerator. All solid. All American made and can be had for little money.

My main basses are 3 custom Carvins, but the Peaveys get all lot of play time.
 
#3
My Combo 300 let me down twice on gigs. Easy fix, though, just a transistor (I think it was), $25 each time. But still...anything can break down. My old Mark IV head and 115 cabs never broke down.

Anyway, I'm not trashing Peavey because of it. I like their stuff, and I think it all sounds pretty good. It's just too heavy for me these days. The only thing I don't like about Peavey is the look of their logo (except the one on my Classic 30 guitar amp), and those metal stripes going down the sides of some of their cabs. But Peavey products should NOT be getting a bad rap. It's good stuff, IMO. Lots of folks who can't afford high-dollar stuff have been able to make a hell of a lot of music due to the price, too.

My hat's off to Peavey. Thank you.
 
#4
My very first amp, bought in '92 when I was just a keyboard player, was a Peavey KB-60. I still have it, and I still use it regularly for bass (I love the tone of my Jack Casady thru it...wish it were loud enough for noisy band use).

That thing has survived falls from 4'-5', being exposed to a blizzard in the back of a pickup truck, and general misuse in my stupid youth. It still works like a charm, and I've never had to bring it to a repair shop.
 
#5
Lets see, my Peavey 100 watt bass amp is now over twenty years old and works fine. My Foundation S is old and is still fine too. :smug:
Peavey is reliable for sure.
I am still waiting for my ten year old Behringer to blow up too it is way over due!:hiding:
 
#6
Bad Rap/Rep?

I think it's great gear but it bridges tone...neither here nor there AND it's clearly got the budget/entry level nailed. When people step up to somehting else they seem to want something different than what Peavey offers.

Their classic tweed guitar amps are awesome and their SS guitar amps sound GREAT when you crank 'em...or at least the stuff from the 80's did...the aluminum faced stuff anyway.

If this were a slide or pedal steel messageboard this thread would be very different.

When they went offshore so did their quality and USA Peavey is both rare and arguably overpriced for what people expect.

I wouldn't buy a cirrus but if they brought back the foundation or t-40 they'd have instant success with those in-the-know and everyone they can tell.

I would play their tube bass heads in a flash
 
#14
klejst said:
Why does Peavey seem to get a "bad wrap" or the what I would call demoted title of "budget or cheap gear?" .
Click to expand...
Partly because you can buy them anywhere and everywhere, which leads to price wars, which leads to the impression that it's 'cheap'. That's not the case at all, but perception is everything.
 
#16
I bought an almost-new Peavey bass rig in the mid '70s, and found it profoundly disappointing. Never touched the stuff again until two years ago, when my band did a show with a provided backline. The bass amp was an almost-new Peavey 2x10 combo that sounded really good.
 
#17
billfitzmaurice said:
Partly because you can buy them anywhere and everywhere, which leads to price wars, which leads to the impression that it's 'cheap'. That's not the case at all, but perception is everything.
Click to expand...

I had Peavey stuff when I first started out, and it was near indestructible. Their stuff has a stellar reputation for being so.

I don't feel like they are around nearly as much as they used to be, they literally used to be everywhere like Bill said. They also aren't as cheap as they once were either.
 

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