Peavey done for?

[Thumpinshelton]

I grew up with Peavey gear. I remember having a TKO15 as my first bass amp and a Peavey Mace (weighed about 1,000lbs) as my first guitar amp and a T-15 as my first guitar. For me Peavey always had a certain sound that was distinct to Peavey, but to my ears not in a good way. You could always get loud for cheap with them, but that was about it. I think later they tried to come out with some better sounding things, but IMHO their reputation was already set and a lot of people would not give them another chance. I have family who actually live in Meridian, MS and worked their. Back in the 80's and 90's they were treated very well as employees and it is sad that some good hard working folks will lose out.

 

[fenderhutz]

USA Peavey Forum 5 from 1996 is my main player. It has the Cirrus style pickups in it and it just sounds fantastic. Swamp ash body with a neat grape see through. That being said, never found a Peavey bass amp I really liked.

 

[bholder]

I still love the company and I will not let a badly scripted reality television show alter my opinion. The very fact that they produced some great and very reasonably priced gear in the U.S long after others jumped ship overseas will always outweigh anything else in my book. If I were Hartley I may be bitter also because I would think about all of the money I lost by not sending production overseas decades ago because it's obvious that producing quality affordable gear in the U.S meant absolutely nothing.

I don't think it "meant nothing", it meant a lot to some, but not enough to enough people.

 

[gregmon79]

I still love the company and I will not let a badly scripted reality television show alter my opinion. The very fact that they produced some great and very reasonably priced gear in the U.S long after others jumped ship overseas will always outweigh anything else in my book. If I were Hartley I may be bitter also because I would think about all of the money I lost by not sending production overseas decades ago because it's obvious that producing quality affordable gear in the U.S meant absolutely nothing.

Im with you mac. Im not a huge Peavey fan by any stretch but its pretty disappointing to see the amount of bashing that went on here on TB after that eps aired. I couldnt believe it. I then of course had to see it for myself. I watched it and I saw some things that werent that shocking and there was definitely a bad situation there. But like mac said, none of us have no clue what happened. Its TV, and its completely edited to their liking to make the show more "watchable" and dramatic. This would not have set me off in saying that Ive lost all faith in Peavey. At the end of the day business is business. If that wouldve happened to me, the way it was presented on TV, I wouldve been livid. But in the end, it was that guys decision to stay. If I had a offer on a better paying, better opportunity job, I wouldve stuck to my guns and left. He'd been there long enough to know the climate at his job. Not saying Peavey wasnt wrong or right. But either way, well never know.

 

[waveman]

I hope they don't fail

I saw the Undercover bosses show, and Hartley came off as a narcissistic prick. I think the COO, came off as a guy who felt a little uncomfortable with the position Hartley put him in. He seemed to know what was going to be coming down the pipe after the show aired. The whole thing made Peavey look bad IMO.

Having said that, I love a lot of their gear. Two of my main gigging basses are Peavey. I had a Tour 450, and liked it, but I like my Markbass and GK better and they are lighter. As for guitar stuff, I have three of their amps: 5150, Classic 30, and Silver Stripe Bandit. All are great for what they do.

BTW, wth is taking them so looonnnggg to release a decent small class D bass head?

 

[bholder]

I hope they don't fail

I saw the Undercover bosses show, and Hartley came off as a narcissistic prick. I think the COO, came off as a guy who felt a little uncomfortable with the position Hartley put him in. He seemed to know what was going to be coming down the pipe after the show aired. The whole thing made Peavey look bad IMO.

Having said that, I love a lot of their gear. Two of my main gigging basses are Peavey. I had a Tour 450, and liked it, but I like my Markbass and GK better and they are lighter. As for guitar stuff, I have three of their amps: 5150, Classic 30, and Silver Stripe Bandit. All are great for what they do.

BTW, wth is taking them so looonnnggg to release a decent small class D bass head?

I could only watch enough to reach the same conclusion about how Hartley comes across, had to turn it off, I don't like watching adults having tantrums. I would never have watched it in the first place had I realized it was a "reality show" outtake.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

FWIW - I didn't see the show (I rarely watch *any* TV) and so my opinions of Peavey were well formed before seeing this thread or hearing about this TV stuff...

But I lost all / any interest in Peavey when they started outsourcing almost all of their work long ago. I recall picking up what seemed to be a nice peavey bass in a store in 2004 and seeing that it was made in Vietnam. What the heck?

So yeah - Peavey can fail. I'll live. We'll all live.

 

[ImNotJoel]

I had some good peavey amps and I watched the undercover boss. I get to compete they have to go overseas it sucks but ok I can get that they have to compete.

What really changed my opinion is at the end of the show when they reward their good employees after the show it turned out the employees got nothing from them.

One guy turned down a career opportunity because Cort offered him a career with peavey and also 20 grand and a nice raise then they all get laid off. Bad enough to get laid off but also lose opportunity. He maybe should have stuck to his guns but since Cort confided in him and they were on tv I get he must of thought it was real. The workers didn't get the raises and rewards they were promised. Of course it is all taken with a grain of salt since it's TV after all. But it doesn't seem far fetched that this all would happen how it appeared.

 

[RED J]

Guys I think the electric instrument biz as we have known it for the last 50 years is done for. Not just Peavey, either. I have several good Peavey basses and guitars I value. Not a big fan of their amps.
Let's face it, Hartley has about shot his wad, and he is unlikely to move on. Leo could because the industry was still growing, not slowly dying.
All things must pass, I don't think anybody is sure what is on the horizon. Those of us who have been around for a while have watched the whole show, and the recording, instrument, and live music world will never be the same again. I for one am glad to have been around for the heyday. Fact is, I've about shot my wad too. Such is life.
I'm just gonna do like B.B. and Les and play till I croak. It has been and still is fun.

 

[NickDG]

Keeping in mind this is reality TV (with all the baggage that entails) this wasn't so bad.

Peavey's is an Apple-esque type story with his garage beginnings and working up from there.

And they are facing some serious economic pressures like all American businesses so I'm giving him a pass.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I hope Peavey survives because it will mean at least a few jobs in America for someone, even if almost all of their manufacturing is done overseas. More to the point, the Peavey episodes on Undercover Boss should be a lesson to anyone considering reality TV: the producer is not your friend! They want to tell a good story, and Hartley Peavey and his stepson were very easy to cast as rich jerks. The fact that they talked a worker into turning down a better job, only to lay him off a few weeks later, was a public relations nightmare. Given the fact that Peavey was so close to shutting down the Meridian factory, they were dumb to ever agree to allow CBS to film there.

 

[acebase62]

My first amp was an entry level Basic 40 combo from early 80s.

It still works fine and I use it for low volume solo practice.

Sometimes I still play thru my 4 ohm Peavey 410 TXF cabinet (late 90s) and Mark VI amp head (1992) and get compliments on the sounds.

I really like both, but I played some Peavey cabinets and amps I didn't care for.

I played a T-Max rack amp a couple times in the 90s, liked, and I wish I had bought one.

I never owned a Peavey bass, but handled some I thought played and sounded good (Cirrus, Koa Unity PJ, Dyna PJ, even a modded Milestone JJ).

Like with Peavey amps, some I liked, some not.

People could probably say that about many manufacturers.

 

[CGremlin]

I have a number of Peavey basses, guitars, and amps, none of which I feel the least bit conflicted about. I was really excited to see what the MiniMEGA was going to be like, but I'd be lying if I said the "Undercover Boss" segment didn't dampen that enthusiasm a bit. I'll likely be giving companies like Aguilar and Mesa more attention in the future, even if they're more expensive.

Is Peavey done for? Probably not, but they're definitely not the "All-American" company they once were.

 

[zontar]

And to think it wasn't that long ago there were rumours Peavey was going to buy Gibson and whip them into shape and provide a better work environment for the employees.

At least that was the rumour I heard/read online.

 

[Boom762]

As a kid, I always thought Peavey was supposed to be a low quality brand. As an experienced older kid I really like most of their products. I have a Peavey Station behind my PC. An Envoy 110 ontop of a MAX 700 on top of a TX410 next to my Peavey Firenza JX

 

[VWbug]

My only experience with Peavey was a little Microbass practice amp some years back. It died within the first year I believe.

 

[JACink]

Keeping in mind this is reality TV (with all the baggage that entails) this wasn't so bad.

Peavey's is an Apple-esque type story with his garage beginnings and working up from there.

And they are facing some serious economic pressures like all American businesses so I'm giving him a pass.

Thanks for posting that, I hadn't seen the show, as we are over a year behind schedule here

After watching the show, it was a lot less than I was expecting after all the comments I had read here on TB.

Yes, it sucks for the employees, but if working conditions here were half as good...

60 days notice is 59 days more than most employees get here, and it is rare that they receive all the pay that is owed to them before they leave.

I am not saying that things being worse here make it better for the Peavey employees, but things like this are what happen when a company becomes a large company. Big companies put themselves before the workers always, that is why they become big.

I can't say this has changed my opinion of the company one way or another, as it is just another large corp. doing business.

 

[kodiakblair]

I've always had a thing for Peavey and the whole back of his dad's shop story is great.

The fact that Hartley still owns the firm is great,he could have sold it years back and production would have been moved overseas years
back.

But He Didn't !

I've posted a few times about last years closure of the UK depot. Set up in 1970 as a distribution/service for Europe and R/D facility it
was closed last November.Everything auctioned off and the site earmarked for demolition.Any time I mentioned this there's not been
one reply.

I guess it doesn't matter when American companies close down overseas plants even after 44 years.They aren't American workers so
who cares.

 

[anavar]

i have wanted a peavy bass since i saw the cradle of filth video "her ghost in the fog" when i was about 13. Peavy grind/cirrus basses are simply some of the best looking basses around. super clean and modern looking.

 

[Nephilymbass]

I've had several peavey bass rigs ranging from a 12" combo to a max pre and cs800 rack rig with multiple cabs And a fury p lookalike all of which I enjoyed and thought were great for the money. I've always thought peaveys downfall was the reputation they get from their lower end stuff. I always thought they should brand their stuff differently kind of like how Marshall had park back in the day, in order to restore the brand they should only brand their all tube instrument amps as peavey and brand the ss/digital stuff under one of the other brands they own. My guitarists 5150 sounds amazing for the tones he likes. Much tighter sounding than his previous rig which was a much more expensive Mesa rack setup and recto cab. And I've always liked the high end PA stuff. Particularly the old 218 subs, yet I've talked to a few club owners who say when nationals come through they specifically request no peavey pa gear, which I think is silly because high end peavey blows low end jbl, mackie, QSC and all that stuff out of the water imo. Ive still yet to hear an all tube peavey amp wether it was a guitar amp or bass amp sound terrible. They are good amps for the money And it shows in my area because nearly all the rock and metal guitarists are playing peavey all tube amps. I see everything from the old ultra to triple X to 5150 to 6505 and with a decent guitarists playing them they all sound good. I've always liked the peavey vb bass amps and if I got another tube amp id probably get one.
It's crazy though that a lot of their gear has stood the test of time. I still see old cs power amps in bass rigs around here all the time. Several bassist still use the tvx cabs also. So maybe thats been kind of a double edged sword for peavey because thier gear that last keeps people from constantly buying new rigs.