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Peavey Logo - I like it or I don't
- Thread starter hrgiger
- Start date
Unfortunately, this happens all too often with Ampeg. They make one good rig and all of a sudden everything with ampeg on it sells. Well I got news for ya, except for that one rig, everything else they have sucks.
IMO, of course.
I'm also a fan of the CS800's, let me get my camera fired up and I'll show you a couple versions older than that, including a 3-rackspace CS800X and one of the originals, you know those ones that took up a out 4-5 rackspaces, weighed 90lbs. and never failed?
I think the Peavey logo is very "pointy metal" which I don't like but their reputation and the sheer number of crisis and "what if" situations they've gotten me through more than makes up for all that.
I think if someone were to look at the Peavey logo without knowing anything about it they would have visions of mullets, pointy headstock guitars, parachute pants, Pony hightops with the tongue's flopping outwards and hairspray. It's a good thing that most record buyers now don't remember those days. Did I say "record buyers"? *** is a record?
I'll tell one thing that's weird, everytime I try to type doubleUteeF, it comes out as ***. I guess uncle sam thinks it would be better for us to not use that sort of language? Perhaps we would be a better society of we just went along and shut the FK up? Ok, be a nice natsi now, real friendly.......
I think if someone were to look at the Peavey logo without knowing anything about it they would have visions of mullets, pointy headstock guitars, parachute pants, Pony hightops with the tongue's flopping outwards and hairspray. It's a good thing that most record buyers now don't remember those days. Did I say "record buyers"? *** is a record?
I'll tell one thing that's weird, everytime I try to type doubleUteeF, it comes out as ***. I guess uncle sam thinks it would be better for us to not use that sort of language? Perhaps we would be a better society of we just went along and shut the FK up? Ok, be a nice natsi now, real friendly.......
Thanks for the link. Sorry... I stand corrected on the origin of those logo elements. My basic argument still stands, which is that there were some within the Peavey corporation who wanted a better logo. The emergence of a competing logo(s) implies that, I think. That could have been driven by personal preferences, or by consumer research (results similar to this poll). For a while, it appeared the "block" and "delta squiggle" would eventually retire the old "lighting bolt". I was disappointed when that didn't happen.
This is an old gripe for me; couldn't resist a chance to finally vent here. If I didn't like Peavey, I wouldn't care enough about it to bother with these posts.
To those who say logos shouldn't matter, or that we make too big a deal of it - you could be right. I don't want to attribute too much power to a logo, but logos do influence consumer behavior, which is why companies invest in branding. One can only speculate how a different (better) logo could have affected the perception of the Peavey brand.
I use Peavey amps and I like the logo. It's distinctive, but the logo really isn't all that important.
Peavey has put some variation of their logo on different products over the years... but the pointy one seems to be the one they always go back to. I had always figured it was Hartley's company and dammit, he was going to have it they way he liked it!
Now, there's a great deal to be said about maintaining a brand identity, but for me, the problem is that the Peavey brand identity started with those awful amps they made in the '70s. Clearly, they have vastly improved their offering (or they wouldn't be in business), but I can't look at that logo without seeing & hearing those horrid old bass & guitar amps that all the kids were buying back then. So I have a prejudice. So it goes.
In the end, logos don't mean much without associated customer experience. Think of the Benz three point symbol - to many, that symbol means "quality" - to some, it means WWII.
I definitely agree with all of this. IMO it is refreshing to see a company (and a man in particular) stand his ground though. It would be cool if when you bought a new VB-2 or VB-3 you opened the box and it had the lightning bolt logo on it, but wrapped up inside was a block lettered delta logo that you could replace it with if you preferred...
When it comes to guitar amps, I'm with you. The guitar amps didn't really take off until about 1987.
When it comes to bass amps, I don't know. I would venture to say Peavey made the highest powered (800 watts) and most rugged bass gear of the 70's. The quality was as good as anything else or better. I've had to use some of that stuff, and while it's not my favorite by far, it's very...okay.
Anyway, looking at the options available in the 70's, Peavey would have been on my list right below the SVT.
I'm guessing we played diffenent amps. The one's I dealt with had chronically bad pots and bad tone. Loud? Sure. But not much else (The old black-faced amp with the knob-EQ... can't remember the model...). Anyway, I played through multiple rigs using those heads back then and was left with a pretty solid impression of badness.
- Feb 16, 2008
- 21,240
- 23,638
- Disclosures
- John K Custom Basses
in the 70's i was using Ampegs, Fenders, Sunns, Acoustics and GMT's. IMO, back then, Peavey's had quite a bit of power, especially for the price, and were reliable, but they sounded harsh and 'honky' to me. in my circle of musician's they were pretty much frowned upon and regarded as entry level gear. i know that they have changed alot since then and make nice products now, but that stigma still remains with me (and alot of my friends), so i've never owned one.
I recently bought an old Peavey cab and the original lighting bolt logo was gone. I think the lightning bolt logo looks a tad silly, but I wouldn't remove it even if it was there. Anyone who would know about Peavey would be able to tell the cab/amp by the other cosmetics even if the logo was gone and someone who doesn't know wouldn't care. I personally have no problem with Peavey gear, the've made some cool gear that is tough as bricks, so I don't know where all the Peavey hate comes from. Sure, you could probably get an amp that sounds better, but Peaveys are far from the worst amps available.
That certainly has been my impression. I don't always like his choices, but I give Hartley his props... it's rare you find a company the size of Peavey still being run by the guy who started it.
True. Though I've ragged on the logo here, that's a small item compared to this.
We could probably create a megathread debating "how does the consumer perceive the Peavey brand, and how did that perception come to be?" But that'd be largely unproductive, because the answer - to the degree it is knowable - varies so much by market, and by the consumer's age.
