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Peavey MegaBass Club

#121
Pretty nice tutorial man, and I've got the manual so I'll be printing that out tonight... Thanks for publishing that! Pretty psyched for getting my cabs together for it!

I like the bi-amp sound there a good bit better than full-range, which I used through my SWR 8x8. Might be a good time to do a weight-conscious cab-trade. Hmm...
 
#122
Megabass head on an Ampeg 210 cab, converted from a 210SP combo into a potent little monitor-box via Eminence BP-102 Legends.

R2_zps6de87c7b.jpg


One side of the Megabass will run this cab for the drummer and other stage-bound personnel, and the other side will run an old Hartke 410XL.

I put this through an SWR Henry the 8x8 one night and nearly killed my band. :ninja:
 
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#124
IfYouChooseNot said:
I've been using a peavey head "Bass" 200/300w for 34 years. But I need more power. Any thoughts for me ? Tour 700 ?
Click to expand...

Kinda depends on what you're after really. Sounds like weight isn't such an issue since you haven't mentioned it, so great- your scope of options is pretty wide. Here are a few ideas:

Peavey...
Firebass
T-Max
Megabass (don't be led away by the low numbers on power rating. Very hefty amp!)

Trace Elliot...
Anything, I think! Find a GP7 SM250 for under $300

I have an old SWR SM-400s, like it a lot. Watch the lows, they're way over-designed into this venerable head, but it's powerful and sounds great.

I tend to go for the older stuff. In fact an Acoustic 370 is a great find- kind of pre-SWR as Steve Rabbe was involved before he went on to form SWR...

As I say, your options look varied. For cheap you can get a lot, from where you seem to be standing at this point.
 
#126
My local tech could not fix mine. I sent one to Peavey and they did a great job. But it cost $225 and you can find them used for $150. But I will say the Peavey techs in Meridian are awesome to work with.

--Steve
 
#128
I emailed Peavey and they wrote back- $55 per hour for bench time. But now the dang thing is working again. Hasn't made a blip or blink since that one time at the gig 3 weeks ago. There were other power issues at that gig as well- we were running into a portable 'breaker box', which was having issues. So it may be the thing's fine- I used it at rehearsal last night, and have played a gig with it since (brought backup, as always... :ninja:).

Maybe it's just fine... but when I'm able I'll ship it off to Peavey just for a run-through. Anyway, last night, through a home DIY'd 4 ohm cab it sounded nice. Warm and clean, everything came through very nicely. Gotta admit that solo'd it sounds a little ugly, but in the mix it's a winner. There you go. :cool:
 
#129
Well, I may need a club number, I'm not sure. I scored one of these yesterday for its virtual value as scrap metal. It seems to be working for the most part, but I'm thinking something may be off in the preamp section - only because I have to have it comparatively cranked to get to even the apparent levels in Stev187's video. (What he seems to be getting on pre 1.5 / post 1.5, I'm only able to get to on pre 7 / post 2 or 3.)

It's not that it's not getting *loud*, it's just not getting LOUD as everyone here cites-- at least not until the post is also cranked pretty high. I can push the same 8-ohm cab to higher volumes with my 50w Yamaha SS guitar head set on about 1 1/2.

The output from the MB overall also sounds very clean and neutral... almost *too* clean / neutral. Another reason why I think maybe something isn't entirely right in the pre.

I *am* running the EQ totally flat / at the center detents (so far). Again, from Stev187's video I don't sense this is the missing ingredient in getting the levels all the rest of y'all seem to be getting out of this thing. Also quite sure I totally understand the biamp function (I've been running it full range and tried it out of both the "low" and "high" outputs in that mode).

Is there something else I may be missing?

I guess need to get a TRS insert cable to try my Rusty Box in place of the preamp. Peavey sure was fond of this single-jack send/return scheme for their amps of the period... I get that on a small practice amp like the Backstage but why they did it on something pro-grade like the Mega I will never understand.
 
#130
lossfizzle said:
I get that on a small practice amp like the Backstage but why they did it on something pro-grade like the Mega I will never understand.
Click to expand...

I could only guess, but perhaps some TBers with Peavey history could chime in. My guess would be is that they used the send/return because it's on the front panel where it should take up less space.

The bi-amp mode is not as complicated as it might seem. That switch basically does this: it engages a crossover BEFORE the power amp section, sending high signals to the HIGH amp and low signals to the LOW amp. With some notable exceptions, this is a rather dated way for a bass head to function, as bi-amping is rather out of favor (again, there are some major exceptions to this, so don't flame me). :-)

Glad the video helped. I have no idea what's up with your unit, but if it isn't as loud as a 50w guitar head, there's probably something wrong.

--Steve
 
#131
Stev187 said:
I have no idea what's up with your unit, but if it isn't as loud as a 50w guitar head, there's probably something wrong.

--Steve
Click to expand...

My three old Yamaha G-series amps are actually crazy loud themselves (and make great bass heads too!), but... yeah, the plot thickens. The Megabass mysteriously would not turn on at all today, and long story short I'm quite sure it ain't the fuse. Cracking her open tomorrow, it may be a while and/or a few trips to see a few of my tech pals until the full story becomes clear. :(

Also, I now see my choice of wording above was poor / suggested a typo that didn't exist - I am 99.999999% sure I *get* the biamp setup and the "limits" of its implementation here. I use biamping in my home stereo setup (you want to talk about "out of favor"!). It's too bad the MB can't bridge its amp sections when in full range, but I think I might be the type to actually find use for the biamp setup down the road *if* I can bring it back to life. That was actually a big selling point of bringing home the currently-scrap-metal.
 
#132
I'mm sending mine off to Peavey soon's I can pull it together. Mine has an issue that sounds kind of similar to yours. I don't know a tech locally who wants to touch it though- Class D is a whole 'nother animal for most garden-variety amp techs.
 
#133
Count Bassie said:
I'mm sending mine off to Peavey soon's I can pull it together. Mine has an issue that sounds kind of similar to yours.
Click to expand...

Yes, I see that (above) now :( :( :(

I may get mine sent down to Peavey in the next week if I can't get anyone to do anything but shrug their shoulders at it.

Count Bassie said:
I don't know a tech locally who wants to touch it though- Class D is a whole 'nother animal for most garden-variety amp techs.
Click to expand...

From what little I comprehend about the theory, I get the sense it shouldn't be a scary thing for most techs willing to learn just a little / not Stuck In The Old Days / actually worth their salt, but what do I know.

(That was another thing that appealed to me about the MB when I saw it in front of me - I'm a huge and longstanding Class D groupie when it comes to stereo / hi-fi gear, have been driving my multiple systems since '07 off these little Tripath-based "hobbyist" ampboards that sound utterly fantastic, can be hidden in a cigar box, cost nothing, and never die. So gigging with a piece of Class D history, even one about twenty pounds too heavy by contemporary standards, would be awesome too.)
 
#134
lossfizzle said:
(...gigging with a piece of Class D history, even one about twenty pounds too heavy by contemporary standards, would be awesome too.)
Click to expand...

All's I know is the thing's a beast for that diminutive 200w rating. Does a nice trick for a gig amp, and the bi-amp thing, even if you don't use it, is interesting, since even in "full-range" one side will make use of the fx send and the other won't- which is an idea I like, because one of your cabs doesn't see the effect.

It's an interesting amp, in the way that it seems to be kind of a transitional piece.
 
#135
Count Bassie said:
since even in "full-range" one side will make use of the fx send and the other won't
Click to expand...

Wow, really? I knew / got that only the high section got the chorus (which sounded AMAZING for the five minutes I actually got to play with it, by the way), but I'm surprised to hear that they treated the *send* this way. It makes sense for chorus and wah (although who uses a wah in a send), but what if I wanted to use an outboard compressor or an old LFO-driven Moog filter set to highpass or something? Surely you'd want those things running through the low side too...

Count Bassie said:
It's an interesting amp, in the way that it seems to be kind of a transitional piece.
Click to expand...

Production stopped in '92 and it was another 15 years until anyone in proper nose-in-air hi-fi gave Class D architecture the time of day; I'm relatively green with bass rigs too but I get the same kind of sense from the product history I've seen. So not just transitional, but crazy ahead of its time.

Anyway, I'll come back and let you know if I find out what the deal is on the MB.
 
#136
Cool... Yeah I understand the head-scratching on the send, but as I say, it's a transitional thing, and a lot of this was worked out later as the general learning curve moved along the timeline. And I don't recall now- the things in a case downstairs and I'm supposed to be going to work- but I think there's on-board compression of some kind on it...

Anyway yeah, post what you find! Me too when this gets word back from the Peavey bench.
 
#137
I had a Megabass in the 90's - it needed repaired and the good old boys from Meridian fixed me right up.
I also owned a Databass combo until it was stolen.
These amps were so loud & punchy - I've always wondered why Peavey never continued / improved on these design concepts?
 

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