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Peavey VB-MA (What The Heck Happened???)

M

Matt N

Feb 9, 2015
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62
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#1
Hello everyone. I recently stumbled across a Peavey VB-3 at my local store. I love the EQ on the clean and the tone of the overdrive channel. The problem, as many of you know, is that there is no blend knob. The VB-MA is essentially an upgraded VB-3 with a blend and a couple other features, but for the life of me, I cannot find one single trace of this amp being sold anywhere (except for a few fake scam sites). Peavey still has it listed on their website, yet no trace of the amp. I'm well aware that this amp was supposed to be released years ago, but did anyone actually get one? I received a response from a Peavey rep saying the amps were discontinued, yet Michael Anthony's management were under the impression that the amps are still being made. Seems like Peavey is sort of in a mess right now, which is a shame, because I've owned some great Peavey bass and guitar products over the years. I'd jump at the chance to get this amp...
 
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#3
Not to resurrect an old thread, but as many of you know, this amp has been virtually MIA since it was rumored to be released a few years ago. Well, it magically appeared for pre-order on GuitarCenter.

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#4
Hi , ive got the full vb- ma rig that was a demo for peavey in the uk ..
Its epic and about to go onto ebay as ive not used it for a couple of years ..
As far as i know its the only one in the uk ..
 
#5
I've owned a VB-3 for 7 years now, and would have liked a blend control on the od and clean channels. At this point I would get in there and install one if I could get my mitts on a schematic.
By the way, per Bobby Baldwin the amp's designer's suggestion, I installed an octet of EHX 6ca7 big bottle power tubes. Wow, it took the amp to another level tonally and power wise. Expensive, but worth it to me.
 
#7
The vb-ma rig ive got is a top class bit of kit but, its still very big and heavy ..
I won it at a auction a few years ago when the corby warehouse was shut by peavey.

Ive used it a couple of times at gigs but it was always turned down as it blew the drummer away..
Larger gigs and the backline is supplied so i used to use theirs..

It really looks cool though as a stack lit up in red with more distortion than a dull needle on a discharge vinyl .. sorry jj :-)

Looks like ive got a rocking horse poo of a rig then as nobody else seems to have one..
 
#10
I'm interested in getting my hands on one of these. It's new, shiny and loud. What's not to love? 5 years ago I bought one of the first Mesa Prodigy Bass amps. #162 to be exact. It served me flawlessly for 3 years. Lost Power tubes after 3 years. I took it in to my local Mesa approved shop for repairs. It turned out that some other things were wrong in addition to the power tubes. My tech performed 5 Mesa improved upgrades to the amp in addition to the re-tubing. Mesa amps have a 5 year warranty, parts and labor(except tubes and extreme stupidity) so all I had to buy was new tubes. I was satisfied with the experience and the amp is still fabulous.
My point to all this rambling is that initial models may still have glitches. My Mesa had upgrades. This Peavey amp has been promised to market for six years, since 2013. Before i buy one I'm going to wait at least a year. After that I am going to get a very clear understanding of exactly what kind of warranty process Peavey is going to offer. Musician''s Friend offers 5 year "Gold Coverage" for around 500 bucks. Somehow that seems wrong and slightly ominous. I may wait for two years. A 300 watt,8 power tube amp that weighs 38 lbs sounds to good to be true. We shall see......
 

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