Rediscovering Peavey

[joebar]

Ok, how do you know?

I owned a lot of peavey when I first started playing in the mid 80's.
I started with a century 100 watt head, a Mk IV head. A 215 cab, a 410 and a TKO 65.
I eventually lusted after a 1516 cab and finally scraped the dough up for a new one.
It was compact, BW equipped and should have been a great stand alone cab. Bi- amped or full range, it just was terrible but since I dished out all the money, I wanted to believe it was good.
But I have fond memories of Peavey because around here, that's all there was back then.
My Mk IV did actually break down and it had to be serviced once but was an easy fix. To be fair, it did fall down a set of stairs.
I had one of their 6 channel PA's too.

 

[GBBSbassist]

I still keep my old Peavey Megabass amp racked as a backup. It was the first bass head I bought, and maybe I'm biased because it has some sentimental value to me, but I think it still sounds pretty good. Every once in a while I power it on, and it makes me want to buy some new Peavey stuff.

 

[Relsom]

Back in the 80s I ran a cerwin vega bg 250x215 rig but still wished for a peavey box. Pointy logo and all. If it werent quite so heavy Id gig peavey today. Proudly.

Oh-no.....Im sorry for you. I ran a BG250 and a 2x15 also. Most unreliable amp I ever owned.
....but this is a Peavey thread isn't it?
I never owned any Peavey gear back in the day but used their amps now and then as part of a provided backline and my band had CS800s to drive mains. I liked the amps but I was a bit of a gear snob when it came to Basses. I thought they were cheap, heavy, and clunky, based upon the 1 time I tried a T-40 I suppose, without ever really checking out the entire lineup. That was until I saw a Sarzo Sig hanging up in a store. I thought it was one of the most badassed basses I'd ever seen. I vowed to own one someday. I had Spectors and a L2K so I wasnt all about creating an entire fleet of basses back then. Yes, having more than 3 instruments I considered excessive back then. Fast forward 25 years....I got my Sarzo, a few G-Basses, a few Millenniums, a few Cirrusses. I guess you could call me a convert. Theres still a lot of anti-Peavey snobbery out there though.

 

[Zant]

Oh-no.....Im sorry for you. I ran a BG250 and a 2x15 also. Most unreliable amp I ever owned.
....but this is a Peavey thread isn't it?
I never owned any Peavey gear back in the day but used their amps now and then as part of a provided backline and my band had CS800s to drive mains. I liked the amps but I was a bit of a gear snob when it came to Basses. I thought they were cheap, heavy, and clunky, based upon the 1 time I tried a T-40 I suppose, without ever really checking out the entire lineup. That was until I saw a Sarzo Sig hanging up in a store. I thought it was one of the most badassed basses I'd ever seen. I vowed to own one someday. I had Spectors and a L2K so I wasnt all about creating an entire fleet of basses back then. Yes, having more than 3 instruments I considered excessive back then. Fast forward 25 years....I got my Sarzo, a few G-Basses, a few Millenniums, a few Cirrusses. I guess you could call me a convert. Theres still a lot of anti-Peavey snobbery out there though.

I have owned a Peavey mark 6 head and a one 15 black widow cab for 30+ years bought it new back in the day still going strong! But I do have 2 more rigs besides that,my point is they are bullet proof and very good amps in my opinion

 

[Relsom]

I have owned a Peavey mark 6 head and a one 15 black widow cab for 30+ years bought it new back in the day still going strong! But I do have 2 more rigs besides that,my point is they are bullet proof and very good amps in my opinion

Come to think of it, the subs in my music room are Peavey 115TLS SUBs with 15" BWs and I keep a spare BW with a fresh basket in the closet. I love that Peavey had vision enough to offer a good sounding speaker with a field replaceable basket.

 

[DWBass]

Been a long time since I owned a Peavey product. Went looking for a 1x12 cab to keep at he rehearsal spot. Found a brand new Headliner 112. $200 out the door with 3 year warranty. Plugged it in when I got home. This thing rocks. If I didn't already have a gigging rig, I would have gone back for a second one.

 

[58kites]

I thought they were cheap, heavy, and clunky, based upon the 1 time I tried a T-40 I suppose, without ever really checking out the entire lineup. That was until I saw a Sarzo Sig hanging up in a store. I thought it was one of the most badassed basses I'd ever seen. I vowed to own one someday. I had Spectors and a L2K so I wasnt all about creating an entire fleet of basses back then. Yes, having more than 3 instruments I considered excessive back then. Fast forward 25 years....I got my Sarzo, a few G-Basses, a few Millenniums, a few Cirrusses. I guess you could call me a convert. Theres still a lot of anti-Peavey snobbery out there though.

I worked in the manufacturing side of the music business when Peavey started making instruments in the late 70's, ..there was definitely snobbery toward Peavey (from the big guys and some smaller companies that had nothing to crow about) when Peavey entered the guitar and bass making business.
Some folks figured out how good the Peavey basses are, but I agree the snobbery mostly still prevails.
A friend of mine who worked at Peavey back in the day says that Chip Todd should have maybe gone with a less "Cowboy" looking shape with the T40/60 to fit in better with what was typical in the late 70's.
I also think that Peavey selling instruments into the school music programs put them in a position of looking like a company that made only beginner student instruments.
Anybody who has owned a Sarzo, TL-5, TL-6, G Bass, Millennium, Cirrus, Unity Series, Axcellerator, Dyna, Patriot or Foundation knows that Peavey Basses are not inferior to the Fenders or Gibsons of the same years.

 

[jazzbass_5]

I've owned way more Peavey equipment than I'd care to admit.
IMO
Great stuff:
DPC1400X (Still have 2).
GPS3500 (Still have one).
TL6 (Tim Landers signature series) 6 string bass (should have NEVER sold it).
4X10TX cabinets (rear ported version).
Black Widows.

Good stuff:
They're old school PA equipment.
Combo 300.
Foundation series Bass.
Bassfex.
Scorpions.

Bad Stuff:
Any PV series power amp..

Owned more than I can remember...
Just got this a bit back for $50 (the cabinet, not the rack, lol) and already used it out at a show, it preformed flawlessly.

 

[Mark Andrew]

I've owned way more Peavey equipment than I'd care to admit.
IMO
Great stuff:
DPC1400X (Still have 2).
GPS3500 (Still have one).
TL6 (Tim Landers signature series) 6 string bass (should have NEVER sold it).
4X10TX cabinets (rear ported version).
Black Widows.

Good stuff:
They're old school PA equipment.
Combo 300.
Foundation series Bass.
Bassfex.
Scorpions.

Bad Stuff:
Any PV series power amp..

Owned more than I can remember...
Just got this a bit back for $50 (the cabinet, not the rack, lol) and already used it out at a show, it preformed flawlessly.
View attachment 2784079

Get that old girl badged back up

 

[jazzbass_5]

Get that old girl badged back up

Will do,
Looking on Ebay for the badges. I'd like to get her back to decent stock condition.

 

[bubbapoague]

..........Special 150 SOLO SERIES

I discovered one of these three years ago when I was leasing out rehearsal spaces to local bands. I needed a couple of house guitar amps that would be loud enough to be heard over young, inexperienced drummers to I paid $100 for that one. The guy had the scorpion 12" in a fairly cheap particle board p.a. speaker cabinet and the amp was in it's original combo enclosure, minus the entire lower 75%

I didn't care. It sounded amazing. I couldn't believe it. Long story short, 6 months later I didn't have it. It somehow got left behind when I relocated a couple of years ago, along with several other items. I had such a difficult time finding one. The Special 130 with the 10" speaker seems to be much more common. For probably a year I couldn't even find one for sale. Until one day one popped up locally at an auction. It wasn't working. I cleaned up, replaced three caps, and went over several joints with my soldering iron. It looked pristine inside the chassis. And everything tested out. Then I saw it. The speaker wires were not connected to the scorpion.That's all it took. The grill was missing and the tolex was half off. This baffle I made is temporary but snakeskin actually works well with the black corner pieces. It sounds perfect. Honestly by far the two best sounding solid state guitar amps that I have heard is the Acoustic Control Corp. 150 and this.

 

[mexicanyella]

I have a Special 150 too, and it's got one ass-kicking clean channel. The fixed-EQ-curve dirty channel is less to my liking, but if you can stand the violent pants flapping that ensues when you crank the clean channel up a bit, that Scorpion in that cabinet sounds really good when pushed with a lot of clean signal. Just hairy enough to be interesting while still seeming clean. It sounds good with lap steel too, and if I unplug the internal speaker and hook it up to a 4-ohm bass cabinet instead, it makes a pretty decent bass amp that's loud enough to hang with a drummer at band practice.

 

[Milo Spleen]

I would imagine at least 50% of the bassists here who are at 45-55 owned one when then were young.

I'm 64 and only got my Mark VI a few years ago (oops, 18 years ago).

 

[Mark Andrew]

I'm 64 and only got my Mark VI a few years ago (oops, 18 years ago).

The XP VI was my favourite from that series I now still use a mkviii it's 25 give or take but to be honest I preferred the vi no idea why...

 

[Mark Andrew]

The XP VI was my favourite from that series I now still use a mkviii it's 25 give or take but to be honest I preferred the vi no idea why...

There they are then the 90's beasts

 

[Giffro]

I'm still gigging with my '91 Peavey Dyna Bass 5 and Peavey MKIV head through the Peavey 1820 cab. Thunderous. I have just replaced it this week with a lighter rig (Fender Rumble 500) as the Peavey rig, especially that 1820 Cab, is sooo heavy and now i'm in my 60's I need to eat my spinach to use my Popeye muscles just to lift the beast into the car..that cab is definately a 2 person lift and my wife gave up helping me after her first hernia. Amazing sounding rig though..very loud with heaps of tonal variations from the MKIV head. I will never sell it.

 

[fretter]

I used to have a pawnshop-purchase Mark VI. It never let me down. It was as loud as I wanted it to be, with clean tone.

I still use a little Blazer 158 guitar amp off Ebay, although it's on its last legs.

 

[Mark Andrew]

I used to have a pawnshop-purchase Mark VI. It never let me down. It was as loud as I wanted it to be, with clean tone.

I still use a little Blazer 158 guitar amp off Ebay, although it's on its last legs.

Mine went down once in 25 years and was a loose solder. I put my mkVI in a backline a few years back at a local festival and it got snapped up by a youngster who just had to have it ......

 

[fretter]

Mine went down once in 25 years and was a loose solder. I put my mkVI in a backline a few years back at a local festival and it got snapped up by a youngster who just had to have it ......

I hope he paid for it, or did he get the five-finger discount?

 

[alaskaleftybass]

I'm sure certain pieces in beautiful condition are going for dollars. But I can still get a big ole 215 with black widows or a 410 that will still do the job, for any where from 100 to 150 on the high end, most any day of the week on CL

Regardless of price... there's testament to longevity and dependability!