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What should I do with my old Peavey Combo 300

B

Balkan

Aug 8, 2005
306
85
New York, NY
#1
I have a Peavey Combo 300 from 1987 - my first gigging amp - still sitting in a closet at my parents' place. I'm hesitant to sell it - I doubt I would get that much $$, and there's a lot of memories and sentimental value there. On the other hand, I'm not sure I have much use for it as is. Right now, I'm playing a P-Bass with flats though an Ampeg B100R, and that's the kind of tone I'm going for.

I haven't tried the Peavey in maybe 8 years, but my memory is that it is pretty high quality well built amp, but one that I don't think it really produces that warm a sound, and my internet searches seem to confirm that. Is there something I could do though to make it a worthy backup amp (or one that I keep at a friends' place where I like to jam?). Would some kind of tube pedal do the trick perhaps?

Or perhaps I should sell and justify the purchase by using the dough for some other awesome piece of gear.
 
#3
Well plug into that bad boy and fire it up again. Play through it for a good while and then decide what you want to do. If it's still running fine it could make a great second amp or as you suggested it could be sold to help finance some other gear you want.

I still have a Mark IV head and two 15 Black Widow cab I bought back in 86.
To be honest I don't gig that rig a whole lot these days as I tend to use my Ampeg combo and an SVT15E extension cab more than anything for club gigs.

I drag the Peavey rig out occasionally and everytime it reminds me that it sounds mighty fine, and puts away any thought I may have about selling it off.
I may sell it off someday, but for now I still enjoy it.
 
#4
Just for a minute, ignore what the internet tells you about this amp; now pull it out & play it. Like it? Good. Now take it to a friends' place for jams.
Now(internet listening ears back on)please be aware that discussing items that you- as a non-supporting(read- contributing;))member- are *considering* selling- is frowned upon here. It has been done in the past as an apparent attempt to get an item advertised w/o paying dues.
 
#6
bassteban said:
Just for a minute, ignore what the internet tells you about this amp; now pull it out & play it. Like it? Good. Now take it to a friends' place for jams.
Now(internet listening ears back on)please be aware that discussing items that you- as a non-supporting(read- contributing;))member- are *considering* selling- is frowned upon here. It has been done in the past as an apparent attempt to get an item advertised w/o paying dues.
Click to expand...

Got you, I wasn't even thinking of that. I'm certainly not offering it for sale right now (and as posted I'm inclined against doing so), and even the hypothetical image in my mind of what such sale might look like did not involve posting on talkbass. HOWEVER, now that you mention it, I will pledge here and now that I would never sell it or anything else to another talkbass member without first becoming a supporting member.
 
#9
roro92 said:
I've just sold my first amp. No regrets at the moment, I know what it coming to me soon :).
Click to expand...

Yeah, actually this was only my first "gigging" amp. My actual first amp was a smaller combo I played at home for four years before I ever joined a band. The tragedy there is that not only do I not have it any more, but I don't what I did with or even what kind of amp it was. Not a single photo to memorialize it either.

My first bass is also gone - a U.S. made shortscale Fender Bullet (pre-Squier). I would kill to have that back. Instead, I got totally swindled by Rudy, the owner of Rudy's Music Stop, who convinced me to trade in my "little boy's bass" and pay additional $$ for a "custom-made man's bass" that was actually a complete piece of junk, unfinished Frankenbass whose neck couldn't stay straight for even the length of a single bass lesson with my instructor. I'll never forget the first time I proudly showed my "custom-made" bass to a luthier who informed me it was complete junk. :

Since then, I go to Rudy's to test out all their gear before buying the item from someone else!
 
#11
You could always find some younger kid who is trying to learn bass, and can't afford an amp, and give it to them. It would be passing on your love of the bass, and hopefully making a new musician in the process.

You could ask local schools and local bass teachers for likely candidates.
 
#15
Yeah - that's actually the kind of solution I was originally thinking of when I first posted, although it would be interesting to see how well that works once the Sansamp is plugged through the amp. Just curious since I have limited technical knowledge, is it possible to bypass the Peavey preamp without using a separate preamp? Would the Sansamp itself serve as a preamp?

Nighttrain1127 said:
Or you could buy one of those new Sansamp pedals that simulate an SVT and run that into the effects loop and bypass the Combo 300 preamp for a warmer sound.
Click to expand...
 
#18
Balkan said:
There are two effects loops - one is pre-EQ, the other post. But I never understood this to be bypassing anything. Apologies, I'm just not very well versed technically.
Click to expand...

When conecting an external preamp into an effects loop return jack, there's usualy a set of switching contacts inside that automatically disconnects the internal preamp.

(doing this with your post-EQ effects loop return would probably allow your combos EQ to still function)

The Tech 21 VT pedal is a preamp and it would definitely get your Peavey sounding allot closer to your B100R. (I know cause I own B100R's, plus a VT pedal I've tried out with serveral other non-Ampeg amps and combos)
 
#19
Thanks- I've read through the manual, and it says nothing about doing this, but would be cool if it did.

RE: the VT pedal, I have you tried using it with your B100R (eg. to get an SVT sound)? Does that sound nice or is just modeling overload? My understanding is that the B100R does not let you bypass the preamp, and it has own modeling to emulate the sound of the B-15.

anderbass said:
When conecting an external preamp into an effects loop return jack, there's usualy a set of switching contacts inside that automatically disconnects the internal preamp.

(doing this with your post-EQ effects loop return would probably allow your combos EQ to still function)

The Tech 21 VT pedal is a preamp and it would definitely get your Peavey sounding allot closer to your B100R. (I know cause I own B100R's, plus a VT pedal I've tried out with serveral other non-Ampeg amps and combos)
Click to expand...
 

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