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What's *your* favorite Peavey amp??
- Thread starter hintz
- Start date
Hartley Peavey produced some of the best pedal-steel amps ever made, IMNSHO.
I loved mine. Loud SOB that I've often regretted selling. Yeah, I did fry the speaker in it, though.The search wasn't going on for long: not far...
Still, I wouldn't turn down a chance to have another one, even though I don't really need it, and could afford to do so. Maybe nostalgia, I suppose. It was my first "real amp."
To me it seems like for so many decades Peavey really dominated with their Made In USA silver fin amps. Heavy, loud, dependable. And heavy! Stories of broken toes and concrete! You rarely see stacks of Peaveys at concerts but you'll see them in a thousand bars doing their job, dependably and affordably. And the older ones just never die! They just look that way!
Now that I'm revisiting this thread, I'd like to add that I love the Basic 30-50 series. They had 12" speakers and for the size back then they were incredible! My first experience with a very small combo for stage use was the Minx. I was doing a show in Salem Oregon and my amp went t*ts up. The next day, we went to Weathers Music and they had a few amps. Small Fenders and a few Peaveys. There was the Minx. The sales guy brought me a bass to try it out. It was small, square, and deep. It looked ridiculous. But when I plugged in, wow it has some balls! I loved the tone and the great things was it had a line out to the FOH. I borught it to the gig that night and the band LOVED the tone of that little guy. I've used it often through the years and it's semi-retired with my Ibanez Roadstar--both did serious rock duty in the 80's. I now use much lighter equipment but still own the original Minx and now a copy of the Basic I used in the early 80's both in mint condition. And for living room practice my Microbass!
Now that I'm revisiting this thread, I'd like to add that I love the Basic 30-50 series. They had 12" speakers and for the size back then they were incredible! My first experience with a very small combo for stage use was the Minx. I was doing a show in Salem Oregon and my amp went t*ts up. The next day, we went to Weathers Music and they had a few amps. Small Fenders and a few Peaveys. There was the Minx. The sales guy brought me a bass to try it out. It was small, square, and deep. It looked ridiculous. But when I plugged in, wow it has some balls! I loved the tone and the great things was it had a line out to the FOH. I borught it to the gig that night and the band LOVED the tone of that little guy. I've used it often through the years and it's semi-retired with my Ibanez Roadstar--both did serious rock duty in the 80's. I now use much lighter equipment but still own the original Minx and now a copy of the Basic I used in the early 80's both in mint condition. And for living room practice my Microbass!
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I feel like it might be the right time for this:
Gosh Earl sorry you let go of this amp... it truly is one of a kind!
+1 on the Basic series. I had a 30 and a 40 at one time. Them's was a thumper, and a very good sounding amp for what it was. I think a current bandmate of mine still has my Basic 30 at his house, and if it had crapped-out, he'd have told me.
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Thanks buddy! The last time I brought it home from the warehouse it fouled up my garage pretty badly with 2nd hand funk from whatever my bandmates were smoking, so I had to let her go. The new owner is sympathetic to the amp's awesomeness, we probably haven't seen the last of it
Thanks buddy! The last time I brought it home from the warehouse it fouled up my garage pretty badly with 2nd hand funk from whatever my bandmates were smoking, so I had to let her go. The new owner is sympathetic to the amp's awesomeness, we probably haven't seen the last of it
I'm kind of OCD about my equipment so I downloaded the Chode to my desktop. When I need a smile I take a look at one of the meanest looking Peavey's ever to grace TB.
Mine has a fair margin of error above the Chode Hammer, (but nothing like pristine - standard broken off points on the pointy logo, non standard pointy logo painted black, a few scars) but is (FINALLY) in the process of becoming more suitable to my "I have stairs, and moving this sucker up and down them is way too much of a pain" needs.
I guess it's my favorite Peavey, since it's: My first bass amp and my first "real" bass amp (I saw little point in a practice-only sized combo) and my only bass amp. Did cost $50 more than the Chode Hammer. 31 years young. As it happens, it caught my eye on CL and I bought it; then I went looking for a bass, figuring if it had caught my eye I must have a long-buried desire to play bass, and what the heck. I love that it has the parametric mids and the crossover built in, all those years ago.
I guess it's my favorite Peavey, since it's: My first bass amp and my first "real" bass amp (I saw little point in a practice-only sized combo) and my only bass amp. Did cost $50 more than the Chode Hammer. 31 years young. As it happens, it caught my eye on CL and I bought it; then I went looking for a bass, figuring if it had caught my eye I must have a long-buried desire to play bass, and what the heck. I love that it has the parametric mids and the crossover built in, all those years ago.
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I had a Max, the 800w in a roadcase amp. It kicked ass til it blew up. I still have a USA TNT combo at home
I still have a Basic 60 that I keep in my office. Great practice amp, but it needs some work. The knobs and input jacks are a bit wonky, but maybe they need some contact cleaner and they'll be OK. It still works the last time I used it.
Mine has a fair margin of error above the Chode Hammer, (but nothing like pristine - standard broken off points on the pointy logo, non standard pointy logo painted black, a few scars) but is (FINALLY) in the process of becoming more suitable to my "I have stairs, and moving this sucker up and down them is way too much of a pain" needs.
View attachment 842103
I guess it's my favorite Peavey, since it's: My first bass amp and my first "real" bass amp (I saw little point in a practice-only sized combo) and my only bass amp. Did cost $50 more than the Chode Hammer. 31 years young. As it happens, it caught my eye on CL and I bought it; then I went looking for a bass, figuring if it had caught my eye I must have a long-buried desire to play bass, and what the heck. I love that it has the parametric mids and the crossover built in, all those years ago.
Nice! How did you resolve the speaker out issue? 1/4" output?
Thanks for sharing!
Nope. I've been here, so I've been infected with Neutrik-itis Lichtensteinium - so that's a SpeakOn NL4 (with 1+- connected and 2+- empty). Amusingly, the stock cable does not need to be altered in any way - the speak-on tabs and the Scorpion tabs are the same. Intention is to set up so the head can hang out and possibly be part of a music stand with a long-ish cable (what I found in the scrap pile was 25 ft of 12 ga) to wherever the cab ends up. I'm also working with incredible slowness on a cheap-tiny line-array 4x8 and in the purely conceptual (i.e. haven't done squat other than think about it) on a foam/fiberglass home for the Scorpion (one or the other, not both, as it's a 4-ohm Scorp and the 4x8 is the same.) My likely play out opportunities are with folks that are almost all acoustic, so "way less imposing" will be a good thing (though I also grok the concept of a volume knob.) When setup allows, I'd rather have the controls at hand while being in the far-field of the speaker(s).
I think I'll put drawing of a log-rolling implement on one side of the head case, and a V made out of small green dots on the other side, and see if anyone gets either one.
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Combo 300. Took the chassis out and put it in a head box. Used it on top of a 3620 cab. Sometimes biamped with a Crate B-150 head. Never fell short of power or boom. Of course the two heads and cab weighed about 200 pounds together, and the cab was (IIRC) bigger than some 810's....
It wasn't their best ever, but I had a Peavey Combo 300, which was my workhorse amp when I first which to bass from guitar, and had hardly any money to spend. It got the job done very well. I've since moved onto better things, but it's got a place in my heart for being such a reliable piece of gear that really worked out well in almost any situation.
There are few Peavey amps that I really like. I have owned quite a few (almost all guitar amps) and they all served me well.
33 years ago, a MX guitar head on top of a 1980 4x12" cab rocked for years on both guitar and bass. Loved it.
The various Bandits get my vote for the most bang for you buck amps out there. I still use my Bandit 65 as a moderate volume Bass VI amp.
The Bravo is a sleeper--great clean channel, blasting Marshall dirt. Sounds amazing through a 2x12" or bigger cab.
Delta Blues 1x15" is a tone monster, too.
I want to get another MK IV head and a BW cab with 15" speakers.
33 years ago, a MX guitar head on top of a 1980 4x12" cab rocked for years on both guitar and bass. Loved it.
The various Bandits get my vote for the most bang for you buck amps out there. I still use my Bandit 65 as a moderate volume Bass VI amp.
The Bravo is a sleeper--great clean channel, blasting Marshall dirt. Sounds amazing through a 2x12" or bigger cab.
Delta Blues 1x15" is a tone monster, too.
I want to get another MK IV head and a BW cab with 15" speakers.
I actually had several 'decent peavey bass amps' including the mark viii xp I got for 99 $.
My 1st real guitar amp was a peavey renown 400 2 12" combo that my father bought me. Loud. Heavy. And loud.and I was a scrawny 15 yr old to boot.
I Musta played it for a couple weeks (with a crazy insane distortion pedal before I finally read the manual and learned what the 'saturation ' know was for. (It was the amount of distortion it turned out)
I still miss that thing.
I traded it and my guitar for a 63 impala that needed a lil work.
Ahhh..to be young again.
My 1st real guitar amp was a peavey renown 400 2 12" combo that my father bought me. Loud. Heavy. And loud.and I was a scrawny 15 yr old to boot.
I Musta played it for a couple weeks (with a crazy insane distortion pedal before I finally read the manual and learned what the 'saturation ' know was for. (It was the amount of distortion it turned out)
I still miss that thing.
I traded it and my guitar for a 63 impala that needed a lil work.
Ahhh..to be young again.
