Yay! New Amp Day.... Old Peavey Content Inside!

So last week I bought a Yamaha BB404. My first bass in 3 years. Haven't been playing due my body falling apart. I though I'd never play again so I sold all my gear. Well, it turns out I didn't have a severe case of MS or ALS, and I am getting back to good health and gaining upper body and arm strength. So I ended up with a nice used bass, but no amp.

When I left work today I went to hit a few local pawn shops with the intent of finding a bass amp and putting it on layaway. My favorite shop had a Peavey TKO 65 for $99.99. Quick internet search on my phone directed me right back here to my friends at TalkBass.com, of course. Looks like the TKO was made in the 1980's, which automatically makes it cool to me. As best I could tell by skimming through the information I could find is that the people who had them really liked them and that they lasted a long time, and that any failures were simple fixes.

I asked a clerk over and we plugged it in and turned it on. Pots are scratchy, but that is to be expected and is an easy fix. Otherwise, it was perfectly functional. Tag read $99.99. I asked the clerk what kind of deal she was willing to cut me. She punched a few buttons on her computer and said $75 plus tax. I've never snatched my wallet out my pocket so fast. Clerk even got a hand truck for me to wheel it to my car and held the door open for me.

When I got home with it, my wife said, "I thought you were doing layaway." I said, "I did. I laid it in my car and went away."

Gonna try to get some sound files tomorrow if you guys can stand my crappy playing. Like I said, I haven't played in 3 years.

 

Thanks for the replies. I like what I am hearing.

I have already ordered some new knobs. They aren't direct replacements from Peavey, but they will work. I also want to order a new badge for the front if I can find one. A piece has broken off. And I am going to order some new corner pieces and a new handle and get it cleaned up as much as possible.

This is my first Peavey bass amp. On the guitar side of things, I had a Peavey Classic 50, and that was my personal Holy Grail of tone. If ever get back to playing guitar as well, I'll buy another Classic 50 or a Classic 30, as well as a Delta Blues. I'm quite of fan of their amplifiers.

What spray do you guys use to clean these scratchy pots and input jacks?

 

I've had very little time with this amp, and it is probably going to be Saturday before I do. What time I have had with it has left me very impressed with the sound. I got lucky finding it for the price, and I think it matches up well with my Yamaha.

 

I accidentally found a good hair-metal vibe with the TKO, and that is a good thing. It makes me want to get a blonde wig and some Aqua Net hairspray and a pointy headstock bass. There is a guy about 2 hours away selling a one of those inexpensive neon green Dean basses and for real cheap and I'm thinking about grabbing it just for the aesthetics because of this amp.

Anyways, thanks so much for the well wishes. I am going to snag some Deoxit tomorrow and get to work on it. Should be able to play with no scratch pots while I watch some college footall all day Saturday.

 

So I sprayed out the pots on the TKO 65 and it worked out pretty well. The low-gain volume pot is still a tad scratchy, but it isn't an issue for playing in the man-cave. Overall, I am very pleased with how the process of taking the head out and spray-cleaning went.

I am going to spray it out one more time. If it doesn't work I am going to put a new pot in to replace the scratchy one. The amp is getting a full makeover anyway. I have sourced out new corners, a handle, chassis straps, and other parts. At $75 and as good as it sounds, I may as well make it look nice. So, when I start that project, I'll just put a new push/pull pot in it. Just got to let the discretionary cash build back up.

I also bought some new knobs for it. I ordered some cheap off of Amazon, but when they came in, I realized I kinda ordered the wrong thing or they shipped the wrong thing. The original knobs just popped on and off, but the replacements have set-screws. Regardless, they work right on the amp, and they even hold on the push/pull pots. The 2-stage volume controls work also as a bright and punch modes when you pull them out, and these new knobs are not sliding off when I use them.

So.... with all that done, I am finally getting some unimpeded time to enjoy this amp without hearing any scratchy noise. Man this thing is really nice and brings the thump.

Thanks for listening to me ramble about how overly-proud I am of my amp.

Here are some new pics. One with the new knobs attached and one of the data decal on the back. Just realized it looks like my grandparents in the background really approve of my new amp.