Is Peavey gear any good?

[alwoodcock]

I need to get a bass amp for around £300-400 and, looking at second hand gear there are one or two Peavey amps around. Any good?

[chrismuzz]

I really like Peavey gear. Loud, good sounding to m ears. Very reliable and good value for money. Only real downside is that it's so heavy!

[CPBass]

Peavey make some great amps. Possibly the best no nonsense amps out there. They just keep going and going

[Truckstop]

Yes!

If you can get hold of a Firebass 700 with a matching 4x10 it'll last forever and you'll sound like god. So much power! And you'll probably spend no more than £250. Most peavey amps tend to go down to 2ohms so can power 4 8ohm cabs!

However, Peavey stuff is not for the fainthearted. It is a bit on the heavy side and is pretty much as big as it can be! If you can stand the size and weight you'll be very pleasantly surprised.

Personally I wouldn't go for the Mk 1-4's as they're getting quite old now, but the Firebass 700 and Tour 400 are solid buys.

Truckstop

[Mr. Foxen]

Peavey is easy to reccomend to any young person starting out, as good value for money, but a bit heavy. biggest downside to people like that is they tend to have a ton of tone options that make a wrong one a bit easy. Bypass it all and put a Sansamp/BDI21 into it if you want easy good tone.

[Conan]

As above. Sounds good, lasts forever but heavy as hell.

If you are strong and/or have roadies - Peavey gear is great. First "proper" bass amp I used was an old mk IV and I still miss the soundI used to get out of it.

[Roland Rock]

When my head was in amp hospital for a while, I borrowed a Peavy 1x15 keyboard amp. Heavy, tough, loud, and not bad sounding at all.

[cheddatom]

I've had my TNT150 combo for almost 10 years. I bought it used! I've done over 100 gigs with it. It goes LOUD which is what I want from a bass amp. I combine it with a guitar amp for extra top end etc.

but yeh, seriously heavy (not a bad thing IMO)

[Tee]

I once played through some big, knackered 80s looking Peavey head, through an Ashdown 4x10 and it was pretty good.

[warwickhunt]

Excellent amps (and pretty good cabs... especially for the money), that go on forever and 'probably' only let down by their aesthetics; if they were a lush looking piece of kit people probably wouldn't be so disparaging about them.

[paul_5]

Boxy, ugly and heavy but great sounding, flexible and they'll run forever.

[4000]

They do indeed run forever but if there's one make out there I have never got along with it's Peavey. I've never been able to get a sound I'm happy with out of a Peavey amp and I've used lots of them. Of course YMMV as always.

[cheddatom]

some people struggle when borrowing my amp but it does tend to be people who EQ by eye, rather than by ear (not saying that's you)

[Buzzy]

Agree with the majority on here, I had a big old rig back in the 90s, Amp, 4x10 and 1x15. played my P bass through it.
It never failed on me, was earth shatteringly loud but weighed a ton.

[razze06]

[quote name='Tee' timestamp='1347029563' post='1796223']
I once played through some big, knackered 80s looking Peavey head, through an Ashdown 4x10 and it was pretty good.
[/quote]

Peavey heads and cabs tend to develop a rather intriguing "distressed" look after 30 or so years in practice rooms and tour vans

To answer the OP: yes, they are

[essexbasscat]

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1347013175' post='1795939']
Yes!

If you can get hold of a Firebass 700 with a matching 4x10 it'll last forever and you'll sound like god. So much power! And you'll probably spend no more than £250. Most peavey amps tend to go down to 2ohms so can power 4 8ohm cabs!

However, Peavey stuff is not for the fainthearted. It is a bit on the heavy side and is pretty much as big as it can be! If you can stand the size and weight you'll be very pleasantly surprised.

Personally I wouldn't go for the Mk 1-4's as they're getting quite old now, but the Firebass 700 and Tour 400 are solid buys.

Truckstop
[/quote]

My MK IV is easily the loudest amp I own and it's never ever, missed a beat and I don't expect it to either. I've heard stories of them continuing to work well after bouncing down the stairs and falling out the back of vans on the way home,

It weighs around the same as a GS112.

[[email protected]]

Yes I used to own a peavey stack that I brought second hand, not sure how old it was originally?
I toured with it for a good five years. I sold it about 7 years ago to a rehearsal studio and it's still there to this very day! It gets used every day all day!! Apparently they changed a transistor once!? Amazing really! Very well built and descent sound to suit.

[simonc61]

I got a Peavey Tour 700 for £300 off Gumtree. Built like a Sherman tank, not a huge range of tones but pretty punchy and powerful. About as no-nonsense as you can get.

[Lozz196]

As all the above, yes, Peavey gear is good, reliable, indestructable, but heavy. And the cabs are quite big too, so before going ahead with a purchase, make sure that they will fit into whatever mode of transport you have.

[louisthebass]

Have to agree with all the comments - well built & reliable, but heavy. I used to have TX210 & a 115BW cabs before I got wise & switched to smaller kit (Epifani).

Agree with the other comment about having the right size car too.

[xgsjx]

Like most above have said, good solid workhorses that weigh the same.

From your other thread, you're looking for amp/cab or combo for @ £400. There's a lot of things out there that fits in your budget from Ashdown & Hartke to Peavey & so on.
I'd recommend a 2nd hand Markbass LMII head (usually @ £250 - £300 now) & get yourself a decent 2x10 with what's left & then add another 2x10 or upgrade the cab when funds allow.

Go & try some stuff & see what you get on best with.

Edited September 7, 2012 by xgsjx

[KingBollock]

I've had my Peavey T-Max 500 for about 10 years, I think, I paid £165 for it second hand. It has a Tube pre-amp and a solid state preamp, which are switchable or even combinable. I adore it. Last year I bought a Peavey 410TX to go with it, which I paid £45 for. Would like to get a Peavey 2x15 one day too.
They're heavy but, the way I see it, my back is already buggered, I probably couldn't lift a lightweight cab on my own anyway, without risking further damage, so if I'm going to have to have help I might as well get something that sounds just as good but is a hell of a lot cheaper.

[alwoodcock]

Right. Thanks for all your comments and based on them I shall be getting the Peavey TX10 2x10 cab then!

Thanks a lot folks. These forums really are soooperb!

Cheers

Al

[alwoodcock]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1347044514' post='1796463']
Like most above have said, good solid workhorses that weigh the same.

From your other thread, you're looking for amp/cab or combo for @ £400. There's a lot of things out there that fits in your budget from Ashdown & Hartke to Peavey & so on.
I'd recommend a 2nd hand Markbass LMII head (usually @ £250 - £300 now) & get yourself a decent 2x10 with what's left & then add another 2x10 or upgrade the cab when funds allow.

Go & try some stuff & see what you get on best with.
[/quote]

Well, it looks as though, all being well, I'll be going for a Hartke HA3500 and a Peavey TX 210 cab all for £275. Bargain I reckon.

[3below]

Peavey Tour 700, excellent, 500W at 8 ohms, all useful features present and naff octaver. Just bought one, v little use, £200. Reasonable weight. Firebass 700, good as well but heavy.