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Peavey 400 Mark III/IV appreciation thread...


razze06
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don't know about the Mk4, but my mk3 has one handle on ther side.

something else: scrachy noise from pregain and EQ knobs (especially the paramid!) and sliders (mids again)... can I solve this myself, I have never opened an amp myself...???
Need advise.

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Peavey amps and cabs tend to have big handles in bad positions, which, combined with their bulk and weight, makes carrying them rather awkward. At least the old ones did... Maybe the owners tried to put handles in more sensible places?

Scratchy pots and sliders is usually nothing a good squirt of contact cleaner won't fix, Baskesman. I need to take mine for a service soon as well, and from the looks of it, it's the first one it ever had...

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[quote name='razze06' post='852381' date='May 31 2010, 10:46 AM']Scratchy pots and sliders is usually nothing a good squirt of contact cleaner won't fix, Baskesman. I need to take mine for a service soon as well, and from the looks of it, it's the first one it ever had...[/quote]

Thanks Razze

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  • 5 weeks later...

I've just got my mark III 400 back from the amp tech. I think this must have been its first serveice since 1979, the year it was built according to the dating on the pots and condensers.

Interesting enough for a technically-oriented person like myself, the power usage is a massive 700W for the amp, but it "only" produces up to around 400W RMS into 2 ohm. I think this is one of the reasons why it is so reliable. Massive overspecification of components and inch-thick wood casings work... I think Ampegs of the same type (300W-ish, solid state) are much more efficient in terms of power usage and rms output, but arguably less reliable and sturdy.

I also now have a nearly-original footswitch for it, I would recommend to anyone, the flexibility of two different sounds is extremely useful. Stranglers grind on one channel, rocksteady thump on the other...

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

[quote name='Baskesman' post='901907' date='Jul 22 2010, 02:02 PM']And here it is:



[/quote]


Top man. I can't praise these amps highly enough.

I'm considering buying one up one day to take it apart and see if it can fitted to a lighter case without suffering

T

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  • 4 weeks later...

[quote name='essexbasscat' post='911778' date='Aug 1 2010, 12:32 PM']Top man. I can't praise these amps highly enough.

I'm considering buying one up one day to take it apart and see if it can fitted to a lighter case without suffering

T[/quote]

you won't regret it. In the meantime I've done 2 gigs with this setup and it sounds very angry!
At the beginning this head suffered from scratchy pots but at the first rehearsal at decent volumes that was no longer the case!!
great!

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  • 2 weeks later...

[quote name='razze06' post='824147' date='Apr 30 2010, 07:29 AM']Anyone else loves these beasts?

If so, show some love, pics, and stories of your golden-era peavey gear, especially mark III and IV bass heads.

Must have a top handle![/quote]

Sorry, no pics, and to be honest, I have a love/hate relationship with these heads. Love the power, flexibility, durability, and value; hate the weight.

I have both a Mark III and a Mark VI head (don't worry, the VI still has a handle on the top :)). I bought them from Craigslist ads for $75 and $100, respectively, a year or so ago (probably got taken a bit, but I was a newbie at the time and didn't haggle).

I normally gig with the Mark III into a 4x8" SWR cab. I use an EH Big Muff Pi Bass Fuzz and the dual outputs (effected and clean) from the pedal going into the dual channels of the Mark III let me dial in just the right mix of dirt and clean. The 4x8" cab gives me good enough bottom, and I like the zing I can get from the 8" speakers.

However, for larger venues, I also roll out a 2x15" Peavey cab (which runs about 40-50 kilos), and run bi-amped. The Mark VI has a parametric electronic crossover for its bi-amp outputs so I use it as the control head and to drive the 4x8" cab from the high frequency bi-amp output. Although I'd love to use the Mark III as the control head, it only has a fixed crossover frequency, so I take the low frequency bi-amp output from the Mark VI and plug it into the Mark III's power amp input, using it to drive the larger cab. When I use this configuration and crank it, it sounds like Armageddon has arrived. Granted, the number of places I can use this setup is minimal, but it sure as hell looks impressive with two big old Peavey heads capping an almost two meter high stack of amps and speakers.

That being said, I'm not getting any younger and I'll probably be looking for one of those wimpy Class-D things soon, if only to reduce wear and tear on the body. I guess that means I'll be saving the Peaveys for special occasions.

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[quote name='fadrian' post='945143' date='Sep 4 2010, 06:28 AM']Sorry, no pics, and to be honest, I have a love/hate relationship with these heads. Love the power, flexibility, durability, and value; hate the weight.

I have both a Mark III and a Mark VI head (don't worry, the VI still has a handle on the top :)). I bought them from Craigslist ads for $75 and $100, respectively, a year or so ago (probably got taken a bit, but I was a newbie at the time and didn't haggle).

I normally gig with the Mark III into a 4x8" SWR cab. I use an EH Big Muff Pi Bass Fuzz and the dual outputs (effected and clean) from the pedal going into the dual channels of the Mark III let me dial in just the right mix of dirt and clean. The 4x8" cab gives me good enough bottom, and I like the zing I can get from the 8" speakers.

However, for larger venues, I also roll out a 2x15" Peavey cab (which runs about 40-50 kilos), and run bi-amped. The Mark VI has a parametric electronic crossover for its bi-amp outputs so I use it as the control head and to drive the 4x8" cab from the high frequency bi-amp output. Although I'd love to use the Mark III as the control head, it only has a fixed crossover frequency, so I take the low frequency bi-amp output from the Mark VI and plug it into the Mark III's power amp input, using it to drive the larger cab. When I use this configuration and crank it, it sounds like Armageddon has arrived. Granted, the number of places I can use this setup is minimal, but it sure as hell looks impressive with two big old Peavey heads capping an almost two meter high stack of amps and speakers.

That being said, I'm not getting any younger and I'll probably be looking for one of those wimpy Class-D things soon, if only to reduce wear and tear on the body. I guess that means I'll be saving the Peaveys for special occasions.[/quote]


I would love to try that setup for a bit. When I next play a festival, that's got to be the one !

Anything less than a festival and there would be too great a risk of being prosecuted for killing things with sheer audio power !

T

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  • 1 month later...

[quote name='fadrian' post='945143' date='Sep 4 2010, 06:28 AM']Sorry, no pics, and to be honest, I have a love/hate relationship with these heads. Love the power, flexibility, durability, and value; hate the weight.

I have both a Mark III and a Mark VI head (don't worry, the VI still has a handle on the top :)). I bought them from Craigslist ads for $75 and $100, respectively, a year or so ago (probably got taken a bit, but I was a newbie at the time and didn't haggle).

I normally gig with the Mark III into a 4x8" SWR cab. I use an EH Big Muff Pi Bass Fuzz and the dual outputs (effected and clean) from the pedal going into the dual channels of the Mark III let me dial in just the right mix of dirt and clean. The 4x8" cab gives me good enough bottom, and I like the zing I can get from the 8" speakers.

However, for larger venues, I also roll out a 2x15" Peavey cab (which runs about 40-50 kilos), and run bi-amped. The Mark VI has a parametric electronic crossover for its bi-amp outputs so I use it as the control head and to drive the 4x8" cab from the high frequency bi-amp output. Although I'd love to use the Mark III as the control head, it only has a fixed crossover frequency, so I take the low frequency bi-amp output from the Mark VI and plug it into the Mark III's power amp input, using it to drive the larger cab. When I use this configuration and crank it, it sounds like Armageddon has arrived. Granted, the number of places I can use this setup is minimal, but it sure as hell looks impressive with two big old Peavey heads capping an almost two meter high stack of amps and speakers.

That being said, I'm not getting any younger and I'll probably be looking for one of those wimpy Class-D things soon, if only to reduce wear and tear on the body. I guess that means I'll be saving the Peaveys for special occasions.[/quote]

Ace.

My mark III 400 does have an adjustable crossover control (it's knob in the chanel one section), but I never figured out whether nthat's for the biamp output or not.

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[quote name='razze06' post='998218' date='Oct 23 2010, 04:32 PM']Ace.

My mark III 400 does have an adjustable crossover control (it's knob in the chanel one section), but I never figured out whether nthat's for the biamp output or not.[/quote]


I beleive the MK IV has the same arrangement. The owners booklet for the mkIV can be downloaded from Peavey and this explains it nicely. If you have trouble getting it, give me a shout and I'll e- mail you a copy

T

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  • 4 weeks later...

just found this thred!

i got a mk vI xp head, big and uncool............but i loves it :)
hook up a vt bass pedal all into my 6x10 cab and it is a truly brill head! tons of volume.
ill pics on another day,sprayed it all back and changed the knobs to old scool chicken heads(just bored)

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hi got a mark iv head and peavey cab. ab appears to be two 15's and a 20 inch speaker. Love it to bits except for the weight and bulk. We are new to gigging and playing small venues. Looking for suitable smaller cab, if anyone can suggest anything. That is; a single 15, 10 speaker cab, or double combinations. Excuse my inexperience. Would appreciate any suggestions.

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[quote name='concord1' post='1032012' date='Nov 21 2010, 10:36 PM']hi got a mark iv head and peavey cab. ab appears to be two 15's and a 20 inch speaker. Love it to bits except for the weight and bulk. We are new to gigging and playing small venues. Looking for suitable smaller cab, if anyone can suggest anything. That is; a single 15, 10 speaker cab, or double combinations. Excuse my inexperience. Would appreciate any suggestions.[/quote]


These sound nice through an Aguilar GS112. I'd really like to hear one through an Aguilar DB112 as well.

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  • 4 months later...

[quote name='cycrowave' post='1186060' date='Apr 2 2011, 06:56 PM']im really gassing for a mk IV atm. just wondering, how do they sound with a 4 by 10 cab?

also under what circumstances is it best to biamp?

cheers[/quote]


S'pose it does depend on the 4 x 10 cab used. My MK IV is definately has a Peavey sound (apologies for lack of clarity here for those that havn't heard a few different Peaveys'), but that said, the tone shaping stages are very effective.

For ideas around biamping, the owners manual gives full explanations and is available from the Peavey website.

They do come up from time to time and generally for under £100. Awesome for the money.

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  • 5 months later...

Hi

I have a Peavey MKIV head. Owned it 18 years, bought off a friend who owned it from new in '88.
I can honestly say it's the best amp I've ever owned. It's never failed me once. It's been toured heavily, dropped many times, had beer spilt down into the electonics and still to this day I gig it a lot, and it still sounds great. I have an Aguilar DB750 too but I prefer the Peavey! Just sounds better!

I use a stingray and a p bass through a schroeder 410

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  • 2 weeks later...

Think Ive still got my Peavey Mk vi in my days shed. Really must check to make sure it's ok/still there. Got it fairly cheap
about fifteen years ago and coupled with a pretty large 2x15 cab. Sounded great whatever cab it was run through and
I'm really hoping it's still in working order, looking forward to having a play with it!
Don't miss lugging it around though, I remember having to lug that and then the cab up a three floor fire escape and
very nearly killing myself in the process :) .

Edited by Subbeh
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  • 2 weeks later...

i bought my Peavey mkIII new back in the 80's. Its been round the world with me about 3 times.
serviced it once in its lifetime, had to put a new power switch on it.
Always used it through a 350 watt 4ohm 2x10 Peavey cab.
Brilliant sound, powerful dynamic, reliable, and kickass - I still cant understand why they aren't the most sought after collectable amp.
Trace Elliots are prettier, but cuddly poodles compared too these babies!!

I love my mine - still have it - still use it!!

:)

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