New Peavey Steel Amp

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 19 Jul 2011 2:32 pm

i think we all owe pv a hugh debt of gratitude for actually making amps for steel players. affordable and designed for steel. i think they're way better than many want to admit. i sure wouldn't pay twice as much for something that didn't work as well!.....duh

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » 20 Jul 2011 8:31 am

...............as long as they are serviced periodically, they should last a lifetime and that is longer than I plan on playing!

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 20 Jul 2011 9:37 am

Mike, I hardly think Peavey needs to defend its record vis a vis steel guitar amps. I use mine all the time, and I have lots more expensive tube amps that I could use instead. Anything from a Session/LTD 400 to a NV 400 to a NV 112/1000 will cut any PSG gig for me. But I admit that this statement earlier in the thread:

I will speak for Peavey Electronics here.............
I feel confident that Hartley appreciates your support of our steel guitar products through the years. I've said many many times before that our marketing and engineering groups are constantly looking for "new" ideas. We've got the technology and capability to design any product that we wish, however, to be "real" the steel guitar community is small and shrinking. So, it is an economical decision as much as anything else.

is one of the more depressing things I've read on this forum in a while. I'm not sure it's completely true because (I think) there are lots of younger guitar players who are now taking up steel guitar.

With that said, it's not clear to me that it will be easy to know exactly what will constitute a 'good' design for this group of players. Most of the younger starting players I know are coming from a different place, and tend to go for a different sound using tube amps. Many of these players are also focusing on nonpedal steel guitar. Many have been reared in a 'vintage and boutique' amp environment, and are often heavily influenced by prevailing cultural images of what's cool. So simply coming out with yet another proletarian 'loud and clean' solid-state pedal steel guitar amp may not make sense. And of course, the current state of the US and world economy is not exactly conducive to making large long-term investments in general.

The good part is that there are tons of used Peavey steel amps out there at reasonable prices, they're mostly fairly straightforward to keep serviced, and they're hard to kill. But that is, ironically, probably one of the big factors that make it hard to justify a new design.

My take.

Tony Kotula · Post by **Tony Kotula** » 20 Jul 2011 10:42 am

HEY MIKE!!
STEEL GUITARISTS ARE ALIVE AND WELL ALL AROUND THE WORLD!!! YOU GUYS NEED TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR STEELERS..AND NOT ALL GUMMED UP WITH ANY EFFECTS. TUBE PREAMPS SEEM TO BE A VERY POPULAR ITEM WITH STEELERS. WHY NOT AN AMP WITH A TUBE PRE? OR.. FOR US DIE HARD PEAVEY STEEL AMP USERS..HOW ABOUT A PEAVEY TUBE PREAMP THAT WILL ACCOMODATE YOUR AMPS THAT ARE OUT THERE NOW?
WE'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE. BUT NEITHER ARE YOU GUYS THINKING THAT STEEL PLAYERS ARE DWINDILING. MANY NON COUNTRY PLAYERS ARE USING ALL KINDS OF STEEL GUITARS. AND THEY'RE SEEKING ALTERNATIVE AMPS AND GEAR BECAUSE THE KING OF STEEL AMPS IS NOT INTO US ANYORE!! YOUR PEAVEY 112 IS NICE. BUT WAY UNDERPOWERED IMHO!! NICE FOR SMALL VENUES SURELY. BUT HOW ABOUT SOME PEAVEY OOMF IN A NICE AFFORDALE PACKAGE AND ALL READY FACTORY MODDED??
THANKS FOR READING...TONY

Mike Brown

From:
Meridian, Mississippi USA Posted 17 May 11 6:12pm New Peavey Steel Amp

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I will speak for Peavey Electronics here.............
I feel confident that Hartley appreciates your support of our steel guitar products through the years. I've said many many times before that our marketing and engineering groups are constantly looking for "new" ideas. We've got the technology and capability to design any product that we wish, however, to be "real" the steel guitar community is small and shrinking. So, it is an economical decision as much as anything else.

However, we do offer the neo BW speakers and the new IPR 8 pound power amplifiers.

Plus, I'm still here to offer my assistance on a daily basis.

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » 20 Jul 2011 1:28 pm

Believe me, I am a steel guitarist myself and there will be a resurgance of the steel at some point in time. Please don't take my comments to heart as I do not wish to start a riot! Peavey will be the first to introduce a new steel product when the time is right. In the meantime, we have 37 years of steel guitar amplifier models(that most likely still work well) under our belts that you can choose from.

Larry Custer · Post by **Larry Custer** » 23 Jul 2011 2:44 pm

I have more steels amps then I need,Session 400,
2-Nashville 400s,Walker Stereo steel,Fender steel king
and a stereo amp I build myself.But I always come back to the Peavey amps.The Session 400 I love but it takes 2-men and a boy to carry it.It would be nice to have a steel amp with delay build into it.Just my 2 cennts worth guys.

Tony Kotula · Post by **Tony Kotula** » 23 Jul 2011 2:51 pm

Peavey makes great amps!! They set the bar high!
Apologies if I rattled the bushes a little.

Bill Moran · Post by **Bill Moran** » 23 Jul 2011 3:07 pm

We have lots of good amps already built. Some better than others. I don't see anything better coming out anytime soon. How about education for sound men ? I have been told " Your steel fills the room , I don't have you in the mix " . Listen to the tape and he was right. Not in the mix.
We spend thousands of dollars on the best amp and guitar plus efx. only to be told " your not in the mix ". Go figure why we are loosing ground !
We all need to move to Texas where steel and fiddle is king ! LOL

Even banjo players are in the mix.

One more note. If we play so bad that we can't get into the mix why do we have a job ?

Tony Kotula · Post by **Tony Kotula** » 23 Jul 2011 3:22 pm

I am sometimes told that I cannot be heard very well from the stage. Even from the other players in the band. If I play too loud I cannot hear the band. So, I am miked I say!! Sound man wake up!!!
Sometimes the band is crankin loud...and with my old worn out ears it's a little mushy playing loud like that.

Kenneth Kotsay · Post by **Kenneth Kotsay** » 24 Jul 2011 8:31 am

Bring it on, I need a new Peavey after all it will look good sitting next to my, Nashville 400, 1000, 112, DPC 1400, ProfexII and Transtubefex, may be then I can play just like Buddy & Paul. Nashville 400 is now 20 years old & still kicking butt.

KEN

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » 25 Jul 2011 7:12 pm

Our factory parts department sells parts all day long, however there is a point when the demand of a certain part becomes cost prohibitive. But, at this time I think that the electronic parts availability for the majority of our products(some even 20 to 30 years back) looks good, but I cannot confirm that all parts are available for all of the older models.

Ken Fox · Post by **Ken Fox** » 28 Jul 2011 7:32 am

I found this reply by Hartley Peavey on that question at:

http://www.peavey.com/monitor/askhp/askhp.cfm

"Is Peavey planning on manufacturing a pedal steel guitar in the future, and why only one (Nashville 112) steel guitar amp at this time?"

Hey Gary,
People have been asking me to manufacture steel guitars for several decades now. There are several reasons that we haven't done it and I'll try to explain why below.

Steel guitars have been around for quite awhile. Frankly, I never knew that much about steel guitars until I got involved with a guy named Julian Tharpe. Julian was a steel player for Ray Price (who was based in Texas). Julian was from Alabama and when Ray came off tour, Julian drove through Meridian to his home in Alabama and then back to Texas to begin Ray's next tour. One Saturday afternoon I was hard at work in my first little factory on 10th Avenue, when Julian came through the door wanting to know what amps I had that might be suitable for steel guitar. Frankly, I knew virtually nothing about steel guitar so I rolled my (then) biggest and best guitar amp out for Julian to try. I was amazed to see that Julian's MSA steel has two necks each having 10 strings and that with the pedals he could drop the bass strings down to the point that they were like a "limp noodle!" Julian quickly demonstrated to me that my "best amp" wasn't so good for steel. Julian was never one to "mince words," and he basically told me that my amp wasn't good enough for him to play! I kinda took this as a challenge and I started to try to learn as much as I could about steel guitar, and specifically about steel guitar amplification. This project brought me in contact with a number of steel guitar players, as well as a guy named Jim Evans who was designing tube type steel guitar amps. Our R&D program for our Session amplifier included a number of well respected steel players (in addition to Julian Tharpe). Through Maurice Anderson (MSA steel guitars) we met Curly Chalker, who was very active in this amp program along with Scotty DeWitt of Scotty's Music in St Louis. The final product that came from this very interesting program was our Session LTD and Nashville amplifiers.

We've been building steel guitars amplifiers since the early 70's, and Peavey has been the only major amp company to continuously build steel guitar amplifiers. A lot of steel players have asked me why my competitors don't do this, and the answer is pretty simple: no volume (numbers). The steel guitar market is relatively small, and as a result, the relatively small numbers sold is generally considered to be too few amplifiers for my competitors to get involved with. Over the decades there have been a few "boutique" steel amp companies that have come and gone, and ditto for steel guitar companies. Peavey has continued to make steel amplifiers just because other companies don't/won't. We even developed special Black Widow speakers for our larger steel amps because the available speakers from so-called "premium" speaker companies were totally inadequate to cover the extremely wide frequency range of a 10 string pedal steel guitar, especially when the low strings were as limp as a noodle. I'm not at all sure that making steel guitar amplifiers is worthwhile from a financial standpoint, but I still remember the huge amount of knowledge we got in dealing with trying to properly amplify steel guitar.

Currently we offer our Nashville 112, which essentially is an 80 watt amplifier with the Session preamp and a specially voiced 12" speaker. We will be introducing some new products for steel guitar in the near future. Stay tuned for some interesting developments in steel amplification, combining the very latest technology we have acquired (especially over the last 5 or 6 years).

Gary, a steel guitar is actually more of a "machine" than it is a musical instrument. Most music dealers do not understand steel guitar, and as a result won't stock them ... ditto, the strings and accessories for steel guitar. As far as I can tell, there are only a few very specialized steel guitar dealers in North America who actually know enough to set up and display steel guitars (and what specialized accessories are needed) because of the very specialized nature of the steel guitar. A pedal steel guitar is simply not something that is sold in quantity. This is probably one of the major reasons that most steel guitar companies have failed in the marketplace. Simply put, this is the reason "WHY" we have not gone into that end of the business. The small market for steel guitars and amplifiers is (unfortunately) a limiting factor, and Peavey probably wouldn't be involved in it at all if we were in business just for financial reasons. Peavey has been dedicated to the steel market for many years, just because we enjoy the challenge (not because we're making money at it). This is also the reason that most of the major amp companies don't make steel guitar amplifiers, and why many have ended up dropping their steel guitar amps after a few years of extremely low sales volume.

Peavey is the only company having the complete technology set to accomplish this, and we are confident that the results will be nothing short of phenomenal in a lightweight, easily portable package. Any previous steel amp will be a "toy" compared to this ... So keep the faith and stay tuned for more on this.

HP

Ken Byng · Post by **Ken Byng** » 28 Jul 2011 12:45 pm

That's a very honest and interesting point of view from Mr Peavey. Julian Tharpe has to take the credit for being a major part of Peavey steel amps.

Rocky Evangelisti · Post by **Rocky Evangelisti** » 15 Aug 2011 12:18 am

Can anyone tell me where I can purchase a Marrs Ultra Lite or similar Speaker Cabinet?

Rocky Evangelisti · Post by **Rocky Evangelisti** » 15 Aug 2011 12:23 am

Has anyone tried the Peavey IPR 1600 Series power Amplifier? What is it Like? I am moving away from the heavy combo amps to a rack set-up but I'm not sure about the power amp choice. The IPR seems well priced.

Roger Crawford · Post by **Roger Crawford** » 15 Aug 2011 9:39 am

Rocky, check with Jeff at Show Pro on the Marrs cabinet.

Rocky Evangelisti · Post by **Rocky Evangelisti** » 16 Aug 2011 2:22 am

Thanks a lot, Roger. Will do!

Larry Freeman · Post by **Larry Freeman** » 3 Sep 2011 11:30 am

YEARS ago I was learning guitar and working part time for a man named Ben Jack in Ft, Smith Ark. This guy pulls up in front of the store he had at the time and I'm wondering who is this guy pulling out all these guitar amps out of this old car? He walks in and I ask if I can help him. He replies "I'm Hartley Peavey and I build guitar amps and was wondering if I could demonstrate them for you?" I said let me get the owners. I called Ben and Terry Anderson and said some guy wants to show you his amps. At the end of the day, Ben Jack Guitar Center was the third Peavey Dealer in the nation! Remarkably nice guy and anytime we had a question and called Peavey, in a few minutes we'd hear "This is Hartley, how can I help you?" I have a BMI SD-10 that I play through a NV112 and that old guitar (over 25 years) sounds GREAT! My Special 130 WELL over 25 years finally quit (I'm sure something minor). The reason for the "SMALL MARKET" for steelers, other than Brad Paisley and George Strait, have you heard country music lately? You gotta be kidding me! Thats why all I listen to are my Bobbe Seymour PRICELESS CDs or Russ Hicks, John Hughey, Buddy Emmons CDs. I'm Certainly not in the caliber of most on this site, but not bad either, but LOVE my PEAVEYS!

David Wright · Post by **David Wright** » 4 Sep 2011 4:57 am

I find this interesting, I've used DPC 750 & 1400, great amps...this looks to be another great amp ..... Mike, any steel players using them?

James Quackenbush · Post by **James Quackenbush** » 4 Sep 2011 2:28 pm

Gear seems to be like people ......Nobody appreciated them as much when they were in existance ......When the plug is pulled , they are famous and everybody is clammering for more !!....

Speaking of great Peavey products, what ever happened to the VMP-2 pre ? .....That's one killer pre by ANY standards .....Jim

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » 7 Sep 2011 9:11 am

Hello All,
I haven't had a chance to try out the IPR Series with a steel guitar, but there should be no problem in doing so. It should sound clean and crisp. I'll make it a point to do so in the near future.

Tony Smart · Post by **Tony Smart** » 7 Sep 2011 12:30 pm

Not undervaluing anybody else's contribution, but Mike Brown and Paul F. do us a great service here. As two of the top people in their field, they are always ready and available to answer questions.

I think we are very lucky to have them on this Forum.

Steve Ahola · Post by **Steve Ahola** » 9 Sep 2011 4:09 pm

If and when Peavey decides to stop building steel guitar amps it would be great if they could license some of their designs to someone who wants to build them.

I know that many of the regular guitarists today are looking for a very clean sound- I wonder if any of them are playing Nashville 112's.

Steve Ahola

Michael Remming · Post by **Michael Remming** » 10 Sep 2011 6:18 am

Since we are on the subject Peavey equipment and a lot of folks are going to the GK MB-200 bass amp. What about this rack mount bass amp from Peavey complete with a Graphic EQ and more power than you would ever need. Anyone tried this yet?

http://www.peavey.com/products/instAmpl ... de%3B.html

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 10 Sep 2011 8:38 am

i generally like my ltd400 best but lately have been taking my nash400 to the gig. these are such great amps i don't know why anyone would want anything else. you can find em for $300 and they kick clean huge butt. fiddlers and guitarists i play with use them,too. if you can't lift it get a job stuffing envelopes. (or a hand truck)

eventually, after decades of pickers now experimenting with tube amps and other compromises, some young guy is going to say, 'hey dudes, i just found an old-fashioned peavey nashville 400 and dang it's the first time i've heard my steel sound good!'

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