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Topic: Peavey Musician 400 amp head |
Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 15 Mar 2014 3:52 pm |
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| Anyone here know anything about the old Peavey Musician 400 heads? Any similarities to any of the other 400-style amps? Differences? Suitable for pedal steel? |
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Bob Lawrence
From:
Beaver Bank, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted 15 Mar 2014 9:22 pm
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Hi Jack, (I'll never say that to you on a airplane)LOL
I don't have any experience with that model amp. Regardless and generally speaking, it should work fine for steel guitar. However, It may not sound great when you first try it because older amps usually require a cap job(replace the capacitors) if it hasn't been done in the past 10 year's or so.(rule of thumb) That process should involve having to replace the coupling caps as well as replacing all of the power supply caps to bring it back alignment to the original manufacture specs. Should you try the amp as is, without any new cap's(assuming it hasn't been done in recent times) you could experience loud hum, lack of punch, lack of clarity,distortion, harsh tone etc.(just to mention a few possible problems) Amps such as a Nashville or Session 400 were designed specifically for steel guitar as well as the full steel guitar frequency range. Also, they work well with a steel guitar's pickup's impedance range, etc. Your unlikely to match the type of clarity and warm tone that these steel guitar amps can offer. However, you can get a little closer if in addition to the cap job, you were to change the input cap value/s to extend the freq range of the preamp stage, as well as use film caps, in place of the electrolytic cap's(if they are being used) at various coupling stages. Therefore, it can sound cleaner and warmer with a few minor mods and a bag of cap's which could go a long way to maximizing it's full potential as a steel guitar amp. As you may already know, other factors are in play as well such as the type of speaker and cabinet selected, cables, the steel player etc.
Bob
Last edited by Bob Lawrence on 20 Mar 2014 7:34 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 16 Mar 2014 10:55 am
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| Bob Lawrence wrote: |
| Hi Jack, (I'll never say that to you on a airplane)LOL |
Bob,
I'm always a little nervous whenever I run into someone I know in an airport.
Thanks for that information. All of it seems to be good advice. If by chance I decide to purchase this beast, I'll probably ship it to Meridian and have them go through it.
I know very little about this amp aside from the fact that it's missing a couple knobs, and some of the pots are said to be somewhat scratchy. It has supposedly been in fairly regular use, at least as of late. Apparently everything works, and it's not particularly noisy, or so I've been told.
I have not seen the amp first hand, nor have I played it, so it's anybody's guess what it's really like. It appears to be from the mid '70s, so I'm guessing it has a similar power amp to the Sessions and LTDs of that era. I assume the preamp side and the tone stacks are entirely different from Peavey's steel amps.
I have a LTD 400 that I bought new about '77, and with a 1501-4 instead of its original JBL it sounds pretty good. Hoping that the Musician 400 head might make a decent amp to keep at a friend's studio, so I don't have to keep lugging my LTD back and forth.
It's in a town a couple hours away from me, and the asking price is $100.00. Figure it may be worth a shot. Just thought I'd post here and inquire if anyone had played their steel through one of them before I burn half that amount in fuel just to check it out.
Jack |
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Bob Lawrence
From:
Beaver Bank, Nova Scotia, Canada
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Posted 16 Mar 2014 12:25 pm
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re: Just thought I'd post here and inquire if anyone had played their steel through one of them before
Did you try a form search? Just use the title you have above. It's unlikely that the topic hasn't appeared before, after all it's a small world. If you need help with the search let me know. I'm busy with work stuff today but tomorrow evening should be open. |
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Ed Kelly
From:
Queensbury, New York, USA
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Posted 16 Mar 2014 2:34 pm Pv Musician Heas
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Bob
I have one I use from time to time now with a 15" cabinet with a cheap speaker. It has killer sound, I used it forever until I got my steel Kings, and I can tell you that it has a very similar sound to the SK. I am keeping it for a spare, I think I picked it up on the Forum several years ago from ob Carlucci. if you find one, keep it, I have never had anything done to it, it may have had new caps before I got it, I dont know. |
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Bob Carlucci
From:
Candor, New York, USA
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Posted 16 Mar 2014 4:34 pm
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Jack.. they are wonderful steel amps.. I have owned 3 session 400's
2 session 500's
1 Nashville 112
1 Vegas
2 Peavey Musician heads...
The Musician heads were the best sounding steel amps out of all the other solid state Peavey amps I have owned, hands down.
I sold one to Ed, as he mentioned, freaked out because nothing else sounded as good, and finally got another, and have kept it for years.. they are bulletproof, and in my humble opinion have a remarkably sweet sound with a pedal steel, rivaling some good tube amps I have used..
They are sweet and musical to my ears, not harsh and middy like the session 400 amps.. Just my $.02.
btw, ed, I want my amp back! 
_________________
I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!
no gear list for me.. you don't have the time...... |
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Ed Kelly
From:
Queensbury, New York, USA
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Posted 16 Mar 2014 4:47 pm Musician
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NOT ON YOUR LIFE BOB YOU SOLD ME A GOOD ONE SOUNDS A LIKE LIKE MY STEEL KINGS AND A LITTLE EASIER TO LUG
THANKS FOR THE DEAL |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 18 Mar 2014 5:40 am
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Bob, Bob, and Ed, thanks for your replies.
Bob C. & Ed -- I'll take your comments as a ringing endorsement for the Musician 400. |
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John Russell
From:
Austin, Texas
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Posted 19 Mar 2014 6:45 am Peavey Musician
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I owned one several years ago. It worked fine though bulky and heavy. I used it with a Boss analog delay and an ART digital reverb running thru an EV-15 speaker. Great sound but lots of stuff to haul.
I've since downsized to a Roland Cube 80 which sounds great with my Boss GE-7 pedal and Boss reverb/delay. When I play small rooms, I use a Roland Cube 30 with the same effects. My ears and my back are all smiles. ;~) |
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Bob Carlucci
From:
Candor, New York, USA
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Posted 19 Mar 2014 9:10 am Re: Peavey Musician
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| John Russell wrote: |
I owned one several years ago. It worked fine though bulky and heavy. I used it with a Boss analog delay and an ART digital reverb running thru an EV-15 speaker. Great sound but lots of stuff to haul.
I've since downsized to a Roland Cube 80 which sounds great with my Boss GE-7 pedal and Boss reverb/delay. When I play small rooms, I use a Roland Cube 30 with the same effects. My ears and my back are all smiles. ;~) |
Yeah, I still have the Musician head, but these days I use the Roland Cube 80XL as well...
Lots of power and a big sound for such a tiny package.. Still like the tone of that old PV tho'.. I never found them to be that heavy personally... bob
_________________
I'm over the hill and hittin'rocks on the way down!
no gear list for me.. you don't have the time...... |
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John Russell
From:
Austin, Texas
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Posted 20 Mar 2014 7:04 am
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| I seem to remember a discussion about those Musician amps years ago; someone suggested they were similar in design to the Peavey Session 500 amps. True or not, they do sound good. I bought mine cheap and ended up giving it away after having bought a Mosvalve amp and Tubeworks preamp. Those days I was trying to find the right combination to use with my EV 15 cab. I still own the EV 15 and occasionally add it to the Cube 80 for a little more swat. That combo sound great but I don't play many venues that need that much sound. Also, the Cube puts out an amazing amount of sound--it compares favorably to the Peavey Nashville 112. Just my 2 cents, I've played through both. A friend just bought a new Cube 80 and they no longer have the extension speaker jack. I'm playing a nursing home show today and I'll use my Cube 30 for that small room. It works great coupled with my Boss GE-7 equalizer and a delay pedal. I can't brag enough about the GE-7--it'll fatten up any amp. |
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Bob Lawrence
From:
Beaver Bank, Nova Scotia, Canada
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John Russell
From:
Austin, Texas
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John Russell
From:
Austin, Texas
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Posted 21 Mar 2014 6:29 am Oops
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| Oops, that's a dead link. They discontinued that amp years ago and Peavey no longer has the PDF, apparently. I believe I had the Mod kit installed and used it for about a year or so, some ten years ago. I recall the thing weighed about the same as my Cube 80 and it required a speaker. Too much bulk and weight for this ol' boy. ;~) . I'd say keep it if it's working for you but I'm not sure I'd bother to fix it if it failed. |
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