Peavey Session 400 -- looking for layout

Steel guitar amplifiers, effects, etc.

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George Biner
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Peavey Session 400 -- looking for layout

Post by George Biner »

Trying to work on an old, classic Peavey Session 400 (the head unit, not the LTD combo) -- anybody have the layout?
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Jerry Erickson
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Post by Jerry Erickson »

I have a schematic, not a parts layout. Let me know if that'll work for you.
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George Biner
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Post by George Biner »

Hey Jerry, I think I'm OK on the schematic. And there is a layout all over the web, but it is smaller and for the combo version.
Guacamole Mafia - California Country Rock band
Electrical engineer / amp tech in West Los Angeles
Mullen RP SD10 E9 / Fender Deluxe Reverb, Princeton, Princeton Reverb
"Now there is a snappy sounding instrument. That f****r really sings." - Jerry Garcia
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Dennis Detweiler
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Post by Dennis Detweiler »

Brad Sarno should have it.
1976 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics 427 pickup, 1975 Birdseye U-12 MSA with Telonics X-12 pickup, Boss 59 Fender pedal for preamp, NDR-5 Atlantic Delay & Reverb, two Quilter 201 amps, 2- 12" Eminence EPS-12C speakers, ShoBud Pedal, 1949 Epiphone D-8. Revelation preamp into a Crown XLS 1002 power amp.
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Ken Fox
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Stuff

Post by Ken Fox »

Image Check here. Bob Lawrence uploaded my info there. Board layout was not created by me the rest was


https://sites.google.com/site/robertlla ... sion400mod
Last edited by Ken Fox on 9 Jan 2023 8:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Ken Fox
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Post by Ken Fox »

Image
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Dirk Edwards
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Post by Dirk Edwards »

Would it be ok to put two 8 0hm EV's on sessions 400 in parallel?

Thanks Dirk
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Ken Fox
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Ohms

Post by Ken Fox »

Yes. That would be a total 4 ohm load
Not only as the main speakers. Amp cannot tolerate a lower impedance.
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Dirk Edwards
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Post by Dirk Edwards »

Thank You!!! :D :D
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George Biner
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Post by George Biner »

Thanks for the info!
Guacamole Mafia - California Country Rock band
Electrical engineer / amp tech in West Los Angeles
Mullen RP SD10 E9 / Fender Deluxe Reverb, Princeton, Princeton Reverb
"Now there is a snappy sounding instrument. That f****r really sings." - Jerry Garcia
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Dirk Edwards
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Post by Dirk Edwards »

I have two session 400 now with black widow 15s.Have you ever heard two 12"EVs in a sessions? Good? Bad?
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Ken Fox
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Post by Ken Fox »

Those were an option in the first Session 400 amps. Never saw or heard one but I bet they’d sound awesome
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Ken Fox
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Post by Ken Fox »

Those were an option in the first Session 400 amps. Never saw or heard one but I bet they’d sound awesome

Here’s one for sale. Rare amp

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifi ... -combo-amp
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Lee Baucum
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Post by Lee Baucum »

My first steel guitar amplifier was one of those Session 400s with two 12" EV speakers.
Very heavy. Sounded great.

Speaking of heavy, I sold it and bought a Session 500!

:eek:
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Dirk Edwards
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Post by Dirk Edwards »

That's the one I was looking at :D :)
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George Biner
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Post by George Biner »

Thanks, Ken Fox, for posting the layout.

Just wanted to say that the amp (and schematic) I have has a footswitch circuit -- BUT, that layout doesn't have it -- missing the footswitch output terminals and also a transistor and some additional circuitry, plus some component values on the layout are different. Anybody familiar with this version of the amp with no footswitch? Just curious. Ancient history.

(Additionally, the schematic has the main level pot as "master", while the amp itself is labeled "sensitivity". )

The schematic looks to be official Peavey but has no reference designators (R1, R2, etc) for any of the components -- that's pretty wild, never seen that before!
Guacamole Mafia - California Country Rock band
Electrical engineer / amp tech in West Los Angeles
Mullen RP SD10 E9 / Fender Deluxe Reverb, Princeton, Princeton Reverb
"Now there is a snappy sounding instrument. That f****r really sings." - Jerry Garcia
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