Beware of Nashville 400

Ted Crabtree · Post by **Ted Crabtree** » 22 Sep 2000 11:51 am

On Wed,Sept 13th I went by Gardendale Music Store to Jam with a friend of mine, Charlie Morrison. While we were Jamming a customer came in and Charlie went up front to wait on him. Good thing he did or what happened to me might have happened to him also. I went to adjust the mid control and Guys and Gals that was the biggest mistake I ever made. That Amp made such a loud noise that it knocked both of my ears out. Some of my hearing has come back but it is very distorted. The ear specialist said he's not sure that it will ever be back to normal. Be careful adjusting that control on the Peavy Nashville 400, It's a KILLER. Some of my friends say they have had the same problem with that control. Has anyone ever heard of anything like this?
Need your prayers.
Ted

David Pennybaker · Post by **David Pennybaker** » 22 Sep 2000 12:55 pm

What settings were the Pregain and Master Gain set at?

Thanks for the heads-up. From now on, Master Gain gets set to ZERO before making any adjustments.

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Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 22 Sep 2000 1:22 pm

Sounds to me like you had a problem with the amp to start with. Not all the Nashvilles do that. All of them I've seen you can run the parmid controls wherever you want them and it won't do a thing.

Go have your's fixed and it will work like the rest.

C Dixon · Post by **C Dixon** » 22 Sep 2000 2:40 pm

Yes indeed had the same exact thing happen. It is extremely loud and scared me like crazy. It appears to be dirty pots. Not a good design to permit this type of thing IMHO,

May our Precious Lord return your hearing to normal real soon,

carl

TRAP TRULY · Post by **TRAP TRULY** » 22 Sep 2000 2:50 pm

mine does the same thing,a very loud pop!

Tommy Mark · Post by **Tommy Mark** » 22 Sep 2000 4:15 pm

That has also happened to me.But Graham has that amp now,Tell us Graham has it done it to you?

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Curt Langston · Post by **Curt Langston** » 22 Sep 2000 4:20 pm

Well, folks, before we get too carried away, the Nash. 400 is a very fine amp....ANY amp will have scratchy pots, if not cleaned....Buy some Electronic Tuner Cleaner spray,(from Radio Shack) and spray them...The reason for the loud POP, or noise, is the fact that all controls will get dirty over time. Peavey, being the leader in steel amps, has given steel players a very hot preamp(which is what you want with steel). So just spray them, and rotate the knobs back and forth. This will fix the problem....

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 22 Sep 2000 5:55 pm

mine's never done that in 15,000 gigs......now let's talk about killer feed back from P.A.'s.....what........what's that....huh??

Jeff Lampert · Post by **Jeff Lampert** » 22 Sep 2000 7:08 pm

Mine's never done that in 1,500,000 gigs.

Ted Crabtree · Post by **Ted Crabtree** » 22 Sep 2000 7:12 pm

Thanks guys for the feedback. I have two of these amps and one has never acted up but the other is a bad boy I guess. By the way Curt, I have sprayed that pot a number of times. Maybe a new pot would do the job and you are right they are great amps.
Ted

Ronald Riddle · Post by **Ronald Riddle** » 22 Sep 2000 7:47 pm

I have never heard of this senerio before.
Have played through this amp many hrs playing time and have never experienced anything like that.
Ronald Riddle
Preset and post settings #s had to be a factor.
Ronald RTiddle

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 22 Sep 2000 7:53 pm

Any amp with a dirty pot is going to make a gawdawful (that's a technical term!) noise if you turn that dirty pot with the volume set at steel players settings. That's the same as hitting the strings with your volume pedal turned up all the way.

Keith Hilton · Post by **Keith Hilton** » 22 Sep 2000 8:58 pm

This kind of problem could happen with any amp, not just Peavey. I once had a gun I thought was unloaded. Pulled the trigger and the bullet went through the floor to the basement. Then through a stack of 14 glass storm windows stored in the basement.

Kevin Mincke · Post by **Kevin Mincke** » 22 Sep 2000 9:42 pm

Treat EVERY gun as if it were _ _ _ _ _ _.

Post by **b0b** » 22 Sep 2000 10:45 pm

I'm moving this to Electronics.

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 23 Sep 2000 8:37 am

I had this same problem with my early '80's Nashville 400. I got real gun shy with those mid controls. When I installed the LeMay mod, I sprayed some cleaner in the pots and all the problems went away.

Lee, from South Texas

Graham · Post by **Graham** » 23 Sep 2000 7:51 pm

Have the 400 I bought from Tom Mark (posting above) and so far have had no problems with it. I also installed the LeMay mod and sprayed all the controls while I had the amp tore down.

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LARRY COLE · Post by **LARRY COLE** » 23 Sep 2000 8:15 pm

I was playing through my Nashville 400 witn my group in church when it sounded like someone turned the volume up all the way. Chick donner told me that the ground on the volume put had come loose. I resoldered all the connections on the pots and it has worked great ever since.

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LC. WILLIAMS U12

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » 25 Sep 2000 8:40 am

There is NO inherant problem/symptom with the Nashville 400 Mid or Shift control. What you have described is simply a bad pot if you can rotate the control and it breaks up. This can happen with ANY amplifier using a mechanical potentiometer.

I suggest that you have a QUALIFIED technician replace the pot with the identical type when you encounter this symptom and if a pot lubricant doesn't help.

If this was a problem from the beginning(which was 1/24/1983), this amp would have been either modified with an alternative part or the circuit would not have been released. However, we manufactured the '400's' for 17 years and it proved to be the best selling steel amp in Peavey history.

So, don't jump to the conclusion that every Nashville 400 ever made had a problem such as this, because they did not. If the amp has problems, again, have a authorized Peavey technician restore it to factory specs, or send it prepaid to;

Peavey Service Center
Hwy. 11/80 East
Meridian, MS 39301

Please include your daytime phone number so that we may contact you should you have questions. But if one of our products has a problem due to normal wear and tear, we will definitely provide the best service in the industry. Peavey Customer Service, which includes our Parts Department, Repair Assistance Department and Customer Assistance divisions has been voted #1 by MUSIC AND SOUND RETAILER magazine for many years in a row.

I am available for any questions that you might have concerning Peavey products by calling me at the factory. My U.S. toll free number is 1-877-732-8391.[This message was edited by Mike Brown on 26 September 2000 at 06:17 AM.][This message was edited by Mike Brown on 26 September 2000 at 06:20 AM.]

Bob Metzger · Post by **Bob Metzger** » 25 Sep 2000 12:36 pm

I hear the Army is buying up all the Nashville 400's with faulty midrange controls. Try contacting the Pentagon!

BTW, Gigging 5 nights a week for 50 weeks a year (2 weeks off for good behavior) is 250 gigs a year! That's 5,000 gigs in 20 years at that pace? How many guys out there think that they've played 15,000 gigs?

Bob[This message was edited by Bob Metzger on 25 September 2000 at 01:40 PM.]

Chris Dufrane · Post by **Chris Dufrane** » 25 Sep 2000 5:16 pm

Something similar to that happened to me with my grandfathers Peavey vintage 100 watt 410. I was playing his 6 string Gretsch with some effects and I bent down to adjust one of the effects with the volume pedal on full directly infront of the amp and then bang. I think it was a problem in one of the connections in the effect or the line, but made me think before I played around with those effects again. Wow, I'm only 16 and sometimes I have a hard time hearing what my friends say and my ears ring once and awhile, it kind of goes in streaks, but I still manage to pass my hearing tests. God help everyone with hearing impairments...

Rick Barber · Post by **Rick Barber** » 25 Sep 2000 11:02 pm

Absolutely I agree totally with Mike Brown. Our equipment ages and we do best to keep it in good shape. This is a good quality affordable product and a solid design. It is our good fortune to have a company that builds affordable professional level products with our instrtument in mind.

Rick Barber

C Dixon · Post by **C Dixon** » 26 Sep 2000 10:12 am

NO manufacuturer on earth makes a product that is free of having a problem. NOT possible to build one. Even a Rolls-Royce or Mercedes Benz can and has had design flaws from time to time.

It is NOT a slam against Peavey to point out design flaws, no more than it is a slam against people who build the space shuttle who are blessed with the finest engineers on earth.

It happens. I find it disconcerting that people feel it is a mark against Peavey when legitimate statements are made about one or more of their products.

Look at the recalls of millions of automobiles over the last 40 odd years. It is the world we live in.

The molex problem on Peavey Nashville 400's is REAL! It is not isolated and it is not imagined. It was not a good idea to ever use the molex connector. A simple RCA phono jack would have been much better.

The ear drum bursting sound coming from dirty mid and shift controls is not imagined.

They are both design flaws. The fact that some have not experienced it does NOT in any way diminish the fact that the earth shattering sound one hears from a Nashville speaker when it happens will wake up the dead.

I have serviced ampilfiers since the 50's. I have NEVER in my life heard this unbelievable sound.

Folks, the day you hear it, you WILL know from whence I speak. I could not hear for several days after it happened to me on my Nashville 400. And I keep my gain controls NO where near maximum!!

That in my mind is STILL a design flaw. NOT slamming any engineer or anyone at Peavey nor the whole Peavey organization. I love Peavey and Mike Brown with all my heart. Would not consider any other amplifier. But I still have had a problem with both my Nashville 400's molex connectors. And that day I moved that mid control will stay with me the rest of my life!

Please be careful if you have not moved that shift and mid control for a while. If not you may be headed for an ear doctor brethren.

God bless all of you,

carl

Bill Ferguson · Post by **Bill Ferguson** » 26 Sep 2000 3:13 pm

I do feel that there are some unwarranted slams against Peavey.
Be careful fellows, Peavey keeps us steelers in business, for without them, what would we play through.

I think this is different than major recalls, as we are, by comparison, a very small group, and news travels fast.

You know, by what I figure, Peavey probably loses money on steel guitar products. There are just not really enough players to justify the mass production performed by Peavey.

Design flaw, bad pots, bad connectors or whatever, we owe Peavey a debt of gratitude for the products they build for us and the fact that they have kept these products very reasonably prices, particularly when you look at the percentages of increase in the price of everything else we buy. Peavey is a bargain, is the finest product for steelers and has the best staff to look after us.

I for one, will play nothing else.

Bill Ferguson

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"Stop worrying about what makes a steel work and concentrate on how YOU make it sound"

Bob Schorell · Post by **Bob Schorell** » 26 Sep 2000 5:11 pm

"AMEN" Bill. Couldn't have said it better.