? for MIKE BROWN

[Dave Seddon]

Mike
Ihave just bought a RENOWN 400, what if any is the difference between this and, say a NASHVILLE, VEGAS or a SESSION. I mean from the circuit point of view. I bought this one for £100, = about $140 in mint condition including cover, and to me it sounds every bit as good as any other Peavey 400.
A lot of Steel Players I have spoken to say , no you don't want one of them , they are rubish. WHY?
Hope you can tell me.
Cheers, DAVE.

[Bill Fall]

Funny you should raise this question, Dave. A Renown with its two 12"s isn't a very good steel amp. But, not long ago, I asked Mike Brown about the advisability of converting a Renown to a single 15" for steel.

Mike's response: "Lloyd Green told me that he used to own a Renown 115 when we built that particular model back in the early '80's. He said, and still says, that that was one of the best steel amps he had ever owned. I have not had a chance or
an amp to try this with, but you do."

I did! It makes a great steel amp!

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Bill Fall on 25 September 2001 at 08:04 AM.]</p></FONT>

[Mike Brown]

Hello Dave,
The Renown 400 amplifier was of the "400" series that we manufactured in the '80's, just as the Nashville 400 and Session 400. The main difference is that the two aforementioned steel amplifiers were "voiced" for steel guitar reproduction, which as you know covers the full spectrum of frequency response. The Renown 400 was designed and voiced for six string guitar reproduction and the Peavey Scorpion speakers have a "bump" in the upper midrange frequencies so that a guitarist can obtain good distortion characteristics for guitar.

We did manufacture a Renown 115 for a short period of time though. Lloyd Green tells me that this particular amp is the best sounding amp that we have made for steel guitar.................ever. I must say that I have to take his word for it as I highly respect his opinion. So, a Renown 400 with two 12" speakers may not be desirable for steel guitar, but a single 15" would work fine.

The bottom line is that the "400" series was a 210 watt power amp series with different preamps for certain voicing applications and various speaker confiurations.

Hope that this helps in your decision. Thanks for choosing Peavey sound products.

Mike Brown
Peavey Customer Services

[Neale Tracy]

Hi ya Dave, I new someone who used a Renown but put 2 12" black widows in it. It sounded really good, I tried it once with the old Sho-Bud.How are you anyway, is the mag finished yet? See ya soon.Tracy