The Steel Guitar Forum

I currently play guitar and steel through my NV1000 which I completley love. Been thinking about getting as NV112 for practice and small gigs. Hear how great they are . . . then how come I see far more used NV112's for sale than NV1000's . . . in most things, when you see a lot of used "somethings" for sale, there is a good reason . . . just wonderin'?

I love my NV112, it's definately a keeper. I have a 59 bassman as well, but I can dial in a more pleasing tone on my 112.

My first guess as to why more NV112s are for sale than NV1000s, is because there were more NV112s sold than NV1000s.

I have a 2006 NV 112 which I bought used, and have 2 minor issues. 1 which involves a buzzing while using the direct out on the amp. My simple fix was to mic it. 2 - don't use the Peavey reverb they distort the volume level on every single one I have ever owned. I had had 3 in addition to this one. I pefer an amp which has a 15" speaker but have developed a back issue now. I also love my Boss Commercial quality RV-70 I bought to use with it. It is by far the cleanest best sounding reverb I have ever had.. Combined my 112 it is very forminable. In addition, I just pickup a used Hilton volume pedal and dicovered a whole new world of crisp clean picking coming from my guitar which I had not ever heard on stage in the last 5 years using a std 500K pedal. Thanks Dennis Wireman for selling me my Hilton pedal. This exactly what I needed.

I'm of the opinion that it's just a trend. Whenever I look for a good S-10, Everyone is selling D-10's. When I bought my N112, I searched for months finding someone wanting to sell a decent used one. The day after I purchase one, BOOM, three for sale on the forum. I'm not saying there's not a better steel amp out there, but I think we tend to float through gear as steelers. When something new comes out, many need to be the first to have it. When it gets old, it gets sold. Just part of the "pedal steel collective conscience" where we all get jazzed about some piece of equipment at the same time, and just as quickly get bored and sell it off. I've never played on a N1000, but I think the N112 is great for light gigging and touring.

GK MB200. 2 1/2 lbs. Eminence EPS-15, 7.8 lbs. Fab sound. Many doing this.

never got a sound i liked .. I love my nv 400 its got what i need .. also use a Mesa Maveric .. and love the vibrasonic with the Kappalite for big shows .. the combo is hard to beat .. tube for tone and 400 for
bottom end clarity .. the mesa for small shows .. nv for medium .. the 112 was broken in and never had that sound.

I agree with that Scott. A tweeked Fender Vibrosonic is classic amp sound. A little heavy, but who cares when your getting that amp tone.

Pedal Steel is kind of intimate instrument (IMO), not for stadium. So, why one needs bigger amp than Nashville 112? You mic it to your PA and don't want it sound too loud on stage. I have been touring with mine couple of years and never used more than 1/3 of power (for audience from 100 to 500). And there's enough of possibilities to find a sound that fits your needs. I'm really happy with mine.

I agree with Erv. Lots more 112's out there than 1000's.

If we are talking about tone then the Nashville 400 is the one . If we are talking about the weight then its the Nashville 112 ! Daylight and darkness in the tone area .

clarity in the separation in the low end the bell like tone shape .. that is what i look for 112 couldn't deliver that with the steel's i have .. other steel's may have a sound with the 112 .. i don't know seems like its up to the player to decide .. never had a problem with the NV 400 being too loud .. just turn it down a bit .. Harder to control the vibrasonic seems to like bigger rooms .. its as you like it

I love this thread !

Don't get me wrong, the NV112 is a fine amp, but it's not like it's BIG BROTHERS and was not intended to be or to replace them.

Maybe, and I'm just speculatin', maybe some folks got rid of the standard issue NV400 and were expecting the 80 watt/112 to replace the 210 watt NV400 with the famous 15 BW.


Given the proper venue the 112 fits the bill, given the scenario that many of us play, we don't mic amps and we are on a moderate stage, the NV400/NV1000 would be hard to replace with the NV112. It's not about volume, but rather clarity, sustain and low end.

It's not about playing too loud either...Although volume is good as long as it's clean...


For almost 50 years now amp manufacturers have been trying to replace the Twin Reverb with smaller, lower wattage , lighter weight amps. At the end of the day all they replaced it with was a Twin Reverb RI !

Does this mean we will get a NV400RI ?

I love this thread, too!

If you ever have the pleasure to hear Ronnie Miller play his D10 Carter thru his NV112 live, you'll find yourself hard pressed to say the NV112 is incapable of delivering killer tone and sustain, at a respectable volume level for a moderate sized venue. I've had the pleasure of playing with Ronnie once or twice, and if I ever heard better steel guitar tone, I can't remember when it was. Ronnie gets the job done, from all 360 degrees. I've heard other guys get really good sound from a 112 too, but Ronnie tops the list.

Having said that, the NV112 is not the amp for ME. I have a late model NV400 with the Fox chip upgrade, a first year Session 400 with a 15" BW, and a '65 Twin Reverb (not a RI) with a 15" JBL. I like them all, for different reasons. Which one I use on a given night depends on what mood I'm in. I guess I'm just a "big arn" kind of guy. I like an amp that's got balls. I guess my mediocre playing comes across better on the bigger, more powerful amps. More forgiving maybe? They're heavy, but so what? I spend a LOT more time listening to my amps than I do carrying them. And hand trucks are cheap...

I reckon when I get so I can't tote 'em around anymore, it'll be time to hang pedal steel up and go back to playing acoustic fiddle, where I started. Though they're not for me, I definitely think the NV112 has it's place in the world.

Ron, I like the Nashville 112 pretty well. I think a lot of guys did the same as I did and bought two of them. As time has gone by I have decided not to use two amps and I feel that many are selling one of their 112's and keeping one for certain venues. I usually opt for a Session 400, Nashville 400, Webb or Fender Deluxe Reverb so one 112 is plenty for me.
The 112 for a smaller room or miked is pretty hard to beat in my opinion. I would have liked it better if it had a ground polarity switch.
Jerry

I think more 112's are for sale because in many cases the 112 is the extra or spare amp. Times are tough and for a lot of folks they could use the cash more than they can use an extra amp.

I played a fairly loud job last weekend outside for a street dance with two 112's and they worked great. They're not quite as warm as my Session 400, but for the weight, it was fine with me.

You could ask, why are so many buying the ones that are for sale? They fill a certain need quite well.

Reading all the posts above, I don't see anyone singing the praises or even defending the NV1000 which makes me think the 1000 was a bit of a dud overall. When it was released on the market I got the impression that it was the supposed to be the sum total of all Peavey's experience in building great steel guitar amps and I have no doubt that Peavey being the quality company that it is put a great deal of R&D effort into creating a great steel guitar amp so maybe this is one of those rare cases where the whole did not equal to the sum of it's parts?
I hear very few people saying the NV112 is the best steel amp ever made for tone but just about everybody has one or even two!
When I first started playing steel guitar live I had to fill some pretty big rooms from the stage, the only mikes on stage were for the singers and my ears started ringing for good in 1977 and they have not stopped since! Thankfully these days the PA's are usually a little more sophisticated and we steel players can consider our amps as our personal stage monitors rather than something needed to fill the room with our sound.
So maybe acceptable tone (to borrow Jim Cohen's phrase from many years ago!) and relatively light weight for a steel guitar amp have combined to equal what amounts to a big hit in terms of steel guitar amp sales and there are a lot of them out there?

I know it's off topic a bit, but why a NV112 for steel (I'm talking Lap Steel) over something like a Fender Princeton Reverb?

JMHO, but I think the NV1000 is one of the finest amps ever made. I don't own one, but have played through one, and definitely intend to add one to my stable when the right deal comes along at a time when I have the extra cash to snag it.

Back to the OP's original question, "why so many NV112's for sale?" For nearly 30 years now, Peavey has manufactured outstanding steel amps priced for the working man. The NV112 is Peavey's most recent offering, with its new "feature" being small size and light weight. Given Peavey's long standing reputation for manufacturing excellent steel amps, it's not surprising they sold a bunch of them. As I said in my post above, while NV112s certainly have their place in the world, they're not for everyone (that would be true for any amp, no?). Those who bought them for their light weight but were not satisfied with their sound are now selling them and moving on (or back) to something else. These used NV112's will eventually find their way into the hands of someone who will be thrilled with them. NV112s do seem to be holding their value quite well... I usually see them bringing more than the older, heavier, more powerful Peavey steel amps. Of course they are newer...

Another poster made a good point about people who bought two and are now selling one due to the economy, or because they came to realize they really only needed one. Bottom line, I don't believe for a second that the recent "wave" of NV112s for sale has a thing in the world to do with any inherent defect or design flaw. They are what they are; they do the job great for some, but not for everyone. The same can be said for any amp.

Peavey has done a lot of good things for PSG players for many years. Decades. Good products, good service, both at very reasonable prices. I think Peavey is a fine company, and whether you own any Peavey equipment or not, I think every steeler owes Peavey a debt of gratitude. I do, and I love my Peavey amps, but that doesn't mean I'm going to get rid of my Twin Reverb.

All MHO, of course.