The Steel Guitar Forum

Why do so many swear by a Peavey steel amp ? My guess, they have not ever played in front of anything else.
I have had one good Nashville 400. Ruined it with a Fox mod. Several good Vegas 400's . One great one. After saying that I only rate them by memory. Guess for my ear Evans works best.

I'm with you. IMO they just don't have the warmth or tonal complexity of a high-quality tube amp.

Their popularity has a lot to do with their support of the steel community, though. Steel-specific ads, clinics and amps that are steel-specific. Fender's done a few - but they've been tube and comparatively very expensive.

But I think many players just don't understand the amount of headroom they can get out of a properly serviced and set up tube amp, and there's a misconception that "wattage" and "solid state" = "headroom" and "volume".

But power has little to do with either (speaker, bias settings and preamp gain are FAR more critical) and "solid state" basically just saves money.

So we hear players with $6,000 steels playing through $500 amps, and if they can't get the right tone think it's pickups, strings - everything BUT the amp.

I've seen things start to waver quite a bit, especially in the last 5 years. But 10 years ago it seemed like the pedal steel world was 95% Peavey powered!

I love'em...they sound great to me!

Never had a problem dialing up a good tone from a Peavey...

I've owned every model Fender amp,Mesa Boogies,Evans,Standel,Marshall,
you name it...

For live shows,I'll keep my Peaveys.

I'm on the Steve Hinson team for this one. I've had high dollar amps that sound better than Peavey's. But only a little better. I get the most bang for the buck out of Peavey.

Guess I should add I'm referring to the Peavey amps and speakers that are voiced for pedal steel.

b.

I guess I got the best of both I have a nv 1000 sounds fine I also have a 75 twin reverb with 2 d120f speakers a cube 80xl much better amps than I am a player.

Bobby Boggs wrote:I'm on the Steve Hinson team for this one. I've had high dollar amps that sound better than Peavey's. But only a little better. I get the most bang for the buck out of Peavey.

Guess I should add I'm referring to the Peavey amps and speakers that are voiced for pedal steel.

b.

I should have made that clear,too,Bobby...I don't have much experience with anything Peavey except the steel amps...I've been on board 40 years and owned up in the double digit numbers...my favorite has always been the LTD 400...still got two of those,3 N112s,and a Nashville 400...guess I got"infected"when I heard Buddy Emmons and the guys on the Opry getting such great tones from Peavey amps...I never could get enough clean headroom from my Twins(3 blackfaces)but I loved them for guitar...I have a certain sound in my head for steel,and it comes from a Peavey amp.

People seem to love the 112 Nashville Peavey. It has to be the weight and I can relate to that. At home I always plug in to my Music Man 65.
As far as tone the 112 has none even compared to a Nashville 400.
I had one of the old Nashville 400 that had the chrome corner's , built around 85, with a 1502-4 speaker. I installed 2134 chips in it and it lit up. Sold it to a steel player in Texas. Sounded almost as good as a Vegas. Should of kept it. You can throw them down the stairs and not hurt a PV.
My thoughts. Steel is all about tone. Why would anyone use a PV unless they just can't afford anything else ?
I don't throw my equipment down steps.
Buddy used a Nashville 112. You all know that. In front of it he used a tube preamp. Sarno ! hope i spelled that right .
Having said all that. I just don't get it .

I'll get hate mail for this unless I word it this way.

As for the Fender Twins. To me, the tone goes out the window even before I reached the maximum head room limit. Your mileage may vary.

Bobby Boggs wrote:I'll get hate mail for this unless I word it this way.

As for the Fender Twins. To me, the tone goes out the window even before I reached the maximum head room limit. Your mileage may vary.

Yep...and I play with LOUD bands...a Twin isn't even a consideration...

Bill Moran wrote:People seem to love the 112 Nashville Peavey. It has to be the weight and I can relate to that. At home I always plug in to my Music Man 65.
As far as tone the 112 has none even compared to a Nashville 400.
I had one of the old Nashville 400 that had the chrome corner's , built around 85, with a 1502-4 speaker. I installed 2134 chips in it and it lit up. Sold it to a steel player in Texas. Sounded almost as good as a Vegas. Should of kept it. You can throw them down the stairs and not hurt a PV.
My thoughts. Steel is all about tone. Why would anyone use a PV unless they just can't afford anything else ?
I don't throw my equipment down steps.
Buddy used a Nashville 112. You all know that. In front of it he used a tube preamp. Sarno ! hope i spelled that right .
Having said all that. I just don't get it .

People been hatin'on Peaveys for years...I just don't get that...

It's the ugly logo Steve...

I use a Twin on a lot of gigs, but if I need to be really loud, I think a Session 400 (or an LTD if you can find one) is about as good as it gets, especially when folks are giving 'em away for 300.00 to 350.00. It's got mojo.. LOL.

Steve Hinson wrote:I never could get enough clean headroom from my Twins(3 blackfaces)but I loved them for guitar.

My feelings as well. I have a '72 twin with D120F JBL's and every now and then, I'll use it with my steel. (at home). It sounds really good at a low volume, but begins to break up well before I reach stage volume. Someone once told me that the pick-ups (18000 ohm's) in my steel were too hot for the twin. Is that so?

Mitch

Mitch Ellis wrote:

Steve Hinson wrote:I never could get enough clean headroom from my Twins(3 blackfaces)but I loved them for guitar.

My feelings as well. I have a '72 twin with D120F JBL's and every now and then, I'll use it with my steel. (at home). It sounds really good at a low volume, but begins to break up well before I reach stage volume. Someone once told me that the pick-ups (18000 ohm's) in my steel were too hot for the twin. Is that so?

Mitch

Shouldn't be...I think the e-66 pickup so popular with the young people these days
is right at 17.5...you might try using"input 2"on the"Vibrato"channel...less volume but cleaner...it don't help me though...as I said...I play with some LOUD bands.

Except for the molex connectors, the Peaveys were reliable, and had the advantage of a mid-shift control, which really helps in dialing in a specific tone. They were also very economical, once, but that advantage seems to be going away (for their steel amps, anyway).

Do some tube amps sound better ? Yes.

I've managed to get a few hundred gigs out of various peaveys, and I'm not alone on that one. The price, availability, and dependability are extremely attractive, and should you ever need service , it's outstanding. I've gotten a good sound out of most of them.

I love my more expensive amps, and they sound better.

I Differ from some who feel the twin doesn't cut it . I can't imagine a gig where my twin isn't loud enough, but apparently, lots of you play in some really loud settings. I have a Blackface twin with a 15" JBL K 130, set up for clean steel. To my ears it sounds way better than any of my Peaveys. I'm not fond of hauling it up and down stairs, and it requires occasional maintainance, but it's a fantastic steel amp, and it can get loud as I'll ever need it.

I'll agree that Peavey logo is beyond ugly, but I've found its real easy to remove.

Different strokes for different folks. When I started playing steel, I bought a Fox mod Nashville 1000. I played it for a couple of years and it sounded good, but I was never blown away by it. Then, I walked into a local mom and pop guitar store and I spotted a 1973 Fender Vibrosonic Reverb. As soon as I got it home and plugged my steel in, I knew it was right for me. The only time I've plugged my Peavey in since then was when I had the reverb tank replaced on the Fender. I also found a great amp for small gigs. It's a 1979 Fender Princeton (non-reverb) that had been modified with a 12" speaker. Unlike the Princeton Reverb, the non-reverb model from that era is all headroom. I throw a reverb pedal in front of it and it's a great amp for bars and clubs in NYC.

Bill Moran.... what speaker in your MM?... My MM 65 sounds horrible with Steel.


As for Peavey... haven't played through a lot... have my Vegas... tried an original Session once and thought it was better than the Vegas.

I think if the Tube amp guys would post some side by side clips of themselves demonstrating how much better their tube amps sounds next to a Peavey, that would probably help clear this up.
If it were obvious to all that players using tube amps clearly have better chops and get better gigs than the Peavey users, that would help too I guess.
I use both, and grab one or the other as the feeling strikes me as I load up for a gig.
Doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me.
At a recent living room get together my $80 Peavey Pacer sounded identical to another guys $800 SF Princeton Reverb. He said "Why am I playing Fenders?" I'm like "I don't know".

I use both, and grab one or the other as the feeling strikes me as I load up for a gig.

Ditto.. including an old Peavey Bandit once in a while when the room dictates. I've reached the unfortunate conclusion that my skill, or lack thereof, has a MUCH greater impact on the sound than the amp I've decided to play through.

i love peavey. the way i reference it is that if buddy emmons can sound that good through a peavey, then you don't need anything different until you play better than
he does. if you are so incredible that a peavey doesn't cut it, then i'd love for you to demonstrate the difference.

Old peaveys are great because they sound amazing with steel and you can get them for next to nothing. I'm not even talking about steel-specific amps, I just mean the old peavey tube amps or hybrids (Deuce, Mace, Artist, Special, etc). I have an Artist with a 12"BW and a 12" Eminence extension cab, and I absolutely love this combo.

Old Peavey amps have tons of headrood, sound great with steel, and are widely available for about $200 on craigslist. The main downside to me is the weight of them... but that's the price you pay for these cheap workhorses that sound as good as amps that cost $1000 more.

My main amp is a Peavey Nashville 112, and I love it because it gives my steel a clear sound and tone. I've been using this amp for thirteen years now, and it's my favorite amp I've used and will use. For me, it's a great amp for playing at my house, at a steel show, or at church.

When N112s first came out I heard Doug Jernigan play through one with a Fessy and it was awesome.


Pete... you are making me miss my stolen Pacer.

the one thing about those old PVs... PVs generally... is you can dial in set and forget. .. I struggle with my tube amps magically changing tones while they rest. And then spending half my time dialing them in again. They are finicky.... but you cannot beat them for six string. I have more invested in tubes than would cost for most new SS amps. So tube amps can be money suckers..fer sure.

I have a Fox Modded Nashville 400 someone can have it when they can pry it from my cold dead fingers... I will never use nothing but a Nashville 400.... And I 1000% agree with what Chris Ivey said... Slim