The Steel Guitar Forum

Which model Peavey amp does Jim play?

Haven’t seen him recently but Nashville 400 with 1501 BW was what he normally uses.

Great! I am getting a 400 Saturday, so I will sound like Jim Saturday night. The band is going to be so impressed.

Well there's many more factors in Jim's settings and tone you might check with him on what he sets all of his dials, as I've never seen anyone set their knobs on those numbers on a Nashville 400 also Jim plays a 1965 push-pull Emmons and sometimes switches between both necks on, to cut some ohms from one neck that he is playing. Then there's his hands are incredibly perfect at striking the strings and position of the bar.
So if you do all of that then you'll sound close to Jim loessberg , ...good luck.
Ricky

I know if I sit down at Jim's guitar, I am not going to sound like him. I would of course like to have his settings but there is a 99% chance they won't work for me. Ricky, your comment about Jim switching necks for different ohms is interesting. I am inferring that he has two E-9 necks, and why not.

And don’t forget George you have to chew on an Allen wrench for that floating magnetic field and hold your mouth just right.

George; what I mean about switching between both necks, is he has of course E9 and C6 necks and you can switch to either neck by itself; but when you switch to the middle position of the switch; that puts both necks on...but since both necks have signal going to them(with out a power booster) it will cut ohms in the pickups for both necks...so when playing the E9 neck normally at lets say 18,000 ohms; now with both necks on, the E9 neck will have less ohms in its signal(not sure how much on a emmons; haven't had one in 25 years..ha...but like 12,000 ohms....and gives it a cool old thinner sound.
Ricky

Ricky, thanks for c!earing that up. Danny, I don't know whether to take your remark about the Allen wrench literally or not. I know Jim moves his mouth when playing. I thought he was mouthing the words. Buddy Emmons hummed. I keep my mouth open a lot. This is where the comparison ends when putting me in the same camp as Jim and Buddy.

BTW, I'll try anything. Do you know what size Allen wrench?

I too am a fan of Jim 's playing, But, I have realized that his tone comes from his hands, I had to learn the HARD Way. That we all have different ways of playing the same song. Which way is the best you ask? They are all correct.There is no exact way to do play the song. We play it the way we feel it.
Tommy Shown

Ricky,

I just tried your trick and by golly you're right. I'd never have thought to do that but now that you've explained it it makes perfect sense.

Very cool, thanks!

Skeeter

Ok of course Tommy Shown is very correct about the hands. Here's another example of that. I went to see Jim play one night at little honky tonk in Austin. He was playing with Justin Trevino and he asked if I had my picks, why don't I get up and play on his (at that time '64 push-pull Emmons) a few songs and of course I said yes indeed. So I got up and kicked the next song off and played half way through and he came right back up and said in my ear:"Ricky I have never heard a push pull emmons sound like a Sho~bud; how in the hell are you doing that??"...ha...
Well to me; your hands will deliver what you have in your head on what you want to hear.
Ok from Jim; here is his setting on his Nashville 400.
---------------
Amp: Stock.
Bright Switch: On.
Pre Gain and Post Gain: Equal.
Bass: Wide open.
Mid: Off to just barely on, depending on room.
Shift: 3:00.
Treble: 10:00 -- 11:00, depending on room.
Presence: Wide open.
When I record at home I use slightly less treble since the mic I like tends to be fairly bright.

Best,

Jim
---------------
Ricky[/quote]

Ricky (and Jim) I appreciate the settings very much. It has been a few years since I have played a Peavey, but I do remember my settings and they vary from Jim's quiet a bit. When I get the amp Saturday, I certainly will give these a try with my 82 Zum and tweak according!y. The amp I am getting has an EV SRO 15B speaker, so we will not be on the same page. I have had two Emmons PP's, so I think that is a big factor.

Rick, my assessment is that Jim, like you, is an intelegent guy that doesn’t seem to be restrainted alot by the limits of conventional wisdom. And George find your own sweet setup. If you are like me it will cost you a lot of money to find out what you had to start with was fine. Just sayin!

Danny, I'm with you 100%. In my 50 years of playing, the setting I got from Buddy Emmons for my Session 500 is the on!y time I have been able to use somebody else's settings. We were both playing Emmons PP's at the time. Like countless others, I have been chasing Buddy's tone for my whole life. Will never happen, I'm not Buddy. It is still a big help to try other people's settings to get me in the ballpark.

Ricky,
the setup above is completely new to me.
I'm always used roughly the standard setup for E9th and C6th which came along with Peavey Amp.
Any suggestions how I can do better?

Detlef

I'm sorry Detief; I don't own or have a Peavey in 20 years. That is Jim Loessbergs setting on his Nashville 400.
I only use Fender BlackFaced Twin; with K-130's from JBL....and I don't even have to change my settings EVER; no matter what I plug into it or tuning played. That's why I don't play Peavey; as I had to change it all the time at every place I play......to me that is the difference between solid state and tubes.
Ricky

Ricky, thanks a lot for your reply.

Any other suggestions from the community here on the Session 400? What is your setup?

It’s nice to get other players settings, particularly if you own the same model amp.

It gives you a good place to start.

If you don’t have the same axe, pickups, and volume pedal, results will vary.

Of course we are leaving the player out of the equation, but that’s a given.

I saw Jim play his Emmons at the Dallas show, and it was the coolest tone of the whole show.

I started when I was 38 & am 70. It’s all still a mystery to me. I take a photo of the knobs, I try someone else’s setting. Some suck, some are fair. I think, that’s not to bad, just needs a little tweak here & there. When I finish, I look at the photo & it’s all right back where I started. Go figure. Some days I pull the cover off the guitar & flip the amp on & it sounds different than it did yesterday. Demons in the electricity or demons in my head?

I just sold my Nashville 400 . I didn't sound like Jim.

Danny,
I like the idea with the demons but I have to think about where they are located, amp, head, finger or elsewhere.

Peavey 400 users: what are your settings?

Detlef

Ricky, your old mentor Tom Brumley also kept the neck selector switch in the middle when playing double neck ZB guitars. Said it gave him a different sound that he liked.

Y’all are probably getting tired of my endless chatter, but when you have both necks on, how do prevent sympathetic vibrations and such on the neck you aren’t using. I can see that you might keep your arm on the back neck when you’re playing the front, but what about vice versa?

At one time, the Session 500 was king of the hill and the steel players would all plug into it at Scotty's convention.
When they got up to play the amp was already pre-set to their favorite settings.