Peaveys best kept secret!!!

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 29 Mar 2002 7:02 pm

In order to have a full line of amplifiers that steel players like and want to buy, We have been doing a lot of expermenting with the Peavey line of amps just to see if there was another amp possibility for the steel player. I have ordered many of their best possible amps and have made some intresting finds. Since we have the means and the facilitys to buy and test ALL of the Peavey line, AND having done so, we will share our findings with you all.
All of the Trans-Tube amps are workable and fine for lower power applications, it becoms very obvious that these units are really ment for lead guitar. NOW!! Here is the shocker! Two of these amps have pretty well knocked me out for use on steel guitar and we can recomend them highly.
1.--- The little tiny "Blazer 158 is a total killer for around the house,and low power uses. Sells for WAY less than $195.00. I mean, WAY LESS!! Sounds great and still packs a wollup! Reverb too!
2.----- This second amp will replace your biggin'
It is the "Classic 50" series. The one we tested strongly is the twin 12"model. It sounds more like a Fender twin than a Fender does! (There is also a four 10" mod avalible)If you like the tube sound , and I can understand this, this amp is the greatest! pressure cooled,VERY loud and the most beautiful amp in the world with "Old world " styling in yellow tweed. It is louder than my old Fender Twin from yesteryear. Not too heavy and not very expensive. If you want the old Fender sound, but new amp dependability,this is it.
Yep, this is a wonderful option for the player that wants to sound great , but not sound exactly like everyone else. Be careful though, your lead player will try very hard to beat you out of it.
Product test #1254 Steel Guitar Nashville.

Any product you would like to have tested before you spend your hard earned money?

Let us know. Brandy Waller at 615 822 5555, or e-mail above. We'll take the chance so you won't have to. [This message was edited by BobbeSeymour on 29 March 2002 at 07:04 PM.]

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 29 Mar 2002 7:06 pm

By the way, these amps need NO mods!

Larry Miller · Post by **Larry Miller** » 30 Mar 2002 10:00 am

I heard that Peavey Classic 50 today, It sounds GREAT!

Post by **Joey Ace** » 30 Mar 2002 5:02 pm

I don't see a "Blazer 158" listed on Peavey's web site, only a "Blazer II".

Is the "Blazer 158" still in production?

Bobby, Have you tried a "Blazer II" with Steel. It's a 15W 8" Speaker small amp.

Is that what the "Blazer 158" is/was?

-j0ey-

Lee Speck · Post by **Lee Speck** » 31 Mar 2002 10:32 am

Bobbe:

You really blue my mind with your
Peavy Bandit 158 recommendation. This being a 15 watt x 8" speaker flies in the face of all I thought was sacred when considering a PSG amp ie, must be at leat 100 watts into at least a 12" speaker. This seems to be the general concensus in all the threads I've seen concerning PSG amp requisites.

How do you explain your finding? It is the Bandit 158 Transtube currently available at one of the big retailer's that you are recommending isn't it?

Matt Steindl · Post by **Matt Steindl** » 31 Mar 2002 10:48 am

Lee, I dont think he is advocating taking a 15 watt 1x8" gigging. I think it would be used for low volume jam sessions and garage work.

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 31 Mar 2002 5:11 pm

I believe Curly Chalker used the the Peavey Classic 212 amplifier late in his career. It was a definate departure from the pair of Session 400 amps he previously used.

Interesting...hmmmm?

John Steele · Post by **John Steele** » 31 Mar 2002 5:38 pm

The Blazer 158 is the same as a Peavey Rage, except it has a built in reverb, where the Rage does not.
I've used a "rage" for years as a small-gig piano amp. I love it.
-John
p.s. I tried it as a practice steel amp one night, but I couldn't handle it. To each their own. [This message was edited by John Steele on 31 March 2002 at 06:42 PM.]

Danny Hullihen · Post by **Danny Hullihen** » 31 Mar 2002 6:57 pm

Lee. Peavey amplifiers are only available through authorized Peavey dealers, which may or may not be a big retailer. If you mean "big" such as Musicians Friend, or large chain stores such as Guitar Center, then no, you won't find Peavey amps there, or at least not new amps with a factory warranty. Also, not every Peavey dealer will have the complete line of Peavey amps.
This is not to say that you won't find a Peavey dealer who has most of everything Peavey makes, as there are some dealers that do. Every Peavey dealer is subject to Peavey's guidlines in what they can sell via strict product schedules.

For instance, an authorized Peavey dealer that stocks steel guitar amps doesn't necessarily mean that this particular dealer will have a Blazer or other type Peavey amp, or visa versa. If you check with Peavey's web site, they will direct you to a dealer in your area that stocks the type of amplifiers, or other type of Peavey gear you're looking for. This is a nice feature.

Regarding Bobbe's recommendation of the Transtube Blazer amp, I don't think Bobbe was necessarilly suggesting this amp to be used as a "steel guitar" amp, but rather a small, light weight amp that has great features which can be used as a small "practice" amp.

Generally speaking, it's pretty hard to use anything much less than 100 watts for pedal steel guitar applications, especially considering the extreme dynamics of this instrument. The sound spectrum of a pedal steel guitar is huge compared to most other instruments, which is one of the things that causes a lot manufacturers to pull their hair out when trying to design an amplifier to handle all of the sound curves that the steel guitar is capable of producing. This is one of those instruments that require a heluvalot of head room in order to be able to EQ it to produce the huge sound spectrum it's capable of, hence, the 200 to 300 watts of power you see being used on most steel amps, (Peavey, Webb, Evans, etc.)

In this case, we're talking about solid state amps, or in the case of the Nashville 1000, digital or "switch mode" amplifiers. Tubes amps are again a whole other story.

In any event, I hope this helps answer some of your questions/concerns. [This message was edited by Danny Hullihen on 31 March 2002 at 07:08 PM.]

Ricky Littleton · Post by **Ricky Littleton** » 1 Apr 2002 2:58 am

I re-tubed a Peavey Classic in my shop once, and played my LeGrande through it and was likewise impressed! I love the tube sound anyway and this one was nice. Good an bright with the mids and highs and fully of body in the lows!

My $.02 worth.

Ricky

------------------
Emmons LeGrande - 8x4
Session 400 Ltd
Alesis Microverb
Dan-Echo, E-Bow

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 2 Apr 2002 2:06 pm

All you guys are hitting it right on the head! Great advise and yes, on the little 158, I meant it only for in house local bedroom VERY inexpensive good little fun amp. They would work great if you used 24 of them on a gig. Ha!

Bobbe

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 2 Apr 2002 2:08 pm

Lee, all these other guys have answered your questions better than I could have. We have some smart old pros here.

Danny Hullihen · Post by **Danny Hullihen** » 2 Apr 2002 3:03 pm

Lee. The Peavey "Bandit" and Blazer are two different amps. The older model Bandit amp was 65 watts into a 12" Scorpion speaker. The new model Transtube Series Bandit amp is 80 watts RMS into a 12" Sheffield 1230 speaker.

The Peavey Blazer is 15 watts into an 8" super-duty Blue Marvel speaker. The Blue Marvel is one of Peavey's latest designs, and is being used in several of their amps now.

If you're looking for a small light weight amp with a lot of nice features, you might want to check out the new Peavey Transtube 112EFX,(65 watts,)or 212 EFX,(100 watts rms.) These amps have built in effects that include a flanger, delay, octaver, touch wha, reverb, rotating speaker, chorus, phaser, and tremelo, and you can program this amp to use three of the presets at a time. These amps also has many other features besides the ones I've named here.

Lee Speck · Post by **Lee Speck** » 2 Apr 2002 4:12 pm

I mistakenly referred to the little PV 15 x 8 as a Bandit 158 when in fact I meant Blazer 158. The Blazer 158 is apprently the same as the Blazer Rage II. ( Who's on first? )

Anyhow thanks to all who responded. By the way, I went and got one.

slick · Post by **slick** » 2 Apr 2002 4:27 pm

Hey Bobbe,
Ever tried a Peavey Bandit 112?If so how do you rate it.

Slickster

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 2 Apr 2002 11:31 pm

Slick, A good amp for it's size! Unfortunatly, no longer being mfg.
(good to hear from you!)
Bobbe

Danny Hullihen · Post by **Danny Hullihen** » 3 Apr 2002 2:59 am

Peavey still makes the Bandit amp. It's now called the Transtube Bandit II. 80 Watts into a 12" speaker, and weighs about 45 pounds. The new Bandit has a lot more features than the older model Bandit had.

Mike Brown · Post by **Mike Brown** » 3 Apr 2002 9:50 am

The Transtube Bandit II is one of our flagship models for guitar. As you can tell by Bobby's and Danny's comments, any of the previous Bandit models will work, and work well for low to medium volume level applications. Check them out at your local Peavey dealer. Here's is the dealer locator link off of the Peavey website;http://www.peavey.com/support/dealerlocator/

Also, I would like to mention that at the Texas Steel Guitar Jamboree last weekend, Jeff Newman played through the new Peavey Transtube 112EFX in the Peavey Demo Room. This is the amp that Danny mentions above and this amp performs well in low volume/rehearsal type applications.

Mike Brown
Peavey Electronics Corporation

Jeff Peterson · Post by **Jeff Peterson** » 3 Apr 2002 8:50 pm

The Classic 50 2X12 is nice...I like the 4X10 a little better. These are clean, warm sounding amps that will put the hurt on a F Bassman. Fan cooled, reverb, 2 channels(useable), and loud. One will carry you well through a medium-sized hall w/no mic. Two will take you anywhere. On pickup dates in town I've used the Classic 50 with a Nashville 400 together, just bringing the 400 up enough to augment the 50.....nice! Nothing quite like real tubes, affordable too. Alot of people think that larger numbers translates into louder sound....don't let the '50' nomenclature fool you. Perceived volume on these amps is about as great as the solid-state amps.(Hint for an informed someone to do a thread on this.)

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 4 Apr 2002 12:10 pm

Jeff knows everything you would ever want to know about anything! I know, I taught him myself!!!

KENNY KRUPNICK · Post by **KENNY KRUPNICK** » 5 Apr 2002 12:12 pm

Bobbe, what about a Peavey Special 130 with a 12" scorpion speaker? These are no longer made,but you can find used ones. Music-go- round has a few of them.

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 7 Apr 2002 7:05 am

Kenny, it will work fine however the previous "boxie" comments do prevail, but if you use two or more of these amps a time, you might be very pleasently suprised! I know a guy that uses four of them and they sound terrific! Yep, the special 130 with the scorpion spkr. Think of the discount you'd get buying four at once!!!

Bobbe.

Steven Welborn · Post by **Steven Welborn** » 7 Apr 2002 12:03 pm

Jeff...or anybody...would you say the Classic 4/10 held up the bottom end as well or better than the 2/12 model?

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 7 Apr 2002 1:25 pm

Yes! Same amount of wetted area (square inches) but better in the voice coil power possibly. The disadvantage is the cabinet size to move around.

Bobbe

Steve Stallings · Post by **Steve Stallings** » 8 Apr 2002 6:01 pm

I cover some regular guitar chores in addition to steel in my band. I use the Classic 50212 and get good results. I've used it at a few practices for steel and enjoyed the sound....very "twinish".

I think that peavey also has some older amps out there also named the Classic? If memory serves me these are not tube like the 50212, but transistor. Maybe Bobbe or Mike could clarify.

------------------
Steve Stallings
Bremond, Texas