The Best $200 Guitar Amp - The Peavey Special 130 - Ask Zac 142
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
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The tale of the greatest $200 amp on the planet, the 80s Peavey Special 130.
Amazon link to Peavey book amzn.to/3F0YlFl
Gear Used:
1957 Fender Esquire with a 1954 neck pickup, and original bridge pickup. Restoration and aging on the body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Both pickups were rewound by Ron Ellis. Pickguard design by Jay & Kristi Smith of Juicebox Designs.
Strings:
D'Addarion NYXL 10-46
Pick:
Blue Chip TPR 35
Amp:
1984 Peavey Special 130
#askzac #peaveyspecial130 #zacchilds
A most excellent episode. When I played with Jerry Reed in the early to mid 1980s we were Peavey road warriors. Nashville 400s and Special 130s were the workhorse amps of the day. They always worked and once you mastered the midrange control you were golden.
Yes the midrange is where it’s at. And it’s a very useful midrange too which you can use to cut through the mix in a live situation if need be. However I was not a big fan of their speakers.
My Dad is mostly a Peavey Guy. Two Session 400's and a Nashville 400. Then another something (Atlas?) 400 with a telonics amp thrown in too....lol. Myself, I am an Ampeg (Bass) and Fender (Guitar) guy.
I had one...Should have NEVER gotten rid of it..
@@guitareveryone my classic 100 4x10 has some really nice sounding square magnet Eminence speakers from the 70s.
Amos Moses!
My Bandit 65 from the same era is a workhorse. The Special 130 and the Bandit 65 were always pro amps where I'm from. A lot of cats made a whole lot of cash rockin' Peavey. They sounded great and you could hammer rail spikes with the amp and then play yer gig.
I had the crunchy 100 watt Bandit
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ah ha
🤣🤣🤣
Been playing the same Bandit 65 since 1985. Changed the original speaker to a Black Widow in 1990 . I can't turn it up past 2, too damn loud 😂
Merle Haggard had a wall of Peaveys back in the day…I’ve got to tell you it was one of the best sounds I’ve ever heard ❤ sad that he’s gone
I agree I saw him live in 1991 and their sound was incredible. Every amp on the stage was a Peavey. I'd always been a Fender guy but I was blown away by their tone.
Wow . Amazing. Thumbs up.
I am late to this video, but just have to add- the house amp at the Continental Club Gallery here in Austin is a special 130. I always bring my 64 Princeton reverb, but one night it went down and I had to use the Peavey. I was blown away! Many years ago I used an old Peavey Rage practice amp that belonged to the engineer of a session I was on, and I was blown away. I played one of my buddies Peavey Wolfgang EVH guitars a while back and I was blown away. I am ashamed to admit that I went into each of these instances with my nose turned up before being proven wrong. Unjustified bias can be so strong, and I really hope to keep a more open and less pretentious mind in the future. Thank you for this video!
These Peavey combos like this and the Bandits are the sound of my childhood basically. These amps were dirt cheap and widely available. My main rig for a few years was a pair of Bandit 112s and my experience that everybody thought I sounded great, unless they saw what amps I was using.
🤣😆😁😜🤣
Part of what makes Zac's videos enjoyable is that, unlike a lot of UA-camrs, he doesn't MIX HIS VOICE REALLY LOUD or cut out the pauses in his speech. Sounds very conversational and less like an advertisement. God willing, these qualities will catch on again
In the early eighties I had a used Peavy Classic 100 with 4 10" speakers - beast of an amp, weight and sound wise. I think I sold it in order to get a small Crate amp - the crazy things we do when chasing tone and didn't have the internet/research resources like now. This channel would have made a huge difference to my 18 year old self back in the day! Keep up the great work Zac.
Thank you!
Just saw this. I had a 70s classic 100 410. It was MAGIC. ive searched for another and cant find one. Transformer finally died and i didnt know if,how, or where to get it replaced. Traded it in a bundle of gear for Marshall bc we were playing a lot of classic rock tunes then.
@@toddwilliams4442 look around little pawn shops all over the Cumberland gap region... There was a ton of local live music back in the day in little hole in the wall joints etc... Not to mention all the church pa systems etc... But I legit know of at least one pawn shop in south eastern Kentucky that has always had a wall of peavey's sitting around when ya walk in the door. Ya see them everywhere down there. I have had so many different model peavey's that were that style with the blue and silver colors.... Idk how many rage 158s I had. Envoy 110... Bandit 212... Deuce 212... Some models that were newer that had some basic modelling but I believe those had the red colors by that time.
@@toddwilliams4442 hellyeah i have a classic 4x10 that i picked up in an MSU alley after the college kids were moving out for the year! Score! It works and has for 7 years now! The original 10" eminence speakers sound amazing!
I had a Special 130 in college in the mid 80s. Almost got me kicked out of my dorm when I put it in the window, turned it all the way up, and jammed away. I was told people could hear it a mile away.
Rock and Roll.
Haha😅😅 In the window?!!!
The first Peaveys I ever saw was with a group named David and the Giants in late sixties Mississippi. When I first saw Brent M. with Don Kelley he had two Peavey Bandits. I guess he switched to 130s later. In my circle I think Brent started the trend of playing in stereo. Good job Zac!!! I called some of my dog Fenders Chinese Whistlers because they sucked big time. I did see Robben Ford in NYC with a red knob Twin and sounded really good. A music store in Murphreesboro, Tn told me to take home a Classic 50 for the weekend and I came back on Monday and purchased it.
Glad you made this video. Been trying to narrow it down before these prices go way up. Once people start seeing all these late 80s country acts all using them. Saw Dickey betts playing an old peavey recently.
Man this video was made for me! I love Peavey. I've played my Strat and Tele's through my 84 nashville 400 since 84! Recently acquired an 80's session 500 that might become my favorite. Both of mine have BW speakers and are awesome. Thanks Zac! I've also got a Peavey Falcon and a Reactor that are very nice for the money. Again, I love Peavey.
I had that same amp.. it had a high frequency horn in. Really good amp for acoustic guitars too. For the life of me, I can’t recall what I did with it, ha!
I know you're a busy man and I really appreciated you presenting Peavey amps in the way you have. One of a musician's greatest limitation is to get hung up on brands as the basis for choosing tools. The Classic line is still one of the best going. Not to be confused with Peavey's Classic hybrids from the late 70s, maybe before and yes they were decent amps as well. Someday, if you get the time, an interesting presentation is the Peavey T 60 guitars which were played more than is commonly known. In it's time it was the most innovative guitar on the market, allowing coil splitting in a very unique way and well as in and out of phase. The complaints today are "too heavy" . No more than a Les Paul. The neck is too thin. The T 60 was a solid built instrument and below the going prices of the big 2 brands of the day. Just a suggestion. I am a prehistoric boomer who appreciates what you do here.
One of the best pseudo Marshall tones I ever heard was a dude using a Boss DS-1 into a Peavey Classic head into a Peavey 4x12. It was fantastic.
Now you can buy a windsor and rock a full stack.
Yeah one of those Bosses would be great through a Peavey amp and the 4X12. Wish I'd known about the SD-1 earlier, I used one of those MXR distortion +'s for the first year or so I had my Peavey. Sounded pretty good. A buddy turned me onto the Boss and I gigged with that for well over a decade-loved it!
The Mid/Shift knobs are key. Really allows ya to dial out the boxy nature found in the Bandits.
My S130 is from 1982. All stock, still rockin’! 100% support that it’s the biggest bang for the buck.
I knew many pickers in the 80s that retired their Twins for Renowns and Special 130s.
I really love the tone of your playing on that old Telecaster. It may sound weird, but your playing has a very healing sound. I use Peavey T-60 guitars and have since the early 1980's. Glad to see Peavey get their dues for years of great gear Hartley and his crew designed. I'm a native son of Picayune, Mississippi and am proud Hartley did what he did over in Meridian. Hartley Peavey was a manufacturing and engineering genius. He incorporated Computer Numeric Control and modernized guitar manufacturing, years before Fender or others figured this out. A true American innovator.
Thanks!
The T series is incredible!!! I've owned a T60 and now own a T15. My favorite Strat is an early 90s Predator with Texas specials. Yes Peavey deserves a lot more respect!!!
Wow this brought back some memories! My first amp was a Special 130. I think Dad paid $250 for a used one back in the early 90's. As you can imagine, I was super happy, since I had been playing through my friends' second inputs.
I just bought a PV Stereo Chorus 400, which is basically two of these in the same enclosure plus a chorus and vibrato control. Peavey knew how to do solid state in the 80s and 90s. Pretty much like new, includes footswitch and dust cover for $120 from original owner. Unbelievable value!
I have to admit, I was not expecting you to say that you were from Kingsville Texas. I’m from Hebbronville. I live in Fort Worth now, but I was just doing some research on decent, Inexpensive Peavey amps and stumbled across this. Thanks for the info.
Well, I guess I’m assuming that everyone knows where Hebbronville is. It’s only an hour south of Kingsville. The closest grocery store to us was in Kingsville.
The great harmonica player Billy Branch uses a Peavey Special 130 and he never disappoints! Great episode!
It's a sad, sad state of afairs, that Peavey amps sound as good as they do, are made in America, and I wouldnt feel cool having one on stage compared to a Two-Rock or vintage Marshall. You deserve better Peavey!
I would rather have an old cheap reliable Peavey over a Marshall or Two Rock as i would have no shame performing with a cheap Peavey or Crate amp
Oh I would.
I'd take a 1981 Peavey Bandit 65 or my current Bandit 112 over any tube amp on the market for a gigging amp... if I still carried an amp to gigs.
At age 60, with an old back injury, I use an ampless rig that works swimmingly.
At home, I love most all amps.
But gigging where I need a multitude of distortion and overdrive sounds without causing my overall volume to be affected, if I did carry an amp, it would be my Peavey amp set clean with a pedalboard.
That rig gives me complete contol over every aspect of my sound, at all times, in all venues, with varying acoustics.
Peavey's only crime? Being affordable.
Special 130 was my amp all through the ‘80s. Never let me down. Plenty loud, good tone. May have to go find another one.
My first amp that I bought in the early 80s was a Peavey Studio Pro 40. I paid around $140 for it. I gigged with it in bars. Best bang for your buck piece of gear I have ever owned. I had to get it repaired once and I paid about $60. It is still going strong 40 years later. I lent it to a friend of mine who’s learning how to play. I still think it might be the best practice amp I’ve ever had. Great video Zac!
Well Done!
Still have my Peavey Renown! So heavy! That Chorus was the poor mans Roland 120. Peavey Reliable! We all have heard of the drops Peavey amps have survived!
I bought a Peavey Studio Pro 40 new in 1984 . Did a lot of small gigs with that little monster . Still have it . I put a Jensen 12 inch speaker in it a few years ago and it sounds great .
The Studio Pro 40 is super cool, the little brother to the Bandit, which is the middle child to the Special 130. All so good! The SP40 has the cool EDI line out jack, which I wish was on all of the amps of the era.
Zach, thanks so much for this video. I bought a Special 130 back in 1985 and used it for every gig, rehearsal, and practice. It was my only amp. Kept it through the early 90s. I played Country, Jazz, Pop, Blues, Rock, Prog, Fusion and it worked great for everything I need to play. Played Teles, Strats, and 335s through it. I think I need to get another one. Other than it being heavy, I can't say anything bad about it.
My first amp was a little Peavey, solid state, learned all my first famous riffs on it. Moved on to 70s Marshall stacks with pedals hitting the front end, which is a whole other thing in itself, but Peavey today has come a long way to creating amps for every possible sound guitarists are searching for instead of just being known as the amp company with one sound.
I had a Peavey Bandit late 80’s to mid 90’s. Plenty of gigs played with it, recorded with it too. They were great, some of the best transistor amps for sure.
I was into to Southern rock growing up in GA in the 70's. I remember seeing bands like Molly Hatchet and of course Lynyrd Skynyrd with Peavey amps. Also, I remember seeing them on stages for some country slingers as well. I remember seeing them and Ovation guitars allot in those days. The old solid state Peaveys still hold up pretty well - not a bad amp to have and you can pick them up cheap.
Used one at a rehearsal space in the 80’s. I am a tube amp guy, but this Peavey is fantastic!
I had a bandit 65 as a 17 year old and loved that amp, and even recorded an album with it when I turned 30. And it sounded phenomenal. Like a fool I traded it. However, I recently found a Peavey 212 Renown, and I paid a simple $250 for it, and it Rivals my Fender half stack. I love that amp, I have always loved Peavey I never got on the bandwagon of dissing them, and I'm proud to say, I feel 17 years old all over again, loud and proud with this amazing amplifier. Love it! And yes, even with a simple Scorpion speakers American made 1980s Peavy, my bandmates are like, "uh, dang that's loud bro." Hehe....
Built and created an entirely new stompbox pedal unit to go with it. Including an original Tube Screamer stomp box that I also bought when I was 17 , and I swear I don't know that I will ever go back to digital again. Clean and pristine and loud and proud! Peavey amps all day long!
Great amp. I bought one in '84. Still got it. You're point about that midrange/shift control being the key to a great sound is spot on. I couldn't figure it out at first but once I did it made a huge difference.
The 130 was apparently used by a lot of steel players also. I use to play with Cal Freeman, Gatemouth Brown's pedal steel player, and when Cal saw it, he told me about it being used by lots of touring musicians, and wanted to buy it if I ever felt like selling.
It still works great and seems to be indestructible. One of the guys I play with now uses it.
I wanted to ask you for a Peavey episode for a long time, and you did it! I own a couple of solid state Peavey made in the USA which I really love.
Well done, as usual
I’ve gigged and recorded with many silver panel peaveys. Special 130s are great but too heavy for me. My favorites are the Studio Pro series. It’s funny when gear snobs are shocked by the great sound😊
My buddy had a bandit 65 in 82/83. He had a late 70s hardtail Strat. Heavy but killer. His band covered a lot of different rock and new wave. That peavey kicked ass! Amazing bang for the buck! Tks Zac!
Great video! I live in the UK and I’ve got a Bandit 65 which I bought at a car boot sale around 20 years ago for £5, ( about 6 USD I think). The guy selling it told me that one of the inputs wasn’t working, I took it home and opened it up to discover that the jack socket had been twisted round and a connection had snapped off, I soldered it back on and the amp has been working perfectly ever since. It’s an amazingly reliable and versatile little amplifier that sounds great which cost me peanuts.
My second amp was a Bandit 65 too. I still regretting selling it. When I was working in the A/V industry, we used a lot of Peavey power amps and mics, and they stand a lot of beating. When the change their XLR plugs to plastic from the metal ones, that's when it began to go down.
Great info thanks for makeing this video. I gig with a Peavey Special and a Peavey Bandit currently. It's the best designed gigging amp i have ever come across for sure! They are magic and extremly well desinged!
Can the Special get as much overdrive as the Bandit?
@InGrindWeCrust2010 yes
Been playing a Classic 30 for a few years now. It IS NOT a USA made amp but sounds great and has a lot of versitility. I might mention the looks and build are top shelf.
Planned Obsolescence - I had a used Roland Cube. I had it repaired. I had it repaired again. The repair people told me that the "main board" had problems. The price for a new board for the old amp was astronomical. Now Roland sells the Katana. I've been told it too would be non-repairable. Then I see this old Peavey that chugs on and on. I'm strictly a beginner amateur, but when I pull stuff from the closet, I expect it to work.
Played many a 130 downtown on Broadway back in the day w/Charlie Vaughn and had to punch them a bit sometimes.. Thanks for the time setting detail about other manufacturers. The Mesa’s back then were way different than what they turned into, like what Charlie Daniels played, which I believe they were Mark 1’s but his were highly modified.
You really are a fantastic historian of all things Guitar/country! No surprise and Brad were kindred spirits at Belmont! Thanks for all of the interesting content! Great seeing you last month at the luncheon! You are a fantastic guy, please keep the content coming and teaching us all of this!! Your channel keeps on getting better along with your TrueTone Longe interviews. I watched every moment of the Redd interviews and the Don Kelley stuff!!
I bought a Special 130 in the 80s from Bourgeois-Tagg/Todd Rundgren/Sting guitarist, Lyle Workman and it served me well for many years.
Thank You Zak!
I bought a Bandit 65 in 1981 because I could afford it. It was my first gigging amp and I moved on to other amps a couple years later, but I kept the Bandit in the closet. 2 Weeks ago I pulled the Bandit out to do a stereo setup and it sounds great! The overdrive channel and the clean channel compare very well with modern amps! And, as you pointed out, they Ain't Expensive!
I bought a Bandit 65 in new in 1986 for $249 on sale, I had it for about three years before I sold it for $200. I sure miss that amp, it was plenty loud enough to play with a loud drummer but it was also possible to use it at bedroom volume without it sounding thin and lifeless. I had a Rat distortion pedal, a Ibanez or Boss chorus pedal and Digitech digital delay, it was great fun. I've also had a few other models too, a Rage 158 and an Express 112. I don't know about now, but back then Peavey amps were great value for the money
I just picked up a 1983 Peavey Renown 400 Vegas Model with an 15” Black Widow speaker. I never liked Peavey amps as a youngster, everybody had one though. I got this Peavey for free and planned on cleaning it up and trading it in for something else, but thing sounds better than any other Peavey I’ve ever heard! So now I think I’ll keep it, maybe.
Thanks, Zac. After seeing your review, I went out and found an '85 Special 130 and brought it home last night. $130. Good times ahead, for sure.
In the 1970s I was a pedal steel guitar player. My hero was Buddy Emmons. At the time, he had fully embraced the Peavey Session 400, specifically with the Peavey Black Widow speaker. I haed to have one so I got rid of my JBL-equippeed twin and bought one of the Peaveys. I loved it. As usual, Buddy's taste was impeccable.
hi Zac. i bought my fist tube amp in 1998 it was a classic 30. i ended up trading it for a fender deville 2x12 to keep up with the other guitarist in the band at the time. i then spent the next 20 years playing bass in bands instead and had no need for a guitar amp. i recently picked up my 2nd classic 30 its a 2003 model and i LOVE it ive always regretted selling the
1st one.
i bought the 2nd amp through gumtree for $400 aus dollars . i was going on holidays and flying out of the goldcoast airport, so the day before my flight i met the seller on the side of the road and bought the amp sight unseen. best value amp and i play it every day. love the channel
My first purchase after earning some gigging money was a Peavey Renown. Great versatility. Lots of power and used it for years on the bandstand
My dad gave me a Special 130 for my 17th birthday that had a 10” speaker shoved into it. Knowing nothing about music he still replaced the speaker with a Emmince Texas Heat 12” and I still can’t come even close to that tone I was able to get from it ❤
I have a 1994 Peavey Bandit 112 that is still cranking. It makes for a great foundation amp for pedals. And you can virtually throw it off a roof of a 5-story building and it’ll still work. Made in Mississippi. 12” Sheffield Speaker.
Same here. It looks like a metal machine but has gorgeous, dynamic cleans and really lush spring reverb. I got mine for $100.
@@zbthunderwood Yes. Amazingly great amps.
I bought an '86 Peavey Special 130 new and gigged with it for 30 years, mostly without a backup. I kept it in the band trailer year-round. I can only imagine how hot and cold it got. Mine has plywood and weighs about 45 pounds. I bought an '86 Bandit with MDF which weighed almost as much as the Special. I built a paulownia cabinet for it and got it down to 32 lbs! Built like tanks.
Well said! My current Peavey arsenal and backline includes a vintage hybrid 70's Peavey Artist/15" BW, Special 130/BW, 70's Mace amp head and Mace combo/2x12" BW, Roadmaster amp head/6/6l6 tubes, Session 500/15" BW, two Mark Bass IV amp heads, Vegas combo/2x12" Scorpions. Once also had the hybrid Heritage/2x12" BW and Max 800-watt bass amp head. Through it all, I've experienced very little to no repairs or maintenance. All are real workhorse amps!!
I remember seeing Peavey amps everywhere as a kid in the 90s... Still remember seeing the pawnshops full of them when I went looking in them as a teenager too.
Shhh, you're gonna make the price of Peaveys go up! Great video Zac, as someone who has loved Lynyrd Skynyrd since I was a kid and never had much of a budget for gear I've played several Peavey amps over the years. The one I have now is a Triumph 60. It was Hartley's answer to the Mesa Boogie, and the 120 watt version was the weapon of choice of Adrian Vandenberg from Whitesnake. Absolutely brilliant amp, two gain stages, spring reverb and a 12inch Scorpion speaker. Ironically I bought it for the great clean channel, but all the insanity you want is right there in the foot switch. Eventually I would love to find a Peavey Roadmaster or a Mace, maybe both. That Special 130 sounds great, a lot of people don't know that Peavey's first commercially sold amp was a transistor amp called the Musician, and it was a hit as well.
It' even worse: May 2023 and I cannot find a Special 130 for sale anywhere
@@jwwesterink3162 I know where there's a pile of Peavey amps. Shoot me an email address. Not sure on a 130 but he has several tube amps.
One of the best sounding amps I have ever used. Incredibly powerful and crystal clean.
It really is!
Those 130's are SO loud! ha ha gotta love 'em.
My first legit new bought amp was a 88 Peavey Stereo Chorus 212. About a year later I cut the box in half and made it into a head for a Laney 4x12. Fantastic.
I had one of those too!
I still have in my collection a Peavey Classic 2-12 (50W) from the 70's. A little wear from use, but still sounds great. A testament to the build quality. The amp is dear to m heart because of the sound and the memories of many gigs.
My first good amp was a Peavey Classic 50 head. I bought it re an article I read some 25 years ago where some fella named Dann Huff was in a studio doing a session, and he plugged into a Classic 50. When the session was over it was reported that he walked out of the studio with it. I've also seen a Classic 50 in Brent Masons amp rack, so to me that speaks volumes (pun intended, maybe). I played that Peavey for 15 years until I bought a Dr Z Maz 38 1x12 combo, and oddly enough it was loaded with 4 EL84's like the Classic 50 - I guess that Peavey got me infected with that tube tone bug. What helped that Classic 50 for me also was I contacted Myles Rose at his Amplifier Blueprinting web page and he suggested some better tubes for it, and that made it even better. Great post Zac! Thanks for all that you contribute to the music/player community!
Hi from Canada Zac. Really pleased to discover this video this morning. I purchased new, a Peavey Special 130 in 1982, shortly after emigrating from the UK to Canada, I was living up in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario at the time. I still own the amp to this day, and it sits in my home studio alongside a 65 Deluxe Reverb. I used the Peavey throughout the 80's and 90's with several bands that I played in. It has never failed me once, and has had zero maintenance in 40 years that I've owned it. I re-sprayed the MDF cabinet in a pearl grey a few years ago and it looks very elegant. It is hands down the loudest amp I've ever owned and I've owned Vox, Marshalls, Fenders and a few lesser known brands. Interestingly, back in the UK, I once owned a Simms Watts Ike Isaacs combo - also a solid state amp which I absolutely loved, and the Peavey Special 130 I found to be very similar to it sonically, though of course the Simms-Watts did not have a switchable overdrive feature. Anyway, thank you for letting folks know about these fabulous amps, and of course for all of the great videos that you have done / are doing. Hope you're well.
Thanks for sharing, Colin. Glad to hear from you
A first generation peavey rage was my very first amp about 30 years ago. It bit the dust in the very early 2000s. I bought another one last year and it’s identical!
Nice review…my first good amp was a 1982 special 130 I definitely didn’t know how to use it back then fast forward to 2022 and I was given a non working peavey pacer…a few cold solders later and it sounds so good… I probably own 10 tube amps but have been gigging with the peavey for 2 months thanks again Zac
I had a pair of these that I toured with back in 1989. They were almost indestructible. Mine had 12" Black Widow speakers, which were the gold standard in the 80's.
It isn't my favorite tone but it is entirely usable on stage.
I had my main amp tumble down a flight of stairs, fall off a gig case, fall off the back of the bus and have dozens of drinks spilled on it. I never had to work on it a single time.
😊😊😊
Some other indestructible pieces of Peavey gear were the CS800 power amps and SP2 PA speakers. We seldom had to repair any of our Peavey gear. Double tough.
My favorite 80's amp was an L9 Lab Series. That had an onboard compressor that was really good. Wish someone would make a Lab Series compressor pedal. 😊😊😊
I used to see a lot of Mesa Boogie stacks on the road with country pickers...and tons of rack gear.
I'm 49 and started playing guitar in 1985. My first amp was a little Peavey Decade. It was great but I needed to upgrade after a few years to compete with the drummer in my first band in rehearsals and gigs. I eventually upgraded to a used Peavey Bandit 65. It was awesome. Loud enough and it sounded great. I didn't even need any pedals for the classic rock music I was playing at the time. It's amazing how we all turned our back and turned up our noses at those 80's Peavey amps. I tip my hat to them. Josh Homme from the legendary band Queens of the Stone Age said his little Peavey Decade has been the secret studio guitar tone of the band for 25 years. Great episode Zac. Keep 'em comin'!!!
NICE! I did not know that man, I love QOTSA and have seen them live a couple times. I've followed the desert/stoner rock scene since he was in Kyuss, and all the poorer bands in less pop scenes had to use amps they could actually afford and Peavy always delivered. I've played them and think some are fantastic, I am soooo sick of all the so called "experts" going on and on about what sounds "good" and what is "terrible," the bottom line is if you are a musician that plays all the time and is a gigging regularly or in a band then you know how to make most anything work. All these bedroom "hotshots" trying to gatekeep when if you were shove them on a stage with less than ideal gear and say make it work or you ain't eating tonight, then you see that it's not the gear doing most of the heavy lifting but skill and savvy.
Thanks, Zac!. I've always had a soft spot for Peavey because my first 'real' amp was a Bandit 112 Scorpion equipped. It was rather heavy... haha
I wanted a bass in the late 70's. I bought one of the early Peavey T-40 basses and a Peavey TNT amp. The bass weighed a ton and so did the amp. They worked fine and I was proud to have both.
Great job as always Zac. Peavey was such an integral part of my music upbringing especially with 38 Special and Mylon & Broken Heart! I still have a mint Nitro III because Mylon LeFevre snd Jeff Carlisi had them (at least in photos in Monitor magazine). A Backstage Plus was my first real amp and the Classic 30s have been my go-to for 30+ years! Thanks for singing the Peavey praises.
I had 2 of these from a church storage unit I got free and let them go. But when I got my bandit earlier this year for $20 I’m never letting it go. 🤠 peavey white stripes rule!
great video i used this amp for 10 years early 80's to early 90's then i bought a mesa markiia and stopped using the amp and sold it biggest gear mistake ever
zac is correct the combination of the mid circuit and the saturation circuit made this amp exceptional for fender strats and teles
I clicked on this video with the intention of letting it play in the background while I did something else. But, as soon as you started talking, I got pulled in like a trout. NICE VIDEO! There are so many Peavy’s out there, I was always afraid to try one. It’s nice to see them get some love!
Great timing, I just got my Peavey Bandit 65 from my amp guy. I got it used on Kijiji (Canada's Craigslist) for 80 bucks. It needed a new pot and some cleaning. I had another one that I sold in a weak moment last year when all the prices were going crazy. I think I paid 40 for that one and sold it for 275.I missed it so much I had to find another. I've had a bunch of Peavey's in the last few years. My bass amp which I only use at home is a Peavey. I play with a preamp DI when I play live. I used them in the 80s and like you turned tube snob in the late 80s. I had the silver faced twin too. Now I have a Bugera V22 and my bandit for guitar and that's it. Sold everything else. I couldn't be happier. Thanks for the great content as usual.
Good sounding SS amp. Have owned several Peaveys over the years, inexpensive - not cheap 😁. Mine are all long gone and I typically play modelers now (Helix). However, I still own a 1974 MusicMan 112/65.. good to hear you mention that line of amps.
I wouldn’t say that tubes are overrated but I’m always surprised when people hate on these solid state amps and especially Peavey. Great episode as per usual! Thanks Zac!
I owned a Deuce hybrid valve, but downsized to a Special 130 for gigs and later a Backstage Plus 30 for home. Gigged the Special for 10 yrs and countless hours of rehearsals, never failed me. All great sounding amps. Don't give into cork sniffing valve snobbery, especially if you want a reliable amp with a great clean channel that takes pedals so well. 🖖
My first real amp was a Peavey Stereo chorus 400! I still have it! My dad bought it for me new when I was 15 , I really just wanted something different so the 400 was perfect , so loud and clean so distortion pedals sounded huge and plus adding in the built in chorus would boost the signal and tighten up the highs and lows, like you mentioned taking out the "honky" mids. 80s Peavey amps really can stand toe to toe with a lot of tube amps.
really enjoyed your "I'm in love" intro song playing. I do it in another way but I so enjyed what you did...sounded great!
Thoroughly enjoyed this! Thanks Zac! Peavey bass amps and PA systems made it possible for my old, poverty-stricken cover band to afford enough quality power to make the club scene in the SF Bay Area in the '70's. Heavy stuff to be sure, but it never broke down, and sounded great!
The reliability is undeniable.
Could leave that stuff in a bitter cold truck overnight. Didn’t have to put your gear in the base at 3am 😂.
Still have a Special 130, along with a stable of Peavey and Fender Tube and transistor of all sizes. All in great shape. As a steel player too, the Peavey has served me well.
I bought one three years ago for 150.00 plus shipping and tax, just over 200. While I have vintage amp and guitars, if I have an outdoor gig or possible rain I grab the peavey special and 1980 Ibanez artist I bought for 525. It’s all I need, sounds awesome, and the average person wouldn’t know the difference. This show is spot on!
Currently gigging g with a Classic 30. LOVE it!..This video inspired me to pull out my old bandit from the early 90s and start turning the eq knobs looking for gold! Thanks
Great episode. I had a Peavey Deuce in the late 70s early 80s (hybrid). With two 12" speakers, 120 watts I think. So after a New Years Eve gig, we loaded our equipment on a rather dark landing with a staircase down. I was beat. When I woke up in the morning, it suddenly occurred to me, did i really load my amp in the van? I called my guitarist to look in his van for my amp. Nope, not there. I hopped into my car and drove down to the gig site. Doors locked, no amp. Gone.
It was a heavy weight decent amp where I got a good Peavey tone. Loud as hell. No natural distortion from that one but it was a good pedal platform. I hope the thief took care of it.
Great episode as always! Would love to see one on all the guitarists James Burton’s has inspired.
Peavey Special 130 is a great amp. I gigged one for years. Versatile, indestructible, sounded very good.
I still love plugging in to a Peavey. Check out the Yamaha G100 112 from the same era.
HI ZAC I USE A SILVER FACE TWIN 1973. MINE IS REWIRED TO BLACK FACE SPEC AND A VARIABLE EFFECTS LOOP ADDED. 12L EV OR CURRENT FENDER TWIN SPEAKERS ADDED. EVS ARE GREAT BUT VERY HEAVY. RESULT IS A GREAT FLEXABLE AMP. USE BOSS GE7 IN LOOP.
I wanted to keep up with my steel guitar player, so I purchased a new peavey session 400. Bought it at Clawsons music in corpus Christi. Still own the amplifier. 200 watts through a 15 inch Black Widow speaker. Used to play at the port o call in Kingsville. Also played across the entire southern states, from Arizona to Florida and as far north as Kansas. My band was called Silverado. I went by Cowboy.
Very cool!
Bobby Broom, Chicagoan jazz guitarist maestro played Peaveys too. I think that exact model. He used to say that when he got home from gigs, he could just leave it in the trunk of his car, even in the dead of winter and it'd be fine for the next gig. And Bobby has always had a great jazz tone!
I e used different amps in my life, fender ,crate , Marshall etc.. Peavey has never let me down.. my first was a “Classic 2x12”. Loved that amp.. ..my last setup was two Peavey Bandits , 80 watts ,preamped one to the other,, absolute killer sound.. played pretty much straight in, dry(no reverb), and used a tube screamer to boost it .. they will,always be my go to amp
I had a bunch of Peavey stuff in the late ‘70s and the ‘80s. When the reverb in my Music Man HD130-410 gave up the ghost, I replaced it with a Peavey Deuce VT, then replaced that with a Renown that had a Black Widow 15” speaker. Heavy suckers, but they sounded great. Somewhere in there I had a couple of Peavey T-60 guitars, one I got at cost on an endorsement deal! Peavey made great gear for good prices at that time, and they were everywhere. When the reverb in my Music Man went south in Minot, North Dakota, I went right down to the Peavey dealer and traded it in on a Deuce VT.
If you want access to the clean channel you don't need the foot switch. All you need is a 1/4 inch TS plug (guitar plug). Plug it into the rear footswitch jack and it will switch to the clean channel. There you go.
My first amp was a big tank of a Peavey Deuce, 120w of ear damaging clean, it was totally solid state, it was heavy and I was lucky that whoever owned it put casters on it, did I mention it was HEAVY! Loved the built in Tremlo and Reverb but as more often than not, no foot switch.
Yesterday I went to pick up a Bandit 65 thanks to Zac.
Drove 2 hours into NJ and on the way back I caught Masters of the Telecaster with
GE Smith
Jim Weider
Larry Campbell at the Bearsville Theater just outside of Woodstock NY.
Scorpion speaker and foot switch for 150$
So I'll have to give a big thanks to Zac Childs and the Childettes!
And thanks for a great day🙏
What a score on both counts!
In 1985 I bought a used Peavey Deuce. 2x12 with 4 light bulbs round the back (lol) it was way over the top for my needs and so I sold it to a pro who knew how to get the best out of it. I still wince when I recall the pain of moving that thing around!
I had a Backstage Plus around that era.......my first "real" amp.
Peavey Classic 20 Tweed was my introduction to low-power tube amps with sag. Made in USA, too. Still have it. But the tweed Champ EC took its place when it was issued. Also have the Boogie Mark I but never could get it to "sing" like Santana. Not a fan of MDF unless it is a battery-operated amp. This piece, however, might stimulate well-deserved interest in Hartley Peavey.
So much good information and well explained. I still have my “Backstage Plus” from ‘90. Still sounds great. Also no major maintenance needed. Thanks Zac.
Bought my 130 about 10 years ago for $125 (had footswitch but no speaker). I put an 8 ohm Eminence Texas Heat 150w speaker in it and it hasn't let me down since!
Zac, my first amp was also some crappy Fender solid state then I got an early 80’s Peavy Classic 50. I used that amp for 3 or 4 years and even played my first gigs with it. I found it in a pawnshop for $150. It sounded great with a good spring reverb. Way better than some of the Fender amps of that period
Great video! I had a Special 130 in the mid-eighties...I sold it an moved up to a Peavey Heritage, also a great amp! I still have a 4 channel Peavey PA head from the early 80s'...still works great!
Peavey amps will still be in use by survivors of the Great Apocalypse. I have a blue stripe Bandit 65 w/Sheffield speaker that I bought for $40 a couple of years ago. It can get LOUD. There's a USA made red stripe Bandit Studio Pro 112 for sale near me for $60. I'm tempted to go get it.
Gigged 100% tube amps from mid '80s till about ten years ago when I bought a Bandit at a yard sale. Mind blown. Holy smokes, what a killer little amp. I still have it but now my main gigging amp is a Blues Cube Artist. My Deluxe, Blues Jr and AC-15 are gathering dust.