What do people think of Peavey?

[sirmontofgue]

I've got the chance of buying a

Peavey Max 700
Peavey TVX 410

For about £300 for the lot.

What do people think of Peavey gear and is this a good price?

Thanks

[Motocross_nick]

Not sure bout good price but i use a peavey combo (TNT 115) combined with one of their 2x10 cabs and absolutely adore the sound it makes, good for both prestine clean bass and distortion sound.


Hope this helps, Nick

[Hutton]

Peavey is good honest gear. However, once you have used more expensive rigs it is difficult to be excited about the Peavey stuff.

[Motocross_nick]

yeah but not all of us can afford valve trace or ampeg rigs lol

[machinehead]

[quote name='Hutton' post='45316' date='Aug 14 2007, 03:50 PM']Peavey is good honest gear. However, once you have used more expensive rigs it is difficult to be excited about the Peavey stuff.[/quote]

Agreed.

But it is good, reliable (IME), OK sounding and built to last. Used some Peavey gear for almost 15 years without a single problem.
Frank

[warwickhunt]

You're likely to find that there'll not be a bad word said about Peavey gear... no-one will probably wax lyrical about it either but it is cracking value and about as robust as they come!

I've used a Peavey Megabass head in the past and numerous of their TX/TVX cabs and for the money you'd struggle to find anything that'll come close. In answer to your question re. price; £300 for a 4x10 and a 475 watts @ 4ohm head, got to be worth a punt; ultimately you're unlikely to lose much, if anything, when you resell it! Make sure all of the speakers in the cab work as it can be a pain in the backside finding a replacement if one is blown.

[jwbassman]

my first proper bass amp was a TNT115 (I had a carlsbro before that, but it wasn't really proper) - the TNT was a great amp at the time, did everything it needed to - but agree with Hutton, once you've made that step up you won't be going back...

I don't know that £300 is a great deal but it doesn't sound too bad

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='jwbassman' post='45332' date='Aug 14 2007, 05:15 PM']my first proper bass amp was a TNT115 (I had a carlsbro before that, but it wasn't really proper) - the TNT was a great amp at the time, did everything it needed to - [b]but agree with Hutton, once you've made that step up you won't be going back...[/b]

I don't know that £300 is a great deal but it doesn't sound too bad[/quote]

re. the comments made about gear that's the next step up.

Yes you get better gear for more money but at the end of the day the reason you won't go back to Peavey is because you will have joined the ranks of the 'Amp Snobs'

I'll be the first to come out and say it; "I am an amp snob". The Peavey gear that you are talking about is 'probably' not a kick in the backside off the £2000 worthy of backline that I use, [u]especially[/u] to Joe Public down the bar on Saturday night. Don't get me wrong, my gear will sound better than your potential Peavey purchase but 6 times better... I think not!

Would I sell my gear up and go back to using Peavey? Not out of choice because I've moved up the snobbery ladder. I may be presumptuous but I'm assuming you aren't playing a super-douper Jazz or custom made bass? In which case get the £300 Peavey gear (obviously haggle for less) and save up to get yourself a quality bass because that 'will' make a difference. You will then be on that other snobbery ladder 'Bass Guitar Snobs'

[Hit&Run]

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='45342' date='Aug 14 2007, 05:41 PM']Yes you get better gear for more money but at the end of the day the reason you won't go back to Peavey is because you will have joined the ranks of the 'Amp Snobs' [/quote]

Very true.

+1 for having a TNT as a first 'proper' amp. I then progressed to a Peavey rig that I've still got. Those 4x10 cabs used to cost close to £300!

I say go for it, then tell us how you've got on.

[MoJ]

For work horse equipment, Peavey gets my vote.
Ive owned one and of the new range Trace Elliot heads and cab for a year now (does that class me as an amp snob yet?hope not..) and although the sound of head is great, Ive made the move to a Peavey Pro 500 just because I feel it handles low B better. Still have the cab. Tried a Peavey TVX 4 x 10 and it was just far too heavy for me, but it sounded amazing for a non-snob brand.
Personally, Id say go for it, you wont lose out on Peavey stuff whatever happens. Id go more than saying its just reliable too. I think they sound really good. For what I do anyhoo. I dont need or want 'hi-fi' sounding, or retro sounding, I just want good sounding, and 'me' sounding!

Andy

[jwbassman]

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='45342' date='Aug 14 2007, 05:41 PM']Yes you get better gear for more money but at the end of the day the reason you won't go back to Peavey is because you will have joined the ranks of the 'Amp Snobs' [/quote]

I'm not sure it's about being a snob - in general terms the phrase 'you get what you pay for' in my experience has always been true... don't get me wrong, I'd be the first in the queue to nab a bargain, but how many times have you actually got a bargain?

I have always tried to buy the best quality gear I can afford and I always look after it, no matter how much (or little) it cost. If the best you can afford at any given time is a reliable Peavy rig, then it's the right decision...

I've made the progression through Carlsbro, Peavy, Trace and currently EA gear and every one has been the right decision at the time to suit my available budget and playing requirements - if that makes me an 'amp snob' then I guess I am

Edited August 14, 2007 by jwbassman

[neilb]

Peavey stuff is great for the run of the mill saturday night gigger or the pro. Built well and sounds good. I use 2 2x10 cabs and the sound is ideal for me.

[bass_ferret]

Its good gear. Not the most transparent but unbeatable for bang per buck. Pretty well unbreakable as well.

But it does weigh a ton. The only reason I switched to EBS was the weight - the better sound was a bonus - but it cost me 5 times what you are spending.

[Gazm]

I've used Peavey gear, my 29 year old Mark III head died earlier this year but the 2x15 cab is still going strong (donated to the local jam night). I now use a [url="http://www.e-av.co.uk/info.php?id=1587"]Peavey Pro410[/url] cab and love the sound I get with my SWR amp.

Pete.

[beerdragon]

[quote name='Motocross_nick' post='45312' date='Aug 14 2007, 03:44 PM']Not sure bout good price but i use a peavey combo (TNT 115) combined with one of their 2x10 cabs and absolutely adore the sound it makes, good for both prestine clean bass and distortion sound.
Hope this helps, Nick[/quote]

Hi, is the TNT 115 the same as TNT 130? the reason i ask is that i thought you could not add another cab to it without an amp as well.

[warwickhunt]

[quote name='jwbassman' post='45396' date='Aug 14 2007, 07:25 PM']I'm not sure it's about being a snob - in general terms the phrase 'you get what you pay for' in my experience has always been true... don't get me wrong, I'd be the first in the queue to nab a bargain, but how many times have you actually got a bargain?

I have always tried to buy the best quality gear I can afford and I always look after it, no matter how much (or little) it cost. If the best you can afford at any given time is a reliable Peavy rig, then it's the right decision...

I've made the progression through Carlsbro, Peavy, Trace and currently EA gear and every one has been the right decision at the time to suit my available budget and playing requirements - if that makes me an 'amp snob' then I guess I am [/quote]

I'm not trying to get anyone's back up or upset people with the 'amp snob' label and nobody should ever feel the need to justify what they have and use, but you do get diminishing returns the higher up the ladder you go. Snob wasn't meant to be a derogatory term and is probably the wrong choice, I'm sure I could have been kinder but I was trying to make a point.

However, it's even more prevalent in the Hi-Fi world.

I worked in a tape duplication studio (spoken books were recorded then duplicated), the guys I worked with were music/Hi-Fi buffs and thought nothing of spending hundreds on an interconnect between their components. I challenged them to identify the difference between a variety of cables... blind. Long story cut short; using the studio reference systems everyone spotted the £0.99/freebie lead that comes with a system but not one of them got it right when identifying the difference between a £10 / £70 / £200 interconnect! The lads brought in their speaker cables from home and we did the same thing; you could easily identify the cheap bell wire that comes with a cheap Hi-Fi but in a genuine 'blind' test you struggle to separate degrees of quality the further up the range you go. Interestingly we all concluded that if you want the best value for money Hi-Fi speaker cable around, you need to pop down to B&Q and get a couple of lengths of solid core copper mains cable. Saying that for a couple quid more I think a cable called QED (or something) was marginally more detailed (and it looked neater).

[jwbassman]

Hey Warwickhunt

No offense taken, no backs up round here

Your probably right - when it comes to the differences, the further up the ladder you go the smaller they get, to the point of being imperceptible - that's when personal taste, marketing, looks etc come into play...

All of the products out there will perform the job (to an acceptable standard hopefully) but it's what makes me use one product and you use another that makes the world the interesting place that it is

Long live the debate...

John

[Motocross_nick]

[quote name='beerdragon' post='45414' date='Aug 14 2007, 07:56 PM']Hi, is the TNT 115 the same as TNT 130? the reason i ask is that i thought you could not add another cab to it without an amp as well.[/quote]

Hey mate, nah you can add an extra cab to the 115.

[silverfoxnik]

I still have a Peavey Mark IV series amp and though it's older, less compact and a bit noisy, I much prefer the e.q on it to the e.q. on my Hartke HA3500.. IMHO, it's not just about best value or amp snobbery etc, it's also about what your 'ears' prefer.

Nik

[Hamster]

+1 nearly all of the above. Sound good enough, last forever, cheap as chips. Just the name isn't fashionable? Goodness knows why, it's not as if they brought out the "Jade Goody Signature Model" is it

Hamster

[velvetkevorkian]

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='45399' date='Aug 14 2007, 07:31 PM']Its good gear. Not the most transparent but unbeatable for bang per buck. Pretty well unbreakable as well.

But it does weigh a ton. The only reason I switched to EBS was the weight - the better sound was a bonus - but it cost me 5 times what you are spending.[/quote]
I'll second that.

[silverfoxnik]

[quote name='Hamster' post='45530' date='Aug 14 2007, 11:47 PM']+1 nearly all of the above. Sound good enough, last forever, cheap as chips. Just the name isn't fashionable? Goodness knows why, it's not as if they brought out the "Jade Goody Signature Model" is it

Hamster[/quote]
LOL

Might just happen now you've mentioned it....

[sirmontofgue]

Thanks guys. I'll see what I can do about haggling and let you all know.

[G-bitch]

Don't haggle for too long - that's a good deal.

Here's my tuppence worth:

Has anyone ever used a peavy rig as mentioned [b]but[/b] bypassed the pre-amp?

I find that the pre-amp is always the weakest link in a peavey (except for the old T-max head - that was damn good). I plugged into a max700 head and 410 TVX and thought it sounded a bit cack, albeit with plenty of power and lows. Then I bypassed the pre and just used a Sansamp BDDI: you would have to spend a shitload of cash to get anything beyond that. The peavey cabs are great (remember the old <$1000 4x10 shootout in Bass Player magazine years ago? The peavey came second out of 10 cabs, IIRC it was only beaten to the top spot by Eden) and the power sections are very good too.

If you get a used sansamp (about £100), you'll be wetting yourself with laughter when there is little discernable difference between your peavey rig and the other guys £1k plus Ampeg set-up. Your DI will probably sound better too.

Edited August 15, 2007 by G-bitch

[nick]

[quote name='Hamster' post='45530' date='Aug 14 2007, 11:47 PM']+1 nearly all of the above. Sound good enough, last forever, cheap as chips. Just the name isn't fashionable? Goodness knows why, it's not as if they brought out the "Jade Goody Signature Model" is it

Hamster[/quote]

I've had several Peaveys. All good amps, & do take a hammering.
I now use either Trace or an old WEM, depending on what sound I want.
But, would have no problem going back to, or playing through one.
If it gets you the tone [i]you want [/i]& is loud enough, who cares if it's a fashionable or not.
Most members of audiences who aren't anoraks, don't really care, so long as the sound is not awful.
If you were that bothered by the name, you could always take the horrible, dated logo off the front grill. That's what I always used to do.