Peavey Bravo Score - $99 at GC

lostpick · May 12th, 2007, 01:05 AM

a little dusty but...

after it's vacuumed, wet cleaned, and
Mequire's Back to Black it will be >>>

BUFF MINT Triple AAA Showroom CONDITION

Peavey Elephant Skin is a terrible dust collector...

they didnt know it was a tube amp with
2-el84s and 3-12ax7s

looks like a solid state as the tubes are burried
under the chassis---all you see is a black steel
box and two trannies

but with more careful inspection....
the tubes are lettered on the cover plate...

Peavey marketed it in the early 90s as a
"stack in a box" ????

Here Ye, Here Ye!!!
there are deals at GC if you keep
your eyes open...
these guys underprice stuff like this all the time...

Harmony Central Reviews led me to this one...
I would have also passed it it by as a Peavey crap SS dud...

sorry no PICS....sounds great....but butt ugly

any Bravo Users out there??

emisilly · May 12th, 2007, 12:47 PM

Man, you are a lucky dog!!

Great, great amp!! My Bravo experience was just like yours. Found it hidden in the corner at GC one day. Priced at $129, talked them down to $100 out the door. I knew what it was from online chatter. Played a Hwy 1 through it for about a minute, tops. Knew then that I better run to the register, and run I did. The sales guy gave me this funny look, like "Why in the hell do you want that piece of crap?".

Hey, I bought it to impress me. That clean channel is fat and sweet!! Some call it a poor mans Deluxe Reverb, based on the clean tone. Can't argue that. Never warmed to the lead channel, since I don't favor heavy distortion myself. I was able to tame it a bit with a 5751 in V2. Supposedly a speaker swap can do wonders. I ended up selling mine to Intertian here on the garage sale simply to fund something more pressing than my amp collection. Regret it for sure, but I think I can get another one cheap if I'm inclined. If you didn't know what you're looking at it's very hard, at first glance, to see it's a tube amp. It's almost like Peavey tried to hide those tubes.

Check the Peavey forum for tips and ideas. Lot's of Bravo fanatics over there. Including some guys who've made custom cabinets and fooled bootek, cork sniffing players with their killer "custom amp."

!!

They are ugly as all get out for sure, but they sound pretty darn sweet!! Congrats on a fantastic score. Crap, now I want one again.

lostpick · May 12th, 2007, 03:48 PM

it did remind of a Deluxe Reverb alot...
but I didnt mention it again
as I thought it was new amp euphoria...
then I heard my son from a distance
and thats the first thing I thought of again..

I think its SS driven reverb...but its decent...

but the gain channel is too scooped
and bee-buzzy right now....needs a higher
headroom tube

getbent · May 12th, 2007, 03:50 PM

Lostpick,

you'll have mail midweek next week.. I finished your package last night and put it in the mail this morning... have fun, let me know how you like it...

rp

seekir · May 13th, 2007, 11:01 PM

Quote:

I think its SS driven reverb...

Hmmm. I thought the third 12AX7 was for the reverb? I've heard alot of complaints about the Bravo's reverb, but mine sounds fine as far as I can tell. I've tried swapping the middle (V2?) 12AX7 for a 5751 to get more headroom, but I wasn't sure I heard much difference. I'm not a big fan of the "ultra" gain (pull the "pre" knob on channel 2 out to get this). But I guess it'd be good for metal. My Bravo has some odd characteristics with the pre knob out: the volume seems to go in and out, most noticeably on low notes.

I ran across a post somewhere from a Bravo owner who pulled the "operational amplifier" (op-amp) chip and replaced it with a 4558D to alter the distorted tone. The number of the (hifi?) stock Texas instruments op-amp chip is slightly different, but I forget what it is (4558P?). I bought a 4558D to try this mod but haven't followed through installing it yet. It's a tiny, cheap chip, and is supposed to just plug right in. I suspect the op-amp works with the ultra-gain like an SS overdrive pedal circuit? Apparently there are 4558D op amps in TS-9 pedals. I put an 8 Ohm Weber High Power Series paper-dome Ceramic 12 inch Speaker in it thinking that the stock Blue Marvel might have been a bit tattered, but though the Weber seems "creamier" with less high end now, the Weber didn't give me the loud clean bottom end I hoped might come with a new speaker. I'd like to be able to play the low E LOUD with no distortion on the clean side.The Blue Marvel seemed to have more treble response, but I didn't have much luck finding a new one. I may put the old Blue Marvel back in.

I bought this amp new for under $400.00 in the 90's and loved its tone and the character of its distortion right out of the box. Eventually had to take off the aluminum grille-cloth retainers which were buzzing in an annoying way. Made a plywood baffle and installed a metal grille.

lostpick · May 14th, 2007, 12:41 AM

I have a block diagram that shows
an SS reverb driver, 1 tube for clean preamp,
1 tube for ultragain channel and 1 12ax7 for
phase inverter.....bet ya the chip drives the reverb...
I will probably leave the distortion tube alone for
now....power tubes, I have not checked out yet...
I am gonna try a Fender M-80 speaker and a
Celestion V-12 Silver Series 60 watt to see if things improve...it has a generic Eminence in it now...
dont think I want an Alnico in this little screamer...
I gotta double check that chip function also...

stantheman · May 14th, 2007, 12:58 PM

They never know what anything is and maybe that's why I should stop in there every once in a while. You pulled off a beautiful deal.
Nice goin'!

seekir · May 15th, 2007, 02:37 PM

The post re. the 4558P I found (and haven't relocated) from another Bravo owner asserted that the "overdrive channel has the 4558P chip in it...so it's not 'true' overdrive." The post may have been on Harmony Central. He goes on to say that replacing the 4558P with a 4558D "smoothed out the overdrive" to his taste. I haven't swapped the chip out yet, so can't comment on the quality of the change or whether it's as simple to do as he said (I suppose that the orientation of the chip could be important). The stock 4558P in the Bravo has a little T.I. logo on it. I think I found a site that said the 4558P is a "hi-fi" chip, and has a different quality from the (lo-fi?) 4558D. I forgot what the site URL was that sold the 4558D, but the return address on the bubble wrap is:

John Lewman
339 W. Amoroso Dr.
Gilbert, AZ 85233

Don't know about the reverb, I can't really begin to interpret the simplified schematic in my Bravo manual. I know that Peavey sells full schematics of their amps for a few bucks.

May 12th, 2007, 01:05 AM	#1 (permalink)
lostpick Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Staten Island, NYC Posts: 1,006	Peavey Bravo Score - $99 at GC a little dusty but... after it's vacuumed, wet cleaned, and Mequire's Back to Black it will be >>> BUFF MINT Triple AAA Showroom CONDITION Peavey Elephant Skin is a terrible dust collector... they didnt know it was a tube amp with 2-el84s and 3-12ax7s looks like a solid state as the tubes are burried under the chassis---all you see is a black steel box and two trannies but with more careful inspection.... the tubes are lettered on the cover plate... Peavey marketed it in the early 90s as a "stack in a box" ???? Here Ye, Here Ye!!! there are deals at GC if you keep your eyes open... these guys underprice stuff like this all the time... Harmony Central Reviews led me to this one... I would have also passed it it by as a Peavey crap SS dud... sorry no PICS....sounds great....but butt ugly any Bravo Users out there??

May 12th, 2007, 12:47 PM	#2 (permalink)
emisilly Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 483	I stole one at GC too!!! Man, you are a lucky dog!! Great, great amp!! My Bravo experience was just like yours. Found it hidden in the corner at GC one day. Priced at $129, talked them down to $100 out the door. I knew what it was from online chatter. Played a Hwy 1 through it for about a minute, tops. Knew then that I better run to the register, and run I did. The sales guy gave me this funny look, like "Why in the hell do you want that piece of crap?". Hey, I bought it to impress me. That clean channel is fat and sweet!! Some call it a poor mans Deluxe Reverb, based on the clean tone. Can't argue that. Never warmed to the lead channel, since I don't favor heavy distortion myself. I was able to tame it a bit with a 5751 in V2. Supposedly a speaker swap can do wonders. I ended up selling mine to Intertian here on the garage sale simply to fund something more pressing than my amp collection. Regret it for sure, but I think I can get another one cheap if I'm inclined. If you didn't know what you're looking at it's very hard, at first glance, to see it's a tube amp. It's almost like Peavey tried to hide those tubes. Check the Peavey forum for tips and ideas. Lot's of Bravo fanatics over there. Including some guys who've made custom cabinets and fooled bootek, cork sniffing players with their killer "custom amp." !! They are ugly as all get out for sure, but they sound pretty darn sweet!! Congrats on a fantastic score. Crap, now I want one again.

May 12th, 2007, 03:48 PM	#3 (permalink)
lostpick Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Staten Island, NYC Posts: 1,006	You Know.... it did remind of a Deluxe Reverb alot... but I didnt mention it again as I thought it was new amp euphoria... then I heard my son from a distance and thats the first thing I thought of again.. I think its SS driven reverb...but its decent... but the gain channel is too scooped and bee-buzzy right now....needs a higher headroom tube

May 14th, 2007, 12:58 PM	#7 (permalink)
stantheman Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: White Mountains Posts: 5,006	They never know what anything is and maybe that's why I should stop in there every once in a while. You pulled off a beautiful deal. Nice goin'! __________________ Somebody Loan Me A Dime

May 12th, 2007, 03:50 PM	#4 (permalink)
getbent Moderator Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Benito County, California Posts: 10,038 37 Photos	Lostpick, you'll have mail midweek next week.. I finished your package last night and put it in the mail this morning... have fun, let me know how you like it... rp

May 14th, 2007, 12:41 AM	#6 (permalink)
lostpick Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Staten Island, NYC Posts: 1,006	I have a block diagram that shows an SS reverb driver, 1 tube for clean preamp, 1 tube for ultragain channel and 1 12ax7 for phase inverter.....bet ya the chip drives the reverb... I will probably leave the distortion tube alone for now....power tubes, I have not checked out yet... I am gonna try a Fender M-80 speaker and a Celestion V-12 Silver Series 60 watt to see if things improve...it has a generic Eminence in it now... dont think I want an Alnico in this little screamer... I gotta double check that chip function also...

May 15th, 2007, 02:37 PM	#8 (permalink)
seekir Tele-Meister Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hilo, Hawaii Age: 54 Posts: 209	The post re. the 4558P I found (and haven't relocated) from another Bravo owner asserted that the "overdrive channel has the 4558P chip in it...so it's not 'true' overdrive." The post may have been on Harmony Central. He goes on to say that replacing the 4558P with a 4558D "smoothed out the overdrive" to his taste. I haven't swapped the chip out yet, so can't comment on the quality of the change or whether it's as simple to do as he said (I suppose that the orientation of the chip could be important). The stock 4558P in the Bravo has a little T.I. logo on it. I think I found a site that said the 4558P is a "hi-fi" chip, and has a different quality from the (lo-fi?) 4558D. I forgot what the site URL was that sold the 4558D, but the return address on the bubble wrap is: John Lewman 339 W. Amoroso Dr. Gilbert, AZ 85233 Don't know about the reverb, I can't really begin to interpret the simplified schematic in my Bravo manual. I know that Peavey sells full schematics of their amps for a few bucks.