NAD: Ancient, LOUD and solid state. Peavey standard.

[Blazer]

Well I got this one via a trade, the guy had three vintage heads he wanted to trade for my Peavey bandit. Those heads are: a Yamaha G-100 which used to be mine and thus has returned to me, a Peavey PA head simply called "Monitor" and THIS.

I don't know the vintage of this SOB but by golly is it LOUD, and it has headroom for ages. The funny thing with those old solid state amps is that they have a stereotype for sounding clinical. Not so with this one even through the single 12 inch Celestion that's in the cab it sounds quite pleasing.

Also, am I a Peavey nut or what?

 

[Piotr]

I like old solid-state cleans, too. Nothing wrong about it!

 

[soulman969]

I guess instead of "old iron" we can call these "old silicon".

I used to have one of the Peavey Monitor Amps from around that same era. Plain Jane as you could eve ask for but when you turned it on it's always worked.

 

[falcon5romeo]

Solid State Peaveys from the 80s/90s are some of the most underrated amps out there.

 

[Blazer]

Solid State Peaveys from the 80s/90s are some of the most underrated amps out there.

Yes I know but this one is older than that, It might be early seventies.

 

[Mike SS]

Nice score. Those are rock solid dependable, hard working amps.

 

[Durtdog]

I saw Duke Robillard playing through a similar setup Peavey solid state PA head back in the '80s. He sounded great.

 

[studio1087]

Is the serial number tag still on the back?


If the number has a two digit prefix, it may give a clue as to the date for some products.

For example, a two digit prefix such as 6A followed by five or six numerals would indicate a 70's product ("A" is for amp, "E" is for enclosure), and the prefix indicates the year. If the prefix is followed by 8 numerals, you have a 80's product and again, the prefix indicates the year.

So:

5A-12345 would indicate 1975
7A-123456 would indicate 1977

6A-12345678 would indicate 1986

After 1989, this system is no longer used, 00-12345678 means 1990 or later.

Those are solid amps - they live and live.

I have two Backstage 30's from the 70's. Childhood friends.

 

[since 1963]

There was a time when Peavey offered a "Lifetime Warranty". Fender and some others went to court to have Peavey stop their lifetime warranty as it was hurting their sales. CBS was hurting Fender sales, not Peavey. Peavey always overbuilt their power sections like a good engineer should. If the amp was rated at 50 watts RMS, then the amp had 100 Watt power section (engineers will know what I am talking about). They never broke unless a speaker shorted.
I purchased my first Peavey in 1973. Just sold it about 5 years ago. Looked like brand new. An "automix Musician" head with a HUGE cabinet. The speakers had square magnets and silver dust domes. I was a LOT stronger, then. A lot of really great tones, reminded me of a solid state version of the Sunn Model T.
Peavey also had a "touring musician" policy, that if you bought a Peavey and it failed while on the road, just walk into a Peavey dealer, drop off your broken amp and walk out with a new amp. Your Peavey Owner's Card was really cool and carried clout. Yes, that went away with the Fender, etc., court ruling, also.
I still have my Peavey Classic 20 combo and a Bravo112. Both will make you smile when you play them. Not one minute of problems with either.
My 2 cents.

 

[since 1963]

View attachment 404524
Well I got this one via a trade, the guy had three vintage heads he wanted to trade for my Peavey bandit. Those heads are: a Yamaha G-100 which used to be mine and thus has returned to me, a Peavey PA head simply called "Monitor" and THIS.

I don't know the vintage of this SOB but by golly is it LOUD, and it has headroom for ages. The funny thing with those old solid state amps is that they have a stereotype for sounding clinical. Not so with this one even through the single 12 inch Celestion that's in the cab it sounds quite pleasing.

Also, am I a Peavey nut or what?

If you don't blow any speakers and take the power section out, that amp will out-live you. Excellent pick. 130 Watts RMS @4 Ohms. I think it was from 1971 or '72, around that time.

 

[Paul in Colorado]

The power section of your amp is the same as the first PA I had, a Peavey Standard. It had 4 channels with Hi Z inputs and two cabs with four 10" speakers. I used mine for years and then sold it to a young couple who were starting a musical group together. I bet it's still being used in a basement or garage somewhere. My only repair was one of the speakers blew. I think they fixed it for free or close to it.

I have an '80's Backstage Plus guitar amp that I use all the time. I got it for $20.00 + shipping.

 

[Blazer]

I found this clip of UB40 and their backline is all Peavey.

Seeing what they named themselves after (The unemployment benefit form) it probably was what they could afford with what little money they had.

These days, Peavey still is THE choice for bang for your buck equipment. And vintage pieces like my amp can still be picked up for a little sum, I found the price tag on mine and it was 75 euro which is a steal if you're in on the secret.

 

[wildschwein]

Yeah -- standard backline items in the '70s. You can see Nils Lofgren and Randy Rhoads using those. Loud and clean -- bring your fuzz and echo and you're good to go.

 

[Blazer]

Yeah -- standard backline items in the '70s. You can see Nils Lofgren and Randy Rhoads using those. Loud and clean -- bring your fuzz and echo and you're good to go.

Yeah hooking up my Boss DS1 pedal to it made it go "Stoner rock" right away, I could start up a Kyuss tribute band with that amp.

 

[Pisgah]

I have an old Peavey CS800 that weighs a ton. Got it from La Zona Rosa club in Austin. Sounds pretty much like a ss bass amp.

 

[Henry Mars]

There's a blast from the past. I had one of these back in the day. I used it on and off through the 70's for various reasons. One of my keyboard players even used it!!!!!
It was laying around my basement for years and never played since like 1981. I turned it on and the damn thing still worked!!!!
I sold it around 6 months ago for $25.
The amp had some interesting features ... like how you could combine the channels.

Of course this back before Hartley downgraded the quality of his stuff for what ever reason.
My Deuce and Special 130 still work well ...
I got rid of a few old peavey bass amps because I was sick of carrying them. Bought a Mark and it performs well so far.

 

[P Thought]

I read The Peavey Revolution, about Hartley Peavey and the building of his company. It tells about all these amps, too.

I was a latecomer to electric guitars, 50 years old when I played my first one, and I stumbled into my Classic 50 2x12 pretty much by chance, before I knew anything about amps. 300 bucks, if I remember right. I think that lucky accident has saved me lots of money and prevented many GAS attacks. I turn it on and it works. I play with the knobs and it makes all kinds of sounds; some of them are really cool.

 

[codamedia]

I don't know the vintage of this SOB but by golly is it LOUD, and it has headroom for ages.

Definitely 70's... and @studio1087 has a post above explaining the serial number structure really well. If the serial number is still there, you can easily figure out the exact year.

I like these old pieces... I have a soft spot for 70's and 80's Peavey gear.

 

[studio1087]

I like these old pieces... I have a soft spot for 70's and 80's Peavey gear.

When I was 14 (in 1977) I had a Backstage 30, an MXR Phase 45 and a burst Tele Custom (what I would give to have that guitar now).

This Tele Custom is a reissue purchased so that I could relive my childhood (sort of) and the Backstage 30 was $50 on craigslist; works like a champ.

What I do when I need to feel like a 14 year old......

image removed

 

[jhundt]

There was a time when Peavey offered a "Lifetime Warranty". Fender and some others went to court to have Peavey stop their lifetime warranty as it was hurting their sales. CBS was hurting Fender sales, not Peavey. Peavey always overbuilt their power sections like a good engineer should. If the amp was rated at 50 watts RMS, then the amp had 100 Watt power section (engineers will know what I am talking about). They never broke unless a speaker shorted.
I purchased my first Peavey in 1973. Just sold it about 5 years ago. Looked like brand new. An "automix Musician" head with a HUGE cabinet. The speakers had square magnets and silver dust domes. I was a LOT stronger, then. A lot of really great tones, reminded me of a solid state version of the Sunn Model T.
Peavey also had a "touring musician" policy, that if you bought a Peavey and it failed while on the road, just walk into a Peavey dealer, drop off your broken amp and walk out with a new amp. Your Peavey Owner's Card was really cool and carried clout. Yes, that went away with the Fender, etc., court ruling, also.
I still have my Peavey Classic 20 combo and a Bravo112. Both will make you smile when you play them. Not one minute of problems with either.
My 2 cents.

"They never broke unless a speaker shorted."
Around 1980 I worked with a band that opened a very intense tour with Elvis Costello. His band used all Peavey amps. They replaced speakers almost every night; Peavey shipped them out in advance, I guess, perhaps they were expecting failure. The amps were robust, but the speakers weren't.