Evans question

Donald Boyajian · Posted 23 Apr 2012 11:52 am

Are there any Evans models to avoid? What are some of the main dislikes? I'm a newb, but found one at a local store. Price might be a bit high, but I might be able to talk it down and have a some stuff I could trade.

Here it is:

http://www.parkwaymusic.com/amps/images/evans_PREA100_9828A.jpg

Know anything about this model?

Norman Evans · From: Tennessee

I don't know anything about Evans amps, but here is a video you might want to check out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usj22Luf9Ek

Norm

Steven Finley · From: California, USA

Donald,I would stay away from evans amps,because if
it breaks down it is almost impossible to get one fixed.The se200 is a total piece of crap,I had a new
one and nothing but problems with it and brocken
promices from scott buffington at the Evans factory
the first few months I had it it was sent back several times to the factory,they even said they would replace the whole unit if it quit again,but
instead more brocken promices and more problems,Iam
even on the Evans endorcement page on thier web site
for all I care they can take my name off,Ive gone back to peavey never had any problems from peavey.
Ill admit Evans sound great,but they are the most
unreliable piece of junk Ive EVER OWNED,buy the way
these problems were with a NEW ONE,and my other EVANs
soon as it was 13 months old complety fryed while
at low volume in a studio,I lost a lot of money
on these two units,yes and my other evans amps I
sold them dirt cheap,affraid of evening haveing them
arround.
This is my thought on Evans since you asked.

Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

I know nothing about the current line of Evans amps.

My Evans FET-500LV has been operating pretty much flawlessly since 1985.

Derrell Stevens, who owned the company and built the amp, still services these wonderful amps.
_________________
Lee, from South Texas - Down On The Rio Grande

There are only two options as I see it.
Either I'm right, or there is a sinister conspiracy to conceal the fact that I'm right.

Williams Keyless S-10, BMI S-10, Evans FET-500LV, Fender Steel King, 2 Roland Cube 80XL's,
Sarno FreeLoader, Goodrich Passive Volume Pedals, Vintage ACE Pack-A-Seat

Micky Byrne · From: United Kingdom (deceased)

Totally agree with you Lee. My FET-500 LV is about the same age as yours, 1985. She sounds great Very Happy

Micky Byrne U.K.

Donald Boyajian · Posted 24 Apr 2012 8:20 am

cool. thanks for your answers. any knowledge on the model in the link? The site calls is a PREA 100, but I cannot find anything on that. I know that it is a fairly small combo (8-10 in speaker).

Michael Pierce · From: Madison, CT

Donald, greetings from Connecticut. I own an Evans AE-200 head. From the controls, I'd guess the one you're looking at was made in the late 90's or early 2000's (mine is a 1998) and probably has an actual reverb tank rather than a digital reverb. Generally the first two digits of the serial number on the back indicate the year made. These amps have been popular among steelers as well as arch-top players (I'm a former steeler, now arch-top player). Mine's been very reliable, although I did have to replace the reverb tank in it a few year's back. The smaller speaker in this particular combo might be challenging for the pedal steel -- most players seem to like 15" speakers, or 12" at minimum. They are also, in my experience, very "bright" amps. I generally keep the treble control at "0", although steel players seem to prefer the brighter sound. Feel free to email me if you have any other questions.

Donald Boyajian · Posted 24 Apr 2012 9:21 am

Thanks so much. That's very helpful. I was concerned about the speaker size as well. Thanks again!

Darvin Willhoite · From: Roxton, Tx. USA

I have a little AE100 that I really like, and have had several other older Evans', and the only problem I had with any of them was my own making. I shorted the speaker leads on one of them and fried the output. I had it repaired here in central Texas, by an amp tech, and the repair cost was reasonable.
_________________
Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, a restored MSA Classic SS, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Also a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored Rose S10, named the "Blue Bird". Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also have a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks, and a showroom condition Sho-Bud Super Pro.

Mike Schwartzman · From: Maryland, USA

I have the JE150 model. It's 80 watts with it's single 12" speaker at 8 ohms. And is 160 watts with an 8ohm extension speaker. It looks similar to the picture that you posted, except it has pots instead of toggle switches for "depth" and "expand' on the front panel.

I bought it used about 4 yrs. back and it has been trouble free so far. I agree with Michael Pierce's post in that it is a rather bright amp and I also keep the treble backed off, nonetheless a nice sounding amp for pedal steel.

The only thing that I changed was to put a Weber Neo-Mag (w/aluminum dustcap and cloth surround a la JBL) 12" speaker in place of the stock speaker.
_________________
Emmons Push Pull, BMI, Session 400, Home of the Slimcaster Tele.

Dennis Wireman · From: North West Indiana 47978

I have had few of the FET-500 LV sold some still have three of them and had no problems what so ever and like the sound of them . easy to adjust in.

Larry Robinson · From: Peachtree City, Georgia, USA

I have an AE100 I bought from John Hughey in 2005. I had a problem with intermittent distortion. I found a broken wire on the component (coupling cap to reverb board). I was able to repair it and it's been solid since. Scot Buffington referred me to a repair facility in Texas. However, I didn't use it. I use this amp with an external 12" speaker I'm completely satisfied with it's performance.

baxter vaughan · From: Lubbock, Texas 79424

i have been playing an se200 for 5 years now. great sounding amp. it is bright and have to back the treble off. i had one issue with it about 3 years ago. sent it back to scott and have had no issues since. customer service was great. don't know much about the amp pictured, i would not recommend a small speaker for steel.

David Higginbotham · From: Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA

Evans are among the best sounding steel amps made! I have two of John Hughey's amps, an '83 FET 500 and a hybrid SE-200. I've also had other various year model FET 500's over the years and they sounded great and I never had a problem with any of them.
_________________
'92 GFI D-10 8&6, ‘67 Emmons Bolt-On D-10 8&7, Walker preamp, Sarno Tonic preamp, Tubefex, Stewart power amps, Carvin XT tube amp, Webb Cabinets, all vintage JBL’s!

Michael Dulin · From: Indiana, USA

Please, could some of you fet500 owners post your amp settings? Thanks in advance. MD

Paul Wade · From: mundelein,ill

master gain 4-5
vol 3
reverb 3-4
depth up
expand down
bass 6-7
body 3
treble 3-4
evans fet 500 lv small cabinet

Michael Dulin · From: Indiana, USA

Thanks for your quick response. Am I correct in thinking these numbers are at "7o'clock"? MD

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

The index mark sits around 9 o'clock, IIRC.
I use
Volume 3 Master, from 4 up, depending.
depth and expand, both up
Bass, wide open
Body, about 9
treble, about 2.

Reverb, sucks. Use Holy Grail
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

chas smith R.I.P. · From: Encino, CA, USA

Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

Michael Dulin - I sent you a Private Message.

Daniel Morris · From: Westlake, Ohio, USA

Donald, I can't speak about the model you picture, but I can say I've had an Evans SE200 for around 2+ yrs.
Yes, it is a tad bright, though with the treble at zero, a bandmate asked why my amp sounded muddy. Up to 1, fixed. Another bandmate, a tube-only kinda guy, was rather impressed with the quality of the amp. It is a really good sounding steel amp.
I've heard this amp can benefit from a different ohm speaker, which I haven't done yet. Scot is completely against swapping.
I do want to comment on Scot, though. The amp cut out on me 2-3 times, and the last time wouldn't come back on. Zilch. I contacted Scot, and even though the amp was out of warranty, he had me send him the chassis and pre-amp. He found a connecting cable had become loosened, and wasn't supplying power. He fixed that, upgraded a component, shipped it back, and I haven't had that problem again.
Just prior to that, I actually had to send him just the chassis. The amp got rained on, and after Scot checked it out, he found no problems and everything worked great (I was afraid to try it).
He said I wasn't the first to have had an Evans rained on, and that's why he doesn't put the controls on top. Solid amp, fine service, sweet sound.
My take, at least.
_________________
1979 MSA U12 Pedal Steel
1982 Kline U12 Pedal steel
2019 Sierra U12 Pedal Steel
2011 Bear Creek MK Weissenborn
Milkman 40W Mini amp w/Telonics 15" speaker.
Dr. Z Surgical Steel w/TT 15" speaker.
Frenzel MB-50 head.
Spaceman, Empress, Eventide, Pigtronix.

Josh Yenne · From: Sonoma California

I had an Evans for a while... sounded fine...

for a solid state amp.

Oh Well

Dave Simonis · From: Stevens Point, WI USA

80's Blackface FET 500 LV Custom (small cabinet - Emminence Delta speaker), settings I use with my Hilton VP (with my Matchbox and Goodrich VP the bass is dialed back to about 6, body 4 - 5):

Depth: up (on)
Expand: down (off)
Master: 2 - 5
Reverb: 1.75
Bass: 8
Body: 5 - 6
High: 1.5 - 2
Volume: 2
Input #2

Great amps. Classic sound with excellent reverb. I'd like to try the larger cabinet just to see any differences.
_________________
Dave Simonis

Fiddle: Zeta, Arthur Conner, many others.../Steel: GFI SD-10 Ultra.../Mandolin: Breedlove.../Guitar: Gibson, Fender, Taylor.../Amps: Peavey NV112, Evans FET 500.../Others: Hilton, Goodrich, Stereo Steel, Pendulum Pre-amp...

Robbie Daniels · From: Casper, Wyoming, USA

I have been playing through Evans Amps since 1983. I have a 1983 FET500LV and a 1999 SE200. Never had a problem with these amps and I love them both. The group I am working with is a six piece group and out of the five amps on stage four are Evans amps.
_________________
Carter D12, MSA S12, 12 String Custom Made Non-Pedal, Evans FET 500LV, Evans SE200, Peavey Nashville 400, Fender Steel King

Kenny Howard · From: Salem, OR

Donald:
In 1991 I purchased a new 200w 15" Evans with all the bells & whistles.
It has never failed to produce a clean, clear tone with all the volume you'd ever need.Played in an aircraft hanger and it was the only amp not needing to be mik'd. Mine does not have a direct cannon link to the PA. It's never been needed. I've played my steel, and multiple 6 strings thru it - all with crystal clarity.
My down side opinion: 200 Watts is a helluva lot of power, so it's best to be played in larger venues.
Also, and more importantly, be very careful when you strike your low C (or low F) on the C6 neck. With the volume up - it could knock you out of your chair.

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