Some older Peavey amps of mention

Len Amaral · From: Rehoboth,MA 02769

I admit to being a gear junky and have a stable of very nice amps. But as of late, I surf the local Craigslist just to see what might pop up for a project at a garage sale price.

I picked up an 80's Peavey Encore 65 watt tube amp with two 6L6 power tubes and a number of 12AX7 preamp tubes in very clean condition $125.00 The fellow replaced the speaker from an almost new Peavey Bandit extension cab so he gave me the empty cab for free.
This amp is a hidden gem and very Fendery in the clean tone and very rock viby when pushed.

Second on the list is another 80's Peavey Special 130 SS amp. Heavy as a boat anchor and without weighing it I am thinking Twin territory. Concentric mid/shift knob missing the plastic knob and has a bent shaft but fixable. Nice reverb and probably the loudest smallest amp I have ever heard. Cost $50.00 and a double hernia.

Next is another older Peaver XR500 PA head with all 1/4 inch inputs (no XLR) inputs that came with two small pa cabs with a 12 inch speaker and horn in each cab. So why would I buy this setup for $150.00. Reading articles in old GP magazines and being on the Mass/RI line I had the opportunity to see Duke Robillard the famous blues and jazz player. He used this Peavey PA head for his guitar with a 2-12 speaker cab as his main rig for many years. I tried it with a mic with a 1/4inch adapter and it sounds very nice. Lots of powers, spring reverb and multi-band EQ. Going to hook up the head with a guitar cab and see what happens.

Winter projects are great being couped up in a house bound snow storm taking these amps apart, cleaning jack, spraying the controls replacing corners and handles and even cleaning and using satin latex paint to brush coat the aged vinyl and it looks like new.

All the above costs less than some effects pedals and can always get my money back plus if I decide to sell them.

Paul Arntson · From: Washington, USA

Great info! Thanks!
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Pete Burak · From: Portland, OR USA

I love those Solo series or City series 80's Peavey amps on Criagslist!
I've picked up several over the years for under a hundred bucks.
Austin 400
Reno 400
Renown 400 (2-12 210W)
Renown (original 160W with 15" speaker)
70's Pacer (that matches my 70's Session 400).
Also picked up an original BW 1501 4ohm with spider web magnet (I'm gonna put it in the 70's Session 400).
I gave the Reno to a young lady who is now playing a Stage One with her Band (It was $25 on CL). Poor kid... I told her to make one of the boys lift it!

Here's those matching Pacer and Session 400 amps, using an RV3 to run in Stereo:

Len Amaral · From: Rehoboth,MA 02769

Nice back line of Peavey amps. I had either a Reno or Austin that had a horn over the speaker. Sounded very nice with an acoustic guitar. Quality amps to still being in service after 30 or more years and still going.

I worked on the XR-500 PA head today and it cleaned up very nice. Will put it back together tomorrow.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

The Encore 65 is a nice amp. I'm a fan of the old Bandit (and Bandit 65), Pacer, and Backstage/Backstage-Plus (I have one of each). Of course, we all know about the Session 400 and LTD 400, but they just kick ass for loud and clean. Also the Peavey Classic (the 4x10" variant is killer, but so is the 2x12"), the Mace, and the Deuce. I've owned at least one of each over the years, they kick major butt, and you pretty much have to take a pick-axe to them to kill 'em.

And they are all dirt-cheap, at prices like $1.00 - $2.00 per watt. You couldn't buy the components for them at that kind of money now. And go inside - they are solidly built, unlike the vast majority of total-trash throwaway amps being built today. And I guess I should add for good measure, "Y'uns punks - get offa my lawn!" Wink

Tom Gorr · From: Three Hills, Alberta

Hi Pete. .. nice to see a post from ya! Been awhile....I miss my Pacer...stolen...somehow I was able to get EVHs guitar tone out of it with a pedal. Not kidding!

Daniel Policarpo · Posted 5 Aug 2015 5:08 am

Len, I used a Peavey 600B p.a. head for years as a guitar amp. It was so powerful and had great eq and reverb, a very rich sound. I got that for $110 back in the mid 90's and used it for a long time until I sold it to fund my pedal steel needs. Never had a problem with it in 15 years.

john widgren · From: Wilton CT

The clean channel of a PV VK100 with high quality preamp and output tubes is a wonderful thing, with a proper steel speaker.

The gain channel is useless for steel. Its also big and heavy but the clean channel as described: OH BOY!
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Bill Terry · From: Bastrop, TX

I've been carrying a Peavey Bandit (original, not Bandit 65) around a bit. Started using it for an easy to carry rehearsal amp, and liked it enough that I tried it on a couple of gigs. I don't know what it is about it, and it's probably not for everybody, but it's been working out really well.

It gets mic'd up for all gigs, so the power (50W) isn't an issue, in fact I think part of the charm for me is that it's working a bit harder and the sound has a bit more 'hair'.

This one was a 50.00 craigslist find, I owned one of these in the 80's and I liked it then, so thought I'd get another one. To be honest if it was the only amp I owned I'd be ok with it.

Dave M., you mentioned you have one, I'm curious what you think of yours for pedal steel?

I decided to upgrade the appearance a bit (hard to devalue a 'vintage' Peavey), so I spent more on tolex and grill than I did on the amp and got this.. Smile

The tone settings are NOT what I use, I tend to have the EQ set with all knobs in the 11-1 o'clock range. It doesn't require drastic equalization to sound right to me.

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Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

I like the Bandit or Bandit 65 with the stock Scorpion fine for guitar. These things will just rip your head off with a good Telecaster. I remember going to see Smiley playing with Dennis Payne in a bar down in Hendersonville several years back, and Dennis was playing a '57 Tele straight into a Bandit 65 - it sounded tremendous. A Tele into a Bandit with that speaker just has a certain bark to it.

But for pedal steel, I prefer a wider-range speaker. JBL, Black Widow, and I'll probably try one of the Telonics 12-4 speakers I just got - it sounds real good with everything I've tried it with so far, and it's real light.

Yup - $50 for a 50-watt Bandit. $1/watt. Gotta love it.

Bill Terry · From: Bastrop, TX

Bruce Derr · From: Lee, New Hampshire, USA

Found my Bandit 65 at the dump years ago, no speaker, cab cut down to a head (by a sawzall or chainsaw by the looks of it), a "rescue amp." Made a cab, contributed an Eminence 12 that I had, and used it for years with Tele and steel. Sounded great. You guys are making me think about getting it out of the closet and back on gig duty.

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

i've got the bandit 112..same cabinet..80 watts.
i liked the scorpion but a guitar player finally scorched it. put a bw12 in and it's a good strong little amp for steel.
i agree with bill that having to push it a tad works in a good way.

Len Amaral · From: Rehoboth,MA 02769

Glad I posted this topic. I plugged the XR-500 head into a single 8 ohm Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. The multi band slider EQ shapes the tone nicely and the spring reverb doesn't sound bad either. I used a G&L ASAT with this setup. Now what am I going to do with those two PA speakers that came with the amp?

Stephen Gambrell · From: Over there

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

The Classic 30 is one that hasn't lost too much value. Sort of a Marshall 50 watt circuit clone, except the Peaveys all sounded good, and the Marshalls were all over the place, they used whatever components they could get cheap and were in the bin. I had a "thing" for the Allman/Santana tone, which came from using a fairly small tube head CRANKED till the power tubes grin, into a clean high-power PA speaker - NOT the Celestion Greenbacks or Classics or something. When I got tired of my 50 watt no-master Marshall eating tubes and it got to be a coveted and valuable, I traded it for a Peavey Classic and $250 and never looked back. NOT a good steel amp, unless you stay in the Randolph camp fulltime.

Chris Boyd · From: Leonia,N.J./Charlestown,R.I.

About a year ago I replaced the Scorpion in my Bandit 65 with a Sica 12" I bought here on the forum... The Scorpion was terrific for guitars but I wanted a fuller tone for pedal steel,using it as a small gig or practice amp. The Sica is amazing in the Bandit 65!
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Robert Leaman · From: Murphy, North Carolina, USA

Years ago, I had a Peavey Mace. This was originally meant for electric bass but it was one of the nice, clean tone amps that I used. It was very heavy with two 12-inch Black Widows.

Wish I might find a good one.
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