Two versions of the Peavey 400 LTD?

Jim Pitman · From: Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA

Can anyone enlighten me about the 400 LTD.
I have a 70s Session 400 with silver knobs and discrete circuitry (no op-amps) that i really like.
The Peavey schematic shows the Session 400 and the LTD shared the same discrete electronics.
The second generation of the Session 400, the Session 400 LTD, (how confusing) changed to op-amp circuitry.
Did the 70's 400 LTD also go through this transformation and furthermore can one tell by the knob color which LTD is which?

Dan Beller-McKenna · From: Durham, New Hampshire, USA

I'm pretty sure the later version of the Session 400 was the Session 400 "Limited" (never listed as "LTD"). It did also have a smaller version in a wedge cabinet. The manual for these is dated 1989, so mainly an amp of the '90s. The LTD 400 proper was strictly a product of the '70s (into early 80s. perhaps?). The only changes it went through to my knowledge, were the knob appearance, although there might have been some internal modifications along the way as well.

Ken Fox · From: Nashville GA USA

You are correct. Same discreet components and schematic as the original Session 400. The limited amp was nothing like it

Jim Pitman · From: Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA

Thanks Ken and Dan. That was my suspicion.

Bill C. Buntin · Posted 15 Jan 2020 6:13 pm

Iâ€™ve got one of the LTD with newer knobs. Itâ€™s a great amp.

Appreciate the info on this thread. Learned something about session and Ltd.

And I recall the session limited, I used one for several years. Not as robust as the old session or Ltd, but nevertheless I had decent tone from it I thought

Bill

Jim Pitman · From: Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA

Bill, have you ever looked inside your LTD?
One can tell a first generation Session 400 from the second by looking at the PCB. Original has all discrete transistors and passive components, the newer has IC- things that look like centipedes with 8 or more legs.
Pretty simple to check - 10mins .Unscrew the four long top screws, unplug the power amp and pull the chassis out the back. It doesn't even need to go all the way.
I can always tell by the knobs whether the Session 400 is discrete or IC.
It seems funny to me that Peavey would update the Session 400 to IC with new colored knobs yet not the update LTD to IC and new color knobs. I've seen LTD in both old silver and new colored knobs which means it went through an update of sorts.
Was it as comprehensive as the Session?
Or perhaps I'm mistaken.
Was there a version of the Session 400 with new knobs only?
I ask all this as I want to buy a used LTD. I don't want it if it has ICs.

Jeff Garden · From: Center Sandwich, New Hampshire, USA

Here's a photo of a 1989-ish Session 400 Limited. Apologies for my photo getting turned on its side when I tried to post it - I haven't stored the amp that way Smile

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

As Dan states, the original LTD 400 never had the words Session nor Limited on the labels. It was labeled LTD 400 on the front and Series 400S on the rear of the chassis. There was more than one cosmetic look of this amp, at least 2 different styles of knobs, but the cabinet was always the same size like the Nashville 400. If it has the word Limited printed on it anywhere, it's not the original LTD amp. See pics below.

The original 70's SESSION 400 had the same circuitry but in a larger cabinet. It's chassis had SESSION 400 stenciled on the rear and showed the 6 output transistor covers. The early ones had the silver knobs with black inserts while the later had colored plastic knobs as did it's little brother LTD400.
Again, if the word Limited is printed on it anywhere it's not the original early model.
See pics below:

I believe either of these might have had the labeled for Peavey JBL or the Black Widow.

The later Session 400 LIMITED amp was a totally different beast from the LTD400. Wider cabinets, at least 2 different ones as in this thread.
https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=289535&highlight=session+400+limited

Some had blue/green stripes on the trim, some did not. It was labeled LIMITED on the front and the rear of the chassis. The word Session is in lower case. This was the amp they used in the Wedge model as well. The Limited amp showed the big aluminum heat sink on the rear chassis. Pics below:

To further complicate the issue, the serial number badge on the back brace was printed Session 400 LTD which is unfortunate.

Because the original SESSION 400 and the Session 400 LIMITED were so different, many players have been disappointed with the Limited model thinking it was the same amp. I think Peavey could have named the Limited something else or at least changed the S/N badge so that it read Limited instead of LTD to help eliminate the confusion.

You have to remember that they started building these steel guitar amps in the 70s, so there would have been some changes over the years.

Besides the cosmetics, knobs etc. there may as well have been differences in the circuitry within the models, that's something I don't know about.

For sure the LIMITED was totally different in the circuitry and speaker design. The chassis was more akin to the Nashville, Vegas and other City Series 400 amps, while still different even from these. Actually unique among all Peavey amps.

I hope this will help folks differentiate among the various SESSION 400, LTD 400 and the Session 400 LIMITED amps.

This issue has been discussed dozens of times here, it would be nice if one of them were made a Sticky so folks could find the info easier.

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