Peavey KB 60 or Gibson G 20 for pedal steel?

Don Christy · Posted 26 Oct 2021 7:50 am

I have a chance to buy either one of these amps in great condition for $100 each. Ihe Peavey KB 60 is a 90's amp and the Gibson G20 might be a 70's amp.

Anyone on the forum played a steel through these amps before and what is you thoughts on them? Is the price within reason?

Thanks!

D Schubert · From: Columbia, MO, USA

Have used neither one, but I'd expect that the Peavey with larger speaker and more power (more clean headroom) to be the better choice.

Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

The Gibson G20 is an early-mid 70s solid-state amp with reverb and tremelo. If everything is working correctly, they have a pretty nice clean sound, IMO. But I've only played guitar through one. Not a lot of power, probably something like 20 Watts but I'm not sure that's RMS Watts. I'd say volume more like a Princeton Reverb. But probably fine for practice or low-volume rehearsal/gig. I use my Princeton Reverb for that type of usage frequently. Plug it in and see if it sounds good. I think they started out with 10" speaker and moved to 12", I'd probably want 12" given my druthers. I'd say $100 is about right if everything working right and in good cosmetic shape. There are some out there for quite a bit more, but I think they are just fishing. I think this vid is a fairly accurate representation of what one in good shape sounds like with guitar - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dc3pqnkrvU

I've never really warmed up to keyboard amps for guitars. But no doubt the KB60, rated at 50 Watts RMS, has significantly more power than the G20. No reverb, certainly no tremelo. But if everything is working properly, could probably work as a reasonable platform for pedal steel with the right reverb or delay pedal. Again, plug it in, see if it sounds good. If it's in good shape, $100 doesn't seem out of line. Green stripe from the 90s?

FWIW - I just picked up an '87 (pre green-stripe) Peavey Studio Pro 50 last week for $45 on Craigslist while traveling in south-central PA. Similar power package to KB60 but designed for guitar, not keyboard. The 4558 dual op-amp reverb chip was shot, but I had some and that fixed it. Reverb pan sounded terrible, but I had one, and reverb sounds OK now. Honestly, this amp sounds spectacular for clean Telecaster, and really very good for pedal steel too if the volume isn't crushing. Now, this is intended as a guitar amp, so no doubt the EQ is somewhat different than a pedal steel amp. But I used this Friday and Sunday for reasonable volume pedal steel / guitar gigs, and it sounded very good. I'm a sucker for the 70s and 80s Peavey guitar amps. Bandit 65 too.

Personally, I'd go for the Gibson. But it depends on your intended usage.

Don Christy · Posted 26 Oct 2021 2:52 pm

Dave...I would say after reading about the post on here...the Peavey might be the way to go for pedal steel. Yes ...this is the green stripe amp.

I would get more power from this amp and I learned the frequency is wider in range which makes it even more interesting. I like the Gibson too, but not the power it has. I listen to the tone on these Peavey KB 60's and its so clean and has nice lows. The Gibson sounds nice too and its hard not to like both of them.

Maybe I might buy both of them and use them for awhile and see which one I will keep.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Don Christy · Posted 26 Oct 2021 10:09 pm

I just bought the Peavey KB 60. It had a bad pot on the bass pot..... other than that..it looks nice and sounds great. The other KB 60's I tested out at various music stores also sounded great before I bought this one.

I made an offer of $60 and they accepted it. A little elbow grease is worth the $40 discount....LOL!

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Yup, hard to go wrong at $60.

These old Peavey solid-state amps are a crazy bargain. I mean, I'm not giving up my old tube amps, but some of these things will give them a serious run for their money.

Tony Edwards · From: Six Mile, South Carolina

I have a Peavey KB-60. It is just what is says - 60 watts made for Key Board. BUT, I can plug my Gibson SST guitar into that thing and it transforms into one of the best sounding acoustic amps I have ever heard! It is a good amp. I don't remember trying it out for a steel though.
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ZumSteel SD10; CLR Custom SD10; Telonics 500-B w/ TT 15; Hilton Low Profile VP; Frenchy's Steel Mill Strings; George L's Cables; BJS Tone Bars; Hoffmeyer Picks. This combination produces a Heavenly tone! Psalm 33:2 "Praise the Lord with...an instrument of ten strings."

Don Christy · Posted 29 Oct 2021 8:40 am

Tony...from what I heard from another steel player the wide frequency range this amp has makes the lows sound better and it also sounds real clean for steel.

I bought this amp to try the stereo in it by plugging in a cable in each channel and into a effects pedal of choice.

I'm changing out a bad pot and giving the amp a bath right now. For $60 you can't go wrong on these old Peavey's.

It should be ready this next week to try out.

Karl Paulsen · From: Chicago

Nice score.

I probably would have bought the Gibson for home use, but the Peavey will certainly have more utility for rehearsal and even a gig. At the low prices the command there's any number of Peavey bass, keyboard and PA amps that would probably work fine for steel.

My rehearsal space amp is a Reno 400. Intended for acoustic guitar, with the horn removed and playing through the 2nd input, it's basically a Nashville 400 with a 15" Scorpion instead of a BW.

Only cost me 100 bucks..
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Don Christy · Posted 29 Oct 2021 1:48 pm

Wow Kari! nice score on that Reno. Old Peavey amps are the best kept secret and they are everywhere for pennies on the dollar.

Don't get me wrong...there are a lot of nice tube amps out there too. I love tube amps, but they break the bank sometimes. LOL!

Karl Paulsen · From: Chicago

Don Christy · Posted 30 Oct 2021 11:28 am

Anyone know if I can take out the 12" speaker in the Peavey KB 60 and replace it with my 15"/ 4 ohm Black Widow?

Not sure of the ohms on the 12" speaker. It looks like I have plenty of room in the KB 60 to upgrade to a 15" BW

Karl Paulsen · From: Chicago

You could probably do it, but if you have a nice Black Widow, you might be better off hunting down something with an amp better suited for steel.

A Reno, a Peavey steel amp without speaker, etc. Could probably find something like that for 200 or less that would give you more headroom, better use of the BW and maybe even volume.

Also note that the kb60 is a closed back cab and most Peavey steel amps are open backed. Peavey does put BWs in closed cabs for other uses but the kb60 isn't a big cab. Someone with more knowledge of amp physics may have more specific advice.
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Chicago Valley Railroad. Trainspotting and Bargain Hunting...
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