Original Peavey Session 400 not the limited

Jim Pitman · From: Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA

Here's a Peavey session 400 amp with the discrete circuitry. It has the Peavey 1501 black widow 15" speaker with the curved heavier magnet. I just picked up for little money as it was blowing fuses. I found the problem - disconnected transistor leg. All is well now.

It's appears to be a later transition model since it has the colored knobs rather than the metal knobs. Perhaps they were changed? I do know the circuit board assembly is the coveted discrete type not the later integrated circuit type.

I would discount it heavily since it only cost me the shipping and I don't know the history of the amp. $200.00 takes it.

Jim Pitman · From: Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA

The first edition Peavey Session 400 is one of the best solid state designs in a guitar amp I have ever seen IMO. I have three of them and have decided to thin the heard. I'm a fan of the silver knobs so I'm letting this one go since its a transition model with the blue/gray/black knobs. However it contains the same electrical design/sound

I'm an electrical engineer by profession so let me outline what I have observed about the amp.

It is designed with discrete transistors, ie no ICs.
You can tell the designer came from from the tube school of amp design as the power supply is quite high voltage with successive stages of filtering starting at the power section ending at the input to the preamp. This approach yields great head room with beaucoup clean volume.

The circuit boards are laid out using Ruby Lithe. This results in trace paths that can grow and shrink as necessary to accommodate the changing current requirements. The Lithe is cut with parallel knife blades whose gap can be changed on the run. The board looks quite artsy as a result where copper lands connect three or more components in a varying geometric shape with no sharp edges. This is from a bygone era - the 60s/70s, the apogee of high end audio.

The preamp design is unique in that it the input volume incorporates "loudness" which results in an accentuating the bass response when the volume is turned down low. This in conjunction with a parametric mid control make for very wide range tone shaping. I know because my ears verify what the simulation tells me using Texas Instruments "Tina" simulator.

The reverb tank is the two or three spring type which sounds thick.

The black widow speaker is very wide range for a 15 and is very durable as well.

$200.00 is well below what you will find on Reverb BTW. I've had a couple bites but they backed out last minute maybe because I prefer Venmo. I cancelled my Paypal after they applied the percentage charge. I will accept a check or even mailed cash (with receipt verification). The shipping will add ~ $60.00 if I use my companies UPS account.

Venmo is easy. I signed up within 5 minutes. This is how my local musician buddies pay each other for gigs in fact. - money exchanged between friends with no extra charges/tax.

Jim Pitman · From: Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA

Here is some ways to get the price down.

1. I remove the speaker because you want to replace it with a much lighter neo type or JBL. The BW is roughly 20lbs. I ship only the cabinet/amp chassis/reverb tank assembled.

2. I ship you the functioning chassis and reverb tank only, no cabinet/speaker. This is proposed for you adventurous types who want to make a session 400 head by either purchasing or making a head only enclosure.

Both of those arrangements would knock of $50.00 for a price of $150.00 not including shipping (which should be less).

Jim Pitman · From: Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA

Ooops, I just read Dave Mudgett's request not to use "Paypal Friends and Family" . I think that is what Venmo is.
Correct me if I'm wrong, Dave.

So, it's cash or check, but if you insist, I can reinstate my Paypal account. The price would go up 5% accordingly since it's such a bargain in the first place.

If you want, call me to discuss. 802 eight two five 2882

Jim Pitman · From: Waterbury Ctr. VT 05677 USA

This amp has been sold and shipped.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

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