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Topic: Possible Nashville 400 purchase, seeking advice |
James Horan
From:
Oregon, USA
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Posted 27 Aug 2020 10:54 am |
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I have an opportunity to purchase an old Peavey Nashville 400 with a Black Widow 15" speaker. The current owner does not know if it has had any mods to it.
He also does not know which model the speaker is either. The serial number indicates that it was made in 1983.
I'm going to check it out this weekend.
Looking for some purchasing advice.
What should I check on and what would be some warning signs to look for.
Also, is there a way I can see it any previous owner has made any modifications to this?
Thanks in advance for your assistance and guidance.
p.s. I'm just beginning my journey on pedal steel playing. I'm currently using my old JMF guitar practice amp and really any different amp would probably be an improvement. |
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Fred Justice
From:
Mesa, Arizona
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Posted 27 Aug 2020 12:33 pm
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James, call me
480-235-8797
_________________
Email: azpedalman@gmail.com
Phone: 480-235-8797 |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 27 Aug 2020 2:53 pm
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Mine is a 1984, and they were using the BW 1502-4 at the time. If your speaker has ridges on the cone, it's a 1502. Smooth cone would be a 1501, but I don't think the 1501 was being used at the time.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
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James Horan
From:
Oregon, USA
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Posted 28 Aug 2020 5:24 am
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Is that ridges on the cone and not the magnet on back?
Could you post a photo of the cone with ridges? |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 28 Aug 2020 5:42 am
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There should be a white identification label with the printed model and impedance located by the speaker terminals where the speaker wires attach. Hard to see without a mirror. If you or the owner have opportunity to look for it.
I believe Richard is right that the 1502-4 should be in there unless the speaker has been changed out which happens quite often in amps of this age.
I have some photos I can post if Richard doesn't. |
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James Horan
From:
Oregon, USA
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Posted 28 Aug 2020 6:10 am
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Hello Jerry,
I'm meeting the seller this afternoon so any info or photos you can post would be appreciated. |
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Jack Hanson
From:
San Luis Valley, USA
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Posted 28 Aug 2020 6:32 am
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Bring along the guitar you intend to play through it, hook it up, crank the amp up as loud as you can get away with, and listen.
If it sounds good to you -- buy it. If it does not, don't. |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 28 Aug 2020 7:07 am
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If it has chrome corners, it's an early model.
The later models had plastic corners.
Erv |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 28 Aug 2020 7:49 am
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Here's a link to one post with some identification info James. There were several designs of the silver magnets like this and they are basically all the same.
The early Black Widows had a black label with a spider web grapic, but that would have probably been a little earlier than 83.
| Jerry Overstreet wrote: |
There are several eras of both speakers, but generally speaking, the 1502 has a ribbed cone while the 1501 is smooth.
Some eras of 1502 had an alum. dust cap, some have a paper dust cap. They were available in either 4 ohm and 8 ohm impedance.
All eras of 1501's have an aluminum cap and were 4 ohm. Either model could have DT long basket, or SB shallow basket depending on the era.
Unless you are sure that they are one or the other of these models, there's just no way to identify them. There should have been a label by the terminals.
1501 below
1502 below
Label location below: Deep Throw Basket [DT]:
Shallow Basket [SB]:
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Shot of the older Spider Web Magnet. All of these BW speakers would have the white label by the terminals.
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Joe Krumel
From:
Hermitage, Tn.
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Posted 28 Aug 2020 9:02 am Nville 400
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| FWIW. When I was playing out years ago I used a nash 400. Never at a loss for volume!! Mine was treated rough! Super reliable. |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 28 Aug 2020 11:59 am
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The early models, e.g., 1983, do not need any mods. The amplifier electronics were designed for the 1502 speaker (same speaker was used in the Session 500 amp).
The mods came about when Peavey changed to the 1501 speaker, about 1989, with different response characteristics (The 1502 was sold by Peavey as a bass speaker). John LeMay was the one that came up with the mod to change the circuitry to "voice" (as Mike Brown at Peavey called it) the amp for the new speaker. The Peavey factory mod was identical to the LeMay mod except for one capacitor value. |
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Dale Foreman
From:
Crowley Louisiana, USA
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Posted 28 Aug 2020 12:21 pm
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| Erv Niehaus wrote: |
If it has chrome corners, it's an early model.
The later models had plastic corners.
Erv |
Hey Erv, mine has black powder coated corrners, I’ve never seen plastic but I could be wrong!
Dale
_________________
Rittenberry Prestige(2) |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 28 Aug 2020 1:01 pm
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No, I think you're right about that.
Erv |
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Mike Christensen
From:
Cook Minnesota
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Posted 28 Aug 2020 6:55 pm
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| Bought mine new in mid 90's, has black metal corners. James if it works buy it. For the price these amps are selling for these days they are a bargain. My .02 |
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Steven Paris
From:
Los Angeles
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Posted 29 Aug 2020 8:12 am
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The only REAL way to tell if the amp has been modified is to open it up and inspect the circuit board. Peavey's modification was to put OPA2604 ICs in place of the original RC4558s (U1,2,3,4,6) as well as changes in the values of some capacitors---they changed the value of coupling capacitors (C5,6,11,26,and 2 to 22uF tantalums from 2.2uF aluminum electrolytics. This allows for lower frequencies to pass. They also made changes in the tone control capacitors' values (C10,12,13,14,15); probably due to the speaker change. Ken Fox's basic mod included the cap changes,substituted OPA2134s for the ICs and included the Metzger reverb mod; his intense mod changed many more capacitors.
IMO, the Fox mod is a noticeable improvement and adds value to the amplifier.
_________________
Emmons & Peavey
Last edited by Steven Paris on 29 Aug 2020 8:16 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Pete Burak
From:
Portland, OR USA
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Posted 29 Aug 2020 8:14 am
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Hi James, Is this Nashville 400 the one that has been on Portland, Craigslist in recent weeks?
It looked normal and in pretty good shape to me in the ad. I was wondering if the seller was one of us local steel pickers.
I think there is also one down at Old Town Music right now.
Give me a shout if you need any local assistance with Steel stuff. I am in Portland.
Pete |
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James Horan
From:
Oregon, USA
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Posted 29 Aug 2020 9:19 am
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Thanks to everyone who responded with their advice and guidance. I really appreciate your assistance. This community is very helpful and friendly.
I went to look at the amp yesterday (Friday) afternoon.
The amp looked to be in rough shape, a bit dirty and a little beat up. It did have the chrome corners, not black. Looked like it had been in storage for a while as the case itself had some dust/dirt caked into amp coating.
I looked for the speaker model number label by the terminal and did not see one. But the speaker appears to be a 1502-4 as it has ridges in the cone. It did not have a spider web and the magnet was solid.
Besides the exterior condition the amp did sound nice, bright, clear and clean. All the pots and reverb worked. And when I turned it up a bit, it got pretty loud without any distortion or buzzing.
So, the price was reasonable (IMHO) and with a little negotiating, I decided to take it home. When I got home, I had a few minutes to see how the exterior cabinet coating would clean up and it cleaned up nicely with just sponge and soapy, warm water. The cabinet has a couple spots that the coating has come off but that should not be a problem. It may look a little rough around the edges but it sounds nice and it's a starting point for me. This is a decent upgrade from my old JMF guitar amp I was using.
Pete Burak - This was the Nashville 400 on Portland's Craigslist the past couple of weeks. The seller is a local musician, not a steel guitar player but plays guitar in a couple bands in PDX. He works on tube amps (fenders) and admits he doesn't know much about the solid state amps. He also said he was selling "for a friend" who used this amp for a keyboard. So I didn't get a lot of history on it.
Thanks again to everyone who responded. |
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Joe Krumel
From:
Hermitage, Tn.
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Posted 29 Aug 2020 11:11 am amp
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| james; congrats on the amp. I personally like equipment that has a story to tell,dirt,dents etc. Like i said in earlier post,my 400 was road weary when I bought it and worse when I sold it to working musicians. plug it in and enjoy that BIG sound!! |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 30 Aug 2020 5:30 am
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Those Nashville 400's can take a lot of abuse!
Kind of like Timex watches, they can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. 
Erv |
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Joe Krumel
From:
Hermitage, Tn.
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Posted 30 Aug 2020 12:00 pm
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| yes sir! One episode with my old 400. The amp was on the front seat,had to SLAM on brakes.Amp hit the dash so hard I thought thats it for that amp. Set up to play,no issues at all!! Loading and unloading, getting dropped etc. unbelievable! I used to make the lead players Mesa Boogie Mark3 Back down. fun stuff. |
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James Horan
From:
Oregon, USA
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Posted 31 Aug 2020 9:25 am
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So, I cleaned up the pots and took a photo of the circuit board.
Stock?
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 31 Aug 2020 10:37 am
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Clean as a hound's tooth!
Erv |
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Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
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Posted 31 Aug 2020 5:10 pm
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Looking at the OpAmps, it doesn't look to be modified.
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
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Ken Fox
From:
Nashville GA USA
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Posted 1 Sep 2020 4:26 am
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Completely stock and no mods
Factory modded later models never had OPA2604 chips(having modded many I can say this with certainty
Factory kits sold by Peavey did have OPA2604 chips In the user install kit |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 1 Sep 2020 5:27 am
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I bought a new NV400 in spring of 96. Actually had to be ordered by the music store. I talked to Mike Brown during the call the store made to Peavey to order and told him I wanted the tone mod. He agreed to include it (at no extra charge) in the order. I had to wait for a production run of the amps and as I found out from Mike, the mod was not installed during production but was done by the service department before shipping to the dealer. Talking to Mike about the mod, he stated he had been considering incorporating it in production and the next production run (I think Sept 96) the mod was incorporated as an engineering change.
My spring 96 factory mod did not include any 2604's, I don't think any of the chips were changed in the original Peavey version of the mod. Later, when the Peavey mod kit came out with 2604's I got some and installed it in my NV400 but I can't say it really changed anything. |
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