| Author |
Topic: Peavey Blazer 158 Practice Amp |
Tony Oresteen
From:
Georgia, USA
|
Posted 16 Dec 2023 7:56 pm |
|
Prologue:
======
WAY back in 2009 I bought a Squier SP-10 cheap cheap practice amp for $20 out of a pawnshop in Orlando FL.
These were sold as a part of a "Strat-Pack" to get players started. The amp sounded horrible so I decided to test the theory that if your amp sounds bad, change the speaker. I dropped a Jensen MOD 6.5" speaker and the change was remarkable. So I decided to cut it down into a head and have a custom cab built that I loaded with 6.5" Jensen MOD, 8" Jensen CH (Chicago), and 10" Celestion Greenback speakers.
Just WOW! I did a jazz gig with the SP-10, my cab, and a reverb pedal. I was in a restaurant with an acoustic piano. Worked well with a little over 13 watts (it is set up as a 4 ohms cab, the original load was 8 ohms).
Full story here:
https://www.ssguitar.com/index.php?topic=870.0
Present:
=====
In 2013 I bought a Peavey Blazer 158 for $20 out of a pawn shop:
I wanted to replace the Squier with an amp head that had reverb, CD in, and headphones - the silver stripe TransTube Blazer 158 had every thing I needed.
It was in rough physical shape but it worked fine. I bought new black corners & a new Peavey badge for it (direct from Peavey), and cut it down into a head configuration:
This amp floats the speaker ground from the chassis ground; I did the same when I mounted the speaker jack:
For a number of years this amp & cab were used in my studio for the keyboard with no complaints. A few years ago I put it away as the keyboard was not being used.
I set up a spare bedroom for a few lap steels as a practice room and got the Blazer 158 back out. I run an iPod with my backing tracks into the CD input with a cable I made that goes from stereo to mono 1/4". Ditto for my headphones.
Out of respect to the Peavey Blazer 158, I hid the Fender badge from it and put a Peavey badge on instead 
I found that these small "practice" amps really work well if you replace the speakers with decent ones and increase the number of speakers. My 3 speaker cab is wired for a 4 ohm load which the Blazer 158 uses by default.
I also had custom covers made for the speaker cab and the Blazer head.
_________________
Tony
Newnan, GA
Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster Quad black
PedalMaster D8 |
|
|
 |
Larry Dering
From:
Missouri, USA
|
Posted 17 Dec 2023 2:53 am
|
|
| Interesting project. I have an old Peavey Blazer that I put in a small recording console I built to complement my living room decor. It served me well for my standard guitar needs. I never plugged my steels in to try because I kept the original speaker. I didn't think about upgrading the speaker or a multiple cabinet. I honestly didn't believe it would help. Your project proves my theory was wrong. I underestimated the little Peavey. |
|
|
|
Tony Oresteen
From:
Georgia, USA
|
Posted 17 Dec 2023 8:57 am
|
|
The speaker in the Squier SP-10 probably cost Fender $1.50 MAX when they were making the amp. The Jensen MOD speaker cost $30 discounted retail so Fender could have gotten it for around $10 to $14 in quantities. The cost difference of $1.50 vs $10 is huge! Thus the cheap speaker gets the choice.
This is why these small guitar amps typically sound so bad.
Peavey is no different. For example, they used cheap OP-AMP chips in the Nashville 112, Bandit 112, et al and Ken Fox sold upgrade kits with much better OP-AMPS. The sound improved a lot.
Pretty much all my Peavey amps (ss Bandit 112, ss Ultra 112, ss/teal stripe Envoy 110) all have Weber speakers in them. I have a rare Peavey ss Ultra 410 that has the stock speakers in it as spending $650 for 4 new 10" Webers was just too much when I wouldn't use it that much. If I ever decide to use it, I will then replace the speakers (I have a Marshall 410 cab and a Carvin 410 cab that both have Celestions in them).
_________________
Tony
Newnan, GA
Too many guitars, not enough time to play
'72 Sho-Bud 6139, '71 Marlen 210
'78 Fender Stringmaster Quad black
PedalMaster D8 |
|
|
|
Larry Dering
From:
Missouri, USA
|
Posted 18 Dec 2023 8:19 am
|
|
| Tony, I agree on that. I will Sometimes patch a cable to a better speaker cab just to see how well the amp can sound. I just haven't spent any real time on these practice amps. I figured they couldn't handle the tone for steel no matter what. You made the plunge. Thanks again for the details. |
|
|
|
