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Author Topic:  Peavey Mace--The End of A Restoration Story!
Don Mogle

 

From:
Round Rock, TX, USA
Post  Posted 31 Aug 2021 11:37 am    
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Hi Everyone

Any experiences with using a Peavey Mace for steel? I have a lead on one that has some trade potential.

Here are some pictures...thoughts?














My observations:

1. It's pretty dirty but I am good cleaning these things up.

2. The transformers look rusted. Should I be concerned about this?

3. The Commonwealth Patriots are heavy, but a real good speaker. Supposedly similar to D/E-120 JBL.

4. I wonder about the tubes and condition. The one on the left looks to be an odd ball compared to the others.

5. Don't know if or when the caps were changed...if at all.

6. The amp has been modded to some degree. Note the 1/4 inch jacks on the rear chassis.

7. The cabinet looks to be in good shape. I confirmed it's made of plywood (good) and not cheap particle board. My guess is that it's not been abused or seen a lot of road use.

Thanks!


Last edited by Don Mogle on 3 Oct 2021 1:17 pm; edited 9 times in total
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Jerry Overstreet


From:
Louisville Ky
Post  Posted 31 Aug 2021 12:00 pm    
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I declined the chance to buy my friend's Mace. It's a beast of a guitar amp, but I could never dial in a good steel sound with it. Something about the low mids and bass that didn't suit me.

It's 160 watts and loaded with 6 of the 6l6 tubes for a ton of power, and it weighs as much.

It may also depend on the speakers. His has square mag speakers...the make I'm unsure of...if it has the 1201 Black Widows, that would help.

The other thing about these amps is that you have to have the Automix footswitch to take full advantage of the features.

These are usually lost or have been pirated and sold, they are scarce and pricey to obtain.

I play D10s so that's my eval, others may have had better experiences with steel guitar. Only way to know is try it for yourself. We may be looking for different things.


Last edited by Jerry Overstreet on 31 Aug 2021 12:26 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Don Mogle

 

From:
Round Rock, TX, USA
Post  Posted 31 Aug 2021 12:24 pm     Peavey Mace
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Thanks Jerry!
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John De Maille


From:
On a Mountain in Upstate Halcottsville, N.Y.
Post  Posted 31 Aug 2021 1:19 pm    
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I played a PV Mace for several years. I did, however, replace the speakers with a JBL E-130 15" speaker. It sounded really good with that change. It was heavy though.
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Pete Burak

 

From:
Portland, OR USA
Post  Posted 31 Aug 2021 2:18 pm    
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Extremely heavey.
Lynyrd Skynyrd used them in the 70's.
160W of Tube power.
Could be a fun cool Steel amp but hard to lift.
Ken Fox may have some better info on these.
Here is the Mace Manual:
https://peavey.com/manuals/80347000.pdf
VT Series Mace/Deuce Manual:
https://peavey.com/manuals/80345001.pdf
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Ken Fox


From:
Nashville GA USA
Post  Posted 31 Aug 2021 4:07 pm     Mace
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I never cared for the VT series. I used the earlier Mace. No IC chips like the VT series. It was stock with Black Widows. That was back in the late 70’s. That was the amp Skynard used, not the VT series. Discreet transistor preamp snd 6x6L6GC power tubes

Was great for guitar and steel to my ear
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Don Mogle

 

From:
Round Rock, TX, USA
Post  Posted 31 Aug 2021 4:46 pm     Mace
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Thanks guys! I have the 320T model with the discreet transistors--not the VT.

Last edited by Don Mogle on 18 Sep 2021 8:57 am; edited 1 time in total
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Don Mogle

 

From:
Round Rock, TX, USA
Post  Posted 4 Sep 2021 12:33 pm     PV Mace
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Hello Guys/Gals,



Can somebody look at the power and output transformers in picture above (shown on right and left side). They appear rusty. However, the current owner claims to have used this amp about 5 times at church. Therefore, they appear to be working OK. Is there an easy way to test these short of pulling the chassis and doing diagnostic tests?

Is this anything I should be concerned about? What are the issues with painting these to bring it back to look like new? Is it a waste of time? Could I do some sort of damage? Please advise.

UPDATE: I made a trade deal for this awesome amp and will be picking it up on Monday. When I bring her home, I will do my regular kamikaze-style cleaning/polishing/restoration routine as with all my used amp purchases. I will post pictures of the before-and-after shots. Stay tuned for more.

I will take the chassis to a good local amp tech to look over, test the electronics, test the tubes, pull any death cap that may be residing in the chassis, etc.

Thanks,

Don


Last edited by Don Mogle on 15 Sep 2021 4:36 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Karl Paulsen

 

From:
Chicago
Post  Posted 5 Sep 2021 6:31 am    
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Looking forward to your review of this.
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Donny Hinson

 

From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
Post  Posted 5 Sep 2021 12:34 pm    
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One local player in my area who is no longer with us (Bobby Sparks) used one for quite a while. It is a very powerful, but ungodly heavy amp. It sounded pretty good, and if you're looking for tons of power, it'll get you heard in just about any band. Cool
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Don Mogle

 

From:
Round Rock, TX, USA
Post  Posted 5 Sep 2021 4:12 pm    
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I will probably split the amp into a head and speaker cabinet.

I'm going to pick it up tomorrow!


Last edited by Don Mogle on 21 Oct 2021 4:11 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Don Mogle

 

From:
Round Rock, TX, USA
Post  Posted 7 Sep 2021 6:40 am     Peavey Mace
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Well Everyone...I'm the new owner of a Peavey Mace! I brought the amp home yesterday.

Test Drive: Before transacting the deal, I test drove the amp. The pots seemed pretty clean but I did notice some crackling on one to two--nothing objectionable. The functions all worked as they should. However, the reverb was OK but not great. The amp sounded clean and loud. Due to a new baby sleeping in the bedroom, we could not crank it too loud...but enough to do a test drive! Very Happy

Cabinet/Case: The cabinet actually looked great! I think this amp was used mostly at home given the fact the tolex looked fantastic for a 45-year-old amp. There were no tears in the tolex or areas where the rigors of the road left gaping holes in this covering. Even the chrome corners looked pretty nice. Thankfully, there was no pet dander--smells, evidence of a cat or dog peeing on the cabinet, etc. Yes, I did the smell test first!

Chassis: I pulled the chassis while I was at the previous owner's house. It looked neat and clean--no rust on the chassis case or electronics that looked burnt, etc. There were no bulging caps or leaks that I could see. I did get a better view of the mod that was done by some previous owner (see another post for more details on this mod). The previous owner even installed a new 3-prong plug! Usually, the ground terminal is cut off these old amps in my experience.



Tubes: I pulled all the tubes and gave them a closer inspection. They looked really good! All 6 were able to light up. I took a chopstick and gave a gentle tap to each one--no weird noises to suggest a microphonic tube. Four of these tubes may be old RCAs or Sylvanias! I could see made in the USA on the bottles but there were no other markings to determine the manufacturer. Maybe these were OEM tubes with minimal markings?? One was "Made in Russia" (Sovtek? Tungsol?) and the other was JJ that was clearly marked.

I may blessed to have real RCAs! I read that Peavey used American tubes back in the 70s and some amps still have the original tubes! I'm not a big fan of mix-and-match tubes, but that's the hand I was dealt on this amp.










Mod--Appears to be an Effects Mod: I took some pictures of the mod. All in all, it looks to be a nice mod that was done by a competent tech. It was neat and clean. The wires one side of the on-off push button did not connect or attach any anything. They were just taped at the end and positioned inside the cabinet. I noticed these wires also had no electronics (resistors, etc.) soldered onto the circuit board. I'm guessing this side of the device was not being used at all. Anybody ever seen anything like this before?

Here it is for convenience:





Eminence Patriot Commonwealth 12" Speakers: I swear the speakers in this amp are new! I pulled these out and cleaned them up...they look great! However, at around 22 pounds each, I will be building some 12" cabinets to put these in. Oddly, the wires were just twisted around the terminals. They were not soldered or fastened to any kind of clip. I will surely fix this.

Today, I'm going to start cleaning the cabinet and grille cloth.

Sometime this week, I Will call the local amp tech to take the chassis down to him for a checkup! I did notice a death cap that has to go. I will also have him look at the mod to make sure it's safe, check the tubes and electronics, etc.

OK...stay tuned for more later. I have to go get scrubbing a cabinet and grill cloth!

Don


Last edited by Don Mogle on 2 Nov 2021 7:33 pm; edited 9 times in total
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Jerry Overstreet


From:
Louisville Ky
Post  Posted 7 Sep 2021 10:47 am    
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Can't offer any help concerning your mods, but I wanted to say that I had a couple of Artist 240 Peavey hybrid amps from this same era and the reverb was really weak on both of them. I don't know if it was characteristic of this era of build or I just had a couple of duds.
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Don Mogle

 

From:
Round Rock, TX, USA
Post  Posted 7 Sep 2021 11:02 am    
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I know what you mean Jerry. That's why there is the Metzger mod. I will probably just use a pedal...

Don
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Ken Fox


From:
Nashville GA USA
Post  Posted 7 Sep 2021 11:16 am    
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Mod is a mystery. I can see they were using one board to get a regulated power source for the other board

I see an op amp on there. TLO 72. Note sure what they were doing there. Possible an effects loop
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Jack Hanson


From:
San Luis Valley, USA
Post  Posted 7 Sep 2021 1:00 pm     Re: Peavey Mace--I Brought Her Home!!
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Don Mogle wrote:
...thoughts?

Just from looking at the pictures my back hurts.
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Don Mogle

 

From:
Round Rock, TX, USA
Post  Posted 7 Sep 2021 7:43 pm     Peavey Mace
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OK...here are the results for today's work.

I scrubbed the tolex with Dawn dishwashing liquid and water. Ditto that with the grille cloth (being careful not to get the baffle too wet since it's particle board). After this cleaning, I polished the cabinet with California Customs LVC Leather/Vinyl Cleaner/Conditioner. Then, I cleaned and polished the corner hardware with more California Customs products. I think it's looking great!

I salvaged a Peavey logo from a 70s 2×12 PA cabinet to dress it up. I used a black Sharpie to hide the ugly gobs of hot glue on the grille cloth. Here are some pictures...











Last edited by Don Mogle on 28 Sep 2021 5:02 pm; edited 3 times in total
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Jerry Overstreet


From:
Louisville Ky
Post  Posted 7 Sep 2021 8:16 pm    
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Nice job Don. Looks great!
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Dale Foreman

 

From:
Crowley Louisiana, USA
Post  Posted 8 Sep 2021 11:40 am     Mace
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I have an original manual for it if anyone wants it.
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Don Mogle

 

From:
Round Rock, TX, USA
Post  Posted 8 Sep 2021 2:53 pm    
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I'll take the manual. Will PM mailing address. Let me know the shipping. Thanks!

Don
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Don Mogle

 

From:
Round Rock, TX, USA
Post  Posted 8 Sep 2021 3:55 pm    
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Work completed today--September 8th

I had a major setback today. I attempted to load two Eminence neo speakers--a TC Furlong spec 12" along with a Deltalite II 2512--into the cabinet. I quickly found out that they were too big to fit. The flanges overlapped each other by about 1/4". No good.

I thought about just using one speaker, but did not like the presentation/look when viewed from the front. The answer was easy. About two months ago, I purchased two Eminence speakers that were original to the Mace! I was able to slip the old Eminence under the TC Furlong. Now, I have two speakers that weigh about 12-13 pounds together--not too bad. It will be interesting to hear how they sound in a real-world scenario. I'll find out pretty soon. I also had to trim some of the bottom board that fastens to the baffle to make them fit properly. Nothing is ever easy.

I decided to update the front input/rear speaker jacks with some new washers and nuts. This helped clean the chassis up even more...gave it a newer look.

I reached to a tech here locally who will check out the amp. This should happen in the next few days after the pack of 6-amp fuses get here from Amazon. The fuse that was in it was a 20 amp fuse! Yikes!

OK...too tired to write more. Thanks to everyone who made an effort to help identify the mod. It would seem I have mod that was started but not finished. Maybe I should just pull it out and be done with it. Will have to mull that over some more.

Here are some pictures of today's work. I know it doesn't look like much, but there was a lot of work to get it to this point.










Don


Last edited by Don Mogle on 2 Nov 2021 7:36 pm; edited 6 times in total
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Donny Hinson

 

From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
Post  Posted 9 Sep 2021 3:34 pm    
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Quote:
However, the reverb was OK but not great.


Sadly, that's a characteristic of all the old Peaveys. Confused
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Don Mogle

 

From:
Round Rock, TX, USA
Post  Posted 18 Sep 2021 8:35 am     Peavey Mace Restoration
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Well, I just got the chassis back from Alberto at Atomic Tube here in Austin.

Results:

1. TUBES: One of the tubes was an EL34 and not a 6L6. Therefore, Alberto recommended replacing the two odd balls that were in the amp--EL 34 and JJ. So we replaced these with two new Sovtek 6L6s. The original Sylvania 6L6s were in good shape and have about 80% life left in them. These look good together with the other new Sovtek tubes.

2. FUSE HOLDER: The fuse jack was an older style that did not work with today's size of fuses. Alberto replaced the original with another fuse holder. Even though the amp called for a 6-amp fuse, which is what I bought, they were still too small for the original fuse holder.

3. ELECTRONICS: Alberto found an issue with some solder joints in the effects channel, so he fixed all these problem areas. He was unable to complete the effect bypass mod system; he said something about needing the Automix footswitch. This will have to wait until another day.

4. CAPS: The caps looked OK, but will need to be addressed in a few years from now. Until then, I'm going to just play and enjoy this beast.

5. TUBE SOCKETS: The tube sockets will also need to be replaced at some point. They were kind of loose but still functional. They should be OK in the near term. I will do all this when the caps need replaced.

6. SPEAKERS: I was able to get the the other Eminence Mace speaker repaired. I thought this was going to need to be reconed, but it turned out to be a wire that was disconnected. It's good to go. So I now have two original Peavey Mace Eminence speakers that are working! I still plan to leave the TC Furlong in place as it is a better steel speaker and very light too (neo).

I have been working on two Special 130 cabinets that will be the new homes for the Eminence Patriot Commonwealths. One of these was a basket case. I rebuilt the entire bottom and some of the sides of this cabinet. It smelled like a dog or cat peed on it and the particle board was punky and crumbling. I had to get creative with retolexing this basket case. It's coming along well though. Thank God for reverb tanks that are housed in tolex! Additionally, I just bought another Special 130 in great shape (the entire amp) for $100 here locally. It just needed some cleaning. I will post pictures of this work too after I'm done.

7. POWER OUTPUT: I asked Alberto if he had a chance to test the output since Peavey's Mace Manual states it's conservatively rated for 160 watts. He bench tested it at 200 watts!! That should be loud enough for my church gig. Very Happy

I will get the amp put back together next week. I'm thinking of adding some casters to the bottom of the cabinet.

OK...more to come later. Thanks for stopping by.

Don


Last edited by Don Mogle on 15 Oct 2021 12:47 pm; edited 9 times in total
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Donny Hinson

 

From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
Post  Posted 18 Sep 2021 5:49 pm    
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Don Mogle wrote:

I had a major setback today. I attempted to load two Eminence neo speakers--a TC Furlong spec 12" along with a Deltalite 2512 II--into the cabinet. I quickly found that they were too big to fit. The flanges overlapped each other by about 1/4". No good.



Just in case anyone is interested, I have seen speakers shoehorned in a cabinet by careful trimming of the mounting flange. In fact, I'm planning on doing this myself to one of my smaller amps to fit in a larger-than-intended" speaker. Gaining another 1/4" is fairly easy. You do have to be careful not to cut into the speaker cone area, and to mask the speaker before you do the cutting, so as to not get any metal particles into the speaker. (I'm certain I have also seen this done in a "factory built" amp, but I can't remember the model or brand.)
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Don Mogle

 

From:
Round Rock, TX, USA
Post  Posted 18 Sep 2021 6:21 pm    
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I thought of that Donny. However, I may end up selling all my neo speakers later. Cutting the frame would be a possible sales deterant. It is a good thought...thanks for commenting and sharing.


I also considered putting in a Peavey Scorpion which already has the flanges shaved off the sides. Unfortunately, the two I have are blown. Maybe I will be able to pick up some inexpensive baskets in the future. By the way, I've read several positive reviews of the Scorpion.

Thanks again!

Don


Last edited by Don Mogle on 2 Nov 2021 7:41 pm; edited 1 time in total
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