Peavey Mace--The End of A Restoration Story!

Don Poland · From: Hanover, PA.

Don, I have the lil brother to your Mace. I have 2 Deuces and have one split to lighten the load. The original 12" speakers were removed and replaced with a BW 15" Neo along with a new baffle. Great sounding amp. Mine has had the Tolex replaced to a wine colored tolex and a wheat colored grill cloth. Rather sharp looking amp, if I do say so myself. I'm sure you will enjoy the Mace. Very Happy

Don Mogle · From: Round Rock, TX, USA

Thanks Don. Yes, I also have a Deuce that's all solid state--no tubes--which I'm guessing is one of the original ones which uses discreet transistors. I have a TT-12 and Deltalite 2512 in this amp at the moment. I had to rebuild the baffle on account it was cheap particle/pressed board that was chipping and crumbling. It's a great sounding amp also.

I guess it would be overkill to run the Mace along with the Deuce. I would certainly be heard though!

How about posting some pictures of your Deuces!

Don

Don Mogle · From: Round Rock, TX, USA

UPDATE: Things are going well with the restoration.

I painted the wood in the amp to give it a fresh clean look. I didn't like the presentation as in a previous picture shown above with the speakers.

After reinstalling the chassis, I gave it a test drive. For some reason the normal channel was not working, but the others were OK. The amp is clean sounding with the six 6L6s--I like it! I will pull the chassis out again and look at the normal channel for a closer inspection. I couldn't get any resistance or snap with my 1/4" plug--no resistance at all when I tried to plug into the normal channel. Perhaps the contact needs to be bent up to make a better contact.

I'm working on the TWINS (two Special 130 cabinets) that I will be putting the Eminence Patriot Commonwealths in. They are coming along nicely, but rebuilding the one cabinet is taking much more time than I realized. Tomorrow, I will build the sections to fill in the front where the chassis was removed, add the back panels to include the 1/4 plug ins, etc.

I should be done this week with everything and will post the pictures of all three projects later.

I wanted to provide this update to keep you all in the loop. Stay tuned for more...here's a sneak preview.

Thanks for stopping by...

Don

Don Mogle · From: Round Rock, TX, USA

Today was a good day and I got it all buttoned up. Here are some pictures...

Final Comments:

** It was a fun project but time consuming!

** Maybe sometime I can do a better job in trying to remove the glue on the grill cloth. The pictures taken in the bright Sun shows how ugly this looks. Thankfully, the Peavey logo covers up some of the glue. The glue seems to disappear when you get it indoors where the light is not so bright. Although the grill cloth is not perfect, it's not too bad for an amp that's 45 years old!

** The upper back panels on the Special 130 cabinets were made from some hardwood flooring strips. I looked for a solid material that wasn't too thick. I just happened to have two boxes of unused hardwood flooring sitting in the garage. An added benefit of this material is that I can remove the lower panel (tongue and groove) if I want to try and experiment with sound shaping for better bass response for the Patriot Commonwealths.

** It's interesting to note that these Special 130 cabinets are similar in size to the Walker Stereo Steel cabinet Gerry Walker use to sell. They are also similar in size to the most popular cabinets Rick Johnson builds. Ditto that for the Little Walter cabinets.

** The Special 130 cabinet with the handle sticking up is the basket case that took a lot of time rebuilding. It sits a little higher because of the new rubber feet. The other cabinet still has the original metal glides.

** The true test will be listening to how this rig sounds in a live situation. I will post some videos of this later on with different speaker combinations. I envision possibly running the two Commonwealths off the Mace. Or just using a TC Furlong in the amp with a Patriot Commonwealth, etc. Different combinations are possible--to be determined.

** BIG NEWS! I was able to connect with the guy who designed the Iron Sounds effects mod. He sent me the installation instructions/manual. I will get it hooked up in time. Mucho thanks to the Forumite who provided valuable assistance in chasing down the detail of this mod.

OK...thanks for checking in!

Don

George Redmon · From: Muskegon & Detroit Michigan.

It's great to see these early amplifiers being restored. I had a Mace way back in the day, a little different than this one, but it was sweet. Pre-china made, back when Peavey actually built there own amplifiers in Mississippi. Very Happy

Don Mogle · From: Round Rock, TX, USA

Thank you George. I really enjoy trying to make these old amps look new again. I wish I knew more about electronics so that I could put as much attention on the inside as well as the outside.

I used the Mace this morning along with a Deuce (dual mono). Probably a bit of overkill for sure...

VERDICT/BOTTOM LINE: I really like this amp! It's great for steel guitar with clean headroom for days! The old Eminence Mace original driver performed very well with the TC Furlong 12" neo speaker. The sound was clear and warm--no ice pick highs.

Here are pictures of my rig:

Here is a YouTube link to this morning's 11:00 am service. The steel is pretty far in the background due to systems deficiencies with the live feed mix. We are working to resolve this issue by running stereo (work in progress). Note: the music starts about 5 minutes in the video and then we do one final song at the end of the message starting at 1:01:37.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vql15TGFfCE

This video link is from this morning's 8:30 am service. This has all the same songs as the live feed. However, this video puts the steel out front more in the mix. I recorded it with my cell phone. Although it's not the greatest video recording, it gives you some idea as to the sweetness of the Mace's clean sound with the Sho~Bud Pro II steel (audio recording).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxYYvACqkOM

In conclusion, the newly-restored 1976 Peavey Mace lived happily ever after with its trusted sidekick--Deuce!

Thanks for Watching, Reading, and Listening!

THE END...

Don

Larry Dering · From: Missouri, USA

Don, I'm impressed with your work cleaning and restoration of this old girl. The pictures were great for following your progress. I know this post is a couple years old. Are you still using the Mace? How about the 130s? I still have an old Peavey Heritage hybrid with 4 6l6 tube power amp and transistor preamp. Its a great old amp with a sweep able mid control, 2 Scorpions and phaser plus reverb. Cool old heavy amp. I also have a Peavey 130 that needs some repair in the electronic section. It works but has a sound issue I haven't been able to fix. Anyway thanks for sharing your talents and experience with a loving restoration.

Don Mogle · From: Round Rock, TX, USA

Hi Larry,

I sold the Mace some time ago to a nice young man up North towards Dallas. Howrver, I used it in church for about two years and it was great!

I still have a nice Pravey Special 130 with a TT-12 in it. I'll probably keep this as my gigging amp for now. I also have a mint Deuce 240 that had been for sale for awhile. I may just keep this one and put in a TT-12 and Eminence Furlong neo.

Lately. I've gotten more into the Fender tube amps which I know you are a great fan of. Remember: a tube amp can always be rebuilt!

Larry Dering · From: Missouri, USA

Thanks Don. Yes I have several Fender tube amps and I did 2 rebuilds myself. I love the tone, character and power of a tube amp. I don't like the weight anymore because I'm 74 and those amps have put on a few pounds with age. (Not really). I don't have the strength to carry them like the old days. I will probably get the 130 repaired since it has me puzzled. Beyond my level of electronics education.

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