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Topic: Peavey Amps And The Nasal Sound |
Paul King
From:
Gainesville, Texas, USA
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Posted 24 Sep 2018 1:31 am |
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| For many years I have heard players talk about Peavey amps having a nasal sound. Personally I battle the mid ranges. However, for the money I have always thought they got the job done and many top players played them for years. Now we are seeing a shift with different brands coming to the forefront. Do Peavey amps still rate high for many of you that play pedal steel? |
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Danny Letz
From:
Old Glory,Texas, USA 79540
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Posted 24 Sep 2018 4:31 am
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| Paul I always used Peavey amps & thought they were great. I think for lots of folks like me it’s weight. Technology has progressed to where things a smaller and lighter. I’m a pretty active 70 years old but an old back injury makes even a 112 heavy for me. I’m into components now. It keeps you healthy because it increases your number of trips back and forth to the car. |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 24 Sep 2018 6:12 am
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I too have went separate amp and speaker, like Danny. I'm an oldster too, 80 but still working regular weekly gigs in a band.
But I don't think Peavey has lost the Steeler's its just there are more options than there used to be.
_________________
GFI Ultra Keyless S-10 with pad (Black of course) TB202 amp, Hilton VP, Steelers Choice sidekick seat, SIT Strings
Cakewalk by Bandlab and Studio One V4.6 pro DAWs, MOTU Ultralite MK5 recording interface unit |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 24 Sep 2018 7:04 am Re: Peavey Amps And The Nasal Sound
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| Paul King wrote: |
| For many years I have heard players talk about Peavey amps having a nasal sound. Personally I battle the mid ranges. However, for the money I have always thought they got the job done and many top players played them for years. Now we are seeing a shift with different brands coming to the forefront. Do Peavey amps still rate high for many of you that play pedal steel? |
Peaveys were always very reasonably priced, and they performed pretty decently. But now, their prices are going up, so you're seeing more and more competition coming into the fray. Personally, I never thought I'd see a $1400 Peavey guitar amplifier! |
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Doug Palmer
From:
Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 24 Sep 2018 8:57 am Peavey
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I have used Peavey amps for many years. Still do. Great sound, value and dependability. I have heard the Snob remarks about the Peavey amps too. I have also seen players beating their Boutique amps on stage to get them to work.
_________________
Emmons D-10, ST-10,LD-10 III, NV-112,Fender Deluxe Reverb. Authorized wholesale dealer musicorp.com! |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 24 Sep 2018 9:26 am
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Fender for tubes, Peavey for solid state! 
Erv |
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Jonathan Reynolds
From:
Nashville, Tennessee
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Posted 24 Sep 2018 3:13 pm
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When I was in Dallas, TX in March at the jam, I heard all the amp brands from Telonics to Peavey to you name it! To my ears, Telonics sounded good, but I believe Peavey was the real take-away winner though. I heard Mike Sigler playing a Nashville 112 and got a really great tone as good as any Telonics. That was a reason I bought a Nashville 112 - it's cheaper and just as good, in my humble opinion, as any Telonics amp. But I have to bring this up front: tone is in the hands, not any fancy amps. Peavey is simple and reliable and a great brand.
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Jonathan Reynolds
Steel Guitar at Sammy Kershaw
Parterned with Evans Amplifiers |
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Karl Nutt
From:
Fayette City, PA U.S.A.
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Posted 24 Sep 2018 4:17 pm
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| I have at least one of all of the older Peavey steel guitar amps up thru the USA made NV112. I also have 2 Evans FET500's, and 3 Twin Reverbs. ALL of the Peavey amps sound great. I've always been able to scoop out the mids to my satisfaction with each and every one of them. My current go-to amps are the NV112 and NV1000 (both with the Ken Fox chip upgrades, Eminence EPS speakers, and MOD reverb tanks). The older amps are my "toys" at the current time. I hope to one day create a video comparing all of them... someday! As far as the speakers go in the Nashville's... the stock speakers were just fine, especially the 1501-4SB Black Widow. The EPS 12 was a slight upgrade in the NV112. I'm not sure if I like the EPS 15 better than the BW in the NV1000, but it's certainly close. Of course, the EPS speakers are lighter, so that's a plus! |
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Mike Brown
From:
Meridian, Mississippi USA
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Posted 25 Sep 2018 9:01 am Peavey steel amps
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We've been here with the steel players from 1970 and developed many, many models that each have their own sound, but also each and every one is a result of our R&D of all previous Peavey models.
Yes, as with every product ever made in the U.S., prices do go up. No way around that, but we do add new features, increased power, etc.. So, you do get something for your money. It's the way of the world these days. |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 25 Sep 2018 9:17 am
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I believe that you can dial out any "nasal" tones by adjusting the shift control and then cutting the mids. First turn the mid control way up and adjust shift to where it sounds worst. Then turn the mid control way down to cut those frequencies. This is what we call a "scooped" tone.
Nasal tones come from a combination of the guitar's construction and its pickup. They are not inherent in the design of Peavey amps.
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-𝕓𝕆𝕓- (admin) - Robert P. Lee - Recordings - Breathe - D6th - Video |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 25 Sep 2018 8:51 pm
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| b0b wrote: |
Nasal tones come from a combination of the guitar's construction and its pickup. They are not inherent in the design of Peavey amps. |
Nope! I'll have to disagree with that one, b0b! Peavey had (admittedly) intentionally limited frequency response to prevent speaker problems. This caused most of their nasal sound issues. The fix for their amps was instigated by John LeMay's mod kits, which restored the full-range of frequencies. Peavey soon realized their mistake and installed their own "mod", and also did retrofits to older amps that had the "nasal sound issues".
It was never a guitar or pickup problem.  |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 26 Sep 2018 2:36 am
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The original Lemay "mod" for the Nashville 400 was because Peavey designed the EQ in the amp for the 1502-4 speaker, which is sold by Peavey as a bass speaker. When they changed to using the 1501-4 which is not marketed as a "bass" speaker the amplifier became all mids and highs and very little lows. The Lemay design reworked the EQ circuitry to "voice" (as Peavey calls it) the amp for the different speaker.
Peavey introduced their "mod" for the Nashville 400 which was the same as the Lemay mod minus one capacitor change.
In early 1996 I was considering a NV400 to replace a heavier Session 500 I was using. There wasn't any in Kansas City. I called Scotty's Music and they had one but they had changed the speaker (to a 1502-4) and had used it on a show. I went over and tried it out and it sounded good. They put the original 1501-4 back in and it was bad bad bad. Needless to say I didn't buy it. But I later bought one, after talking to Mike Brown, and having the Peavey mod installed before it left the factory for the dealer in Kansas City. With the factory installed mod (that was all they were doing at the time, not selling a kit) the amp was great.
_________________
GFI Ultra Keyless S-10 with pad (Black of course) TB202 amp, Hilton VP, Steelers Choice sidekick seat, SIT Strings
Cakewalk by Bandlab and Studio One V4.6 pro DAWs, MOTU Ultralite MK5 recording interface unit |
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Mike Brown
From:
Meridian, Mississippi USA
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Posted 26 Sep 2018 5:08 am Peavey
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| Donny, "more and more". I see less steel guitar amp manufacturers. |
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Lee Baucum
From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
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Posted 26 Sep 2018 5:55 am Re: Peavey
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| Mike Brown wrote: |
| Donny, "more and more". I see less steel guitar amp manufacturers. |
Builders vs Manufacturers
It appears there are guys building some really nice amplifiers; but, would not be considered manufacturers. |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 26 Sep 2018 8:30 am
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"Major" Steel Guitar Amp Manufacturers, I can only think of two. Peavey and Quilter. There are others, that build some great amps, but they don't have the resources and distribution that Peavey and Quilter (QSC) have. Even Quilter is a relative recent entry into Steel Guitar amps.
_________________
GFI Ultra Keyless S-10 with pad (Black of course) TB202 amp, Hilton VP, Steelers Choice sidekick seat, SIT Strings
Cakewalk by Bandlab and Studio One V4.6 pro DAWs, MOTU Ultralite MK5 recording interface unit |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 26 Sep 2018 8:33 am
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And then there's Fender. 
I have a Vibrosonic amp with a dedicated steel channel.
Erv |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 26 Sep 2018 9:18 am
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Abraham Lincoln said the same thing!  |
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Richard Fiedler
From:
Washington, USA
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Posted 26 Sep 2018 9:54 am Don't like 'em
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I think there is a very large grey market...the old Peavy before 1994 is realy realy good. Don't ever get a Peavy made in China...You will be very disappointed in the sound.
Get a nice acoustic amplifier and buy yourself a new PEDAL STEEL SPEAKER and install it yourself. I find the speaker itself is more important than the Amp Part.  |
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Gary Sill
From:
Mt. Zion, IL, USA
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Posted 26 Sep 2018 10:11 am Peavey still offers 2 main steel guitar amps and 1 other
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The Peavey owned company----Trace Elliott has a great light weight small amp that makes all others seem heavy and burdensome. Check out the Trace Elliott bass amp that I have tried and have in stock--works very well as a steel guitar amp.
The small Elf amp fits in your back pocket, weighs 1.6 lbs, with 200 watts of power.
Add the small 16 lb. cabinet or two of them if you like and then the light weight Transit A for all the effects you need with steel, reverb, delay, chorus and further equilization to your sound. Believe me, you can dial in your sound in seconds not days as some amps are so complicated you keep turning knobs and still want more. Before the next song in the set in a live situation, you can find the right combination of treble, mids, and bass.
BTW, no nasal sound here or in the new Session 115 or the old or new Nashville 112.
Remember, Buddy Emmons liked the Nashville 112 enough to use 2 of them.
Check these out on my website:
www.sillmusicsupply.com
_________________
A beautiful Laquer Mullen G2, 2 Nashville 112's, Evans 10" R150 Amp,1982 Emmons Push Pull D-10, Hilton Pedals, 12/8 MSA Superslide, Green LDG Sho-Bud-Owned by Lloyd, S-6 Fender 1956 Lap. , Gretsch Country Gentleman, red Gibson 2019, ES 335, Quilter, Gretsch Resonator, Eastman Mandolin |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 26 Sep 2018 11:37 am
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| Jack Stoner wrote: |
The original Lemay "mod" for the Nashville 400 was because Peavey designed the EQ in the amp for the 1502-4 speaker, which is sold by Peavey as a bass speaker. When they changed to using the 1501-4 which is not marketed as a "bass" speaker the amplifier became all mids and highs and very little lows. The Lemay design reworked the EQ circuitry to "voice" (as Peavey calls it) the amp for the different speaker...
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Jack, Mike Brown told us right here on the forum that Peavey had limited the bass response in their high-powered amps to reduce speaker warranty issues. Most of the players who wanted more bass response (certainly not lead guitar players) found their amps lacking, and John LeMay was first to come up with a mod kit which corrected the problem. I have that mod installed in my Stereo Chorus 212 (an amp not really designed for steel) which also had a big "honk" factor, and that amp originally came with Peavey Scorpion speakers. Peavey, seeing the success of John's mod kits, made their own version of mod kits, and later incorporated similar changes in their amps on their production lines. Once the full-range tone capability was restored, the "honk" was gone.
I have lots of respect for Peavey, and commend them for still building dedicated steel guitar amplifiers. |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 26 Sep 2018 12:38 pm
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I know about that bass response. That one cap value change that is used in the Lemay mod by not the Peavey increases the low end (bass). That cap is the only (known) difference between the two. The Lemay mods I had, the op-amps were painted over the part number so I don't know what op-amps Lemay used.
I've installed one Lemay mod in a NV400 and two Peavey NV400 mod kits for others.
_________________
GFI Ultra Keyless S-10 with pad (Black of course) TB202 amp, Hilton VP, Steelers Choice sidekick seat, SIT Strings
Cakewalk by Bandlab and Studio One V4.6 pro DAWs, MOTU Ultralite MK5 recording interface unit |
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Larry Ball
From:
Airdrie, Alberta, Canada
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Posted 26 Sep 2018 4:04 pm amps
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I have just been playing the PSG for nearly a year now and I have been going through the research about amps, tone, weight and size. Being an "Old" guitar player since the 50's I grew up with Fender. Yes I tried all the rest. In saying all this I have a bunch of good fender tube amps which I have tried with my "Mullen SD10" and I do not like the sound. As mentioned by other's, they are too bright. Now also being a bass player I had a couple of bass amps one which I bought recently because of my bad back etc.
That is the TC Electronic BG250 (250 watts) with 1 x 12 speaker. Lots of power and headroom. I have a friend who has a Peavey Nashville 112 and this TC Electronic sounds just as good.
I also recognize that tone has a lot to do with the hands of the player. So I am going to stick to the TC Electronic until something else makes me change.
Also the price of the TC was very inexpensive. |
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Rick Abbott
From:
Indiana, USA
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Posted 26 Sep 2018 4:50 pm
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I have a Session 400. It's a 1979 and has the earlier version of the midrange control, No nasal tone there. It's just a huge tone. Clean and clear, loud and present. I'm not sure why they ever went past it as a production amp.
A reissue is in order as far as I'm concerned.
_________________
RICK ABBOTT
Sho~Bud D-10 Professional #7962
Remington T-8, Wakarusa 5e3 clone
1953 Stromberg-Carlson AU-35 |
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Bob Grado
From:
Holmdel, New Jersey
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Posted 27 Sep 2018 3:27 am
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I'm an oldster too, 80 but still working regular weekly gigs in a band.
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About a year and a half away from retiring from the day
job and looking forward to playing as many gigs I can for as long as I can.
Jack, You inspire me!
"Keep on picken'" |
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