Having a hard time finding an amp...

Jake Bopp · From: Tallahassee, FL

North FL where I live used to be a complete Peavey heaven. Seemed like you could drag one out of every thrift store. Now, since I got back into this, I haven't been able to find a single one. Did I miss someone famous, and then the subsequent hoarding of these things?

Bill Hatcher · From: Atlanta Ga. USA

everything comes to an end. years and years of cheap peavey amps cant continue on. i would also attribute it to just wearing out attrition. every one i have seen at big box stores that have been traded in need some work on them. nasty pots. noisy etc. same with all amps that are 20 or 30 years old. did you look on facebook marketplace?

Jake Bopp · From: Tallahassee, FL

Of course, I've been scouring. There's the odd NV400, and sessions, but everything is a long way from me... and people are asking 4-600$ for 'em. I don't know, something in my mind wont let me pay that for a peavey, haha. I've got stacks on stacks of good ol rock n roll amps, but nothing clean enough for this steel.

Larry Dering · From: Missouri, USA

I think it's like the used car business. High mileage and ridiculous prices. Even Ebay and Reverb.com has little to offer and of course shipping is out hand. The Boss Katana is a decent steel amp worth considering.

Jake Bopp · From: Tallahassee, FL

John Larson · From: Pennsyltucky, USA

I was extremely blessed to acquire my vintage Peavy 112 combo, it's clean and like mint.
Look on reverb for local music store listings. It's largely patience and constantly watching for listings on all the sites in your area. Families sell their loved one's stuff to local music stores a lot when they pass cause they have no idea what to do with steel equipment. You can get decent deals because the average local music stores generally have next to no pedal steel knowledge. I was explaining what the Goodrich boosters and other accessories do to the local music store I bought my Peavy from since they ended up with a box of random PSG accessories.
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Jake Bopp · From: Tallahassee, FL

Larry Dering · From: Missouri, USA

The rack rig is fantastic. A revelation preamp and Stewart power amp, Lexicon Mpx1 and speakers. I have this rig but they are not cheap. Plus it's a lot to carry at a gig. I often use the Boss Katana 100 combo or a Fender Mustang III v2 combo and it's loud and clear, easy to carry. I have a Session Limited and Peavey 1000, plenty of power but heavy. Last year I picked up the Fender Tonemaster twin for double duty. No gigs so they are idle. Lastly the Telonics TCA 500 with a 15 inch speaker. Also light and 500 watts sits idle. It all depends on what you want to power your rig.

John Sims · From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL

I've seen a few Nashville 1000's for sale lately...
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Regards,

John

Steelin' is a way of life!

1997 Carter U-12 Double Body-Natural Birdseye Maple-8p/5k, Peavey Nashville 1000 Amp, Goodrich L10K Vol. Pedal, Boss DD-3 Delay, Boss CE-5 Chorus, Behringer UMC-204HD Audio Interface, AKAI MPK Mini MK3 Professional Midi Keyboard/Controller, Gretsch Bobtail Resonator, Fender Banjo, Rondo SX Lap Steel (C6), DIY Lap Steel (Open D), a few Mojo Hand Cigar Box Guitars (MojoHandGuitars.com).

Don Downes · From: New Hampshire, USA

See my post: Peavy Amps Found **cheap**

In my local music store is a Peavy Bandit 112 w/ a 15" Scorpion. It's on consignment for $200. They ship. Another forum member picked up a Session 400 with a Black Widow, and he seemed pretty happy.

If this is of any interest to you, I can do the leg work, and you can iron out the details.

THIS IS NOT AN OFFER of a sale. I have no $$ stake in this, but I will help you if you like. It looks like a nice amp. Old, but not road weary.

Email me and I'll send pics. Please, no PMs.
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Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Ebay dealers are now combing the thrift stores and smaller pawn shops picking up just about anything saleable as far as amplifiers. They're on to the low prices there, and they stand to make a decent profit with the auction format and shipping charges they can demand on Ebay. Craigslist is another possibility for a deal sometimes, but they're nowhere as big as Ebay.

Jake Bopp · From: Tallahassee, FL

Amusingly enough, after posting this, I hopped to all my local pawn shops, and thrift stores... found a Session 400 for 200$. I haven't plugged it into my steel yet, but hopefully it'll be the ticket!

Chris Brooks · From: Providence, Rhode Island

Great amp, great price, Jake!

Jake Bopp · From: Tallahassee, FL

Just plugged it in for the first time. Gonna need a re-cap. Noisy, even with a power conditioner. THE SEARCH CONTINUES.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

A lot of older Peavey amps are still a bargain. The standard going rate for used Session/LTD/Nashville 400/112/1000 amps have been $300-500 for a long time, so you got a good deal at $200, IMO. The prices for these amps have always been buoyed up by the fact that a lot of pedal steel players still find them very useful. I still see crazy good deals on 70s-80s amps like Bandits, Specials, Studio Pros, Pacers, Deuces, Stereo Chorus, and so on. There may be some upward bump brought on by the current supply chain crisis. But I still see stuff reasonable out there if one is reasonably patient.

Unless electrolytics have been done previously on 30-40+ year old amps like this, they almost always need them, and it's not a big deal - they're not high-voltage electrolytics like a tube amp needs. If what you want is a Session 400 and it's in good shape otherwise, I think it makes sense to get it right. Of course, unless you isolate the source of the noise, you don't really know where it's coming from. So I would make sure you know the noise source before you just start throwing money at an amp like this.

Jake Bopp · From: Tallahassee, FL

I'm a tech, sorta, I work on my own stuff to great effect. I'll track it down, and clean it up, and look for a backup anyways. Laughing

Tom Gorr · From: Three Hills, Alberta

Clyde Mattocks · From: Kinston, North Carolina, USA

I picked up a Session 400 for 100.00. It had a noticeable hum which I assumed was the reason the guy got rid of it. I have quietened down several just by rerouting the wiring in the chassis. Sure enough, someone had been into this one and the wiring was not factory standard, a lot of the little plastic bands missing. I had it completely quiet and back together inside of a half hour.
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LeGrande II, Nash. 112, Harlow Dobro

Chris Brooks · From: Providence, Rhode Island

Jake, there is a 100 watt Katana posted on the Tallahassee Craig's List. As Larry pointed out, this might be a good "clean" option for you.

Ray Gehringer · From: New Jersey, USA

I picked up a Peavey TKO 65 for $100 at GC last month. It is in decent condition although two pots are scratchy but you have to expect it from a mid 80's amp. I'll remove the head from the cab and hopefully contact cleaner will do the trick.

Also picked up a late 80's/early 90's Teal Stripe Peavey Express privately last year in brand new condition for $200... normally wouldn't have considered paying $200 but I like this particular era of PV amps and it is in mint condition.

Good deals on Peavey amps are out there but they are getting harder to find and I agree with the OP that only a few years back it seemed like older Peavey amps were all over for next to nothing. That said... at the time I bought both the above mentioned PV's I wasn't really in the market for amps... stumbled onto both.

Jake Bopp · From: Tallahassee, FL

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Pretty much everything is in short supply right now. The fact that good examples of the good Peavey amps can still be found reasonable is amazing to me. Most of the guitar/amp prices out there are just nuts. Not sure whether or not they're selling or not, but a lot of the asking prices are absurd.

WRT Peavey, the most laughable thing is Josh Homme's (Queens of the Stone Age) 'revelation' that his 'secret weapon' on one of their biggest hits was the Peavey Decade, a little 10-watt practice amp from the early 80s. This sent prices soaring into the stratosphere, with some listings over $2 grand - yeah sure - btw I have a bridge to sell you. Most non-stupid asking prices on reverb have settled down to the $300-400 range. They were $20-50 a year ago.

IMO, all this is more a statement of where the country is right this minute than anything about actual value. Only time will tell whether or not we can extricate ourselves from the economic mess we're in right now.

Jake Bopp · From: Tallahassee, FL

Homme also is responsible for nobody being able to afford Oviation electric guitars, haha. The Ultra GP is as expensive, if not more expensive, than most Les Paul's now. Airlines, Univoxes, Peavey T-60s... 89$ pawn shop guitars until about five years ago. You should see what happened to Sunn amps. I fortunately got my hands on several Beta Leads/Beta Basses, and a couple tube heads before they got absurd. The next big bump will be Randalls (I've got a snakeskin tolex Randall that I basically have to fight people from throwing money at me for it!)

I'm honestly looking at those Walker rigs, and I just missed one for sale on here. I'll build myself a real nice cab to go with it.

Karl Paulsen · From: Chicago

Seems like the trick these days is being willing to pay a bit more and wait a bit longer.

We tend to have a dearth of steel gear up here, but I've seen a few Nashvilles and Sessions come up for sale over the past year, mostly in the $300-400 range.

There aren't as many bargains as nearly all USA made vintage gear is going up in price (check T-40 ebay sold auctions for a clear example) but there are some deals out there. I picked up a Reno for TKO 65 for around $100 each and two Reno's for around 2 and 3 hundred each.

Even here on the forum things seem to come in waves. There was a rash of cheap NV112s for sale for a minute a month ago.
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Jake Bopp · From: Tallahassee, FL

I'd love to find a Randall Steelman, but I know they're rare. I'm a Randall fan, for some reason. Very Happy

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