Peavey - is it "Budget" gear ?

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mattkw80

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I don't know why I get this 'vibe' from Peavey.....

....but, in general, is Peavey equipment more of a lower end, budget gear company ?

Many apologies if this is not the case, but it's the impression I get after having used some of their bass amps, guitars, PA's and rack equipment.

Also.... when I see Peavey equipment in a store, I often also see CRATE gear. Is it also low end, budget gear ?
 
Peavey is workhorse gear. It's not always hi-fi sounding, but they make a large variety of nearly indestructible gear.
 
yeah, they make good stuff, it may not be 'hi-fi' as others pointed out but they do the job. I have a Peavey bass amp at home and it works just fine.

Crate is pretty bad though, in my experience.
 
Varies. They don't do any high end, although they briefly flirted with that niche when they put out the VMP-2 tube preamp and the VC/L-2 tube compressor, which while not truly high end, were/are extremely respectable units. Unfortunately, they DCed both units after just a couple years. As others have mentioned, they are generally known for producing affordable workhorse gear, as opposed to cheap unreliable gear like some other manufacturers.
 
I'm using a Peavey KB-100 keyboard amp from the late 80's. The thing is still kicking and has been banged around, pumped to high volumes, and has been drilled into to put custom wheels on. Is it "hi-fi"? Well, the high end is a touch harsh but the thing is rated at something like 60 watts and I've still not managed to push it hard enough to blow anything - and I've had her cranked numerous times.

I think the general consensus would be that it's workhorse gear. I've had good experiences with certain mains/monitor speakers of theirs as well. Not sure what we're using now (I'd have to check with the sound guy), but these newly purchased mains with sub cabinets really do rock IMO. We're driving them with a new rack full of Peavey CS amps, and it's just been a solid setup for us.

I'm still using a CS800X for some smaller live stuff with my church band, and that thing is still kickin' as well. No matter what I've thrown at it, it's taken it like a champ.

I'm not a Peavey fanboy, just have used quite a bit of their gear and it's never failed me.

Crate on the other hand...haven't used their gear to any great extent, but have had headaches with our bass players Crate bass amp related to grounding, etc. It does have a lift switch, but the bugger somehow likes to cause a buzz even when it's switched off. Might be something simple, but we haven't managed to get it sorted out. My pops also has one of their first amps that was actually made out of wood - looked like a crate. That thing worked OK for about 10 years and then started crapping out. I've had it open to clean the pots, etc. but it still has issues with the main gain.
 
i think it depends...peavey guitar/bass amps range from slightly crap to fabulous. now that i think of it, so does the rest of their stuff...i would definitely say that it's budget gear for the most part, but not in a ridiculously cheap(read: behringer) sort of way...they make decent gear for a modest price, and you know that anything that has their cheesy 80's pointy logo on it will take a LOT of abuse before it gives in.
 
Learned alot, thanks for all the responses!

I get it now.... mostly live performance gear.


My own experiences have been mixed.

Not that this should really matter I guess, but they seem to always lack any kind of style in how their gear looks. Iron mentioned "cheesy" logo - I know what you mean. Some of the stuff with the aqua green detail striping just looks tacky and cheap.
 
TheRockDoc said:
I still see the AMR series from the late 80's early 90's as very respectable...
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Yeah, that's the VMP-2 preamp, the VC/L-2 comp and the Tube Sweetener. I don't think there was anything else produced by AMR for Peavey. Too bad. I have all three pieces and they are great. Not ultra high end, but very respectable. I suspect there wasn't enough volume/margin in that line for Peavey to continue it.
 
mattkw80 said:
Not that this should really matter I guess, but they seem to always lack any kind of style in how their gear looks. Iron mentioned "cheesy" logo - I know what you mean. Some of the stuff with the aqua green detail striping just looks tacky and cheap.
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yeah, there's the physical logo thing...like Fender Squier or Behringer...the green pv thing was a strange idea?
IMO...most don't like to admit to Logo-lust..but most of us are under its spell.
Its so powerful people buy decals and put them on off brand guitars.

Peavey had a big following during the Lynrd Skynrd white-Peavey days, a jump in sales no doubt.

5150 EVH didn't hurt either.

Crate and Line 6 and Behringer, as someone said are great fun things at low volume, maybe ok if they never leave the house or are played hard. They can sound fine.

Peavey's, at least the 80's were built like Tanks, but there's so many frkn models and logos and years gone by......Quality is all over the place, like Fender and Gibson, Martin, and all of them.

Rickenbacker is one of the rare ones that didn't get into the cheap low-end mass marketed line.
I think Mesa-Boogie is another that chose to keep the upper line only.
 
omtayslick said:
And you can't kill it, so it'll be around forever!
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That's the truth. I've got a Peavey Deuce 2X12 combo that I bought in 1976 and it's still alive and kicking despite of all the abuse I heaped upon it. Peavey may not be top-of-the-line but you do get a lot of bang for the buck.
 
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TheRockDoc said:
I still see the AMR series from the late 80's early 90's as very respectable...
Click to expand...

that was actually pretty cool stuff for peavey... if ya wanna check it out try searching for john roberts over on GS... if memory serves he was responsible for designing most of it...
 
Generally speaking Peavey is budget gear. Like mentioned above though, it definately rides the top end of what else is available in that same category. Peavey stuff never seems to sound as nice as alot of the nicer offerings out there, but it is typically built pretty well.

As for the AMR thing, what you really need to ask yourself is whether or not it is more AMp or more peavey. Not only that, but where it REALLY stands in the scheme of things. For example, I like some of the TAC consoles, but are they really an Amek? Following that logic are they also a Neve then? Or spirit consoles, are they really Soundcraft? There are some pretty confusing relationships out there that can be hard to sort out.
 
at least they're somewhat affordable. I can't justify spending THOUSANDS on any amp at my age. Some of these Boutique things are totally overpriced. Maybe if I was Rich and still Giggin' - WAIT - NAW... probably not...

If I was RICH and STILL GIGGIN' I'd have another OLD Marshall cause i likes em... :D
 
Peavey is definitely budget gear.

Some of it is good stuff, and most of it is built like a brick shithouse.
 
Peavey is not just budget gear as the pervious post states.

Peavey has a full line of products fitting into most every price range.

I have used many of their products over the years. Some in the lower cost range and some in the higher cost range. All of the products I have had are of solid quality. Some of the products appearances leave a bit to be desired. But they are their own, not blatent copies of other manufacturers.

I can say the USA made guitars are on par with USA made Fender, Gibson, PRS, Hamer. The Signature Series guitars are wonderful for feel, playability, and tone. Unfortunately they quit making them.
 
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