Peavey Firebass 700

This is a pretty basic amp. The preamp is simple with a pregain, contour, low(at 40hz makes a huge low end fundamental!), a sweepable mid(200 to 2k hz), and a high control. The power amp is rated @ 700 watts into 2 ohms, 475 at 4 ohms, and 275 at 8 ohms. it also has a built in 12db/octave x-over BUT ITA NOT A BIAMP! And I really wish it was because i run a 4x10 along with some 15's and i end up pushing the 4x10 too much. I'll give a 9 because I think they should have made it a biamp. It also has an automatic limiter, it sounds good but is ALWAYS on when i play at higher volumes, it almost makes me wonder about the headroom that this amp really has.

My set up with this head is a washburn rb4000 (actually really nice), an Avatar Speaker 4x10 and i have a few home built 15's (using Carvin's ps15, unbelievably rated at 600w rms!). Anyway, I play in two bands, one requires that i cut through the mix (i have lots of fills and things) and the other band requires that i have a huge sound to fill in a lot. If you ask me this head puts out a little too much low end for my speakers, so i have to cut the lows using the crossover (@100hz). If i dont use it the amp seems rather inefficient especially for the power. Im not big on distortion so I won't get into that. I have used this head with a peavey 410tx and it sounded awesome. I guess the way to go with this head is to get a peavey cab to go with. I'll give an 8 because i think the potential of this amp is only good with a peavey cab as well. Also this amp is very, very quiet, and is awesome for recording(lots of different tones that are easy to get).

So far so good. Been using it for about 1 1/2 years and have not had a problem. And I have never had to contact peavey about anything.

Never needed costumer support

I've been playing about 5 years and i have to have an awesome, clean tone thats loud. Unfortunately this amp is missing a bit, unless I had a peavey 4x10 or 4x12, then I'd be completely satisfied. I dont know that i would buy another one if this was stolen. I've played through a Yorkville that costed less and I thought had better control over the speakers(less distortion, more bass at high volumes). Don't get me wrong, this amp is incredible with a PEAVEY cab, just not as good with my cabs.

This head is amazing. The pre-amp is great. You can leave everything in the middle, and get the straight sound of your bass, or tweek the knobs and get any sound you want. It has contour, a 3-band EQ with a semi-parametric mid. It has a crossover with point and balance controls, XLR-out, FX loop, tuner out(have to have), DDT and more. It's a 1 channel solid state amp, but I really don't miss any tubes. There are outs and ins at ever point in the chain.
The power amp section is insane. 700W@2 ohms, 475W@4 ohms, and 275@8 ohms. It has 2 full range output jacks, and speaker protection.

I use a run of the mill Singray, with the single fat humbucker. This amp handles it lovingly. I play anything really, from heavy to classic rock, funk to jazz, to the occasional country pickin'.
With the contour you can get that deep jazz, or a funk, or a bighting edge metal. The other EQ's, and bright switch allow for a wide range of tonal options. Using the contour you can scoop the mid's, then boost up which ever one you want with the parametric EQ.
The amp is extremely silent. Hardly any noise(except for the fan, which is also very quiet). The amp stays clean until the walls are shaking.
You can get some interesting distortion to. By cranking the pre-gain, leaving the contour off, and boosting the mids ~340, you can get some outrageous distortion. It can be crunchy or saturated. If the pre-gain is cranked, then you can deafen yourself with the post on 4.
I run it into a 210TXF, which is quite punchy, and a 118Black Widow cab I made myself, which shakes EVERYthing.

I got mine from a wharehouse sale. I've never had any troubles with it. It runs down to a 2ohm load, and doesn't really heat up much. I've hade mine for a year(it is the white faced one), and it still sounds as great as the day I got it. It's a Peavey...aka indestructible. I've run it for hours apon hours and it doesn't complain.
Although I've never used it, this amp has a breaker and reset switch, not fuses. So if it ever goes, you don't have to replace a little glass thingy.

Never had to deal with them for this, but I have for other things(a Mark III XP with a fried pre-amp right off the line). They also have help forums too.

I've been playing for 2 years off and on. I also have an Ampeg BA-112 may starter. I'll never get rid of that. The Firebass pre-amp can produce damn near any tone you'll ever want. The big drawback is the weight! It weighs a tenth of a lb. less than my 210 cab....ouch.
I don't really wish it had anything else. If it's not broke, don't fix it.
If it was stolen, I don't know if I'd go out and buy it again. I think I'd go with a rack pre-amp/power amp. Just something I think would work better for me. BUT I would definitely try and get this pre-amp.
One last thought. The power cord that it came with, it's the detachable kind, is frankly, pathetic. It is reallly thin. I know nothing about what size it SHOULD be, but it has always aroused my suspition that my BA-112(75W from the wall) has a thicker power cord than the 1200W-from-the wall amp *shrug*.

Made in 2001 I guess as I just bought it.
Versatile? Hell, you can get any sound you want just by using the contour control.
1 channel, solid state, big SOB, FX loop, X-Over, balanced XLR DI out with ground lift and Pre/Post EQ selection, tuner out, too much to remember, could be here till Christmas..........
With this amp I don't want for anything: it has all I need and then some. I use this amp for practising in my garage, with my four piece punk band, wenchface. My drummer plays very enthusiastically =), and our guitarist has a Boogie DC-5 slaved into a Marshall 200w stereo power amp, so I needed an amp with enough power to be heard. And boy does this amp make me heard! I have the power on just over a quarter and im comin through loud and clear, in fact probably a bit TOO loud.
Oh yeah, three band ACTIVE EQ with semi-parametric mids, and I thibk twin fans and huge heatsinks at the back)

I use it with a Fender Japanese 60s reissue P-Bass and it gives me a sound as solid as anything, with the classic Precision sound which is completely uncoloured by the amp- very clean and neutral sounding, like a GK to a certain extent.
It suits me to the ground, people. Very quiet, turn it to half and i can just hear some hum when not playing (but thats SCARILY loud)

Very wide variety of sounds, like I said, very true to the natural bass character, like you would expect if you DI'd it, but the EQ can produce a wide range of usable tones, and the countour especially can drastically alter your basses timbre.

No way Jose, no distortion could be found.

Well, I only got it today. But its a Peavey for crying out loud. Is it physically possible to break these things? Never mind Sink the Bismark, try Break the Firebass. I can guarantee you will fail........
My experiences with Peavey equipment in the past has been exemplary.

N/A, I expect they rock as much as their products do though...........

Ive played for 5 years, got a P-Bass like i said, a D'armond Jetstar for backup, a Peavey 1820 cab (1*18, 2*10), and an Audio-Technica wireless system.
I wont lose this baby, so big I can see it for miles. If it was nicked id feel sorry for the thief, and maybe give him an asprin (it weighs 50lbs) and then kick his head in. And then buy a new one without hesitation. I tried a Trace Elliot GP7- 300 (too pub sounding), an Ampeg SVT3PRO (overrated and not very loud) and Ashdown ABM and MAG heads which made me feel sick for some reason. This little tiger kicks ass, plus, first time I tried one, was at a Battle of the Bands and it was coping in a HUGE venue against two loud Marshall Half- Stacks and saying 'Bring it on, brother, let me have some more of these two wimps........'

My website adress for my band is:

www.wenchface.20m.com

hi everybody!
I've just bought this powerful amplifier so I can't tell everything about it, but I can saY something about my happyness as a new owner.
This is a very high power amp and I don't think you will never want more power than this. It has 1 channel, equalization; bass, mid (with midshift), and high controls (very sensitive actually). It has the gain and the master volume, i like to use it with low gain and high volume trying to obtain the most clear sound possible. It has active/passive control and bright control (about this one I think is very useful if you like funky, ska, rock n roll...). a great amp indeed.

I use the amp with a peavey CIRRUS 4 string bass.
I usually keep the bass controls flat and so I can obtain a very clear sound (thanks to the bright control of the amp).
It suit perfectly my style and my music which is ska, punk rock, rock n roll, funky rock and italian classics. Anyway I think this amp can suit every style of playing and music because it's very versatile and never goes on distortion if you don't want because of its high power.

I use this amp with 210 txf which is a good configuration for little pubs a little stages, because the sound is clear but the dimension is little. Anyway I'm waiting from America the 410 txf for bigger concerts. This amp it's quiet heavy (hey Mr.Peavey isn't possible to make something lighter with this power?)but the price is the lowest i could find for amps of this power. I'd like it to have a pedal remote switch as optional like the guitar amps has always had, but I think it would be the first...
Anyway for this price it's a very good amp with unlimited power and a wonderful bright sound, I would buy it again! Alfo

One channel, easy to use, solid state bass amp. Pregain and Master Vol. controls. Active/passive switch. Bright switch. Bass, Mid, Mid-Shift, and Treble controls. DI with ground lift. Effects loop. Internal crossover for going to separate external poweramps. Defeatable built in limiter (DDT compression). Can handle a 2 ohm load.
The only thing I would like would be another mid with mid shift control and a blendable effects loop.
Also, the amp is heavy (50 pounds).

I use this amp with four and five string jazz bass style basses. I play rock with it.
This amp is great! It's very loud and very quiet. Sounds very nice for your typical clean bass sound. It does not sound good when you crank the gain. If you want distortion on your bass you probably need to get a pedal for that.
The only thing I don't like is that the limited light will kick on if I play really hard (even at lower volume settings). But I think this is more due to my inconsistency in playing levels than to any fault of the amp.
I use it with peavey 410 TXF and 115 BX-BW cabs and this is a really nice setup. It's just a pain to drag around all this stuff but I think it's worth it for the sound.
I'm going to give it a 9 because it just doesn't have a good bass distortion sound.

I've used this amp for a year so far and have had no problems. Peavey is pretty reliable.

I think the warranty is 3 or 5 years. But I've never had to use it.

This amp offers the most watts per dollar that I've found. If you are doing quieter gigs it's probably overkill. But if you're in a loud rock band, it's hard to beat this amp.
But shop around, you shouldn't have to pay the $700 list price like I did. I've seen them for $550 to $600 new. The amp is a great value even at $700 but you can do better.