Peavey Mark IV Bass Head

I got my mark four used in 1990 from a friend. I alway enjoyed the way it sounded. I added two Peavey Black Widow 2x15 and found my first band. We played bars,theaters and outdoor festivals. There was always plenty of power and never sounded farty or strained. After 18 years I still have that same amp (almost,I killed one of the 2x15 cabinets and replaced with a crate JBL 2x15). My amp alway got molested on stage. Drunk guys would lay up against the cabinets and drunk girls would sit on the cabinets(creepy). I never have used the channel petal. I could go on for hours. Summary- I love the solid midrange punch. God, this is so hard to explain. My friends always have to borrow it because they blow up tubes. God bless solid state.

I alway liked a clean, non-distorted, punchy tone. Like early Faith No More and Guns N Roses. I have kept the same settings all these years. The equalizer looks more like u than a v. Its almost even across the knobs thats where the midrange going to the cabinets gives the punch. For the distortion I use a Washburn bass with two humbuckers. It dirtys up the sound. I don't try to create the distortion through the head because its hard on 15 speakers and Black Widows are hard to come across.

My friend sold me my amp to buy a full stack Trace Elliot. His band played more shows than my band and his Trace was always in the shop to get something fixed. He sold the Trace for a Ampeg SVT Classic (I think). Its a great sounding head, but not road worthy. It always had tubes go out. That Mark 4 we both used for a couple of years until he bought an Ampeg rack system. I have been rough with the Mark 4. I can't tell you how many times it fell out of the truck but it's still working. It has never broke on me.

I have bragged on my Mark 4 for years. People that have had experience with Mark 4s say you either get a good one or a lemon. The good ones are perfect and the bad ones are hell. If mine died I would look for a replacement mark 4. I figure the crap ones are all gone by now. I don't think they have made the Mark 4 since the early 90s. The good ones like mine are all thats left.

I believe this is a 1982 model. I had one back in 97 and left it by mistake a gig, and well anyway no one saw it but I did miss this thing. I ended up buying a smaller tube amp and depending on a good mic set up through a good PA system. I could live with it because I had a pair of Peavey SP 1's. I love the footswitch option to play both channels.

This is the cleanest, most powerful amp I have owned.

Besides coming up missing...for me anyway I bought another one, shows how much I thought of it at the time...and maybe that's why it went missing

Owners manual at www.peavey.com , search on Mark IV and it will find a pdf you can download.

I have 2 Peavey guitar amps, a 30w and 60w. Best Solid State amps for the price.

The features have been covered. It's versatile but doesn't have one or two modern nice-to-haves like a tuner out with mute or Neutrik Speakon jacks. Then again it's 25 years old so no surprise there.

I bought this as my first bass amp then got some urge to try others for some reason. I guess I figured this just didn't have the cool factor I thought I needed. Well, after trying a couple others (namely a GK 700RB and a Peavey Pro Bass 500) I'm right back where I started. Screw the cool factor.

I play in a heavy alternative band (I think... I don't know what all these labels mean anymore) with a pick using a stock 1997 American Fender Precision through this into an Ampeg SVT-410HE and SVT-15E. I also front-end it with a Tube Works Real Tube pedal when I need some distortion or even just a little extra bite. It can get nice and clean but I play it with some growl and lots of punch. The options on this are truly impressive, especially for its age. I think you could probably get just about anything out of this you wanted.

I know a guy that owns an Ampeg SVT-II from the eighties which is a fantastic sounding amp and he commented on how great he thought this sounds. I was stunned.

It's a little noisier than other amps I've tried but nothing worth worrying about. I did have have a sound guy comment on how quiet it was into the board.

It's a Peavey so I don't worry. I don't know about their new stuff but much of what they made during this era is just about indestructible.

I've had pretty good luck with Peavey. I've had some trouble getting responses recently but it seems like everyone everywhere has more things to do than they can handle and customer service is just crap across the board. But I own a couple old Peavey tube guitar amps and they happily emailed me the schematics when I asked so I have to score them high because some places would have told me to pound sand.

I've been playing for about 20 years but have only been playing bass about 2 years.

As I mentioned earlier I have a GK 700RB and a Peavey Pro Bass 500, my Ampeg SVT-410HE and SVT-15E cabs (plus one extra SVT-15E and a no-name 1x15 cab with a Gauss speaker actually), and my Fender Precision.

I love this thing's versatility and simplicity, the fact that I can rely on it and it's portable (tubes are great but there's a price to pay), and I simply get the sound I want out of it.

I wish it had a bit more headroom but it's no slouch. Some modern features would be nice like the tuner out and mute I mentioned. If Peavey was smart they would start making these again in an updated rack mounted form or something.

If it were stolen I'd just get another one. They're pretty easy to come by and are surprisingly affordable. There are plenty of suckers willing to pay ten times as much for a name.

This is a 1982 Amp.
I can play slap, blues, metal, reggae, jazz whatever.
2 channels, a whole bunch of knobs so you can tweak your tone just right.

it says 210 watts at 4 ohms and 300 at two.

thats alot louder than what 300 is worth today.

I play a homemade bass. seymour duncan p+J setup.
it puts out the notes i put in,
quiet as anything
big beefy fat tone.
it can be nice clean tone or balls. and i mean that in a good way.

I got it recently, so i dont know of reliability, but this i my third used peavey amp, and theyve never broken on me.

all tanks. ive read stories of these being dropped downs stairs, beer spilled in em.
tanks.

never had to deal with em

been playing for about 7 years

i own a peavey TNT 115 combo
a peavey T max 500 head
peavey 410tx cab
peavey 210tx cab

1978 bassman 135 head.

i like peavey equipment.

My Mark IV was made in 1981. I play a very wide range of music from 10-piece mini-orchestra to two-piece electronic outfit and this amp has served me very well for the past 15 years i've been using it. The Mark IV has two switchable channels of super-clean sound. I use it in a very basic way and don't even use some of the features it has to offer. I run a rather large pedal board through it and I really appreciate the clean, even sound I get using the Mark IV... you don't get that evenness using pedals with tube amps!

I use the Mark IV with a 1975 Fender Jazz bass. I've never found the Mark IV to be noisy in any way... even after some jerk spilled a vodka screwdriver in it at a show once, it kept going noise-free! In my opinion, this amp has the most growl I've ever encountered from a solid state head. My last amp was an old Ampeg SVT and I hated to get rid of it... but with all of my analog pedals running at different levels I found it near impossible to match levels on the tube amps. The Mark IV solved my problem. You get balls and evenness.

As I mentioned before, I've had a drink spilled in this head, dropped it down two flights of stairs and it still hasn't had to be repaired even ONCE in 15 years. They sure don't make 'em like this anymore.

I've never had to repair this amp, so I couldn't tell ya how good their customer service is. I can say one thing: they certainly made a quality product in this amp.

I've been playing bass for about 15 years now. I've owned just about every bass amp on the market at one time or another. I always come back to the Mark IV. I had one stolen my first year of gigging and luckily i quickly replaced it wth the current one I own. So I think it's safe to say I would definitely hunt around for another if I found myself in that situation again.

I believe the amp is a 1982 model. I bought it from our sound guy who had teched it out and it was just sitting around collecting dust. It has two channels with what appears to be a hi-low input on each side. The power is plenty for my needs, as the 210 watts @ 4 Ohms works perfectly for the Peavey 210 cabinet I bought for it. I intend on getting an 15" sub cabinet to try the 300w/2Ohm setting. Since I play Christian music with a Southern Rock/Blues flare the simple tones work well. The only drawback it has is the lack of an XLR output for PA setup. My Ultra 110 DI works well here, although it relegates the amp to a reference amp for stage setups. It's all solid state power is quiet although I tend to get the Peavey hum from time to time in the PA system.

My current guitar is an Ibanez GSR205, their starter line of bass guitars. It is a jazz bass configuration with two single coil pickups and allows me to get near Fender Jazz Bass tones with the benefit of the low B. The guitar works well with the amp/cabinet combo I use. As my tastes run more old school rock/blues and worship - signal processing is limited to the cable from the amp to the guitar! This is where I live and hence the rig lives here too. Both channels on the amp are clean - with channel B offering more tonal dialing. The eq system allows good tailoring of the sound frequencies. I can dial sweet highs, smooth lows and just enough mids to be full and not muddy.

Dead rock solid. It is the only amp I gig with. It has never failed me in the years of service I have had it. It has been tossed in the back of trucks, crammed in trailers and still gets on stage to do its job without complaining. If it breaks down, my sound guy will tech it for me. It if died today - I would look for another Mark IV in a heart beat.

Never had to deal with Peavey and since this has been out of production for a while I am not sure how much help Peavey would offer. The best part - I can still go to their website and download the manual (which I did and recommend to anyone who has a vintage amp of any sort).

I have been playing music in bands (Christian, country, rock) for over thirty years. I have been blessed to be the drummer, the bassist and rhythm guitar player for many different bands. My current array of stuff - early 70's Slingerland 4 piece drum kit w/Zildjian cymbals, '96 Fender Standard Strat, '64 Fender Princeton Reverb, Marshall Shredmaster pedal, '00 Ibanez GSR205, '05 Seagull Artist AE guitar - in all, a mixed bag of tools for what my friends call the universal soldier.

This amp sits in the middle of this array as the "core" piece, just as a bass amp should be.

My amp was made in 1980, so it's 25 years old! This is a 2 channel amp and the channels can be used seperately or can be combined and used together. Channel one has regular 3 band E.Q.(Low, Mid, High), pre and post gain and crossover control. Channel two has 3 band ACTIVE E.Q.(Low, paramid w/shift control, high), pre and post gain.
Both channels have their own effects send and return jacks. There is also a 6 band graphic E.Q. that can be used with either or both channels. Each channel also has a bright switch. Two 1/4" inputs(High and Low gain). Preamp in/out, line out, crossover outputs(low & high) and power amp input jacks. Remote Footswitch jack(DIN Plug).
KEEP IN MIND-THIS AMP WAS MADE IN 1980 AND IS NOW 25 YEARS OLD!!
Amp puts out 210 watts @ 4 ohms and 300 watts @ 2 ohms. Two 1/4" speaker outputs. I am using this amp with a SteelSound 4x10 cab and a SteelSound 1x18 Sub (4 ohm load).
I have been using Peavey gear since 1974, my first new guitar amp was the Peavey Musician w/large 4x12 cab. I probably have my own file drawer at Peavey, I've bought so much of their gear!
Since I just recently bought this amp, I'm still tweaking and finding out what this amp is capable of. There is more than enough power, even at a 4 ohm load. I can't imagine what the 300 watt load would sound like! With the ability to combine both channels at once, and having seperate effects loops, this is one AMAZING amp to be 25 years old!

As I said above, I use this amp with a SteelSound 1x18 Sub and 4x10 cab. I play an Ibanez SR-405 5 String bass w/45-130 Ga. strings. I use no effects, just straight into the amp via a Samson VLX-TD Wireless System. I play Country, Classic Rock and Southern Rock in a 4 pc. band on weekend gigs. We mic everything thru the P.A. for balance, not power.
I cannot imagine any type of music this amp could not handle, providing that you were using the proper cabs and bass. This is pure Peavey muscle power from the 80's.

I am not leaving a rating in this catagory, but over the years I've only had to have 2 Peavey products serviced-My original 1974 Musician amp, and a defective footswitch to a Stereo Chorus 212 amp that I used for 2 years.
I don't know about anyone else, but Peavey has a proven track record with me! What the hell, I'm going to go out on a limb and give this baby a "10". If it breaks down, I'll have it fixed anyway!

I have talked with several people at Peavey, that's right, on the phone with a REAL person, over the past several years. If you go online and e-mail them, they will usually get back with you in about 24 hours. I downloaded the manual for this amp from the website for FREE! The footswitch is still available for this amp from Peavey, but I was able to save about $30.00 by finding one on E-Bay.
Even when I have "strayed", I always seem to come back to Peavey gear.
Hartley knows how to do it right and his gear has stood the test of time.

I have been playing in gigging bands for the past 35 years. I play Lead/rythm guitar, bass guitar, drums and a little keyboard. I have been a band member, and a band leader. I have owned just about every kind of gear you can imagine, from really cheap, to really expensive.
For the working musician, it's hard to beat Peavey gear. Check out some of the other reviews on this amp. If you can get one for under $200.00, get one! I got VERY LUCKY to get mine for $76.00. After a little cleaning up, it looked almost new! I also own a G-K BackLine 210 combo and have used Hartke gear. For a 25 year old amp, it sure has a lot of features and the power to put your bass right out in front!

....my amp was built in the early 80's and i bought for 450 euros including the cabinet, which is about 540 bucks in american currency.
...i think it's totally worth the price!
the amp is very versatile, has two separate channels and lots of possibilities to do some eq'ing.
i use this amp for rock music, and it fits perfect in my actual "desert-rock" style.
normally i detune my bass 2 steps lower (d g c f) and even do sometimes a "dropped c" thing with my lowest string.
the peavy is able to deliver a reasonable sound even with this extreme tuning, so it should also be ok for all kins of "nu-metal" styles.

i play the peavy with a rickenbacker played with a pick.
i like the combination of brutal low end together with well defined highs.
it is possible to do some distortion,it's quite ok for a solid-state amp.
overall i would say this amp is perfect for all kind of rock-music, punkrock, metal where you need a loud and honest tone.

...never had ANY problems with this amp...

...no experiences...

one of the absolutely best options if you are looking for brutal ramble in your cabinet for a very reasonable price...
a perfect amp for all kinds of rock music, where lot of low end and an agressive sound is needed...
...very versatile...
...not so hard to get one (ebay!!)...
...very good price!!...

conclusion: if i hadn't one, i would need to invent it!

Mine is a 1982, that I purchased in '97 or '98. It's a two channel bass amp,solid state, 200 Watts at 4 ohms, or 300 at 2 ohms, so it's got some power for the big rooms and loud bands. It's got a great EQ and compressor. I've played many styles through this amp, power pop, roots rock, country,heavy metal, prog, funk, jam band and it still hangs in there. I've run either one or two 1 X 15 cabs with it, depending on the room.

I currently have seven basses, but have owned as many as ten(3 Gibsons [EB-O,Grabber,Ripper], two Ricks [2030,4001], Fender Jazz, Danelectro Longhorn, Yamaha Fretless, Epiphone T-185, Univox violin style) at one time or another and all sound great with this amp. It's quieter than my Galien Krueger 400RB which I actually gig with a little more often. It has a clean, solid state sound , even at loud volumes.

As I mentioned before, it's not taken out as often as my Galien Krueger or my Bassman 60 combo, but it hasn't never let me down when I've used it. The power chord is fraying a little and should be replaced, but hey this thing is 25 years old. One of the reasons I don't take it to many gigs, and generally never take it out if it's a multiple band show where someone else may be using my amp, is that there is a vent on the top of the amp where someone could easily spill a drink and fry the thing.

Warranty with a 25 year old amp, no way. I've never had to get it repaired, never daelt with Peavey.

I've been playing guitar since 1969(Stella Harmony acoustic at 6 years old). I play guitar, bass, drums, a little keys, mandolin. I gig live with multiple acts and do home and commercial studio recording. This amp is still a great value, if you see one pick it up, they are rarely over $250, and that's probably top dollar,if it's more, talk them down, you are paying too much. They have a great sound, are durable, versatile, and more than enough power for any application. You can't go wrong with this one, especially if you are a musician on a budget.

This amp has two channels, both with a three band EQ, and pre and post volume controls. The first channel has controls for the crossover, and the second had controls for the Pyarmid, and Shift instead of a midrange I find this very useful for getting just the right tone. Each channel has a individual effects loop, I run direct into my effects, and don't use this features but I can definatly appreciate the usefullness of this option. It has a built in inputs for the crossover, Preamp, power amp, and much more, it has a 6 band graphic Eq that is phenominal for shaping your tone. It came w/ a foot switch, with a channel switcher, and another switch to turn on both channels I find the sound of this amp quite versitile, I was genuinly impressed and suprised at just how good it sounded, especially through the 2x15 Black Widow cabnit that came with it.

I'm running a Fender Jazz V as my main bass, a Precisionm and a Samink Five string w/ this amp, I use it solo at gigs, and in practice I run it stereo w/ my 69 SVT. I find that the Graphic EQ has some pretty bad sounds at the ends of its range, I usual have to flatten the outside frequencies, and I can be more generous with the inside ones. It doesn't take much time to generate a good tone I bought this amp as a back up, but the tone was respectable enough, I'm now able to leave the SVT in the studio full time. I was very impressed with the sound of this amp its got a lot of power, much more than I'll ever need.

Its Peavey... Need I say more. this amp has already put in 15 years of service, Peavey gear in my experience has been top notch.

I haven't delt w/ peavey too much, however I was able to find a manual for this amp very easily

I've been playing for just about 10 years. I have an Ampeg SVT w/a 2x15 EV cab. Several basses, I use a 105Q bass wah, a DOD stereo flanger, and a Ibanez Phat Head Overdrive. I give this amp top marks, it suites my needs too a T. If it were lost of stolen I'd probably buy something newer, overall I give this amp a 8

the amp was made in 1982 and it is more or less cool stuff. it's a 2 channel amp which you can use seperatly or simultaneously via foot switch (combiner/select0r)....nice extra graphic equalizer for both channels in combination with the standard equalizer which you also can turn off to use only the standard equalizer... no tubes (by the way: who cares about tubes? tubes suck, senseless expensive-amp causing toy), but 300 watt RMS into 2 ohms... 210 watts into 4 ohms and a power consumption of 800 watts, so my electro bill was raising up immediatly... 1 point minus for that....
another minus point is the maximum load.... i use tha amp in combination with a 2 ohm 8x10" cabinet and if i pulled my gain up, i'd be able to communicate with smoke signs.......

I play 80's heavy metal on it on a ibanez btb bass series... the amp in combination with that bass are predestined for this sound....
the sound is loud and rumbling... my neighbours don't like me anymore :-)
Channel A has a Low-Mid-Hi equalizer plus the graphic equalizer (6 slide controllers, 0<50Hz, 50<100HZ,100<250Hz, 250<500Hz, 500>1KHz, 1K<3KHz)
Channel B Has a Low-ParaMid-MidShifta-Hi equalizer...
both channel combined in use with tha graphic equalizer causes an awesome range of sound !!
the most lovely thing are the noises: there aren't any! it's quiet when it has to be quiet. when playing with the controls, no cracking or rumbling like my old 70's peavey guitar amp.... great!

i've got this amp now for 2 weeks and i've no idea about it's reliability... but a bunch of friends of mine also use this amp, and some of them got it since jesus was born i think....
like other peavey amps, i think, it's built for eternity....

the amp was built in 1982, so don't expect too much support, but the manual is still available on tha peavey homepage....

overall rating? this amp is awesome!

Man, did I luck out when I bought this amp.
Solid state 2 channel bass amp with lots and lots and lots of smooth, warm power.

Got it as my first bass amp and I believe won't ever need another.

Running it through original Peavy twin 15" speaker cab. Simply amazing tone. Havn't gotten to even half volume and rig can be heard a block away.

Got it for $300 with the cab. Like I said, I lucked out getting this amp.

Bulletproof.

The manual is available at http://www.peavy.com

Might as well be brand new.

I had no idea what to look for when I was shopping for a bass amp and just happened to get one with everything you could want by sheer luck.

Get one and it will serve you well for probably ever.

Amp is from the 1980's. I play all styles and this amp rocks. What most people never really get into is, this amp has two separate channels. If your like me and have two basses ( 1967 Hofner and Fender Jazz), you can set bass 1 up on channel A and lock in your sound volume and eq, then set bass 2 up on channel B. Both channels are independent of each other. So during certain songs you just change basses and your sound is there. As if that wasn't enough, you could at any point combine both channels via the foot switch to give you an unbelievable boost and sound. There is no other head out there that I could find that offers separate independent channels. Not to mention combining them. Has a built in compressor. 6 band EQ. Line out so there's no need for a direct box. Built in crossover. Two seprarte effects loop. This amp kicks volume wise. Foot switches can be ordered or I found mine on ebay. I feel it's a must when owning this amp. I can't believe these amps don't sell for way more. If it was put out today with all these features it would coast allot.

Very dependable. I have owned a couple. I always seem to come back to the Peavey Mark IV Or Mark III. I have owned Hartke 3500, SWR, this thing just rocks.

Repairs are easliy found. There are many Peavey repair shops around who still deal with the head.

15 years I use it now with a Peavey B115bx 350w Black widow.

Made in 1982... I was'nt alive in 1982 but i also have a 1971 ampeg bt15... and the features on the ampeg include treble and bass.. so 11 years later you have a 6 band eq and alot of other stuff that i cant think of off the top oof my head... It fits my style of music i play.. which is new-metal.. not really hard not really soft.. the mark 4 has no problem with thati havent really found my sound of it.. ive had it for about 2 weeks and havent found time... 1 gig and 4 practices... its done nothin but wonders..

Ok i have the great peavey t-40 running in to this powerhouse thats all im gonna say.

ive had it for 2 weeks...

i have it running trough a peavey 1810 cab... its great...
www.clutteredband.com

The Mark IV 400 BH is a great head in my opinion. It is 210 watts at 4 ohms, and 300 at 2. Right now I am using it with a 410 cab that I built, and it's plenty loud, soon I hope to add a 115! Mine was made in 1982, but works just like new. I got it off of E-bay for 177 bucks, what a steal. It has 2 channels, you can choose either or, or you can mix them. I don't have the foot pedal so I have them mixed. Between the two channels and the 6 band EQ, you can get any, and I mean any sound you want. You can make it deep and thick like Black Sabbath, or punchy and bright like New Found Glory.

Like I said before, you can get pretty much any sound out of this head. I use a Peavey Milestone III through it, and it sounds very good. It suits my style of music very well, which for a while was old punk, like the Misfits, but I am now in a thrash metal band (big change), and it suits either style just fine.

I haven't really used this on any gigs, but it seems like it is pretty sturdy, and it has already been around for years, and seems like it has years to go.

Never dealt with them, and don't think I will ever need to.

Overall, I would give this head a 10. It is versatile, has a lot of volume, and is built to take a beating. If it were lost, or stolen, I would definately try and find another Peavey head.

See other listings for this. All you need to know is that if you really want a trouble free bass head, that will last you the rest of your life, this is it.

I've been playing bass for 25 years. I do everything from new age to hard rock and metal. This amp is there. Super low end. I use it with the 2 15 Peavey cab that came with it, and I've always been impressed. With the bright switch and EQ, you can get any sound. I've used it with Steinbergers, aluminum neck Kramers, Hamer fretless jazz bass copies, etc. It really shines with active pickups. It is very articulate and you will never be out-gunned by a guitar player again. This amp doesn't even flintch (?) against my latest guitar player, who insists on using 2 full 5150 stacks for practice. This amp keeps him well in cheque.

I've owned it for 10 years and I played in bars every weekend with it for 5 of those years. It never complained. It sounds as good today as the day I bought it. I've left it in Vans for days, spilled drinks on it, dropped it, and left it on overnight a few times. It has never failed and I believe it never will. Even if it said "Honda" on it, I wouldn't have expected this kind of reliability.

Never needed them. This amp will not fail.

I've been playing bass for 25 years. If it were stolen or broken, I would be lost. I don't think there is anything out there that could touch it. I would get it fixed or replace it no matter what the cost.

This is a late 80's Peavey Mark IV Bass head. Features include; passive and active inputs, two distinct channels (foot switchable and blendable) both channel A and B offer pre-EQ effects loop, and both offer pre and post gain controls. Channel A has a low, mid, and high rotary EQ and can be sent to the 6 band graphic equalizer with a push switch. There is also a variable crossover for use in biamp modes. In addition, Channel B gives you low, paramid, shift, and high rotary EQ as well as push button access to the 6 band graphic EQ. The combination of the shift and paramid gives almost unlimited variety of sound. If you can't find a combination you like with this head, you are never going to find it. 1/4 inch jacks include; preamp out/in, line out, crossover high and low out, and power amp input for use with other preamps. On the front of the amp there is also a multiple pin jack for the footswitch. The foot switch can turn on or off either channel A or B, and it can blend the two channels together. Two 1/4 jacks go out to the speakers on the back of the head. Unfortunately, there is no balanced xlr out, but the line out can go to boards with 1/4 inch inputs for recording or going through a PA! There is also a ground reverse switch as part of the power on/off on the back of the amp. The amp is rated at 210 watts iinto 4 ohms, and 300 into 2 ohms. I have run it at 2 ohms before and the heatsink is VERY not at the end of the night. Not enough that it tried to melt the power cord when I was packing up for the night. (poswer cord wraps around the heat shield for storage)

I play mostly Christian pop with the church now, but was playing blues, 60's rock, and some jazz using a Fender Jazz bass, a J.B. Player original bass, and a Peavey foundation koa bass with Duncan quarter pounders replacing the useless Peavey pickups. With the quarter pounders, it sounds a lot like a P-bass. Tha amp has the ability to adapt to any bass, and pretty much any situation, soft and mellow, to blowing the walls out liver stomping loud. I have been using it with a Peavey 1810 cabinet with the 18 inch black widow and two 10 inch scorpians. An okay cabinet, but very loose on the bottom end. When pushed, the big 18 just starts to rumble and gets muddy. I think it is the cabiinet though, not the amp, I have run the amp through a couple of other guy's 4 10's cabinets and the sound is tight and punchy, just like it should be. Last played with a large show band, two guitars, two keyboards, 4 horns, and drums and the amp had no problem keeping up with all that sound. (the 1810 cabinet almost made it, but like I said, it starts to break up and distort at higher levels of sound) With a little time and some fine adjusting, you can get pretty much any sound you need or want from this head. But if you like to plug and play, this is not the head for you, it does take time to dial in.

I have been using this head on and off for over 10 years. It has been dropped once or twice, been thrown around by various roadies, even had a coke spilled in it once and it just keeps on going. I don't think it will ever quit and I don't think one would ever need a backup using this amp. It is a bullet proof as they come.

Can't comment, have never talked to Peavey customer support

I bought the amp and 1810 speaker cabinet used from a music store. It was on consignment and looked brand new. I have been playing bass since 1965 and have had Fender Bassmen (two different black face amps) an old gibson of unknown origin but it was old enough to use an amp driven magnet on the speaker, and i've played with a couple of different Fender 2x12 cabinets, a 1x15 with two d-140 JBL's that I wish I still had, but none of those other amps had the versatility or sound choices of this Peavey. I do miss the tube sound sometimes, but I don't miss the tube distortion at higher volumes. I think bass should be warm, but clean so solid state is fine with me.

2 channel with each EQ's, a built in Xover filter for line out HI and LOW. 6 band equalizer and the 320 Watts on 2 ohms just what you need.

I use it with an active Washburn XB400 4 string. Connected it with a Laney BS215L4 cabinet. The amp pushes really hard, it's unbeleavable that I can fill a room with only 1 at the 10 scale of volume. I am afraid that the only thing I miss is a horn in the speaker to get a pickin' sound. No negative remarks on the Peavey for this.

The amp is really undistructable the wooden case and the rubber finish on it can take a rough handling. Only the jack-sockets have to be made more 'tide' after a while (10 years), by opening it and bend them a bit so the connection with jacks cables doesn't give any disturbance anymore. Also it's advisable to use the pots more often then I do so that dust doesn't get a grip on them (just move the a couple of times from 0 - 10 and they run like new)

Good service in the Netherlands with their own center called AHK. Only parts (like optional switches) take a while.

Web sites hold most of their user manuals!

Most punchy amp for the price in the buzz I think. Power for the people with great specs.

This is an 80's model amp head. It's got high/low gain inputs, two channel switching (with foot pedal), an effects loop for each channel, bright button per channel and an eq in/out button per channel. Channel A has a three band eq and Channel B has a three band eq with a parametric mid channel. Both channels have an input gain and an output gain. 6 band equalizer and a built in variable crossover. All the in/out connections are on the front of the amp for ease of access. Plus, there's an 1/4" in/out jack for added flexibility (I think it's located in the post-eq position) and a 1/4" line out jack. The back side has two 1/4" speaker outputs (mono). Rated 210 watts @ 4 ohms and 300 watts @ 2 ohms.

Currently, I have this amp plugged into a SWR Henry the 8X8 speaker. I use it for gigging and practice. The speaker can take more than twice the rated power of the amp, but it moves that speaker nicely! It would be best to have a speaker that matches the amp output closer, but it's doing the job and then some! I still can fill a room with bass without going through the PA.

My primary bass is a '75 Gibson EB0 with a '97 Fender Amer. Std. 5 string Jazz bass. Both are stock instruments. The Gibson has a fat humbucker on it and the Fender has the standard soap bars. Occasionally I use a Zoom 506 processor pedal in the mix.
Because of the equalizer in the channels and the 6 band equalizer the sounds this amp can produce quite a wide range of sounds. I usually only use Channel B because of the parametric mid eq. I tune it in to the bass I'm playing.

This amp provides a good clean sound even after years of use and abuse!

I've owned this amp for about 6 or 7 years now and have never had a problem with it whatsoever. I originally used it with a Peavey 3620 speaker (that's 2-18's and 2-10's). Everything works after all this time! Two of the eq sliders need some cleaning but other than that no problems! After an evening of use, the heat sink on the back can get pretty hot, but at least it won't burn you!

If you own something with the Peavey name, you can get the manual for it ONLINE for FREE! I got the manual for it and learned a few more things about the amp!

I've never had to take it in for repair and service centers are plentiful in my area (Chicago).

I've been playing for about 10 years and I couldn't have asked for a better amp to be my first real amp. It's kept up with me throughout the years and has produced enough power to move the speakers I own with ease. If it were stolen, I'd seriously consider trying to find another because of how versatile this amp is. I know I'll be upgrading to a more powerful amp in the near future, but I just might purchase a dedicated power amp and use the preamp features of the amp instead. The only thing I wish this amp had was more power because of the speaker I play out of. Pushing 210 watts into a speaker that can handle 450 watts rms isn't the best idea, but I haven't blown either speaker yet! If you're looking for an inexpensive and reliable amp, this is definitely the one to look for.