Peavey T Max Head

Loads of features but not at the be-hest of sound..They covered all the basses[ha ha],with d.i.'s and stuff .350 watts @ 4 ohms, 500 watts @ 2 ohms
EQ Low & High shelving, 7 band graphic, 30hz lowest
XLR out
Other Effects loop, DDT compression, crossover, footswitchable (graph, channel, effects), Two channels Tube and Solid State preamp

So so good..Iv used this at a venue in north holland once which was 5,000 seater and this baby had loads to spare.Bottom end is brutal and at no point breaks into that honky middle you get from trace/marshall.Is also superb for medium venues with split d.i./mic option.Recording wise iv done 4 albums on this,and for me it beat the ampeg b1 i own hands down..I paid around ??300 for this on a wim because i needed a modern sounding bass head;now i dont use anything else.

Look,the other reviews say it all.Im actually always looking out for these on ebay as im terrified if this gets nicked i wont be able to get another.Buy buy buy!!!!!!.

I don 't know how old it is, only that I'm interested since it's been introduced. So august 2007 I had the uppertunity to buy this used one.


It's all known: Jack inputs with active switch, 350 watts@4ohm and 500 watts@2ohm, Tube channel and solidstate channel, switchable and combinable, giving you three channels to work with. 10 bands EQ and low/high shelving controls. It has a crossover on board and the neccesary balance, but only one poweramp. So you need an external poweramp to bi-amp. There's also the DDT function at the master, but as far as I know it's not defeatable.

It has jack outs for speakers, a pre- post switchable XLR out and effect loop with level control at the back.

I use it with a TVX 410 4ohm + BVX 115 Black Widow 4ohm to get the full 500 watts speaking to me. This amp is extreme ! Very loud and very versatile in operation. It's one of the few hybrids that's able to make it's tube growl, thanks to the pre and post gain stages.

I use tree different basses on it: two Ibanez EDA 905's, one Yamaha RBX 800 fretless and one Yamaha RBX sixstring (John Myung sig I)

I drive the Ibanez's throught the tube pre-amp to make them growl, cause these basses are pi??zo driven. This makes them sound clinical. The tube preamp makes them sound dirty. Love it ! ;o)

The Yamaha's go through the SS pre-amp, the gain is set higher to compensate the lower output of these basses. It's a fast way to switch basses without losing time on tweaking !

I play energetic metal through it and love high gain settings. That what this amp is really capable of. I just have to push my string to see the speakercones move..

You can acually get every sound out of this amp: from tube drive down to boomy solidstate British sounds. And I never even started to use the EQ !
One downside the high gain pre-amp provides, is some noise when overdone. But you just have to search for the ideal signal-noise ratio.

It was about 15 years old when I bought it, so there was a problem with it. Sometimes it started to 'woble'. Like there was an interference of some kind. Took it to a tech and it's not totally gone. It's a strange fenomena that comes and goes.

It keeps on playing, though !

So I can 't say it broke down, nearly made my sound go bad. But the direct out keep sounding fine, so the crowd nearly noticed.

I E-mailed the tech people at Peavey US to obtain a users manual and received it an hour later on PDF. So nothing but good things to say here.

The repair guy (independant) says Peavey always provides scematics for their amps as long as they know you're a genuine trained tech.

I 'm playing for about 18 years now and owned to much to summurize. I also own a peavey TVX 210 (great cab for a very low price !) cab and did own stuff like Ampeg, Ashdomn, Hartke and SWR.

I my opinion, Peavey is unbeatable in price versus quality. My complete set-up costed me about 500 Euro's (700$) second hand and it beats many contemporary brands that cost a few times as much.

Currently, I'm getting really interested in the newer Pro 2000 head... tube and solidstate pre-amps, combined with dual 2 ohm 1000 watt poweramp in a 25 LBS head... gotta love it.

Tube/solid state hybrid, built in crossover, fx loop, eq, active/passive, this amp is incredibly versatile and sounds great with any bass I have played through it. This thing has power to spare, I play it through a 810-TX Peavey cabinet & have never had to turn it up to halfway in any club we have played in. Plus it still sounds full & warm at lower volumes also.

I usually play my Fender American Standard Jazz Bass, but have also used a Japanese made p-bass with Seymour Duncans, a Washburn cheapie that my teenage daughter uses, and a Dean with active pickups, they all sound great with just minor e/q adjustments. Sounds warm, full, and chest thumping punchy at any volume. We play mostly blues & jam rock & have been working very steadily at clubs & festivals for the last 12 years since I bought this amp & it has never let me down. I had the money to buy more expensive amps & could not justify it when they didn't sound as good.

This thing has been rock solid, often when we play local festivals I will rent it to the promoter for the other bass players to save time between groups on set up. Every one who plays through this loves it. It has confirmed every thing I had ever said or heard about Peavey reliability with better sound quality than any of it competitors that I heard. I have played through it for 12 years of continuous gigging & it has never been serviced or even maintained. I just wish that peavey still made these so that when this one finally does die I could get another.

I had to order new wheels for the cabinet that I got with this amp & had no problems. The wheel design was lousy but the cabinet sounds great & that is much more important if you asked me. The amp has never had anything done to it, I haven't even cleaned it out after 12 years of smoky bars so I don't know about their customer service on this particular product.

I have been playing electric bassfor the last 26 years & this is my favorite amp ever. That is why I have owned it for almost half of that time. I compared it to Ampeg, Trace Elliot, SWR, and many others. They were two to three times the price & didn't sound any better, many of them didn't sound as good. I wish it had a new model of the same amp other than that I'm pretty happy. If this was stolen or broke down I would definitely try to find another on Craigslist or E-bay.

Soliod State and Tube pre. Line out, Post or Pre EQ , Effects loop, crossover. Excellent features.

P-Bass, J-Bass and 5 string Roscoe Beck. I play primarily roots and world music where I need clear big bass tones. This head is amazing and you can get them used nowadays for about $300. Really the best thing going for this price or anything under $1000 in my experience. Great headroom and with the tube pre you can get grind to sterile. Your choice.

I have 2 of them. Both are 12 years old. They look great and they have never ever busted down. It's a Peavey when Peavey made super heavy duty pro gear. It is the 'White faced' pro series.

I would buy it again. I am looking for a 3rd actually.
It is a brilliant head. Thanks Peavey.

2 channels and a power transformer that is no longer made buy peavey

it sounded pretty great when it worked .. REALLY DEEP

as long as one of your speakers doesn't cut out and cut your ohm's to 0.5 from 2 .. it'll be fine ..


yah i let a friend use my t MAX and his one 15 cut out .. and that blew the tranny ..

they stopped making the part because i think they stopped making rack mount bass heads .. with 2 channels .. (the transformer is short to fit in the head ..and it's 2 transformers in one .. because the tube channels needs alot more power then the solid state .. but yah they don't make it .. so it's not their problem i guess .. ah well everything else they make is gold

i miss it .. wish it didn't die .. i don't have the money to replace it, neither did the guy that blew it .. so i just got a bunch of garbage he didn't want .. love this amp, hate this transformer, love peavey ...

but wait there is hope .. my local amp hero says he should be able to hook the solid state channel up to a transformer .. and i could have just the solid state ... but i doubt i will do that ..

anyone wanna buy a peavey boat anchor>?

bought in 1998. very reliable and versatile sound. the ability to switch or combine tube & solid state channels is a bonus!!

it has been a very reliable amp up until a few months ago when the power transformer broke down.

i live in canada and there is no distributorship for peavey parts in canada. can you believe that?!?!?! i had the amp in for the repair at a local music store for 6 months only to find out the transformer i NEED (!!!) is no longer available!!! i will never buy another peavey product because of this fact and i will encourage others i meet to do the same, because if you have to wait that long to make repairs, the money spent is worthless. i also own 2 peavey cabinets - a 2 X 12 and a 4 X 10 which are still nearly new. i will be putting these cabinets up for private sale, because gos help if i have to replace any speakers or parts - i will probably wait a full year if not longer.

this was a really great amp. i really liked playing through it, the tone was there and it did carry a lot of power and the tubes sounded great!! overall it rocked!! but now it is a boat anchor because i cannot locate a part and i will never buy another peavey product because of that fact!!!

you want solid state? you got it

you want Tube? it is Tube

(god that sounds like a bob's furnature commercial) lol

you can combine the 2 channels and run it as both tube and SS at the same time. (killer tone you have to heard it to believe it)


this amp has everything you need.

350 watts @ 4 ohms, 500 watts @ 2 ohms
EQ Low & High shelving, 7 band graphic, 30hz lowest
XLR out
Other Effects loop, DDT compression, crossover, footswitchable (graph, channel, effects), Two channels Tube and Solid State preamp

it sounds amazing you can get jazz tones all the way to grindy tech metal sounds it is the shit i love this thing!!!!!!!

i have never heard of any problems with this amp nor had any :)

peavey knows whats up.

if u can find one of theese pick it up i will swear by its tone till the day i die the only bass amp u will every need

you want solid state? you got it

you want Tube? it is Tube

or you can combine the 2 channels and run it as both tube and SS at the same time. (killer tone you have to heard it to believe it)

Lots of features, More than I have been able to find a use for. Having two separate yet combinalbe tube and solid state channels is awsome. I run a peavey 8x10 cabinet with this. I have considered adding a second 2x15 cabinet for more low end and to take advantage of the cross over, I have blown out two of the 8 10" speakers. It has lots of power. The The eq is great, can tune everything perfectly. I used to play mostly realy heavy stuff, but recently I have been playing with our worship team. I had to set master volume to 2 in order to keep from overpowering every body else. I have no need for a PA. (we have found many loose peices of hardware in the sanctuary when I hit their resonant frequency) So i would say that this is very versatile.

I use a Peavey T-40 bass with it, with passive electronics. I have been thinking of getting a newer 5 string with active pickups, but this amp realy makes the active/passive debate kind of irrelivent. When I play hard, this has lots of punch, and the solid state channel combined with the the tube chanel allow for all sorts of variation in sound. If I turn the tube preamp way up it has pretty sweet overdive sound to it. When I play with the worship team the sound is smooth, deep, clear, spiritual in fact.

I loaned this to a guy for one show he played a style kind of a cross between punk and reggae if that makes any since. Much more slapp that I use. He liked it so much it took me three months to get it back, and he tried to buy it from me.

The only thing I dislike is the fan on the back is a little loud. It is not worn out though, it is just loud. When you are playing very hard and you hold your hand in front of it you can feel a warm brezze coming out the front of the amp. Sometimes I have felt this breez and thought the heat or air kicked on and I was near a vent. I have thought about taking it out and putting a quieter one in, but have never done it.

Yes you can depend on it! Mine is mounted in a hardshell case that the front and back that lock on for travel. I think this was something a previous owner did to it, but it works great. I have never had a single problem with it and I think it still has the original tubes in in it. I dont know how old it is, maybe 10 years, maybe more. I sold my other amps, so I always play with this now.

Never need support for the amp. I did get a couple of reconed speakers for the cabinet and had no problems at all.

I have been playing for about 9 years. I dont own another bass amp I sold the old ones, I used to have a nice crate, but it didnt compare with this, and before that a vintage Traynor tube amp. If it were stollen I would try to find another at a decent price, but their arnt too many of them around. I am not sure what other amp I might replace it with. I have said lots about what I like, I dont like the noise from the fan and it is pretty heavy to lug around but in the case it is fairly portable. I got this used from a local guitar shop just before they went out of business. I had been looking to upgrade for a while previously, and they had this and the 8x10 cabinet at the same time. I had no idea how good it was when I bought it. I realy dont think 10 out of ten is overdoing it even with the Noisy fan, after all who wants a bass amp that is quiet, as a bassist I want to be heard loud and clear.

Tube/Sold state, effect loops, 7 bands EQ, x-crossover frequency, active/passive input, and a bunch of stuffs at the back which I never use. More features than I ever need. Basically has everything except headphone jack, but I only use this for band practice and gig, so not a problem for me.

I can pretty much get any kind of sound out of this thing by playing with the tube/solid state, gain, and EQ. And with 500Watts, I can turn it very loud without any distortion at all.

I have had this amp for 5 years. Not a slightest problem. But I dont' think the amp can actually take much abuse coz it doesn't have a protecting case and it very very heavy.

No idea..

I am using a Fender 4x10" and 1x15" cab with the t-max.
Similar amp I have rented before: GK 800RB, Trace Elliot AH350, SWR350.
In term of versatile sounds and power, I think the T-Max is the best.
For warm sound, the Trace Elliot is a bit better, but I brought the T-max instead becoz I needed more power.
The 800RB and SWR350 look very good and sound "OK", but nothing suprising, but they are WAYY underpowered compare to the Trace AH350 and T-Max.

Just an amendment to my TMax review:

The internal link is cut when you plug into the poweramp in, not the preamp outs. Sorry for the mistake.

Also a small update; I am now running full crossover into both bins, as the Transition from low to high frequency was too noticable, and the Hartke bin has a really tight bottom end when not driven to hard.

Now back to the regular programing....