Peavey Bass-Fex

This thing is a Profex with different stock patches. A true bass effects unit wouldn't have a Marshall cab emulator.

The stock patches sound great, and can cause you hours of noddling if you aren't careful. A little knowledge and some patience can yield virtually any tone you desire, for guitar or bass. I'm currently using it for recording guitar sounds. I can duplicate the Metallica Mesa tone with it.

The Manual is complete and clear, with illustrations and explanations for every effect and connection.

Modern effects units can be controlled with a desktop interface, so any unit relying on MIDI for control rates no higher than an 8 for ease of use. Nothing else without PC control is easier once you get used to it. It's completely MIDI compatible and controllable.

I'm playing my junko strat knockoff and my basses through it. I run it directly into the computer to record or through my Behringer direct box's cabinet emulation if memory runs low on the patches. As is probably the case with many units from this era. you can run out of memory as you create a chain, making other effects unavailable.

The effects sound great. The unit itself is not noisy, but noise can be introduced through certain effects. The noise gate is very good at taking care of that.

I've run it through my tube amp, but it made a terrible internal feedback loop once while I was creating a patch and it nearly destroyed my hearing. I'm lucky it didn't destroy my amp. I don't hook it up to the amp anymore when I'm creating patches.

As I mentioned, I can duplicate Metallica's guitar sounds with it. I've got a patch that pretty much nails Brian May's treble boost. I've done a patch for various Van Halen stuff that sounds pretty good. I'm fairly confident I could do about anything I need to with it.

This thing has really great EQs built into it, which is the real power of the unit. I don't know if all effects units give you this much control, but this thing has four different equalizers that you can use in any combination, which allows you to make really great patches. The four band parametric EQ is worth the price of admission all by itself.

I used this for gigs for years as my bass preamp, biamping it into a combo for lows and a power amp for highs. It worked flawlessly. The battery started to die and leak about a year ago. I ordered a new battery from Peavey and soldered it onto the board with no problems. The first battery only lasted about twelve years. The control knob is kind of skittish now, but I think I might be able to clean it and solve that problem if I weren't lazy.

I've dealt with Peavey over the telephone numerous times, and everyone there is friendly. If the person you are talking to doesn't know the answer to your problem, they will find the person who does. They charged me almost nothing for the replacement battery and had it shipped to me very quickly. I've never had a bad experience with them.

Their message board is amateurish. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for an answer from them.

I used this playing bass in a cover band for years playing in bars. I also used it for recording, and use it now at home to record original stuff directly to my computer. I've done blues, heavy metal, country, rock, whatever through it. The ability to use it as a preamp, along with the great EQs and noise gate make this thing perfect for desktop recording.

When I used to play live with it, there was some noticable digital sounding decay of the bass notes, . It wasn't noticable in a band situation, nor has it been a problem when recording. I suspect that any older digital unit will have the same weakness.

I wish it had more memory, and I wish I'd paid the extra hundred bucks for the MIDI pedalboard, because you can't find one that cheap now.

I bought this on closeout when it was new. It's been really great for me, and it's fun to just plug into and make music with. I'll use it until it disintegrates, and then I'll move on.

I'll give it a 7 I've always gotten very good sounds out of it as a Pre-amp.
Without being computer literate it could get a bit hard. I give it a 4
I give the manual a 5, as I said, You really need to be Cumputer literate.
Never heard of the firmware revision number.

I'm using a six string Ibanez Bass. Never had a problem with it being noisy. The only problem I had with weak effects is about 3 effects have low volume. I use it as a preamp with a Peavey CS-800 Power Amp.
I get all of the sounds I want, and my distortion and chorus are very good. I use an SWR three way speaker cabinet with an SWR 18 inch Big Ben Sub-Woofer.

I have used my Bass-Fex for years with no problems. Never needed a backup

Have not had any problems with Customer Support.

I play Black Gospel music and I just love it, and with the Foot Controller I can really move from one patch to another fast. I also have a traveling Setup with SWR SM-900, 2x10 and 4x10 speaker cabinets. I have been trying to find another Bass-Fex for this setup, but no one seems to have it, nor a New Catch Card with more Presets.
I would like to see the Bass-Fex and a Power Amp married to ceate an all-in-one system.

I would have to say that this unit, once learned, is very easy to use. It is not at all "cryptic" in my opinion. There is a small learning curve, but once you have it, the logic applies all across the unit

I used this unit as a preamp - effects processor in a variety of musical genere. The sound has never let me down, but it does lack the warmth found in tube based preamps. I found that if actually setup well, there is no noise at all. Its all about individual efx balance and outputs. With some prudent adjustements, there is no noise at all. I must add that I do not use the distortion, its just not good. :)

The digital effects are outstanding, worthy of note are the Chorus and Delay. Reverb is almost unusable however, as the amount of memory it requires prevents you from adding other effects in the chain. Again, use the compressor and EQ's, and add just a little digital effects. You can get great sounds out of it.

I used this preamp for 5 years, heavy road use, and it has never once broken down. Very, very reliable. I can't afford backup gear, so that is never even a consideration.

I bought this preamp used. I needed a manual. I called Peavey, they sent one to me without charge. Need I say more?

I'm currently using only the 128 factory programs. The layout for manual programming is a bit cryptic. VERY easy to use in this fasion as you can toggle throught the menue with either the up/down switches or a rotary knob. I've been using this for a year and haven't run out of new sounds to play with yet.

I'm using this as an effects unit with a Peavey TB Raxx tube pre-amp and a Peavey PV1200 amplifier (1200 watts, bridged mono). Lots of noise on some setting, almost none on others. Neat effect like Pinkmeddle and Bowed Bass. I can also get some good bi-amped sounds when I run the high and low sides into separate channels on the PV1200 then into my (2) Peavey 410TX's (running abouy 300 watts stereo into each speaker). Great unit if you want to get effective biamping on a budget.

My American Jazz Bass sounds great (clean) through Monster Bass (setting A30). My American P-Bass is MONSTROUS in Big n' Warm (A16) and well defined in Plain Jane (A40). The Gate effects are good and don't have much noise. Can get a gnarly metal guitar sound using my Epiphone G-400 going through setting A31. 70's and funk players have lots of chioces (try Bootsify!!). Unfortunately, many of the effects don't come through in the bass register. Others are kind of unnatural sounding (i.e., some of the choruses). You can really get the effects to come forward using a guitar. 7-string guitarists might find this unit to be very useful.

Bought the unit used and abused about a year ago. After seeing the going prices of the Bass-Fex (used) at music stores and in reviews, it seems that I got a steal of a deal at $30.00. I haven't had any problems, and all of the buttons, switches, plugs, etc. work fine. As this and the TB Raxx both act as pre-amps, my rack system is redundant. As such, I'm not too concerned with either unit "going out". I've used this unit as a stand-alone pre-amp in the past with no backup.

Peavey has outstanding customer service. They answer their phones, they answer questions, and they've ALWAYS been able to get me the manuals and parts that I need. Manuals for most of their equipment (current and out of production) can be downloaded from their web site. Due to the bullet-proof nature of their equipment and their outstanding custome service, I've become a big fan of the company. My stage rack is all Peavey, and I use a modified KB60 as a practice/small venue amp.

I've used this unit in all of my bands (punk, metal, classic rock, and adult contemporary) and there is a good sound for almost any kind of music. I've seen the unit (used) in some local major music chains at $300. For that kind of money, there are a lot of pre-amps/multi-effects units that have better sound. If you can find it for under $100 (about the price of the Zoom 506), it's probably worth the price. I've owned a Zoom 506 and like the two units about equally. However, the Bass-Fex is infinitely more expandable and has considerably more factory presets for lazy bass players like me. it's also a better fit for players that employ rack systems. 90% of my playing is on a clean setting (I rarely use effects), and I've found that the clean settings (of which there are a few dozen) not only help me get solid, tailored sound for both of my basses, but have the least noise as well. That being said, this is probably not a good choice for direct recording. The Bass-Fex comes into its own when it's backed up by massive amounts of wattage. As noted in another review, there isn't a ton of headroom. I like to set the output gain at "5" (much more and you get distortion pretty quickly), and use the input gain (front panel) as my volume knob. One serious downer is the variation of gain between effects patches. In one patch, you may have a hard time getting enough volume, in the next you'll nearly blow a speaker due to overpowering output. Gotta be careful!!

Unfortunately, even though the unit has (3) input jacks and (3) output jacks, it is not set up to be a standard effects unit. It's primary design is that of a pre-amp so it is difficult to use in the effects loop of another pre-amp or combo (you MUST go in to the front and come out of the back). I had to cut a notch in my rack to run wires properly. Again, its value is based on the price paid for a used unit.

Depending on what you're looking for, you can get some decent sounds out of this rackmount unit. If you don't mind spending some time experimenting with the settings, you can really suprise yourself. The other night I found *the* bass sound that I've been looking for, just by tweaking one of the presets - a nice tight low end with a punchy treble when slapping/popping. I found editing patches rather easy because I've used the Roland GP-1000 before - the interfaces are quite similar. The manual isn't all that useful, but being an electrical engineer I enjoyed reading it all the same. :-)

I'm using a Fender 5 string Jazz Bass -> BassFex -> Fender BXR-60 which is miked to our band's PA system. The only really bad thing that I have to say about the unit is that it is NOISY on certain settings, esp. some of the modulation effects (flange, etc). The noise is more like a hi frequency hissing which is less pronounced on some settings than others. I'm wondering if building a band-reject filter and putting it between the unit and my amp would make a lot of difference. The effects themselves are quite good for the most part - it's like anything digital, you're paying a small price for a wide range of selection. The delays are quite good, but don't expect an Echorec. (Although one of the presets, "PINKMEDDLE", is a dead ringer for the echoing bass effect off Floyd's "One of These Days" from the Meddle album :=). The distortion is fine on low settings but it really cuts the bass out on high settings (what does a bass player need heavy distortion for, anyway?). The ring mod, envelope filter, etc. are neat and can make for some original sounds IF as I said before you take the time to play with it. And if you tweak the Rickenbass preset a little bit, you're Geddy Lee!

I bought this used and although it's built like a tank the high output doesn't work, so I've been using it on the low output - don't know if this is why it's so noisy or not...I'd definitely use it without a backup, I'd have no worries about it dying on me.

I've never dealt with Peavey but I know people who have, and supposedly they're quite good in the customer service area.

I'm a big prog-rock fan and I guess my style tends towards Chris Squire - Geddy Lee. I like a nice percussive sounding bass with a good low end and this unit helps me to get that sound with a little effort. I also like to experiment and there's plenty of room for that with the BassFex.

Small readout, but generally shows all of the info necessary to edit. Very cryptic so it will take a little while to get used to it.

It is possible to get some good sounds, but it can be noisy and will distort fairly easily...not much headroom. The distortion sounds are good if you like unnatural distortion.

I wouldn't buy it again only because it isn't clean enough. There are so many processors on the market, it doesn't make sense to buy a noisy one.