Peavey Pro-Fex

Very easy to you and very versatile. This is the second Pro-Fex I have purchased. Luckily I didn???t have to Yoddillilillillo with Lillo???s Music and wait 8 Years to get this for a good price [see my last review]

As I am a big fan of the Peavey Pro-Fex and other Peavey pre-amps, while googling the Pro-Fex, I came across a guy named Gilbert in Montreal, Canada who has it on Craigslist for $100 CDN. After emailing him, figuring it was already sold, he emailed me saying he still had it and thus a deal was struck. Apparently Gilbert was the original owner so this Pro-Fex is in much better shape than the Lillo Profex I bought years earlier.

For sound quality and the fact that this is IC driven not tube, it sounds great! Now for:

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good - The unit arrived to me in near mint condition. I simply had to remove a few pieces of material stuck to the bottom of the unit to reduce rack rash, and simply wipe the body down with good old windex. Gilbert cared for his Pro-Fex very well. Also the original Pro-Fex does not use a nasty wall wart. I really hate wall warts!!!

The Bad - I didn???t get to hear Yodilillillillo echoing in my ears, not did I get the Indiana Jones adventure of sifting through racks through racks of dusty, damaged, and sometimes dead units at Lillo???s Music J This unit uses a battery, but the battery-less chip can be gotten by Chip Guru Ken Fox at:
<foxy229@alltel.net>

The Ugly - Gilbert???s Pro-Fex was treated very well while he owned it. Remember this unit is from about 1990, but it is still in pristine condition. So no nothing ugly about it at all.

From my recollection, the Peavey Pro-Fex was released in 1990. The technology in the Pro-Fex surpasses most of what is available nowadays in 2009. Peavey has some amazing engineers and designers and as a few of their ads show access to Alien Technology.

When I bought my 1st Pro-Fex from Lillo???s Music, It was like that scene on StarWars Episode 4, where Uncle Owen and Luke Skywalker are bargaining with Jawas for half-broken robots covered in dirt, grime, and rust. My 1st Pro-Fex, now known as Lillo Pro-Fex, was covered with a thick layer of dust and grime all over the body inside and out. Also the pot was broken and had to be replaced. It took me about 6 hours of windex, rubbing alchohol, and a can of compressed air to fully clean and restore the Lillo Pro-Fex. It would be like restoring and fixing R5-D4!

My 2nd Pro-Fex was like buying a lightly used ID88 from a robot factory. Sure it wasn???t local and had to be mailed, but it was well worth it. Here is the PDF:
http://www.peavey.com/assets/literature/manuals/80301339.pdf

What Now?

Ken Fox at: <foxy229@alltel.net> sells battery-less chips for the Pro-Fex and other Peavey pre-amps including for the Tube-Fex, so I???ll get one from him. Ken also carries Brown Burr chips which supposedly warm up the Pro-Fex sound, so that is a definite maybe.

Peavey and Ken Fox always give their 100%, so I'd have to rate this a 10.

A good mono tube power amp is next, so I???ll see if I can find a Peavey Classic 60 in great shape.

All in all the Peavey Pro-Fex is a great pre-amp if you want great sound, versatility, ability to have saved presets with NO BATTERY, and all in 1 rackspace. I???ve tried other digital pre-amps, including the Line 6 stuff, Behringer stuff, and so on. The sound and quality of the Pro-Fex, Tube-fex, Rockmaster, etc. keeps me coming back to Peavey???s FEX line of pre-amps

This is the second Pro-Fex I have purchased. Luckily I didn???t have to Yoddillilillillo with Lillo???s Music and wait 8 Years to get this for a good price [see my last review]

As I am a big fan of the Peavey Pro-Fex and other Peavey pre-amps, while googling the Pro-Fex, I came across a guy named Gilbert in Montreal, Canada who has it on Craigslist for $100 CDN. After emailing him, figuring it was already sold, he emailed me saying he still had it and thus a deal was struck. Apparently Gilbert was the original owner so this Pro-Fex is in much better shape than the Lillo Profex I bought years earlier.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good - The unit arrived to me in near mint condition. I simply had to remove a few pieces of material stuck to the bottom of the unit to reduce rack rash, and simply wipe the body down with good old windex. Gilbert cared for his Pro-Fex very well. Also the original Pro-Fex does not use a nasty wall wart. I really hate wall warts!!!

The Bad - I didn???t get to hear Yodilillillillo echoing in my ears, not did I get the Indiana Jones adventure of sifting through racks through racks of dusty, damaged, and sometimes dead units at Lillo???s Music J This unit uses a battery, but the battery-less chip can be gotten by Chip Guru Ken Fox at:
<foxy229@alltel.net>

The Ugly - Gilbert???s Pro-Fex was treated very well while he owned it. Remember this unit is from about 1990, but it is still in pristine condition. So no nothing ugly about it at all.

From my recollection, the Peavey Pro-Fex was released in 1990. The technology in the Pro-Fex surpasses most of what is available nowadays in 2009. Peavey has some amazing engineers and designers and as a few of their ads show access to Alien Technology.

When I bought my 1st Pro-Fex from Lillo???s Music, It was like that scene on StarWars Episode 4, where Uncle Owen and Luke Skywalker are bargaining with Jawas for half-broken robots covered in dirt, grime, and rust. My 1st Pro-Fex, now known as Lillo Pro-Fex, was covered with a thick layer of dust and grime all over the body inside and out. Also the pot was broken and had to be replaced. It took me about 6 hours of windex, rubbing alchohol, and a can of compressed air to fully clean and restore the Lillo Pro-Fex. It would be like restoring and fixing R5-D4!

My 2nd Pro-Fex was like buying a lightly used ID88 from a robot factory. Sure it wasn???t local and had to be mailed, but it was well worth it. Here is the PDF:
http://www.peavey.com/assets/literature/manuals/80301339.pdf

Always Great!

What Now?

Ken Fox at: <foxy229@alltel.net> sells battery-less chips for the Pro-Fex and other Peavey pre-amps including for the Tube-Fex, so I???ll get one from him. Ken also carries Brown Burr chips which supposedly warm up the Pro-Fex sound, so that is a definite maybe.

A good mono tube power amp is next, so I???ll see if I can find a Peavey Classic 60 in great shape.

All in all the Peavey Pro-Fex is a great pre-amp if you want great sound, versatility, ability to have saved presets with NO BATTERY, and all in 1 rackspace. I???ve tried other digital pre-amps, including the Line 6 stuff, Behringer stuff, and so on. The sound and quality of the Pro-Fex, Tube-fex, Rockmaster, etc. keeps me coming back to Peavey???s FEX line of pre-amps

Let me first start out by saying, "Yodilidalo!" Now that we got that out of the way, let me review the Profex, the orginal Profex(with the built in power supply), and my dealings with a famous or infamous store known as Lillo's Music in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Very easy to use. Very instictual and user friendly.

Well it sounds better than "Yodaleelalowlalow" and it is remarkably clean sounding. Sure the unit is old, but Peavey put good parts in it. That's probably why it was a Grand new. Clean as a Roland, dirty as a Dime Store Hooker, and wierd as an Alien(Daniel Kuciel is an alien). This unit can do it all. Too bad it doesn't have a use tubes like its son the Tubefex.

Back in the 1980's and early 1990's, Lillo's Music used to be the Peavey Dealer to go to. Before the days of Axe Music, Bob Anderson(aka The Rockmaster), and Mother's Music(The overpriced version of Axe Music), Lillo's Music reigned supreme in the world and gear of Peavey. Like all good things, Lillo's Peavey Reign came to and end when larger chain stores(Axe Music and the Boyz) could buy much more stock. Business is business they say, so Lillo once Lillo's Music lost the Peavey contract, they carried smaller brands, old Peavey stock, and did a lot of rentals.

Fast Forward to 1998. I, a student at the time at the U of A, decide to check out Lillo's Music. Lots of old Peavey and Rocktron gear, some new Sovtek pedals, 1980's Fender guitars, etc. The pedals were priced well, but the other gear was way too expensive. I bought a few Sovtek pedals from them but nothing else. My friend Jim would usually ask my why I'd want to go in there? I'd tell him because Lillo has some Cool Gear, but he just wants too much for it. The Profex is there in a massive wooden rack full of random gear.

Fast Forward to October of 2002. I got back from Korea earlier in the year, and decided to check out Lillo's while I am visiting Edmonton(I don't live there). The same gear, so I talk to Lillo, the owner, and ask him how much for the Profex. He says $800, but he could give it to me for $600. I told him that even though back in the day(1990 I think) the Profex was a $1000 new, his price was too high and that he'd have to price it lower to move it. Lillo took my name and number and said he'd call me if he could figure something out. I knew in my head that Lillo, as nice of a guy as he is, is way out of touch with current prices for used gear. Oh well.

I'd say 15 years and still going strong. Worked flawlessly when I use it and worked well for those many rentals it went out on.

Fast Forward to the summer of 2003. Again I go into Lillo's. This time he says $500. Ouch!!! I tell him I am going to think about it(to be polite), but I felt like telling him that he should stop smoking weed in the back or use a time machine to go back in time to get what he wants.

Fast forward to October of 2005. I go into the store and although the staff looks the same as it was in 1998, there is a new person there. I ask to speak to Lillo, but the person says, Lillo is out of town. Shit, I think. No way the store will move on the price without him being there. What the hell, I decide to ask anyways, "How much for the Profex?" Person says, "Oh well, the price says $799, but Lillo wants this stuff cleared out, so I can give it to you for $450." I say, "Uh these usually sell for about $80 to $100 on the used market as it is an old digital unit that is basically obsolete." She ponders and we make a deal for the Profex and another piece of Peavey gear:"Da Da Da, The Elusive of Rarer than Hen's Teeth :The Valvex!!!" I tell her I will think about it and come back in a few days.

A few days later, I go in there, and pick up both units. Can you guess what I paid??? $100 taxes in for the Profex. Yay! At the time, it felt almost like something that you'd see on TV spies buying secret documents. I told the salesperson who sold it to me, "I am glad that you actually understand how business works and that you know how to do business. Stores should have more employees like you who know how to sell."

Peavey is always great. I needed to take it home on a plane, so I asked Peavey the best way to do this and whether the X-ray machine would fry the chips. They helped me out a lot. I think the person who I spoke too was very suprised that I just bought it.


So what have a learned. If you want a deal on a peice of gear(doesn't work on the big zombie chain stores(where Bob the Rockmaster works), and the owner won't sel, it to you for the price you want, just wait, wait, and wait. If you think the price is way too high, more than likely fellow musicians feel the same way. You may have to wait for 7 years like I did, and you may have to time it when the owner is out of town, but you can get the gear for a reasonable price, even when it looks hopeless.

So what did I miss out on? A few of the post need replacing as the pots are bent(no biggie). And I missed out on Lillo saying, "Yodaleedalolalee, I'll take down your name and number."

The thing I like about the Profex and why I wanted one so bad, is because of it's built-in power supply. The Profex II may do more, but then you have to contend with that nasty Wallwart. The Profex was made just right. It had to collect dust in Lillo's Store for years and years but finally it is home with me.

WHENI BOUGHT IT BACK IN 90/91 NOT SURE WHICH I HAD A HARD TIME LEARNING IT. BUT AFTER PLAYING WITH IT I GOT IT TO DO WHAT I NEEDED IT TO DO. IT IS EASY TO USE AND PATCH AND EDIT PROGRAMS. THE MANUAL IS GOOD BUT NOT A STEP BY STEP HOW TO MANUAL.

I USE ANY NUMBER OF GUITARS I HAVE ON IT, I HAVE 2 HOT RODDED IBANEZ RG 760'S I GOT IN 87' 1 FENDER STRAT AN 86' A PEAVY ODDESSY 25TH, A JACKSON SL2H-MAH,2 PEAVY TRACERS,A HOLLYWOOD DEAN BELLEAIR, A AIRLINE, A OVATION VIPER, A TAKAMINE FLAMENCO, A CUSTOM SAMICK AND A FEW OTHERS. THE GUITARS GO INTO A DUAL CHANNEL SYSTEM , STARTING AT A NADY WIRELESS TO A IN RACK SABINE TUNER TO A DIGITECH WHAMMY OUT TO A MORLEY BAD HORSIE WAH TO A WHIRL WIND A/B Y BOX CHANEL A GOES TO A IBANEZ METAL CHARGER TO THE HIGH GAIN INPUT ON MY FIRST GENERATION 5150 HEAD AND USE THE EFFECTS LOOP TO THE PROFEX AND THEN TO THE 4X12 CAB, B CHANNEL ON THE WHIRL WIND GOES OUT TO A BOSS SUPEROVER DRIVE( FOR A BLUES KIND OF SOUND IF NEEDED OTHER WISE THIS CHANNEL IS MY CLEAN CHANNEL) THEN TO A PEAVY ROCK MASTER USING ONLY THE CLEAN CHANNEL ON IT TO A ROLAND GP16 (WOULD RATHER IT BE A PROFEX BUT I CAN'T FIND ANOTHER) OUT TO A PEAVY 50/50 CLASSIC AMP HEAD TO A4X12 CAB. I CAN GET ANY SOUND OF ANY ARTIST OUT OF MY SYSTEM IF NEED BE, IT IS JUST A MATTER OF GETTING THINGS TO WORK TOEGHTER IN THE WRIGHT WAY. THE SYSTEM IS VARY QUIT I USE THE NOISE GATE AND HUM FILTERS ON BOTH PROCESSORS.I DO NOT RECOMMEND USING THE DISTORTION ON THE PROCESSOR, THEY ARE ALL JUST WEEK BUT THE EFFECTS ARE GREAT AND REDUCE FOOT PEDALS.

I HAVE BEEN USING IT TO GIG AROUND THE US A LITTLE AND IN THE STUDIO ALOT AND GIGGING LOCALLY IT CHICAGO AREA. I ALWAYS CARRY A BACK-UP PROCESSOR BUT IN 15 YEARS HAVE NEVER NEEDED IT SO I USE IT ON MY PRATICE AMP.

PEAVY IS GREAT TO DEAL WITH NEVER HAD A PROBLEM GETTING STUFF FIXED. I HAVE NOT HAD A PROBLEM WITH MY PROFEX YET.

I AM A METAL HEAD BUT PLAY CLASSIC ROCK ALSO, I PLAY FROM VAN HALEN ,DOKKEN TO ROLLING STONES AND BEATLES TO MEGADEATH AND METALLICA. I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON PLAYING SOME JESSE COOK LATELY (FLEMENCO). I HAVE BEEN PLAYING FOR ABOUT 24 YEARS AND I'LL TELL YA THE PROFEX IS ONE PIECE IN MY BACK BONE IN MY SOUND WISH I COULD FIND A NOTHER.

I rated this at a 7 because there are so many options you have with this processor that you can spend a whole lot of time tweaking tones. I have 2 of them in my rack. 1 for clean and 1 for dirty. They are such an important part of my tone. The parametric eq's play a big role in the sound shaping of the tones as does the speaker simulation. So if you have on of these things and there is something missing, try adding a couple of the parametric eq's.

I'm in an original metal band that's a cross between anthrax and sepultura. My gear: Washburn 7 string w/ duncan invader
Marshall avt150H set on clean channel 2 (used as a poweramp)-basson slant 2x12 cab
Yorkville 400 rackmount bass head (for low end,fullness tone)-2 4x12 cabs
Hush super c
2 pro-fex (1 clean 1 dirty)
profex dirty goes to: Boss mt-2
black box (tight low-end)
loop master channel switcher- loop 1
pro fex clean goes to: Loop master channel switcher- loop2
Dod flange and wah.
My dirty tone is awsome. We all know the mt-2 sounds shitty and thin alone but the eq's i did in the pro-fex cleared that hole mess up. My tone is a tight, early 90's metal tone that's a cross between a marshall crunch and a metalic tone. The clean channel is clean as a roland. Just with a bit of delay. These things are some of the best peices of gear around. The sounds you can get (from fuzz box to chorusy 80's rock leads to just plain wierd)it's hard to think theirs a better peice of gear.

I've had my (dirty) pro-fex since 1996 and I've just recently had to get a couple of things done to it. My other pro-fex (clean) I bought on ebay about 6 months ago and the thing works like a charm. I trust these processor/preamps to last through shows. THey have.

When i had to send one of my pro-fex's to the peavey shop the customer support was great. They were a little slow at replying to emails but that's when you pick up the phone.

If you are looking for a tone that's from the past 50 years. Buy one of these things. Remember on my rhythm tone I use my marshall as a power amp and my mt-2 distortion pedal. I tweaked the hell out of the distortion pedal with the pro-fex. If you are willing to spend some time on doing some tweaking with this, the time will be well worth it. Trust me. At the price you find them at, You can't believe that you spent over $1000 on it.

It easy to use, but, there are a lot of subtle thinsg to be learned with this unit.

Here is where it glows. I've had this unit 8 years, bought used. And the more I work with it the better it sounds. This should be in everyones rack. With the right editing, I've been able to tag fender amps, Marshall amps and Peavey amps to a tee. I use this with my Roland VG8ex to get those true sounds, and can use my tele as any guitar that I chose to do so. I run through a PA system utilizing the 12" speakers with it, if I want a true amp sound I run it through one speaker sitting in front of me, this is the only way to duplicate amps punch without using a speaker case. It is a top quality peice of gear that I hope lasts a long long time, because, I don't think they make these anymore.

It's still ticking,after the 9 years that I've had it, so it must be reliable.

Players, before you buy a new effects processor, see if you can get one of these used units, it will be a good buy. It gives the classic feel of amp units with the right editing, and the right equipment accompanying it.

This is an update to my previous submission.
If you are interested in patches for your Pro-Fex, please contact me. I've developed several that have been very useful to me.
Contact me at my new e-mail address listed below.

Adding and deleting effects blocks is easy. Also, it is very easy to access a particular parameter and change it. (I've even done this on the job in the middle of a song.) The real trick is in creating a preset from scratch. This takes either a great deal of familiarity with each effect block and its parameters, or a willingness to spend a great deal of time fiddling with each parameter until you arrive at the sound you want.
The only tricky part of using the Pro-Fex is setting up a MIDI continuous controller pedal to alter parameters in real time. Selecting the parameter, controller number and MIDI channel is easy. However, setting the MIDI Scale Factor involves some trial and error.
The manual is very clear.

In the seven years that I've owned my Pro-Fex, I have had a love/hate relationship with it. I love its flexibility and reliability. I love the ability to configure the effects blocks in any order that I want. However, sometimes I go through periods where the sounds that I've created are missing something. I've yet to define what this something is, but I always find it when I switch to a standard tube or solid state combo amp.
Volume Control - I always use a volume pedal. However, placing it between my guitar and the Pro-Fex's input can cause a distorted preset to "clean up." It can also cause the envelope filter to not work. Placing the volume pedal between the Pro-Fex's outputs and a power amp can drain the unit of some of its gain. During my search for the ideal way to control the Pro-Fex's volume level, I tried using a MIDI continuous controller pedal. Although there was no signal loss, the pedal introduced a horrible quantized, zippering effect when I changed volume levels. A smooth transition from silence to full volume was impossible.
Input Level Control - Another aspect of the Pro-Fex's sound quality involves its input level control. This control needs to be set very carefully for each different guitar that you use. Setting it too high will cause the clean presets to sound distorted. It will also cause the envelope filter to become unresponsive.
Clean vs. Distorted Presets - I've never found a preamp that can produce clean presets that are as loud as distorted presets. It's possible to turn down the level of the distorted presets, but I feel that this is a compromise. You should be able to blast a clean preset as loud as a distorted preset and still retain its clean sound.
I've used guitars with Fender, DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan single coil pickups and Gibson, DiMarzio, EMG and Seymour Duncan humbucking pickups. Each works well, as long as you set the Input Level Control correctly.
I've also used it with a Marshall Valvestate 8004 power amp and two EV12L speakers, through the effects loop of a Mesa-Boogie Mark IIB, and straight into the input of the Boogie. Each setup works well, but they also sound slightly different.
Finally, most of the effect blocks have very wide ranging parameters. It's easy to create a strange sound, especially with the Chorus effect block. I like this very much.

My Pro-Fex has never broken down. However, about twice a year, it locks up when I first turn it on. This is easily remedied by turning it off and on again. Also, it generates a lot of heat for a solid state unit. Initially, I was concerned about it, but since it has never failed, I figured that it was designed to run hot.
However, I always carry a backup amp just in case of problems.

I've contacted Peavey a couple of times. Once by mail and once by e-mail through their website. Both times they have answered by questions promptly.

My original purpose for buying the Pro-Fex was to use it as a headphone amplifier at home. When I bought it in 1991, I compared it with similar one-space rack preamps by Digitech, ADA, Rocktron and Gallien-Kreuger. I selected the Pro-Fex for two reasons: 1. The factory presets consisted of a nice balance of clean and distorted sounds. (The competing units leaned heavily toward distorted sounds.) 2. The Pro-Fex allowed you to place the effects in any order.
Later, I used it in three different setups playing with a Top-40 band: 1. With a power amp and speakers. 2. In my combo amp's effects loop. 3. Feeding the input of my combo amp. Each setup worked well. And after seven years of use, the Pro-Fex has served me well.
How could it be improved? 1. Add an effects loop so that a volume pedal or any other effect could be added to it. 2. Add a dedicated analog volume pedal jack. 3. Add an option in the software for automatic control of the Input Level Control.
I've created five presets that are useful to me. If you'd like the parameters, please e-mail me.

7.It sounds good with headphones. Alright before the amp. Great in the fx loop. Editing is great! No limits like Digitech stuff. You can put fx in series or parallel. It is real easy to edit very easy. You just have a lot of control over so much of the sound, that it might take some time to choose what you want.

I have to admit I dont use the preamp. I mainly use it for clean sounds. I use it in my fx loop and it sounds wonderful. The reverbs are great. The chorus is amazing. The distortions arent all that hot but with some tweaking they could be O.K. but not great. I play a high gain tube amp so I really love the fat tube sound. The unit has good noise gate so its pretty quiet.

I use it all the time. When I first got it used it did have a problem but I shipped it to peavey and they fixed it and updated to the lates version of it. It has since been great. Sounds better and I gig about twice a month. Rehearse 3 times a week. Never failed on me!

Wonderful! They are just great and very helpful. Free manuals and very cheap to do repairs on used equipment. They charged me a total of 60 bucks to fix my unit which was pretty abused by the previous owner.

Hell yeah! The thing is great and they stopped making them,so not everyone on the block has one. This is good if you want something that will be distinct with your sound. I saw one in a Pawn shop. Its mine! One for home one for gigs!

it's a hard box to figure out at first (i didn't have a manual right away), but once i figured out to press the "edit" key (duuuuuh), my profex opened up and let me in. editing is pretty simple (althoug i'll admit, i'm still trying to make sense of some of the MIDI functions), the manual wasn't clumsily translated from another language, and there's a real knob for data entry.

some of the overdrives are noisy, as is the compressor (once again, duuuuuh), but this box sounds beautiful and real through headphones, an amp's effect loop, or onto tape. a coil tap simulator is available, allowing a humbucker to sound like a strat or tele. effects can be duplicated, that is, you can run two distortions in series with seven flangers, a few echoes, reverb, and gate it all at the end. the varations of EQ even include equilization curves tailored for voice, so this box could even serve as a serious studio effect workhorse.in short, the profex is amazing.

hmm. well, i bought this used for $50 as is. i took it home, it sounded great, and i took it to a jam at a friends house, where it promptly and repeatedly shorted out. i put a plastic spacer on top of the transformer and closed the top again. now it works perfectly, but i realize i didn't exactly fix it. i just kinda bypassed the problem. i've never used this at a real gig, and i won't until i can get a real- time MIDI control pedal, but i use it often at home and will use it in studio next month.

peavey.com has always been helpful, even though the website's a bit confusing- i asked them to email me the text of the manual, and rather than just do that, they mailed me a new profex manual at no charge. they've also sent me footswitch schematics and answers to tech questions of all sorts. good people.

i've purchsed at least 15 to 20 peavey products over the years, mostly used, and with one or two exceptions (the pacer amp and their compressor pedal), the quality and service has always impressed me. i love my pro-fex. it does everything and does it well, especially the overdrives and modulation effects . i gotta admit, i wish it had an effect loop, so i could feed my reverse delay into this before the chorus and delays, and it's hard to use onstage without a proper MIDI footswitch. all those thoughts go thru my head until i plug into my profex, and everything goes away. if the original short becomes a problem again, i'll pay a tech 35 bucks and my cost will still be well under $100 for beautiful tone and AWESOME power.