Peavey Backstage 110

This amp is from the late '80s I think. I found it difficult to use initially. I use it as a 'small' practice amp but it is capable of 65 Watts RMS. It is Dual channel (one distortion(termed 'lead' channel), one clean) and, like all transistor(solid state) amps the distortion isn't a patch on an 'overdriven' Valve amp (tube - with pre-amp gain pushed up beyond 3/4). However, as stated, it is very loud for a practice amp and, in conjunction with an effects pedal such as a KORG A4 or ZOOM whilst using the 'clean' channel, it is capable of delivering some fine sounds - getting good distortion sounds from the amp alone is in my opinion difficult(impossible??). Channel switching is by onboard switch or via an optional footpedal(I don't have one). A 'bright switch' gives a further boost to the treble frequencies on both channels. The inbuilt distortion is controllable using the 'Supersat' control and 'Post' alters the 'volume' or 'level' on the distortion channel. Good 'crunch' tones can be obtained by keeping 'Supersat' setting below '2') This channel has 'active' controls ('Bottom' & 'Edge') to boost low & high frequencies. Effects 'send' and 'return' jacks are provided (tho' no specific effects level control is provided). Finally, there is an inbuilt reverb unit with control knob.

I play rock music & use a Washburn WP50 (Sunburst - Les Paul), Washburn KC40V (Red-crackle finish) and an Atrics 'Blues' (a red ES335 type) guitar, the latter being retro-fitted with Gibson pickups. The KC40V is a 'Strat'(single-pole pickup) sounding guitar and sounds OK through the amp but, in my opinion, not a patch on the Les Paul. If you use the distortion channel, the amp's inbuilt compression keeps background noise down but the 'gating' is obvious. The clean channel is very good for the price tho' not in the 'Fender' (Twin reverb) or 'Roland' class. At volumes 8-10 on the clean channel it does distort slightly, tho not unpleasantly to a 'Rock' pair of ears.I'd recommend having a mod done to facilitate an external speaker cabinet as the 10 inch speaker could be improved upon.

Absolutely dependable - never broken down.

Never been repaired (so the rating should be 10 I suppose) and I got a free download of the manual/wiring diagram recently from the Peavey website. One year initial warranty (expired long ago), tho tubes were limited to 90 days, I think.

I've been playing since 1968 (yes I'm really ancient!) and I was a bass player for most of that time. I also own a Fender M80 Bass a Fender Precision and a Martin 'Vega' acoustic.
The Peavey Backstage 110 amp is good value for money tho I think difficult to use if this is to be your first amp...if you can afford a valve amp spend the money, don't get this one. If you are going to buy one then get a good effects pedal and use it thro the clean channel. If I had the money & this was stolen, I'd buy a VOX AC30 / Marshall JCM800 or other good valve combo. I compared it with a lot of others at the time and thought it would do everything for relatively little money - the driving factor for its purchase was that it was cheap!!! I wish it had valves!!

Eighties combo amp, nice allrounder for beginners (wich i am) who wants to expiriment.

I usually play on a gibson SG imitation (morris)....not good and not awful. I mostly like rock, in combination with BOSS MT2 i could about match joshua hommes famous sound. However, i think there are better amps to rock with. For jazz its highly suitable playing clear, nice reverb and alla that.
The distortion on it aint too much, real dusty.
I think my problem is i listen records too much, wanna copy their fat rock sound...most of the time i dont get near.

I bought it from a friend who is a turntablist, he used it as a monitor.
I now own it for 6 years, it once broke down. I took it to a local allround electrician (after i got the electrical schemes) and he could not get the right parts to fix it. So i placed the amp itself in the case again....miracle happened; it started workin' again! that was over a year ago.

They got me the electrical scheme....took more time than they told me though.

Like i said, i'm a n00b (dont take my submission as serious as those below)....so this baby is good enough. Never played in a band (aaarrrrrgh).
I guess i can miss it, i'd get a tube instead (bolt60?).
I hate the distortion, love the clean sound + reverb.

Does what it's supposed to. I'm a heavy metal player, so of course I was disappointed with the lack of mid control in the distoted channel.

My axe is an Ibanez GRG170, and it sounds beautiful in the clean channel. The distorted channel is good, but the lack of mid control is annoying at times. The amp only makes noise if I'm in the distorted channel, switch to my single pickup and I'm sitting on the amp. There is a huge variety of sounds you can get, I would reccommend it to anyone who plays mostly clean stuff.

It's never stuffed up or anything... sometimes the reverb box doesn't work, and you have to fiddle around with the cords in the back of the amp.

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I'm very pleased with this amp. And for $220 Australian it was an absolute bargain.

Born sometime in the eighties, got it from a born again Christian who played, you guess it, reminds me of the crappy bands I played in while in high school, what a nerd I was... wait a minute, I still am... wish I had the footswitch to switch the channels, use my foot to kick the switch over to clean channel; too lazy to get antoher one. It's great that I can just throw this in whatever I am renting that week and not give a shit if it scratches or rips the mesh, its a little tank, totally solid particle-board construction, a great footstool. Where? thrashing a friend's studio 135 miles away from home every freaking week playing thrash heavy mozart for maybe 2 hours, we never get anything solidly recorded, he's whipped with his live in blond trophy ...hope you're reading this D. oh yeah plenty of power, however, saturation shoudnt be turned up past 6, tends to get muddy ... oh yeah baby, solid state all the way and 65 watts seems like 200 to me, ha!

Use a post-CBS '75 Tele with a medium weight swamp ash body (listen up geeks, this is important)with a beer-rotting bridge pickup and corroded control pots, does the job, main settings are Saturation (Pre) @ 6-7, post at 2-4, bottom @ neg. 9, edge around 7, and various effects premixed into the amp, which I wont get into, too vast, I get a great bark and a twang out of this at the same time, no foolin, will bark harder than the Gibsons and Yamahas at the studio, no offense to Gibson or Yamaha,(I should state I am not endorsing Fender or any other product for that matter), which surprisely enough dont do as well with this amp. I am amazed at its versatility, however I seem to be compulsively attracted at the crackling noise I get when adjusting the knobs. Always trying to find at what point when turning the knobs I get the crackling noise, anyone have a clue, let me know. However, every once in a while, the signal may weaken a bit, but knowing the condition of my guitar, i'd say this is a no a brainer.

Dont use it for gigging, (gonna make up a new term, too close to Giggly for comfort, yuk!), though I am fond of it, cant seem to want to get rid of it, let a friend keep for a year, could had let it go, since I have other amps, but I dig it. never broken down, but what to do about that cracking noise

Never called them, went there and was treated like I was some alien, but I am not, I may look like an alien, but I am as human inside as they are, at least at heart.

Playing for 23 years I think. maybe longer, I can remember than far back anymore. If it was stolen, the theif would probably fry, since I seem to have frayed the power cord from pulling it from the wall, though I suspect my friend did that, so be careful theif when plugging it in. Of course you would only enjoy it for a little while, since my roadies would probably rescue it shorly after. Chose this one? It was like offered and I suppose the salesman did a great job selling this piece of shit to me, but I think they are all pieces of shit to me, even the Marshall couldnt be as versatile, but I love all of these pieces of shit. But it is what it is, its a piece of solid state shit, alien technology from 1952, you think humans would had been bright enough to invent that shit?

Two channels, switchable. FX loop. Bought it new in the mid 80s. I play rock and funk, so use both channels. 65 American watts = 30 English. All transistor, and it sounds like it. Spring reverb is quite good and I use it all the time. Clean sounds are better than overdrive.

Using a Strat, the Peavey could do with a higher output pickup really as it seems to be begging for more signal. Sounds a bit gritty, lacking the muscle of a valve amp. I do use it live, miked up, but only because I'm skint. I use a stereo chorus to feed the Peavey and a Marshall Bass 12. I mike the cabs seperately and feed one left and one right in the mix - get some funny looks from other guitarists, but only until they hear it. The Peavey on it's own struggles to sound the part as far as I'm concerned.

There is a hum sometimes, which goes away if I thump it. That sounds dangerous, but I know it's only the reverb connections (you can see them in the back of the cab, by the speaker). Just occasionally I have known it to squeal, as if feeding back somehow, but hey it's 20 years old now and I've never had it serviced.

Been playing 25 years, rock, blues, dance, lead, rhythm you name it. I had a Sound City 120 and I wish I still did. I have a Cry Baby, a Vorg Flanger (70s thing - great) and a Boss HM overdrive pedal. I play only a Strat, though that's not snobbery, it's because I can't afford a bunch of other guitars. If the Peavey were stolen I'd buy a Marshall valvestate.

I bought this amp in 1988, brand new then. It's versatile enough to let me play in the style I'm in the mood for without wishing I had a better amp. It's a 65W amp, completely solid-state.

I just spent over an hour just playing through an ART Levelar compressor directly in the return jack of the amp some Mark Knopler-like melodies. It has two channels and remote switching. On the clean channel, there is a bright switch which I never use. On the distortion channel, there are only two knobs for frequency adjustment: bottom and edge. There are two inputs for the instrument: low gain and high gain. Quite frankly, I don't see much difference between the two and I plug in the one that happens to be closest to my hand! There is an effect loop and a headphone jack.

All the basics are covered on this amp and I wouldn't want it to have more than it already has. I use this amp at home mainly but I think I've used it in a gig or two.

It can be loud but it is lacking in the bass frequencies, which is a bit normal, since it's a combo with only one ten inch speaker.

I never use the headphone jack because it makes the amp heat up and shut down.

The reverb on this amp is decent and I always put a bit of it when I play.

The sounds of each channel are decent, not awe-inspiring but not awful either.

The amp has worked very well for me except once when I lent it to a friend. The amp came back dead for no reason. I had it repaired and it works great again.

Never dealt with them. The person I contacted to repair it is an audiophile specialist (a friend of the family). He not only repaired it, he "restored" it! It had accumulated a layer of caked-in dust which would not go away. When it came back, it was as beautiful as new.

I've had this amp for 14 years and the warranty expired ages ago.

I've been playing for 15 years. All this time, I have never felt the desire to get rid of this amp. It is highly usable in impromptu situations. It's not heavy and easy to carry.

If it were stolen or lost, I would not get carried away, trying to find another one (it's not a "vintage" piece of equipment). I'd probably try to get something with a better frequency response.

I like this amp because you can use it right away, when you turn on the amp. I chose this amp (at the time) because it was the best piece of equipment I could afford.

i think this amp was made in 83 or something. i might be wrong. this amp is perfect for my style. i play modern worship, rock, pop(like u2), some heavy, some light. allsorts of stuff. this amp is really vesitile for what i play. it could be more better, but its good deal for a trade of a cd player and speaker cab. 2 channels. it has channel switching, but i dont have the right footswitch for it. i have some fender switcher for a princeton amp or something. so when i have the amp on dist and plugged the switcher in to the amp through a mono to stereo plug, i can switch the channels, but i get no reverb on clean channel, only on dist, and if you play like me, this amps reverb is SOOOO good on the clean channel, and ya really cant hear it anyway on dist that much. i would rather have clean reverb, then dist reverb anyday.it has an effect loop. send and retun. mono. not stereo. it has a headfone jack and the clean sounds sooo good through it, but the dist sux through headphones. i wish you could use any switcher for it, not hte special peavey one(which im getting soon). i wish it had dual stage dist, or just a more versatile dist, cuz the dist on this amp is great, but you cant reall y use it for EVERY tipe of music. like you cant play really bassy,heavy, think metal with it(but i can cuz i have a special rig up!) i use ALL the features, but have nt used the brite switch for a while. i wish it had a next speaker out thou. i use this amp where ever i take it. i use it in my beadroom, my church, friends house, where ever it can go. school. u name it. it is 65 watts. before i thought it was SOOOO loud. but htat was cuz i ws playing it in my small bedroom. tehn i went and was plpaying with the guys in i garage, and it just sucked!! no power. (but it was on the clean channel cuz i was playing through a boss me 30 processor) but now with my special rig i got lotsa power. its solid state. but *very* good clean channel. almost tube like, but there is NO thd dist on clean channel. even on like 8. it is still as smooth as ever. very good amp. good features, but coulda had more.

k. my guitar is a Pirahna 7/8 body.red. one humbucker. dont even know what type. very limited guitar. ok sound thou, im getting a new guitar soon. i got this for christams a while ago. only one pickup style. humbucker. amp suits my style like i said before. the clean is NOT noisy at all. and if you hear any noise,t hat is from my crap humbucker. but the3 amp picks up radio signals and some noises that sound like power drills and skilsaw. i dont know what this is from. it could be from a real drill thou. i dontknow. dist can be noisy, but all dist is noisy on full gain. ok. hear is where all teh good stuff is. with my rig, i can get a wide variety of sounds (without any stomp boxes, which ill be getting some soon). my rig consists of my guitar run in to the hi gain input of hte backstage. from the effects send i have the signal running into the input of my Boss MG-10(if anyone knows anything about this amp, email me cuz i want some info. i have none on this amp. not even a maual) i disconnected teh litle 5 1/2inch speaks on the Boss and rewired it to have a ext speak out to run my cab. the (boss)amp is 10 watts, but tha is plenty if you are going to power a cab. you can power a cab with smokey amps! anyway, i ahve a out put from the boss amp power a home made cab with a 15 inch and 8 inch. man! i can get some mighty lows with that!!!! i have it rigged that i can use the clean from the peavey and dist from boss or vise versa. or dual clean. one for highs/mid(peavey) and tghe other for mids/lows and super lows(boss with cab) or dual or multi-stage dist. this can give me a ultra vast array of sounds. really good. the clean is not distorted at all at high vols. just sraight clean heaven!!! the dist is not that brutal from just the peavey. it is very good for solos and riffs and leads etc. or if you set SUPERSAT low like 1 1/2 or 2, you can get a good crunch sound. or is you have your maxed out dist and set guitars vol really low so you have a weak signal,thus making less dist and more of a chruch tone. teh bottom and edge active eg is good. you can get *almost* every sound you want. the dist can be brutal with teh cab and Boss. i set teh boss for sub-lows and it gives off that wonderful rumble-shake that can crack the foundation of your house. i love it!! you can feel it every where! you probabally could blowdry your hair with the fifteen. anyway, i think it has wondreful dist and clean tones. suits my style

I CAN DEPEND ON THIS SUCKER!!!! use it on a gig without a backup???um...considering i dont have any money to go buy another amp i guess i would have to use it without. but i have a problem with the effects return plug. sometimes it clicks on and off and it gets really annoying. i dont know waht it is from, but it could be the jack, but i dont know. but if you arent using the loop tehn put in a short patch cable in the loop and itll all be fine. the amp has NEVER broken down. it is really reliable. just look at teh covering! i scraped up my knuckles really bad when i reached for treh handle. you know those things that people at autowreckers use to flaten cars? instead of using that., use my amp!! its teh most heaveyiest thing ive encountered!!! IT WILL NEVER BREAK!!!!GAURENTEED!!

ive never dealt with peavey directly related to my amp. we(the guys) just bought a pair of brandnew peavey pa with 2 15s and a comression driver. oh yeah!!!!!! the store we got them through was really kind and nice and really cool. they have become our 'dealer' for all the stuff we need like mixers and power amps and such. i never took my amp in to get it fixed. i think people who do that are retards unless it is a *really* difficult task or you want ot keep your warranty. but for any old crap, i never get it taken in. i can do it all my self. ive fixed teh fx loop prob and it works fine now. ive taken this amp apartmany times nad waht i see with teh electronics and all...its really well done. teh store we got our pa s at is our authorized peavey dealer, but they dont get any business from us that way, we dont need to get some whack job to try to fix my crap for a really expensive wage for something i could easyily do in 20 minutes. and ther is no warrany on this amp any more. i think it was expired in what 88???? who cares!

ive been playing for about 2-3 years. my gear(not much of it, but soon to be much) is listed above. im 15. i think guitar rulez the real world!! and don think that just because im 15 and have been playing for 2-3 years i dont know crap. i know lotsa crap and teh only thing that is stopping me from getting all the crap i want is that i dont have a job, but ill be gettin one soon and ill be get an whole lot more crap too. i would buy it again(but i didnt buy it in the first place!!) but i might also try out other amps just to test tehm against what my peavey can do. but i dont nkow anywhere you can get a 65 watt amp with a superb clean and dist with reverb and fx send and return and footswitch rof 85 bucks.(my brother bought it for 35 bucks(canadian) plus a rack pitch converter thing that didnt work unless you had midi and all teh special programs. anyway he paid 50 bucks for the pitch converter thing so it looks like it is 85 bucks. i traded a (homemade)speaker cab i got for christmas and a cd player i got for nothing for the amp and it was the best deal ive ever made.)i lvoe everythinga bout it except teh lack of a ext speaker jack and the crap sound of dist in headphones. its all fuzzed up and sounds lke crap, but hte speaker adds alot to teh sound,b ut hte speaker is waht is holding this amp back. before, i disconnected the speak on teh amp and rigged up a peavey 18 inch speak cab. HOLY CRAY!!! that was fricken loud!!!!! i couldnt believe it!! so teh next thing im buying is an 18 cab! (oh, i dont like the footswitch thing, but htat is going to be dealt with soon) i didnt reall *compare* it with otehr products, like a/b it with another amp. it was my bros and he is a bass player and soon er or later he was going to blow the speak so i took it off his hands for him. before i got it i had my crap(but good) boss amp. and before that i have teh homemade speaker cab powered witha stereo. this amp is totally amasing. ive ran anything on God's green earth into it and it is still functioning properly. ive ran vocals, keyboard, music(like from a cd player), bass, acoustic(with is ok, but can feedback really quick),ive powered my computer with it form napster!!! this amp is the best ive had, but i HAVE seen better, btu for 400 bucks (canadian) more. 400 buck which i dont have. but they are like 2 12s, which are very nice. i actually wish it had a 12 in it instead of the 10. teh speak holds teh amp back. it has lots of potential. if you diconnect its peaker and run the amp into a 4 12 cab, taht would sound soo huge!!im gonna do it when i get a cab. massive sound with this beast!!! its a great amp.

The features have already been covered, but I will say it is a great amp with almost everything you could want. I play metal, blues, and shred, this amp can handle anything. It gets an awesome Pantera crunch when I run my zoom 505 pedal into it, the eq can be set for heavy or clean. It has more than enough power.

I use a les paul standard and rogue super strat copy, they work well together with the peavey. I will say though that it's distortion limit is weak on it's own, you will have to use an effect pedal with it. the amp is capable of producing many sounds, I really like using the neck pickup for lead. The crystal clear tone is amazing. I also love the reverb control.

The amp is very tough, it has never broken down despite the fact I got it used and who knows how old it is. The only problem is that other radio/electronic signals cause interference (like computer monitors), but I believe that is a common problem.

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What a great amp, even though it is solid state, it is still a great amp. I can't imagine anyone not liking it. I have used it for over a year and love every aspect of it. I really like the effects channel, the reverb, the clear tone, and when using headphones, the tone is unreal. Superb quality, it really proves that you don't need a Marshall stack and a lot of rack gear/gizmos to sound great. I would challenge any amp with this thing.

65 Watts, Solid state, Effect loop, Reverb, Channel switching, Brite switch, Headphone, 3 Band EQ, 3 more controls for distortion (Supersat., Bottom, Edge.) This amplifier has everything that any guitarist would kill for in the clean channel alone. It's not as warm as some of its tube counterparts, but it produces a consistent tone. The 3 band EQ has a lot of range when it comes to tweaking. If a person is willing to spend some time in front of the amp, then I can guarantee that they will find the tone they are looking for. The only thing on my wish list (and this isn't even that great a wish) is maybe the inclusion of tremolo

I play a little bit of everything. A lot of jazz, blues, and rock. The amplifier is well suited to all of these genres. The distortion channel produces a straight foward Santana-ish tone but if you're looking for thay bassy heavy metal crunch, I recommend you look elsewhere. This is an amplifier that was made for crisp soloing, in either the clean or distortion channel. The clean channel retains its smoothness without getting distorted. I can turn the volume up to where it becomes unbearable for me (usually around 7) and the tone is consistent. I play a Fender Stratocaster with stock pickups (modified in the pickup placement.) By simply setting my guitar to different pickups, I can get any sound, from David Gilmour to Prince, without touching the EQ on my amp

This amp is super reliable. I've even run my keyboard rig through this amp and it has maintained consistent operation status (and consistent tone.) I've done a few gigs without a PA on the amp and it held it's own. I had the volume up to 9 and it never got damaged or distorted, and once again, my tone was consistent. It has only broken down on me once, and that was my fault. I damaged the input control and had to have it replaced. It has never failed me and I use it at every gig I do. I have a backup amp (A Marshall Lead 12 Mini Stack) And it never leaves home.

Peavey has been super kind in everything. I have asked for information on their products and they have sent me everything that they had. They even sent me a copy of their magazine "Peavey Monitor" which is something that you have to pay to get a subscription to. They have been quick to answer my questions and just downright helpful.

This amp is not for everyone. Grunge and Heavy Metal musicians shouldn't even consider this amp. What this amp does have is a gorgeous clean sound and a powerful lead sound. It is well made and durable. I recommend it to anyone who is open minded to a lot of musical styles. It will serve you well. I have owned very few amps. But this amp beats out my Marshall in terms of tone and versitility. I would buy this amp again in a second. It is the best investment I have ever made