Peavey Backstage Chorus

Well, if your reading this you already know it has 2 channels with chours, re-verb, and a super- sat setting by pulling out the 2nd channels knob. in other words for a small practice sized amp it can do alot ! It is soposed to have a 3 button foot switch ie: sw between channels, chours on, re-verb on. it has hi & lo inputs. channel 1 has a 3 band EQ channel 2 has the distortion drivers and the super saturation switch ( who needs a fuzz box!)
I dont play in a band anymore so it's size and power (25W) is just fine for now.

I have an old rickenbacker road amp ( tube sound and very dirty) and I used to play through a Marshall 100W stack (also tube but very powerfull ). This is altogether basicly a different kind of animal. it can get almost any kind of sound you could want (except that Heavy Metal Crunch and a pure silky smooth tube sound). but for small rooms its totaly versital!

I would never gig without a back-up guitar or amp... Murphy's law you know ! I used to blow tubes on my Marshall regularly but since this is solid state who can say. I think any amp will fail eventualy if driven hard !

I've been playing since 1971, and have gone through a lot of different gear. This amp seems to be on the higher quality side of things and the versitility of it makes it great for what I'm doing. Now I just have to get that flanger then I can try some Van Halen.
( yeah, like I can play like Eddie,... only in my dreams!)

Well, I don't know what year this amp was made, but I can tell for sure that it's an old one. 25 watt, Solid state, 2 separate channel (clean and distorted), chorus and reverb, no fx-loop. I use all of the features in this amp when I play in my church (BTW, this is my church's amp, not mine) The power is strong enough for me, since I don't need LOUD volume anyway and the room in which I play isn't that big. This amp would get 10 if it had stronger power rating and fx-loop.

Now, this is where the amp gets 10. It's not noisy even I pulled out that Super-SAT knob in distorted channel and turn it up until max. Maximum distortion, plus quite heavy chorus and light reverb, this amp can deliver the lead tone that I always wanted! When I played through this amp, I get rid of my BOSS's Metal Zone distortion pedal. The clean channel is just fine but with some chorus, it sounds much better. But I can't nail that sweet, mild overdriven sound, since the tone get pretty distorted if you play on the distorted channel. Well, I don't need that kind of sound anyway.

This amp has broken once, the speaker cone was too stiff and damaged (it gets too old, i think). After cone replacement, the reverb sounds treble-ish and it can't sound as nice as it use to be. I guess other parts than the cone was damaged, and the repairman can't find a identical replacement for that. Other features are still ok, but I miss the reverb. Other than that, it still serves me well.

Well, never talk with' em. Even the repair job was done in a regular audio/electronic repair shop. Can't find Peavey authorized dealer in my town.

I've been playing for 6 years and 3 years with this amp. I had a Mexican Strat and two BOSS stompboxes. Geez, so far I can't find a good replacement for this amp if it were stolen. I love the tone of this amp. I wish Peavey would make this amp again, or at least someone give me wiring diagram of this amp, so I can make one for my own. I would definitely bought it if I ever see this one on sale. It's perfect for both stage and practice.

2 channels, clean and dirty. I only use the clean channel.

The clean channel as reverb and chorus -- my reason for buying the amp.

I play a nylon strung Yamaha amplified acourstic that sounds and plays like the Takamine counterpart. While trying it out, the salesman plugged me in to the Peavey. NOrmally, I say "it's the Indian, not the arrow." That is, the problem with my sound is me, not the guitar. However, the Backstage Chorus is an exception. It improved my sound and the guitar's sound noticeably and controllably. Makes it a pleasure to hear myself play.

So far, so good. (6 years).

25 years playing, always on nylon. Also, I don't use picks or fingernails -- just my calloused finger tips. The combination of an amplified nylon guitar and the Peavey amp lets me keep up with the naturally lounder guitars. Clearly moved me into another category.

I bought my 208 new in around 1992. This amp gives all the features you could ask for at this price. Adjustable reverb. Adjustable Chorus, both rate and depth. Low and High gain input jacks. Clean channel with 3 band EQ and Presence knobs. Distortion channel with gain and saturation and super-sat with a pull on the sat knob. Very flexible. Headphone jack on the back. Footswitch off/on controller for distortion, chorus and reverb. Solid state, suprisingly loud for a 25W amp.

I've used a big-body Takamine acoustic and an Ovation Elite Acoustic on the clean channel with good results. I use an Ibanez electric as well and am pleased with the clean and distortion sounds. I often go with a Digitech RP7 on the front when playing the Ibanez as I can get the tube sounds reproduced on the clean channel. But the distortion on the 208 is good enough to use straight without the efx box. Typically, I play in a large church and use the 208 as my personal guitar monitor, while patched into the PA directly. Before, when we were in a small building, I used the 208 straight with good results (no channels left on that old PA system).

Built like a tank. Never had any trouble whatsoever.

Never had any problems requiring Peavey attention, although they do have a chat area on their web site with good tech responses.

I've been playing seven years, and the 208 is the only amp I own, although playing at church I use the 208, the Peavey Studio 210, as well as a Peavey KB60 sometimes. As a practice amp, stage monitor, or for small venues, the 208 does a great job, especially for the money. I probably would look to upgrade if it were lost or stolen just because I've had it so long.

Stereo, chorus, and reverb features available across two channels. Channel one is for clean sound, channel two is for distortion. Foot switch available to switch between channels, and to turn on reverb and chorus features. The output accomodates stereo headphones, preamped dry line out (no effects whatsoever), and preamped live line out (effects). I've used the headphone jack a few times, and I can report that it works well. I have used the preamped live line out (with effects in it) many times for performances through my band's PA (while using the amp as a personal guitar monitor). There are two input lines (high gain and low gain). I never use the low gain input because the sound is too muffled and dull for my taste. Perfect power for practicing in my living room. Fair use as a preamp for my band's PA. The stereo sound is quite full in chrous effect, but it get's lost in the line out to our PA. My reverb works just fine.

I use an American Standard Strat with HOT pickups. I play pop and blues. 90% of what I play involves a crisp, clean sound - and this amp delivers! The stereo sound is just a gimmick that makes the guitar sound fuller, and because I don't have stereo PA capacity, it means nothing to me in performance. The distortion is pretty good, especially for my use (occasionally rocked-up tunes). I never use the overdrive feature for performance (i.e., pull out the knob), because the style of music I play doesn't require that kind of smooth fuzz distortion. A guy that plays a lot of heavy metal stuff might not be satisfied with this amp because the distortion lacks that popular "crunch" sound. MY BIGGEST GRIPE: When I'm playing on the clean channel (and I like it crisp), and I set up the distortion channel for stand-by pedal operation like for a guitar solo, it dulls the clean channel just enough to bug me! My fellow band members can't hear it, but I can! Consequently, 90% of the time I play with all distortion channel knobs turned to ZERO to avoid the problem. Now that I think of it, while performing I never swithch between channels to avoid the problem. Before each song, I just choose which channel I'm going to be playing in. The channel switching pedal just sits in the back of the amp, never used (and to think that I paid extra for that accessory)!

I've never had one reliability problem with it in 6 years of playing. For me, playing music is just for fun with occasional performances. Still, I practice at least weekly. In all, I suppose I've logged hundreds of hours of play time on this little workhorse without any trouble. It has never crossed my mind to have a backup amp...

Never needed 'em.

I've been playing for 21 years. I've actually tried a few special effects pedals with the Backstage Chorus, but in the end I put them away because I love the amplifier's crisp, clean sound. For the money, it is a good amp. I'm presently in need of a new amp for my daughter's guitar, and I've considered giving her the Backstage Chorus 208, thus allowing me to go shopping for a new amp. Funny though, first place I go looking is to see if Peavey has corrected the problems on newer generations of the Backstage Chorus! I suppose that's a sign that I really like the product...
Pros: Great clean sounds (with a good guitar). Small, light weight, and easy to lug around. Great chorus and reverb effects. Dependable.
Cons: Distortion lacks popular "crunch" sound. Distortion channel standby muffles the clean channel.

Let me start off by saying I love this amp; 2 channels, chorus, reverb, and 3 button footswitch (not included, but I ask for one, and they were happy to give me one). This amp only has 25 watts but right now it's my only amp so it's what I play in a three peice alternative pop band and you can hear it over drums and bass fine. Granted for unmike shows even in small rooms I would want and need more volume. But as far as practice, and having people over to listen it does the job. This amp is so versitle, I set the clean real phat and crisp, the chorus really liquidy and sweet, and the dirty is Marshall quality. On Some songs I pull the saturarion@ knob out for the etra crunch. I bought this amp mainly to practice with but iv'e used it at church were it was miked, and now in this band. I'm very pleased with it. One thing though, if there is another guitar in the band this amp may be swalloed. (What do you expect it's 25 Watts)

As I said before I love the sounds this amp makes, great clean, chorus, and distortian. One negative i'm not sure if my reverb does not work well or what but even on 10 I can't tell if it's on or off. I have never noticed any "bad" noise or anything. I keep it cranked up way up and it souns just fine. (I have to crank it up it's only 25 watts.) As far as Pickups go, I play an American Standard Strat, I like the 2nd from the bottom the best, (so crisp) sometimes I switch to the 2nd from top, (really phat).

I can depend on this amp, had it more than a year been lugging back and forth from church, home, and band practice. Play almost every day, no troubles. Right now it stays in friend's garage, and we practice most every day. (Cranked Up)

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Right now I would not buy again only because I think it's time to join the tube club. But i'll probably keep this even after I get a tube, just to play around with and for backup. I have to say you can do alot with this amp. For the price/watts/soounds I don't think I could have selected a better amp to get started with.