Peavey Blazer 158

This is a solid state amp made for bedroom practice or very small gigs with very small bands (trio?). It was made probably in the nineties, the design with the blue underlined chassis and aluminium stripes left and right. It is a versatile amp for the money. It is a two channel amp with reverb, preamp out, headphone out (switches speaker off) and delivers 15 Watt into an eight inch speaker (4 Ohm). I never use the pre out. I use the headphone jack but never with the distortion on. THe sound is so buzzy it saw your head off. I use it for practice. For the price it is good value for money.

The clean channel is quite good, a lot better than most other amps out there in the same price range. It starts to distort at 2 oClock (with humbuckers). The reverb sounds good if not cranked up too much. The distorion channel is ok but no favorite of mine. You can tailor different types of distortion as the eqs work in the right range. The clean channel is more dynamic. I use a Srat, an ES 335 copy and an Ibanez Sustainmonster SZ320, incredibly good guitar.
You can use that amp for jazz and rock practice. It will do the jopb. It will neither replace a studio nor a Full Marshall stack. It is just a rather noisefree clean amp with a really decent reverb and a distortion option. I give it a nine for the clean tone and the reverb.

I never had problems with this brand or amp. I would never gig without a backup. In some cases a cheap backup amp is better than noe.

They have a good website.

It is a great bang for the buck. The amp sound pretty good and is a good choice unless you really nedd to find some modelling amp or want to play with a rock band. This amp does not model. It just sounds good.

I figure mine was made in 2004 or 2005. All the features have been covered, so I just gotta put my two cents worth on this amp. What is is that people expect when they buy a 15 watt practice amp? From the reviews here, it would appear that people expect to spend 100 bucks on a 15 watt 8 inch speaker practice amp and expect it to sound like a Marshall JCM 900 or something. Jeez - it's a practice amp for Christ sake. Now with that said, I'll rate this for what it is supposed to be - a practice amp, nothing more, nothing less. For a little practice amp, it's quite versatile and does a good job with classic rock, blues and country. No - it won't do metal unless you have some pedals, but then again, most 15 watt solid state practice amps sound like crap with the gain turned all the way up and all the mids turned out. This amp is a good little practice amp and has more than enough power for your living room or bedroom. What more could ya ask for?

I play blues, blues rock, classic rock, country, hard rock, outlaw rock and southern rock and this amp handles all of that very well. The clean channel is pretty doggone good on this amp and it doesn't break up at higher volumes. The distortion isn't brutal - even on the modern settings, it is more of a crunch that does well with hard rock or southern rock but not for metal - which I don't need anyway. I've got two strats, one with h-s-s config and the other with 3 single coils, an SG with two humbuckers, two tele's one with two single coils and one with two humbuckers and a PRS Standard with two humbuckers and the amp sounds fine with all those guitars. Suits my music style just fine for a practice amp and it isn't noisy at all.

Seems built like a tank.

Never head to deal with Peavey's customer support and I use Peavey exclusively.

I've been playing about 40 years and I have the gear mentioned above plus a Peavey Valve King for gigs. I bought this amp for the bedroom to preserve the tubes on my Valve King. I'd get another one if it were lost or stolen. I've compared it to the Marshalls and Fenders in the same price range and this one won out. Best bang for the buck.

I got mine second hand, it was one of those old ones with the green stripe control panel, opposed to the new red stripe. Normal controls, 3 band EQ, 2 channels and a reverb, with headphone and output jacks, though i dont suggest you output this amp. The reverb and EQ suck, reverb makes no difference and makes a loud pop when you turn it on, the EQ doesnt make a difference either. I use it for small practices with my band and it can't keep up, it seems so quiet for a 15W, my friends 10W is even louder.

I'm running it through a Strat with 3 singles, play a lot of anything, metal especially, but also a bit of blues and clean stuff. The clean doesnt distort nor hums but still sounds bad. Sounds a bit funny, can't really explain it, sounds too fake and chords sound rounded, in a bad way. It seems to be very, very hummy, I run it through a Carvin Distortion and it hums sooo bad, It could be just my single coils, but im still not satisfied. The built-in distortion sucks, its very cloudy, you cant even tell what you are playing half the time. the channel switch and the volume are pretty much the only variables, either clean or distorted and volume, other switches dnt alter it drastically. This amp is probably best suite for metalheads, but at this point I don't suggest you use it for anything unless you want a cheap amp.

It is quite solid, would probably survive a hammer attack, but i don't know about 2 hammer attacks... It seems to buzz violently when I drop it however, I think something inside is going to snap soon, like if i dump it onto the ground with it switched on, it makes a shaky sound which I absolutely hate! I would not use it without a backup, but in this case, i wouldnt use it at all beacuse its not good enough.

N/A

Ive only had this and a Ashton 10W amp in my playing year, have noticed this amp is quite bad, though better than the Ashton. I thought it was good when I first bought it, but now after playing for a while longer, I know its junk. Id rather pay another $50 to get a marshall practice amp. Bottom line, It is not a good amp and I don't suggest you get it seeing as there are so many other amps out there. Oh and if someone stole it I wouldnt care.

i buy it new, for price and sound is a good choice.

im in two bands, a punk oll school and a blues progresive, this amp is versatile for that styles FOR PRACTICING and smalls jams. i mosttly use the clean channel, my overdrive come in the pedal, but sometimes i used the lead chanel for more punchy sound, the reverb is fine at 5.
yea is enough power for a little jam, or a small gig, really....., i dunno the previos opinions those guys expect to play in a coliseum with this?? please,
once a take to a gig (100 people) and thake the signal trough the PA, and works very fine.

i will think in add a effects loop will be go into a very fina small amp.

the eq is a little triky until u get ur set up, then works very fine, just going thru modern and vintage switch.

im on a fenders, got a strato 1990, duncan picks, and a fat strat 1993 american clasic picks. this trough a korg 100ax, and works so fine, especially in the dist sound, even better than a marshall 60w and a kustom 65w ive try.

the amps sounds works fine as a clean start to find a sound, u got to find ur sound first, imagine if u change to a fender frontman, a crate, a soldano, ur sound will be always changing, first find ur sound and then try to recreate that on an amp, if it can do it, is a good amp, no matter the style, soung, watage, etc.

never broke, it looks new, is very strong

never ask for some

ive benn playing 10 years, my sound is my two strato, and like changing the sound very often, but "my" sound is deep in my brain for years, so no matter the amp, i try to put it in that, and this practice amp work fine, is versatile, have crisp higs and deep bass, maybe more bass will be great, but it will give personalitty to the amp sound.

i like to ask to the people who say this amp is crap, etc,,, if they have been record in a studio some, and i as a studio musican can say this amp is enouhg, whit some effects and racks, u can get pro sound, believme.

if u want to play in a stadium will spent some 10 000 in amps, and a guitar of 3 000, and 6 000 in racks and effects so do the math.

so for 100 bucks, this amp sound pretty well, a medium pedal, and u can get some very decent sounds, and even jam live.

and most important--- the final sound is in ur brain and ur fingers, no matter ur equipment,,,,, so when u where ready to go into very pro stuff, ur fingers and brain (theory and thechnique)will be pro too.

i it were stolen i will try onother one, for sure.

I bought this amps in 2002. It has 2 channels, 1 clean, and 1 dirty one. There is one equalizer with bass/mid/treble. It has reverb, and you can select vintage or modern sound. It got cool feature for a little amp. Just a footswitch might have been great. I give a 8 for that kind of amp, I am not comparing it with a 100 watts head...

I'm using a fender fat strat. I use a boss overdrive/distortion OS-2, because the distortion is not really good. I play old hard rock, like Deep Purple, Led Zep, and some AC/DC, and the disto wasn't able to give me that. I got some difficulties with the reverb, well I can't use it anymore, well I never use it because it was already broke. The reverb, whan put on, starts to make a kinda feed back sound, and it kill your sound. If you are a beginner, the sound is good, but if you have been playing a little, maybe you won't like it

As I said, the reverb is doing feedback. And the equalizer (bass and mid) never work !!! Only the treble is doing something

I've been playing for only 2 years, I can say I'm a intermediare player. I change my blazer for a peavey for a marshall tsl 602. Yes it's 8 time the price but my good, we can't compare. If your begin it will make you a nice amp for one or two year. But if you want a little amp with a good disto, go look away

This is the lowest priced offering from Peavey that has reverb. The Rage is the next lower step and the Audition the lowest priced. Two channel that can be selected by switch only. Clean has volume only and dirty has pre and post gain knobs. Low, mid and high knobs and reverb knob. Vintage and Modern switch and Instrument, CD and Headphone inputs. Single 8 inch speaker with 15 watt rating on amp. For an amp in this price range it is well designed and I would not expect more features or power. Quality of cabinet and electronics are as good or better than others in this price range. The only change I would have made would be a closed back cabinet.

I have to believe from other reviewers that they think they should expect boutique sounds and do world tours with this thing. This thing was made for bedroom jamming or at the most low volume practice with friends. For the price it sounds way better than alot of the "practice amps" out there. I play on the neck pickup on my Strat ot the bridge hotrail on my Tele with the tone knob rolled down a bit on the guitars to get the best sounds. This thing smoke the old Peavey Audition I had in the 80's. That was noise! I keep the dust cover on my $1000 amp because this thing sounds sweet at low house jam volumes and is plain fun to play through. I expect the low ratings are because the average age of buyers at this price point are lower and some think if it can't make them sound like Hendrix it's crap. Metal players may pass on this model but for everything else it can do the trick. I rarely use the clean channel. Playing with the pre/post and your guitars volume/tone will get some great tones. Been playing 20+ years. This amp does it's job well. Is it perfect sounding? No. But for the price it does the job well with mellow jazz or nice blues rock crunch. I guarantee I shop harder than most for my equipment. A best buy for the price! I rate on bang for buck, not it doesn't sound like my friends Mesa. Duh....

Peavey builds good stuff. Working man's gear at a fair price. The cabinet is built tough and everything nicely finished. I take care of my stuff unlike some here that seem to enjoy trying to trash theirs so mommy can buy them something else.

Never needed it though others seem pleased with their service and website.

I looked at practice Marshalls, Fenders and the others. The sound and construction quality seemed better in the Peavey. I may swap out the speaker like one reviewer mentioned and see what happens. I know I got my monies worth and will enjoy many hours of practice and small house jams with this amp. You can pick these thing up on eBay for half the retail price. Mine was in like new condition. Thanks HC for the great site!

Bought this in 2001 from Sound Control in Edinburgh for #99. I've been playing for a few years so I'm an intermediate level guitarist I spose and I like to play various Rock (AC/DC, Ash, Darkness, Radiohead, Manics, White Stripes etc.) and some more mellow acoustic stuff too. You know the score with the channels/controls etc. They do the job at a basic level. Powerwise its fine, I only use it for playing at home.

I use it with an Ibanez RG320, which I bought purely for the features and the value for money, I'm not a metal fan in any way. Maybe the guitar is partly to blame for this, but the clean channel sounds crap, and varies each time I use it. Sometimes it decides to vary half way through a song. On overdrive it is unbelievably noisy, like the guitar is an aerial and the amp is some cruddy radio that just makes a static fuzz. Variety wise, it can give a heavy fuzz which has no real quality to it - if you strum a chord its just a mass of fuzz, and when you play a chord progression it sounds terrible. It sounds better with basic power chords but still not great. It sounds mildly better at volume to a point but then it becomes far too noisy again. Basicly, this was my second amp after a Fender Squire strat pack amp which was horrendous, so at first I thought it sounded ok. Now I know what I want it to sound like it lets me down in every way. Its a cheap amp granted, but it should be a lot cheaper. Save up some more and get a marshall AVT, which is what I intend to do.

Again, a let down. Shortly after buying it it started doing this weird thing where the volume would just increase of its own accord to a shrill shreak and then the amp would just sort of 'pop' while it corrected itself. Its never actually broken but it doesn't have any consistency at times and it annoys the hell out of me.

I took it back to the shop and the idiot behind the counter kept it for a day and tested i but found nothing wrong. It never went back to Peavy, which I should perhaps have demanded, but I don't really care any more.

if it broke I'd chuck it out and not feel a thing, if it was stolen I'd cry laughing at the thought that someone had taken the effort to steal such a piece of crap.

I'm using the older version of the Blazer (think it's a 1996), the one sans all the red lining and the vintage/modern switch. Two channel (clean/dirty) w/volume control for clean and pre/post settings for dirty. EQ with bass/mid/treble and reverb. Line out and headphone jack. Carry handle on top. Fairly solid body and construction with factory 8" speaker.

A footswitch for the dual channels would of been good, but I never use the dirty channel anyway. For a practise amp, it's well-kitted enough to get by on and has everything the basic user should need. One should note it's a practise amp after all, designed to be used in low-level personal use. A lot of people seem to have bought this with gigging in mind and whilst I'm sure you could play to a small venue of 30 people at the local pub in a room the size of a garage, you'd never want to gig with it.

The clean channel is the superior of the two and the EQ controls are reasonably responsive if tweaked right. The feature I like the most is probably the reverb, it sounds quite authentic. This is one of the first 'Transtube' Peavey amps. I haven't noted the 'Transtube' technology making it sound more like a tube amp until recently when the clean channel started doing weird stuff as I mention in the Sound catergory.

There are definitely nice practise amps out there, but this one is pretty good for the price I paid. If it had some effects, even just a chorus and tremelo built it, I would of rated it far higher. I think the modern version of the Blazer looks a little tackier, but has a nice adition in the vintage/modern selector. I like the fact it's 15w as well - I've compared it to a couple of 10w and 12w practise amps of similar make and age and this amp sounds a lot better.

I use this amp with two guitars, my pride and joy, a '95 Epiphone G-400 SG replica with dual Alcino humbuckers and my backup, a 2003 20th Anniversary Squire Bullet Strat with three single coils. My setup usually goes like this:

G-400/Bullet > Boss DS-1 Distortion > Boss BD-2 Blues Driver > Ibanez SC-10 Stereo Chorus > Danelectro DJ-1 Pastrami Overdrive > Danelectro DJ-11 Pedal Tuner > Peavey Blazer 158.

I play rhythm guitar/fills and do vocals in an 5-piece indie-rock band with three guitars. For what I use it for, the Blazer works okay. It sounds good with the BD-2 for subtle overdrive and SC-10 for a variety of chorus effects. The DS-1 played over the BD-2 sounds great, just give the sound a bit of extra bite. I use the Pastrami when I want to get a really fuzzy sound.

These effects all work very well on the Clean channel, which actually sounds very nice on its own, especially on humbuckers. I virtually never use the Dirty channel on this amp because it quite simply sucks. Sounds hollow, cold and lacking - the only time it ever sounds any good is with single coils i.e my Squire Bullet. I get a much crisper, warmer sound from my effects, though this amp has a 'lukewarm' sound overall in terms of tonal colouring.

The Reverb is the best of all the features. It's solid sounding with a definite punch. It works best set between 3 and 5 - any less and you can't hear it, any more and it muffles the sound. I think it'd sound great with a delay. The EQ section is most effective when set on no mids and bass/low and treble/high a little over halfway. The mids just haze the sound to much.

The downfall of this amp is its volume level - it hits after 7 and starts to sound like crap - all volume, no sound and a horrible thumping noise. I've found it's actually pretty effective at 6 with the guitar volume/s on full and the level knobs on my effects cranked up a little. However, it's still only got a very limited sound and I've tried it with single coils and humbucker, the latter sounding better but the single coils proving better on the Dirty channel.

The most interesting thing I've found is the Blazer has a quite nice low natural distortion on the Clean channel with no effects at around 9 on the volume and the EQ set flat (all on 5). It's not tube, but it's pretty close, though it can be a bitch to replicate and and I don't like pushing the volume above 7 generally unless the guitar is down really low.

However, my bandmate uses a 10w Park amp with far less features and no reverb on his Squire Telecaster and it tears my Blazer to shreds. The only effect he has is a Danelectro Fab-Tone distortion and he can get some brilliant powerful distortion like you'd not beleive. The volume on that Park is amazing as well. I got this amp because I wanted to sound closer to the other guitarists, who use the afformetioned Park and a tidy Kustom 12 Tube preamp, which again slashes me to ribbons. The Blazer manages to hold its own, but I have my plethora of effects to thank for that.

The biggest downfall is the lack of volume and crap distortion on this amp, but the EQ and Reverb quality do balance it out. A 10" speaker over an 8" would of probably sorted all the problems.

The one thing the Blazer has proven time and time again is that it is a solid little unit. I've transported this thing around in the back of my car and those of my bandmates where it's been thumped about and generally roughed up. There is not a mark on it and the speaker seems pretty intact for its estimated age. I think the last owner may of been quite careful with it as it was well presented when I bought it.

The wood used for the costruction is solid as granite. I tested it by poking a pin into it and the pin actually broke! It's strong enough to balance my weight on it for as well, though I'm one of those tall, lanky types so I can't weigh much =D The speaker cloth is pretty thin though, but the switches are well attached and hard to get off. The washers on the speaker jacks are particularly tight.

I would gig without a backup, but only if I was playing at a party or small bar. This amp could not handle a crowd of more than 30 people I wager. It's never broken down, but I believe that I am quickly wearing the speaker out and will probably sell it and upgrade within the next six months, possibly to a small tube amp or solid state with amp modelling like the Roland Cube 30.

Got it second hand, never spoken to Peavey or even looked at their website. All information I have got on this amp has been from Harmony Central.

I've been playing the guitar for about six or seven years on and off, but only seriously in the last eighteen months. The band I'm currently in only gets together to jam once a week and although we haven't gigged, it could grow more likely next year. The Blazer suits my needs for now, but it is starting to show its limitations more increasingly.

Whilst it's been very reliable, it has proven itself to be very lacking in the variety department. I can only get a limited range of sounds out of it even with effects pedals and they often require a bit of adjusting.

If it was stolen, I'd probably not buy another one - the newer models are about $300 and for a hundred or so more, I can get a 30-50w solid state with built in effects, footswitch and possibly amp modelling.

Overall, this product is best purchased second hand and used for the first six months to a year of guitar playing or if you like a clean sounding amp for quiet practise. This particular amp gets a 7 because it's done everything I bought it for.

Bought and made in 2002. I play mostly punk and oi...bought this amp to practise around the house. Two channels, clean and dirty. An effects loop'd definitely improve the overall rating of this amp. Standard 15 watt solid state features. Nothing on here to create any unique tones. Enough power? Well, for a practise amp, sure.

With the reverb on the speaker farts annoyingly upon turning it on. Haha. Yeah, not much versatility in the EQ...you can't tell a scoop from a smiley. With a bunch of effects you can make this thing sound alright. Umm, lets see, what else. When cranked, the clean channel distors minorly. The distortion is ok. Nothing special and yet it doesn't completely suck. Good for beginners.

Yes! In the year I've had it, this amp's taken alot of abuse. Crazy feedback, accidental dropping, etc. It sounds the same as the day I bought it.I tip my hat, Peavey.

Haven't dealt with them. Don't need to, this things a bloody tank.

Very good to start with. It's relatively cheap, and blows the doors off the Fender Squire. Haha. Wow, I even gigged with this once. Basement show in front of 30 or so people. It sucked, but still, for a practise amp, it'll suit any beginner just fine.

This amp is a basic solid state practice combo amp. It's average so I'll give it a seven.

The distortion is actually alright on this thing, just don't turn the treble above 5 on the amp. If you do it kinda craps out these real nasal sounds. It also depends on what type of guitar your using. for a while I was using a strat with it, it was alright, but not like running a strat through a nicer amp like a Jtm or Matchless. It's more of a metal type tone. When I had my Ibanez Destoryer[the old one] it sounded pretty good. Kind of a low end growl. but the thin cabinet really makes the speaker suck. Personally I don't like peavey speakers, they sound like garbage, this one was no different. It put to much Highs in the signal. In my experience the sound was about average for a practice amp

I actually gigged with this amp once. It performed as well as it could. I never had an electronics problem with my amp, but I have done service on the older Peavey blazers.

never needed it.

Decent practice amp, but I traded it in with my destroyer for My line 6 Flextone III obviously that amp is superior. but for what it is this amp isn't bad. I much prefer my Vox pathfinder to this though.