Peavey Blazer 158

Well I'm sure all of you can look at the other posts and see the features but in a nutshell theres two channels, clean and distortion, and 3 knob EQ with a modern/vintage switch (practicly like those bight switches on old fenders). Wish it had a "line out". Hence it gets a "9". Only had it for a couple weeks but got it set up perfect. Impressing people already. Oh yeah sound goes to hell over 8. But what do you expect? It's 15 watts and its louder than the 30 watt fender my buddy has. Wish it had a "line out". That being said it gets a "9".

I use a Mex strat, I guess I could bore you with my life story of guitars and such but.... I don't ever use the clean channel, I leave it on the distorted channel with the distortion around 1 or 2 (off), and use a Danelectro Overdrive pedal. Took me a while to figure this out. Now that I have tinkered with it it works and sounds AWESOME! I love the reverb effect.

Doubt I could ever really gig with it. Do small little party gigs w/o a drummer I guess. Once I dropped it down the stares cause I got distracted and it took a nasty hit on the knobs! Looked at them and they turn and work fine. Just like new. No worries.

Never had a problem. Dont think I will but if I do I have a warranty.

Playing for a year now and have two guitars and another little amp. So this amp was a godsend. Still wish it had a line out. For a practice amp this is you ticket. If the reverb isn't worth the 30$ then get a Peavey Rage 158. Or better yet bring your guitar in to play on the amps in the store and pick out you an amp.

The new models w/ the red trim and Modern/Vintage toggle switches, reverb, etc.- all covered in other reviews. No line out, no effects loop.

I play rock in a covers/originals band using a Mesa Rectoverb 50 combo & 4x12 cab and Les Paul. However, that setup isn't very convenient for practicing in front of the TV, as I'm sure you can imagine.
Anyway, I went out looking for a cheap-ass small combo, so I could play some Jazz in my livingroom with my wife who plays piano, using my 1989 Washburn J-10. I tried the Fender Frontman, and found it to have a warmer & louder bass, but it was too sharp sounding and had crappy distortion. The cheapest Marshall's had cooler distortion, but no low end. The Peavy was right in between, with both channels sounding good. I like the way it sounds for a livingroom/bedroom amp. I also use it as a tool for working out guitar parts for the band. The reverb is about the "tin-canniest" sounding reverb of the bunch, because it's an unusually short reverb. The Frontman's was more lush with a longer tail, and the Marshall's was a tad mid-rangey. There is however, plenty of reverb to be dialed up on the Peavey- you just sound more like you're at the bottom of the can. The Clean channel sounds nice and round, if perhaps a bit plain, and the controls are effective. The Lead channel, depending on how you set the pre & post gains, can give you anything from very clean to metal type sounds. Maximum gain is still smooth & slightly compressed. I realize that distortion is a highly subjective thing, so I'll just sum it up by saying that it seems to cover everything from clean to blues to metal. Any expectations beyond that would point you to a more expensive amp. The amp also has a two-voicing switch for "Modern" & "Vintage", which yield subtle sonic differences. Modern gives a slightly scooped mid w/a bit more lows, and Vintage focuses a bit more toward the mids. You have to turn the amp up a little to hear the difference, but it's there. -Kinda cool and useful to me. This little box does enough for my needs. So for the price I paid, I think it's the best deal I could find in a small and cheap practice amp.

Seems tough, and also seems overly simple in costruction- there's really not much to the thing. The back cover does seem flimsy, but it isn't really needed anyway.

N/A

I payed $20. less than the common retail price because these were on sale. Either way, for the $119.99 average price, you get 10 loud watts, an 8" speaker-(not 6" like some others have), 2 channels with separate volumes and an overall master volume, reverb, two voicings, headphone jack, CD Input, & rugged construction. Excellent overall value. What the heck else could I ask for?

I have a Blazer 158, and It works just fine.
Dont raise the lvl over 8 or you'll sound like a mini dano amp.
I like the reverb.

Fender Fat Strat-
Custom Humbucker

It is a 15 watt amp. Not much for gigs.

It was ok.

Ive had it for 4 years. Great little 15 watt wonder.

This is a 99 or 2000 Peavey "Transtube" Blazer 158. It's a decent little solid state practice amp. It has two channels, a CD input, headphone jack, and one instrument input. There is shared three band EQ (bass, middle, treble). The clean channel has a volume control, the lead has pre-gain and post gain. I have used this as a practice amp at home, it is not loud enough for gigs or practices with all but the softest drummers. 8 inch Blue Marvel Peavey speaker. 15 watts.

I'm using a Godin SD (h/s/s, great blues and rock guitar) and a Boss OD-2 overdrive (great little blues and rock pedal). As you can tell from the previos sentance, my style is blues and rock with a little pop thrown in. The clean channel is pretty good, if a little sterile. The lead channel, though, is very noisy, especially with high gain, and the distortion is typical solid-state fuzzy. Since this is a solid state, the clean channel does not distort. EQ allows for a decent range of tones, from The distortion i guess can get brutal, but by that time it is very noisy. However, for the price this is a pretty good practice amp. As I am forming a band, I am upgrading this to a Fender Super 60 tube amp.

It's dependable. I wouldn't gig with it, it's just not loud enough.

I've never had to deal with them.

I have been playing seriously about half a year. In addition to the gear listed in the sound section, I also own a DOD FX-65 chorus pedal and an Aria Pro II accoustic guitar. If it were stolen or lost, I would still get the Fender Super 60 I am getting (though I would be pissed that I wouldn't be able to get some money off selling it). I like that it has a good clean sound, but since i got the Boss pedal I have never used the lead channel. As I bought this in a package with the godin, I didn't compare it. I wish it had a good lead channel. But I knew what I was getting: a small, low-wattage solid state practice amp.

Bought brand new yesterday (Nov 3, 01). Reverb sounds pretty good. Clean channel is a little dull but sounds, well, clean. Modern/Vintage switch seems useless. You can plug a second guitar into the CD input. Nothing too fancy but what can you expect for the money.

Distortion is noisy and sounds like shit at higher volumes. Also the thing just has way too much treble, so I generally turn the high switch to zero and turn the bass all the way up. Screw with all the knobs and you can get the thing to sound pretty awesome. Very very loud for 15 watts. Set it up on a table/stand about 10 inches from your face and you're ready to rock!

Seems to be really solid. Walls are very thick.

Nothing spectacular but very solid with great quality. Looks good too. Paid an extra $20 for this model because of the reverb switch, and I'd say it was worth it.

Pretty basic 3 band EQ, 2 channel. would have given it a 6 if not for the reverb, pre and post gain is a nice touch. mine is the old style, so I don't have the Vintage/modern switching

I play through a Ibanez RG 270 and a B.C. Rich Warlock (even though the Rich usually is used with my nicer stuff)the ibanez is basiclly a fat strat sound, and that works pretty well with this amp. the distortion could use more gain, but with pre at 10, and post at 5 with bass and treble on 6 and mid on 3, you come close to any sound(but not right on any) by useing the volume control for tone. I especially like the sound you get with those settings and the volume at just enough to make sound, it reminds me of a nice glassy marshall combo.

This thing is tough, when it was my only amp, I had to play bass through it for about 6 months, then later on, when I switched to guitar, I used a multi (Boss ME-30) with the output cranked to put it over my loud drummer at practice. even totally over driveing it beyond all safe parameters 3 times a week for about a year, the thing crapped out only a few weeks ago, but it still works! No repars neccessary! I just can't push it like I used to. Basicly, be nice to it and it'll last forever.

never delt with peavey, my bass player had used a peavy Bass with a missing part, he e-mailed them about it, and he had the part in two days, without any warrenty papers or anything.

I've been playing about 6 years now, but don't play through very good stuff because I am poor, If it were stolen I woulden't buy another because I don't need it any more with my 100 watt fender combo, and soon to be mine Marshall AVT (mmm...Half stack:yummy)woulden't gig with the peavy but it does what it was made for and a little bit more, wish it had more gain, but it's otherwise good.

2000 model Bought this amp for a specific purpose! I work as a boiler operator and it's kinda like flying an airplane moments of shear terror followed by HOURS & HOURS ov shear boredom, so I bought this to take to work to keep myself busy, Perfect size great sound plenty of features for my needs. At the store (Absolute Music in Fairborn Ohio) the Guitar MAN! Casey $ I A/B'd this with just about every small amp we could find and were floored at this thing even against stuff three times the price!!!

My main drag to work guitar is a USA Peavey Predator with a little customization, a set of fender custom shop '54 pick up's in a black pearloid pickguard w/stew mac parts. This set up really has a great sound very shimmery when you want very bluesy when you want and just about everything in between, for us old fart's anyway just what I wanted in a small package

This isn't a play it out amp but it get's hauled more places than any of my other amps, Mainly because of it's portability Had 0 prob's ever

havn,t had to deal with them ever and I've got way to much Peavey equipment none of it has ever given me a minuet's trouble!!!

I'm a hack and just play to entertain myself mostly, and annoy my co-workers & wife with to much stuff to maintain fresh strings on. Been hacking at it for over 25 yrs. It sounds great for me and has nothing else I need if I was recording or whatever a line out would be nice but for what it was designed for it's first rate. Yes it doesn't compare with my Trace Elliot C-50 tube monster or Roland Jazz chorus but it's versitility with different guitars is well beyond what it should be for it's price range

This amp was made around 99' so it's the old style blazer without the modern/vintage voicing switch (which doesn't really do anything I might add). It has the standard clean/lead channel switch with pre/post gain knobs for the lead channel, the usual three band eq and a dail for the reverb. It has a headphone jack and an input for a cd or tape player. The amp is solid state and the power cord is not grounded but it does have an isolation tranformer instead which apparently helps with noise reduction.
I bought this amp as a practice amp and it suits
my needs just fine it's really nice for blues/rock (led zeppelinish stuff) and it really doesn't matter that it's a low watt amp because this thing can get pretty loud. I'd give the amp a ten because most practice amps I've seen don't really have much for effects so the reverb is a nice touch on this one.

I'm using a fender standard double fat strat and the amp seems to complement the pickups nicely. It has a nice crisp clean channel but the disortion is a bit lacking (more like a buzz saw than a violin like tone) but the eq does a nice job of making the distortion either fat with a lot of bass or nice and tinny with a lot of treble. The clean channel remians fiarly clear at high volumes but it does break up a bit. The one thing I really like on this amp is the reverb which is equal in quality to most fender tube amps. The amp is very quiet at most volumes except really high on the lead channel. So the amp sounds pretty good but i'd recomend getting a good distortion pedal to make up for the mediocre lead channel.

Well I've had the amp long enough to make a well informed opinion (about 2 days) and it looks pretty stable to me. I doubt it will break down beacause it's a solid state. I would use it without a backup in a gig (a very small gig) since there's little chance of failure.

Never dealt with them but I've heard thier quite helpful. Good website.

I've been playing for around a year and a half and I pretty much play into the amp with just the guitar. If it was stolen I would replace it (if I could find the older style of this amp). When choosing this amp I played with the marshall amps and the little fenders ,but to be honest I liked this one better mostly because I only had $150 to spend but also becase I really liked the sweet reverb. So, if your looking for a decent practice amp at a low price this amp is a good chiocee

This is a brand new 15 watt amp, I bought it a month ago.
It has 2 channels, clean and lead. The clean channel is expecially nice for an amp this size, and in conjunction with an Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer pedal (which costs as much as the amp) this thing is a little overdrive machine. It has good overdrive alone as well, but you may find that you have to turn up the pre-gain. If you try it, set the gain controls to six and three.
The amp has a channel switch and a modern/vintage voicing switch, both of which are very durable and have useful effects. The modern/vintage switch is really nice, it lets you switch between Nirvana sound and KISS sound in two flips (flipping your guitar's pickup switch is the second one...). This amp has more than enough features for a practise amp, excluding a speaker out like the Fender Frontman 15R has. I used a Frontman for three months, and I hated it. This is a far better amp with any guitar, for the same price.
This amp has more than enough power. Set the pre gain to six, post gain to five, and people can hear you in the street. With your windows closed. It's solid state, and I won't claim that it sounds like a tube, but its features are very good for the price. Now for sound...

I am using it with an Ibanez SA160 (Similar to the GSA60 some guy listed as having below) and I find the two to be a very good combination. It is suitable for old school metal like Yngwie Malmsteen, newer rap-metal and stuff, and hard rock ranging from the Nirvana grunge style to the Orgy techno style. I haven't tested it with much else, other than chord songs, and the chords come out clearly through the clean channel or with light (pre-gain 4) overdrive. It is not noisy, nothing seems to be able to throw off it's circuits. There isn't even transistor fuzz like with the Marshall G15RCD or Frontman. With my Frontman I had to stick three layers of aluminum foil on both sides of the walls and back to make the sound bearable! The speaker is high quality, and very powerful. The speaker outmatches the amp, being higher quality than the rest of the combo by a lot. This thing makes a GREAT speaker cabinet, plugged into the headphone socket on a larger amp. The distortion absolutely blasts if you turn it up, past five on pre-gain, but is a little muddy below three. And now the coolest part...

IT IS INVINCIBLE. The sidewalls are like a half-inch thick. A half-inch of friggin' vinyl! Jesus! My friend has a Peavey Rage, same amp but without reverb, and he couldn't get a NAIL into the sides to hang his cable on! He eventually had to drill through the thing! You literally can't pierce it if you try, at least without a drill! On the topic of my particular amp, i've bashed it around and carried stuff inside of it and nothing's gone wrong yet. It isn't even dented!

Never dealt with them, and considering the above, probably never will.

Overall rating: More than good enough as a practise amp. It has all the obligatory features, good sound, and it's built like a tank. People on here rate it low simply because it is usually their first amp and they hate it compared to all the tube amps and stacks their friends have. The Fender Frontman is rated better than this, but I don't know why. Peavey produces quality goods with good sound at value prices... It's great. Match this with an Ibanez S Series guitar (S, SA, GSA, SC, etc...) and you've got your own little tone machine. I'm gonna take this opportunity to share a little trick... Use a combiner to send your guitar signal to two of these, with slightly different EQ and gain settings. Instant 30 watts. Sounds nice, too. Between giving me the opportunity to make music, not costing much, and sounding good, I practically love the thing. If you're looking for a higher wattage amp, try the Peavey Studio Pro. Wow!

its features are nice and simple i havent been playing that long so i dont want to be spending hours twisting knobs for a good sound. it has volume, lead pre&post, 3 band EQ, reverb, input, and a nice CD input jack to jam on with your favorite cd.

i play metal and some rock, it can easily handle black sabbath, and ozzy, but some slayer shit might be a little harder. but what do you expect a marshall stack??? it is good for a bedroom where you dont want to wake up your siblings. play with the settings to get a nicer tone and a more subtle overdrive, the reverb is nice to. i have a pro co. RAT destortion box and it does fine with it.

well its lasted a week in my house, my family can barely say that. it wieghs a ton for its size so if it falls on you your dead. theres not much frilly, wimpy, parts in it. and no tubes to blow up. so it is preaty durable. dont try it but it could probably stop a small bullet.

havent dealt with them but i hear there good i but this amp used and it looks brand new so i hope i dont have to use the customer service any time soon

for a practice amp and my first amp i bought it is good. if you complain that it doesnt sound like a marshall stack then maybe look at the fact that it is a small 15w amp. perfect for its job. true there are a lot better ones out there, but for the price, durabilaty, condition, and being my first amp its preatty good. would i get another one if it was stolen...no i would go find the guy and beat him senseless (thats a yes i would buy another one) wish i had a million dollars so i could get everything i want, but i think at this time i can scrounge up 10$ and be happy.