Peavey Blazer 158

Well, I needed a practice amp for my dorm, and this is what I ended up buying. It's one of the new transtube blazers with the red trim. 15 watts, with an 8 inch speaker. There is a clean volume, pre and post gain for the dirty channel. The EQ and reverb is shared by both channels. A new addition from the old blazers is a Vintage/modern EQ switch which changes the sound and effect of the EQ knobs. It's not gonna turn this baby into a Classic 30 or a 5150, but It was a good idea for a practice amp. That being said, there's nothing too special on this amp, but what do you expect for on a practice amp?

(Keep in mind the fact that this is a practice amp) I was most impressed by the shimmer of the clean sound, and the distortion channel was versatile enough. I can get very rough distortion easily, but I was really happy when it tried to smooth it up a bit and get a nice overdrive. For a small solid state amp, the blazer delivered some useable sound in that light overdrive area that solid states are notorious for not being able to pull off. It gets a little noisy sometimes when it's loud (quite loud for 15 watts), but it might just be the flourescent lighting in my dorm. It covers a nice range of sounds for all kinds of music very well.

Never yet had a problem with peavey gear, and I don't think I ever will.

They have taken really good care of me in the past, hooking me up with literature for out of production amps and such. A great bunch of people.

I paid way too much for this thing, but I really wanted it then and there. I like it better than my roomates Crate GX-15R (basically the same amp), although if you're more of a heavy player the Crate might be the better amp. I love that it's small, it's great for my dorm. I'd get another one if stolen, but try to pay less for it.

I've played for the better part of six years and use a Carvin DC135 (with duncans) through a Peavey Classic 30. Althougn I have a lot of cool effects, I've been running straight to my amp lately. I've owned lots of amps before this and I expect I'll probably get a few afterwards, so I think I can compare with a fair degree of knowledge.

yeah, don't know. it doesn't work. It's broken. I use it as a second speaker cabinet for my Dean Markley K-20, so I only use the CD-input.

Sound very good, gives that fat bass I can't get out of my Dean Marley

I have never heard it working, but maybe it has ever.

don't know.

A friend of my brother bought it in the US, I live in the Netherlands so it's very difficult to contact the store where he bought it.I tried to fix it, but it still doesn't work. I don't mind. Like this it sounds very good. So for a broken Amp my rating's high.

I bought this amp in mars 2000, fresh from the store. Features (?) are as others have described: two channels (clean + not so clean), a 3-spring reverb, CD input, headphone jack & a 3-band equaliser. While not a tech-phreakes dream, it covers my basic needs so far.

I use it for what it was surly designed: a small basic amp for home use. As such it amplifies both my Epiphone ?Joe Pass? and my Seagull with a LR Baggs (do I really need an amp at home for the Seagull? No, but it is fun at times?.). I use the clean channel only, mostly for jazz & bossa.

The sound is ? after a few adjustments I had to do ? quite ok. I paid less than US$ 100 for it, and I don?t expect a BMW for that price (not that a BMW would sound better..)
Compared to a first class valve amp, the sound rating would be 2, compared to its price, I give it an 8.

Depend on it my friends: I would not depend on it for other purposes than what it was made. While reasonable sturdy, it is not meant for heavy duty, so don?t use it for that purpose!

It has not broken down, but some tightening of screws has been necessary at times. Worse is that I already have had to clean the potentiometers due to oxidation. This may be why some reviews are so critical when it comes to the sound. Better potentiometers don?t cost that much more.

I have done the necessary work myself. The amplifier is easy to access & service.

I have played for many many (to many?) years. The two guitars I mentioned above are my only electrical, otherwise I play classical guitar. If this amp was stolen it is possible that I would buy another, but there are a lot of them out there, and I?m sure it is possible to find others with about the same or better quality.

This is not a Fender Cyber Twin or a $2000 Crate and it don?t pretend to be. It is however a sub$100 basic amplifier with enough output to make your shack vibrate with a decent quality of the sound. If that is what you want and need ? buy it. Knowing the circumstances, my rating gets high!

Hey, this is my first and only amp (I'm getting a rare kick-ass 50w all tube Seymour Duncan). This baby got it's job done. I just need a small amp to play in my room, since I didn't know if I would stick with guitar. 3 band eq, crappy distortion, and an ok reverb are about all the features on this amp, but what do you expect for a 15w practice amp?

I'm using an Ibanez GSA60 (excellent for metal)my first and only guitar, but I like it and won't replace for a while. So anyway back to the amp. This baby is pretty noisy likes to hum a lot very noticable with an overdrive/distortion hooked up. I'm surprised at the clean sound on this amp it's pretty good. How brutal is the distortion? Well it sounds very muffled and crappy. If you get this amp a distortion/overdrive pedal is neccesary. I'd recommend The Visual Sound JH-1 it sounds pretty good on this amp.

Well the bitch hasn't broken down yet, it hasn't left my house still sounds the same has the first day I got it

I've been playing the geetar for 6 months now. Well i've i'm passed the practice amp stage and looking for an all tube in a higher wattage. This amp does it's job. Hell, you don't wanna blow $400 bucks if you aren't gonna continue with guitar. I don't regret purchacing this. I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

The features are ok for a small amp, 2 channels, 3 band eq, reverb, etc. It doesn't have a footswitch, but doesn't need one, its a simple 15 watt amp. I use it for bedroom practice, its plenty powerfull for that; but if you try to use it in a band, it will sound really bad at higher volumes.

I use an ibanez RG270 with a semour duncan JB pickup in the bridge, ran through a ProCo RAT 2 (good) distortion. The distortion on this amp is absolutely god-awful, no matter what you do with the eq. It sounds all muffled and crappy. I understand this is a cheap non-tube amp, but there are MUCH better sounding solid state practice amps competing against this one. The clean channel is OK. But since i mainly play distorted, i absolutely have to use distortion pedals, which help, but the amp still holds your stompboxes back from sounding as good as they could. Poor tone overall.

Its very reliable.

never talked to them.

I can't say that I'm happy with this amp. I wish i had gotten something else for the same price. Like everything, this amp will sound better or worse depending on your guitar and effects, but most people who play on an amp either are just beginning and don't have good sounding equipment to begin with, or use it as a secondary/tertiary amp and won't be able to stand how bad it sounds.

I recommend you seriously consider a different amp, but if you have to buy this, make sure you have some good pedals.

It has 2 channels, 3 band equalizer, reverb. It is very small and lightweight, making it nice and portable

I've played an Ibenez RG570 through it and it sounded pretty good. The distortion was pretty good, and the clean channel was pretty clear. There is a very slight hum even when nothing is connected to it. For a 15W compact lightweight solid state amp it is a great value.

No problems so far.

I really don't think you can beat this amp in this price range. It's nice and small, light and has a pretty good feature set. The sound quality is very good for a sub $100 15W amp.

I bought this amp on a whim in the winter of 1999. This is a great practice amp. It is lightweight and has enough space to carry stuff (pedals, chords, a tuner, etc.) in the back of the cabinet. You get 2 channels with this amp; a clean and a Lead. Both of these channels share the same EQ, which consists of a hi,mid,low. There is also a CD input, headphone Jack, and a Reverb.
I use this amp everywhere. It can keep up with a Peavey Bandit 65 at normal (non ear ringing) levels, but it sounds bad next to any tube amp. The reverb is decent, but there is no footswitch. I chose this over other amps in the store because it had the most features for the price and I was in a hurry.*-*

I played all kinds of guitars thru this amp (not all mine), they include: G&L Legacy Special Strat, Gibson Les Paul Studio, Fender Roadhouse Strat, and numerous cheapies.
The distorted channel is adequate, but not blistering, good for blues, hard rock, and some metal.
The Clean channel is awesome! It isn't super loud, but it rules for apt. life, and it is way better than the bandit 65. I use it the most, and I usually like distortion. It has a lt of headroom, and it is a good clean sound.
The reverb is great. I am not as much as a reverb freak as I used to be, but as far as reverbs go it gets the job done.
I realize that a lot of people think this amp sucks, but I look at it this way. You should get a good sound out of whatever you play, if you are expecting your amp to define most of your sound then you are focusing on the wrong thing. Ultimately, you will sound like you no matter what you play through.
The bottom line is that the clean channel is awesome and the lead channel sound good enough. It does best at higher volumes when the Pre is between 4 and 7 (in other words, don't overdrive it too much.)
My rating is based on the best part of the amp, which is the clean channel.

It makes a loud pop when I turn it on, but otherwise I have never had a problem with it.

N/A - Never neede it.

A great portable practice amp!!!!
Decent price, features, great clean sound.
If you use an EQ pedal you can get almost anything you want.
This is not a Tube amp so it does not sound like one, but if you are practicing by yourself, or jamming at reasonable volumes with your solid state buddies, this amp will do fine.*-*

For a portable practice amp, it has enough features to get a pretty good clean channel, and the distortion isn't half bad for a solid state. There are seven knobs, and they are (in order): Volume Control (Clean), Pre-Lead and Post-Lead (Gain control), 3-Band EQ (Bass, Mid, Treb), and a Reverb knob. There are also two inputs, very rare for an amp in this price range, one for guitar and the other for CD/Aux input (Clean only). There is also a headphone jack for quiet practicing.

I have played a Fender Strat and a Peavey Predator Plus on this amp and both sound pretty good. The amp does a good job of being distinct from neck-pickup playing (playing near the neck) and bridge playing. Tone is great, and you'll have a hard time finding a better distorted palm mute sound in a practice amp. The best setting for good metal distortion, is Pre-Lead at 9, Post-Lead at about 2 or 3, Bass and Treble 100%, and no mid at all. For a good-toned overdrive, turn the Pre down to 7 or 8 and turn the mid up to about 2 or 3. As far as clean, it's a little muddy without much definition, but it IS a Peavey. It also starts to break up at about 70% volume, but for a 15W amp, once again, 70% is actually REALLY loud on this amp. When in my room, I normally play clean no higher than 5. In summation of sound features this amp is, hands-down, the best distortion amp under $150, but the clean is a little behind in ratings.

I have kicked this thing around, dropped it off tables, and my bed, actually had it roll down the stairs once, and it still plays like the day I bought it (that's a good thing). Of course it's not a gig amp unless you're playing for little Johnny's 7th birthday party, but you'll find it suits your needs just perfectly when you're playing for yourself or a few other people. I give it a 9 only cuz it's not a "gigger".

I have never had to deal with customer support because both my Peavey Predator Plus Guitar and this Blazer amp have never had any problems whatsoever. Because of this, I think it's only fair that I don't rate them either good or bad.

I have been playing guitar for about a 15 months, and I picked up my first electric along with this amp about 6 months ago. I've been looking for reviews on good amps here at Harmony Central, and I thought I should drop a line about the Blazer in appreciation for all the good reviews other people are leaving. I think I have decided on the Marshall TSL122 2x12 combo amp, but that is obviously a step above the peavey (about $1700 new). The funny thing is, though, I won't be selling off the Blazer anytime soon. It's just a great little amp to truck around to your friend's house, or to just jam too without worrying about waking up the entire neighborhood. If someone ripped it off, they'd be getting an awesome entry-level amp, let's just put it that way. If you can't decide which amp to get your son to match his first guitar, or you're having trouble choosing a good practice amp with good sound that's easy to tote around, then, my friend, your troubles are over. The Blazer 158 is, in my experience with practice amps, one of the best.

All the usual stuff, plus 3-band EQ, reverb, CD-in for practice. Pretty complete feature-set for an amp in this price range.

The TransTube setup sounds a lot better (and fatter) than a regular solid state amp in this price range.

I dropped mine off the bed, kicked it into the street, ran over it with my truck, shot it full of holes and threw it in the pond next to my house. It still works.

Peavey support rocks.

You people crack me up: "I've been playing for three weeks, and this amp sucks! I would never play a live gig with this amp! It doesn't sound NEARLY as good as my buddy's Marshall stack! This amp blows!"

C'mon, people - it's an inexpensive little PRACTICE AMP! For the money you pay and for what it's intended to do, this amp is awesome. If you wanna squawk about the reverb, the gain, the EQ, or the font used in the Peavey logo - GET A LIFE. My main amp is a Peavey Classic 50 2/12, and it's great. It also weighs 4,712.6 pounds and is bulky. If I'm playing live, I use the Classic 50. If I'm playing in the front room of my house, or over at some idiot-friend's house (Jerry Fuselier - who can't tell the difference in what sounds good or bad anyway), I take the Blazer.

For the money and its intended purpose, this amp "goes to eleven".

I hate it. It's too tinty of a sound. It's only 15 watts and not enough power.

This was my first amp. The sound is too tinty.

I can depend on it because it's solid state. It has never broken down.

I wouldn't recomend it to anybody