Peavey Butcher

120 watt head (4 6L6 power tubes, 3 12AX7 preamp tubes). Not extremely versatile, but loud. very, very loud. I used this amp in my apartment for a while, but really don't think I will be playing any arenas any time soon, so I dismantled it. very, very loud, though.

I was playing an Ibanez Gambale through it for a while, but I gave that to a friend, and went back to an American Standard Strat with Seymore Duncan Full Shred neck and bridge pickups. I was also using a Mesa V-Twin preamp pedal through it, but kinda got bored with that. The amp produced a lot of noise. No matter what you did, that thing didn't just hum, it screamed. It hadn't been taken care of by it's previous owner (who gave it to me for free), but it was as solidly built as any Peavey. I always got a lot of microphonics from the power tubes, but that is a common problem in older amps where the power tubes are mounted on circuit boards. The damn thing was temperamental, too. Some days, it would not cooperate, no matter what you did. But in general, it sounded like garbage. It was loud as hell, but they seemed to sacrifice tone for volume.

The only problem I had here was that for some strange reason, I went through a lot of driver tubes. But I was using Sovtek 12AX7's, so it might have just been crappy tubes. I haven't had much luck with Sovtek tubes. Otherwise, I think the amp would have survived a nuclear attack.

I am an amp tech in a music store, and I talk to customer support at Peavey at least three times a week. I never have any trouble with them, and they can even help troubleshoot right over the phone.

I have been playing for 13 years now, and have had a lot of amps. I wasn't a big fan of the Butcher, but it was given to me by a guy in Tulsa, so I couldn't beat the price. Still, I dismantled it so I could have a chassis for my own amp design. If all you want is a really, really loud amp, get an Ampeg SVT. But, if you can't afford that, go for the Butcher.

Early 80's amp, not too versatile but well suited to play rock & roll, and heavy metal, I think is one of the best sounding amps I've ever had ( I owned boogies, Marshall jcm800, Marshall JCM900.... )

I used this amp (in fact I own 2 heads and 4 cabs) with my 72 stratocaster, a Gibson Lespaul Goldtop 83 and a Jackson custom shop,
and the sound is great at high levels (no kidding!!!)

I gigged the last year with these amps and night after night they were
like the first day!

no support for it!!!! Peavey

I'm telling you, these back heavy boxes are very cool! Peavy should take a look at this amp and make a reissue!

HEAD: 100 watt all tube Marshall clone. Although I haven't had the back of the head off, the tubes appear to be 12ax7's and el34's (ie, Marshall configuration). Pre and post gain; three band equalization; presence control. Low and high gain channels, but no channel switching. You must unplug from one and replug into the other. No reverb or effects loop. CABINET: Slanted 412 Marshall clone with 70w Celestions. CONCLUSION: The amp is bone-head simple. I have to assume that Peavey sold this in an attempt to tap into some "traditional" British amp market niche. Despite it's lack of modern features, I give the amp a reasonable rating here because if a buyer had wanted an old Marshall alternative, the features are entirely reasonable. I did mark off though for lack of reverb and channel switching. It's aggravating to have two usable channels with distinct sounds, but not be able to switch during a song.

VOLUME: I've never owned a comparable half-stack amp, so I can't compare volume on an even playing field. But it's at least twice as loud as my 100w Fender Twin. DISTORTION: There are no surprises when you turn either gain knob up. Distortion comes on smoothly and progressively. It remains smooth at way too loud volumes--there doesn't seem to be a breakup point like on my Fender Twin. I primarily play a custom mahogany bodied Strat with a humbucker bridge and single coil neck. With the pregain on 3-4, I can get a very realistic James Gang sound. With the pregain maxed out, and the presence and high equalization turned down, the sound is a dead ringer for ZZ Top's "Tush." Max distortion is pretty cool for heavy chording, but it's too sensative to string movement for my lead playing. Perhaps a better lead player could make better use of it. For my purposes, keeping the pregain in the 3-5 range can yield bluesy to classic rock tones, depending on how I set my guitar controls. EQUALIZATION: There's good and bad here. The good is that the high's really sing. The presence control is extremely sensative. The amp screams so well in the high registers, that I never turn the presence up past 6. It's really amazing, that I can have the high equalization turned down pretty low while playing some bluesy riff. But if I hit high bent note, the amp just sings, as if there were some kind of high frequency boost. It's really a pleasure. But on the bad side, the amp has a totally wimply bass response. The bass control doesn't do much. I keep in on 10 at all times. In fact, I bought the amp for a lot less than was being asked for it, because I was convinced the control didn't work at all. I've since convinced myself that it just a wimpy circuit.

I've owned it for 4 months now, and played it nearly every night. So far, no problems.

I've never dealt with Peavey. But I've owned three of their amps, and have never needed to deal with them. The amp is so simple, that if it ever breaks, I'm sure that any number of repairmen could fix it quickly.

As I said, I got it considerably cheaper than what was asked for because I convinced the owner that the bass control was dead (I honestly thought that, BTW!) The amp looks new, without a mark on it. I would pay the same for it again, but I still wouldn't pay the $500 that was being asked for it. I've been waiting these 4 months for someone to post something on the Butcher in this database, but no one has. My own local Peavey dealer doesn't know anything about the amp. I think it was probably made in the late 80's to early 90's. The 5150 is obviously a much more versatile rock and roll amp. I suspect this model was a real loser marketwise for Peavey, probably due to it's limited functions. But I've definitely enjoyed playing it. Overall, for what I perceive the amp was designed to do, I give it a 7.