Peavey Heritage VTX

My amp was made in 85 and I have owned it since 92. I play mostly blues and classic rock in clubs in Kansas City. I have owned many amps thru the years and I have to say that this one is the best for me by far. Power wise, I don't think that I've ever played a combo amp that has the volume that this rig does, you really have to crank it before it will naturaly start to get a nasty tone. The phase unit is good, and easy to operate. No effects loop is a bummer.

I play telecasters, stratocasters, and Les Pauls and I love the tone I get with all my guitars. One thing about it is that when you get to the club, or wherever your going to play, you will want to adjust the amp. I will normally turn it on and let the thing heat up, and then roll the bass to zero, then turn up to stage volume with my guitar full up on volume, then roll the bass back up to where I like it for the room. I've never had trouble with buzz or noise out of mine, the ground switch works well, sometimes I will turn on somewhere and have a little buzz, and I just reach around and flip it and it always fixes the problem. I use a boss ME-30 unit for a little gain and chorus. The distortion is great for blues and classic rock, probably not a first choise for a death metal dude though.

Some prick broke into my place about a year ago and knocked it off its stand. It messed up the place where the foot switch hooks to the back of the amp, witch is not a very good set up really anyway. The little connector pins are not durable at all on the footswich connection and suck for constant use and are prone to get messed up when you haul this amp, so I just eliminated it and wired it up straight, and it works alot better for me. Mine amp has Scorpion Loud Speakers in it and they sound fine. They have field replacable baskets and are available at mose peavey dealers. I play out 3 or 4 times a week and I have never had any trouble. Just keep up with it and don't abuse it and it should work forever.

I have called for parts twice for this amp and some other equipment I own and Peavey was always very helpful. The guy even spoke english. The online download manual is a really cool thing most companys don't do.

As a blues player I get these guys who want to be Stevie Ray telling me about there old Fender amps and stuff. I own a Twin and a Vibroking and I keep going back to the Peavey. Its really heavy but outside of that is a great amp. For a working blues player who is not obsessed with nameplates on my gear, I love this amp

Mine was made in 1986, I think. I bought it only six months ago and I like a whole lot. The only problem is, if you don't have a Top Notch guitar, you will be stuck with a few sounds. I have a Fender Strat with EMG pick-ups; that set-up allows me to get so many different sounds out of them. I can play blues, jazz, punk, soft rock, and even stuff that is supposed to be acoustic.
First time I plugged it in, I had no idea what the volume was at, but I broke my windows, it was so loud yet crisp.

I already mentioned that above.

No problems since I got it... haven't used it at gigs yet; I use a Marshall head connected with PA systems within my stage.

This thing is not bad at all.... First off it's all about pounding metal! It has two drives that can be bleed into each other. Tube and solid state. It has an equilizer for each channel with an insane amount of reverb and a built in phaser.

I use...A fender Jag-stang with an invader in the bridge. This fucking amp can scream.... 'nuff said.

The only problem i had was that i used it too loud and it rattled the connection cables off the speakers, but that's too minor to real bitch about cause it only occured that one time.

I've been playing long enough to know that the majority of music (the reason i started) now sucks....All i need is a compressor, 12 band equilizer and 40 naked chicks and I will have an army strong enough to break the walls at MTV, then we could blow the whole place up.

I bought the Heritage mainly for the tube power section. It contains four 6L6s valves with a solid state preamp. I plug either a Peavey ProFex or a Digitec (with two 12AX7 valves) into the Power Amp section. There is a factory input in the back of the unit just for this purpose. The preamp input completely bypasses Heritage integrated preamp. Because the pre is bypassed, the 15+ nobs on the front of the unit are totally circumvented. You can turn these nobs to any level or effect with absolutely no impact on the sound. I play a wide variety of music from blues to hard rock utilizing both a Guild S-300AD with vintage Dimarzio pickups and a Fender Strat with traditional single coils. Since the poweramp was the only feature on this unit I wanted, it works perfectly for the purpose for which I bought it. It has good outputs for plugging into sound reiforcement (important if you do church work). The only reason I give this less than a ten is because it is not in stereo.

I have practiced with my band a number of times without using my rack preamp equipment. The preamp works OK but sounds somewhat limp. If I didn't use a rack preamp, I would give the Heritage a 7 (it does have a nice built-in phase unit that quills some of the limp solid state sounds). But utilizing just the power section, this thing can sound very sweet. Why Peavey put such a limp preamp together with a versatile power amp is beyond me. The Heritage uses two rebuildable 2/12 Scorpions that provide a tight clean sound. I've never had to rebuild these speakers. I plug two 2/12 Ceslestions into the aux. output to get that wonderful tube gurgle (you can probably get this same sound using a power-brake to load the tubes). My ProFex is used for most of my clean sounds because of the wide range of effects. This thing is very crisp when down low and will maintain its clean sound all the way to the point where it begins to hurt the ears. Since I like a tube distortion, I use the 12AX7 Digitec for most of my rock. If you are looking for a simple inexpensive tube power amp and have rack effects you like, the Heritage will not let you down. I would rate it higher than an 8 if I hadn't played ohter high-end amps that I like better (but probably like them more for their preamp sections than their power amp sections).

This thing never stops, never pops, never crackles- it just 'motors on.'

The only time I contacted customer service was to get a manual. I got it, they were nice enough so I have no complaints.

I'd give this amp a 7 if I had to use the preamp (it has lots of nice nobs). Since I do not use the preamp and this thing does what I would like it to do, I'd go for 8.5. Since there is no 8.5 rating available and it fits my purposes, the 9 works.

Im not sure what year the amp is...they made these in the early 80s from what I understand. Very versatile amp.

This amp gets just about any sound you want. I play in a small cellar band...and I find the 130 watts is just a little too much for a basement. We play older rock 60s-70s, and to get a nasty distorted sound...I have to turn it up...4-5, with makes it just too loud.

The way this Heritage is built is really good. Ive had no problems with it at all....and Ive owned it for almost 18 yrs now. Its a wonderfully built amp, Ive banged it around some and it just keeps on working. If your band was moving stuff around all the time, this thing would definitely hold up.

I have emailed and regular mailed Peavey Co. a number of times...I also have a Peavey T-60 guitar, and they have always responed with whatever it was I requested. They are very professional and seem to really take an interest in what your looking for, or any information that you need.

Ive been playing for 20 yrs. I find the Peavey Heritage a great amp, with the exception that it is very heavy (about 95 lbs. I would recommend this amp to any player, especially a younger "kick ass" player for the simple reason it really has "balls"..its very loud.

This is the second peavey I have owned, and frankly, I am dissapointed with it. It has plenty of knobs to mess with, the best of which are the Saturation, and the pull bright/thick on the EQ. This thing did have an awesome flanger and reverb built in, but the type of music I play did not use them at all, so they went to waste. Has 2 12" speakers, and it is a hybrid combo, meaning tubes and transistors. It also has the two active channels, so you can mix your clean and "distortion" channels together.

I played through an Ibanez RX series, and through my buddy's Les Paul, the Ibanez has really hot pick-ups and made that amp squeal like a pig. I mostly play punk and metal, and this amp almost never delivered any high gain distortion. On occasion after messing with it for about two hours or so, I would find something that sounded descent, but once you change the settings, you lose it forever. This would make a good jazz, or blues amp, but if you are looking for a good distortion, go with the transtube. The only good thing I can honestly say about this amp is that it is loud as hell. I had my neighbors 1.2 miles away calling the cops on me. I guess the only way you could get good distortion through this puppy is through a Boss Metal Zone.

Hey, it's Peavey, these things never break. They are built like tanks. I actually tried to blow it or fry a speaker or something once, but it is impossible. If you buy one that works, it will work until the day you die.

Never had to deal with them, and if I did, it would be because I purposely killed the amp with a crow-bar or something.

I bought this amp just because of the wattage rating, big mistake. In my opinion, stick with transtube. I am currently playing on a Fender Stage 112SE, and a Crate GX212, either of which I would pick over this thing any day. If it was stolen, I'd laugh at whomever stole it, then buy him a back brace (this sucker is heavy as hell) to help him get it to wherever he was taking it.

Bought the amp new in 1981. It is a hybrid solid state front end with a tube power section. It has the standard Peavey features of that period, two channels- clean and dirty. The effects loop has never been very useful for me, mainly because I use pedal effects. I think it would work better with rack mounted stuff, due to the signal levels of pedals vs. rack. My model has Black Widow speakers and it makes an already heavy amp really heavy pushing 95 pounds. It has 130 watts with a low power switch which I find of limited use. In fact I can't tell the difference except at extremely high volume levels (usually outside gigs). I play in a four piece - two guitar bass drum country/classic rock band. The amp has a phaser that some people have liked and it is OK if you need a phaser, but it doesn't rival something like a EH Small Stone going into the front end. Still it is rather handy to have.

I mainly use a 1982 Fender Strat that I bought new. I have modded it to death, but it's a good guitar so the mods have only improved it. It has the David Gilmour EMG set-up, large frets, Sperzel locking keys, and recently I've gone to a blocked trem. The Heritage is a versatile amplifier. My other amp is an original 1965 Fender Twin. No, the Heritage doesn't have the thick Fender reverb, but strangely enough, I still prefer the Heritage due to it's versatility. The Heritage is quieter and due to the self adjusting bias feature of the amp and the fact that it runs the tubes cooler when idling, the amp is very good on tubes. In fact, I've only retubed it once in 17 years, and that was only out of boredom, the original tubes still sounded good. I went to Sovtek 5881's, which sounded a tad warmer. I have also replaced the Black Widow replaceable speaker baskets when the speakers developed a rattle in them. This was not from playing, I think it was because the amp stayed in our band's trailer for a while, and probably got hot in the summer sun. The amp has a very loud clean sound. The clean channel only starts to break up around 5, which is LOUD. The "sweet spot" for the clean channel is between 2.5 and 4 ( with post gain at 10). For lower volume levels, the post gain can be backed down to allow the pre gain to be in the 2 to 4 range. Less than 2 really thins out the sound. I use a TS-9 Tubescreamer modded to TS-808 by Analog Mike, mainly on the clean channel. The dirty channel is useable, though not the best in the world, I have a setting that sounds decent, and when I really need a high gain sound, I combine the Tubescreamer with the dirty channel.

I have gigged with this amp for 17 years and it has never failed me. My repairman has done minor stuff over the years, but there's not much go wrong. The tubes last, the speakers are rated at 300 watts apiece, so it is an extremely reliable amp.

I've not dealt with Peavey directly on the amp, but the Peavey dealer who is also my repairman has been excellent.

I've been playing for 28 years. As mentioned earlier, I have a 65 Fender black face Twin which I would never part with, and also have use of an original black face Fender Vibrolux which belongs to my partner in my band. The Vibrolux has been on an extended loan at my house for the last 3-4 years, and I practice some with it, but it isn't loud enough for most of our gigs. Since we don't have a sound man, in most cases we don't mike our amps, we just get a good loud vocal sound, a little kick drum in the system and let the amps blow! The Heritage has played in every conceivable situation, from tiny private parties where you have to be really low, to outdoor street dances where its been pushed over 5 on the clean channel. For years I have looked for a new amp that was lighter in weight due to a bad back and equal in features. I have not been able to find one that was that much better unless I paid a lot more money. I don't do music for a living and I have a good income, but buying expensive amps, etc is not in the budget. If you come across a Heritage, if it's as good as mine has been, it will be a good one. I give it an "8" because I know there are better sounding amps out there, but I just don't have the bucks to put into them. My Heritage is still my main amp.

See above for features. Two inputs, btw. Tube power amp with a Transistorized preamp. I like it. It has 10 times more power than I will ever need (130 w), and will accept an extension cabs if I ever get crazy and need more. It works really well when people have competitions in the dorms as to who's stereo plays the loudest rap music. They don't hold those any more :-)

I use an Alvarez Ac/El, and an Ibanez EX series. It really works with both guitars. I figured I would need a new guitar when I ran out of sounds with my old one....It was the amp, though. This amp is so cool. I can play blues now, and stuff other than clean/100% nasty distortion. The concept is mind boggling. It is very easy to get a good light tube distortion out of this thing.

Never broke. Original 20 year old tubes, at that. We've moved it everywhere, too.

Manuals online is a nice touch. Try getting an online manual for a Marshall....
Other than that, i have not dealt with Peavey.

Playing for over a year, and I don't think I will ever replace this thing.

Bought NEW in 1984. This amp can do anything you'd ever want an amp to do. Has 2 channels, with footswitch control for ch1/ch2/mix. Has "line out", effects loop, speaker output. channel 1 has 6 pots,
channel 2 has 8 (I think). great reverb and phase are downstream and affect both channels. The phase shifter can be fixed anywhere in the phase spectrum by pulling out the sweep speed knob. This makes it easy to dial in hard to get sounds like Tom Sholz (Boston) or Mark Knopfler (Dire Straights). Its nice to have it pre-set and just step on a pedal..its like having a 3rd channel..works great for gigging.
The amp is incredibly loud for 130 watts. I would recommend going to Peavy's website and downloading the user manual for more details.

I've played in rock bands since 1978, doing bar gigs, anything from crystal clear balads to shred. I bought this as my first "real" amp..money was no object. I looked at marshalls and boogies and labs...and...just about everything there was...Finally talked to a guy at Rhythm City (Atlanta GA) who told me "38 Special" had just ordered 8 of them, but were only taking 6. I called my brother who also plays and we bought both of the remaining 2.
This amp for its sheer ability to provide any level of distortion, and variance of tone, and to hold the sound quality over the total volume range, is just incredible. I've played with alot of others, who are really suprised by the tone I get.

This has been my "gig" amp for 15 yrs.
Had the output completely stop one nite before a big gig....i played the gig with a little 8 inch peavey amp mic'd to the board...sounded fine. Ended up just being a connector had vibrated loose. Thats been it....everything else, hardware, naugahyde cover, knobs, tubes, footswitch, grill cloth, speakers....all doing great!~

when it stopped working at the last minute before a gig..(see above)..I called Peavy and had a schematic in 2 days. A Technician was very helpful...but when the symptoms are....the red light comes on and there is NO sound..and the tubes arent glowing.....it leaves ALOT of possible failure modes. Have talked to Peavy about some borken effects pedals...and I think their customer support is just great! I imagine if the amp ever really broke down to where transistors were shorting...and all.....well it IS 15 yrs old...

When i bought this amp...my goal was to buy THE amp for me...and I was still kinda embarassed when i bought it....alot of buddies had bought Peavy "classic"s or "duece"s and Peavy was still kind of a poor mans first amp, in my circle of musicians. I actually took the "Peavey" logo off the front...(I kept it though...should put it back on since this amp as more than earned its keep) If I ever had to buy another amp...I' sure my first look will be at Peavy's

This amp is pretty versatile. One channel has a 4 band EQ with a pullout "high" knob for a fatter sound; the second channel has a 3 band EQ with the mid being parametric. Both channels have a pullout on the pre gain control for a bright sound. The spring reverb is good quality, and the phaser is excellent.
I don't have a footswitch (I'm getting ready to order one), which means I can mix the channels. It has a preamp out/amp in pair which also allows effects loops. The low-gain input jack still allows overdrive with hot pickups, and the high-gain input guarantees it.
The two twelve inch Skorpio[tm] speakers sound great. The saturation knob on channel one has a nice tube overdrive sound at fairly low settings, and theh hi/lo output power switch works great at limiting the power. I could still fry my eardrums in the living room with the lo power setting, tho.
It also has a ground lift switch, which I've never had to use. There's also an additional speaker output jack.
The amp uses 4 6L6 type tubes. I think mine are original; this amp is probably between 10 and 20 years old. I bought it used, and it's gotten moderate use.
I wouldn't mind a compressor (I miss my Lab L5 8^), but overall I'm very happy with this amp! I use every control on the front panel. Mostly I play at home. Even outdorrs, it's great. I've played it in a 300 person room, and it did fine.

I play all sorts of rock, from metal to light, from classical to alternative. Occasionally I do some blues, jazz or country; the amp works for all of them.
My main guitar is a Hagstrom Kent with two DiMarzio SDS-1 pickups. Other than not having a middle pickup, it sounds pretty much like a hotrodded Strat. My son's BC Rich Strat-alike with a humbucker bridge sounds really good through it as well.
The amp is a tad noisy sometimes, but I'm certain the tubes need replacing, so that's understandable. The only other complaint I have is that at very low volumes it's always distorted. But I'm talking about levels quiet enough that a baby could go to sleep in the next room, and most people probably don't play that quietly very often.
When it's set for a clean sound, it stays clean even when played loud. When you overdrive it, the distortion is a great tube amp sound.

I bought it used for $200 used from a friend who paid about that at a pawn shop for it, so I don't know the history. But it's been carted around a moderate amount, clobbered, dropped a couple of inches, knocked over, and suffered no ill effects. I trust it.

I haven't dealt with Peavey directly yet, but their web site is prety good. I got a free PDF copy of the manual there, and I'm ordering the schematic. We have a couple of authorized repair centers in the area, and the one I deal with has an excellent relationship with Peavey.

I played for several years, stopped for about 12 or 13, and have been playing for a year or so recently. I've been around other musicians the whole time, so I'm familiar with the equipment. I also run sound at church on a Mackie mixer, with a variety of amps, 1/3 octave EQs and speakers. I have a Hagstrom 1 (Kent) guitar with completely new electronics.
I would definitely consider another Peavey like this. Ideally I'd like to play one side by side with a Lab L5, and pick between them. In the price range, I haven't found anything I like better.
Yeah, it's a bit heavy - but I haven't seen a good 100+ watt amp with two 12s and a reverb that was lightweight. Anyone who thinks this is bad should play an equivalent, old Univox!