Peavey Rage 158

This is such a hard review to write... I'm a teacher and I own three of these exact same amps, though they were made in different years and are different styles. The two I use for teaching are the two latest makes. I got one last December (2004) and the other is probably a late nineties model that I've been using for teaching for years. The oldest one doesn't work at all, it got left out in the Alberta winter cold. Versatile amps, I can get lots of sounds out of them, which is great considering I end up teaching different things from day to day. Clean and dirty channels, headphone jack. A line out for recording would be great. Lots of power for what I use it for. Adequate features for the money.

Every half hour a different guitar gets plugged into these guys. I only use my Godin G Series. Sometimes teaching I think they're noisy, but it's always because of a ground problem with a guitar a student is using. Sometimes the distortion is pretty noisy and full off little clicking and popping noises which are only really noticable if you try to record through them, especially microphone recording, like with my SM57. I definately don't recommend this amp for recording. The eq is good, I can get a lot of different sounds out of these things. I've never been able to distort the clean channel, and the distortion itself is great. Again, for the money, it does pretty much what it should.

I put these amps through at least five hours of solid playing everyday. Sometimes I do travel with the older model (probably a late nineties) and it's never given me any grief. The closest to maintenence I've done on either is taking the speakers out and cleaning them with a can of compressed air, just to remove a slight buzz that was noticable. I've done part time travelling lessons for the last few years, hauling my Godin and the nineties Peavey 158 around, and again, no grief.

I've been playing for fifteen years, and teaching for four. I loved the nineties Rage I was using so much I got another one December 2004, and now they're all I use in my teaching studio, with the exception of my bass amp, a Peavey Mark III. Along with the Peavey 5150 4x12 Stack I just sold my brother, I'm pretty much a Peavey promoter... I'm going to approach them for sponsorship money ;)
I'd definately buy more of these if anything did ever happen to them. As above, a line out would make this thing a lot more complete. I've tried tons of little amps, this one is just a basic model with no effects, but I'm not really a lover of built in effects anyways. For the money, this amp is a solid investment that sounds really good that has, for me, more than proven itself. Just don't use it for recording!

I speak Spanish so high chances of bad spelling here.
Peavey Rage 158 Transtube Series amp. Bought it almost 2 years now. New. The high price I paid for this awful box is because I?m in a #$$$ country where musical stores doesn?t import decent amps and likes to rip off musicians.

Solid State, 15W RMS.
One channel, clean/dirty switch. One input, clean volume, pre gain, post gain, cd input (I will prefer a line out instead of this), modern/vintage switch, Bass, Middle, Treble, headphones input. Black Marvel 8? speaker.
No reverb, line out, fx-loop, 2 channels w/ footswitch and speaker out on this. One point deducted for the lack of each of this features. I know most people don?t care about this features, but I do because unlike them I do know how, why and for what use are these for.

Clean sound is dull, flat, boring (the EQ is useless). Gain sounds like a u$5 overdrive pedal. Although the modern/vintage switch does work and changes the sound a little (that?s the ?Transtube? feature). However, I?m using it with a Zoom505II which allow me to make this amp sound decently. 5 points added because of the Zoom.

No problems so far. But I use it only in my bedroom, never gigged with it (or intend to) even in my dreams. Volume never past 4, it?s not a valve amp so there is no need to push the volume higher.

See above.

I play from ?90s heavy rock (Satch, Vai, Malmsteen, Friedman styles) to standard jazz and blues.

I've been playing for 10 years. Have owned many amps: Fender Super 60 (great amp), Fender M-80, Crate GX 80, Peavey Bandit, Marshall 30 something, Marshall JCM 900 and many others. Have owned many guitars too: Ibanez Roadstar II, Ibanez RG350, Ibanez RG570, Washburn CS780, Washburn N4 (incredible guitar), etc.

I? am currently using this amp for home practice. A line out would be nice for home recording. I?m using the Zoom for that.

For a 15 watt practice amp there are a lot better choices on the market (at list in the USA).
If stolen I?ll be sorry because I can?t get back some money from selling it.
I will look for a Laney LC15R if I could find one in my #$$%% country. The Laney is all valve, has all the features the Peavey don?t (except the 2 channels and footswitch) but it sounds 1000 times better (I tried the LC15 model). I know the Laney it?s more expensive, hey, is a tube amp, but you can have a great sounding practice amp and even dare to use it on small gigs through a PA system or for recording at home. If the Laney is too expensive for you, try the VOX15 Cambridge. The Marshall AVT20 seems a good choice also, especially since the AVT line out is DI (speaker emulated). BUT its waaaaay overpriced.

I rate accordingly. I paid $10 for this amp, PLUS got a Zoom 505II and a braided cable thrown in. For the money, therefore, is how I'm rating. Get a $1,000 amp if that is what you are looking for feature and sound-wise.

The eq switch for 'vintage' and 'modern' is handy, and a nice feature on such an inexpensive amp. The CD-in input is nice too.

Again, for the money, the amp rocks! It's not going to get you much satisfaction at a gig, but then again why would you play out with a 15w with an 8" speaker? The sound is a bit sterile, but with some tweaking it sounds great for a practice amp. I run a dynacomp in front of this, and it takes on a whole new vibe. Recorded with a mic, this thing sounds pretty cool too (not to be used all of the time, but for an occasional 'different' kind of sound it works great).

Never have had to do anything with it.

I've been playing for 25 years, and have Mesa, Marshall, Fender, Roland and Silvertone amps. It's none of the above, but then again I can take this anywhere in an instant (like for my guitar students) and it sounds great for what it's used for.

Unsure of the year. It's a newer one with the block Peavey logo and as appoosed to the traditonal logo they have used in years past. It's a snall practice amm and nothing more. One clean and one overdrive channel. Pre and post gain knobs, knobs for low, mid and high. A headphone jack for late night practice. A bare bones practice amp. I picked one up on eBay, like new for $25 including shipping! It gets a 10 because it's best in class compared to the other amps at this price when comparing sound and construction quality.

You have to rate it for what it is. Anyone that compares Mesa, Marshall or other similiar amps to this a idiot. Did you want glowing tubes, 300 watts and a Celestion for $100? It's for practice or jamming at someone's house. Not stadium tours or the local bar. Looks like a practice amp and sounds like a practice amp. Peavey has sold so many of these because they do the job better than other amp makers. You should of bought a $100 guitar and a $500 amp if you were worried about good sound. I compare to other amps in the same price range.. not some frickin stack. I get good tones on a strat and tele. The tone and volume on the guitar is as important as the amps to get good sounds.

I take care of my stuff. Peavey stays around because they build good stuff at a fair price. More bang for the buck than most others.

I buy used. I am customer support.

Needed a drag anywhere back saver. Owned Peavey stuff in the past and for the price these sell used I am quite pleased. I have a Blazer also which is the same thing with reverb. They both get a workout and do the job they were made for

Early 80's manufacture, I'd guess. Headphone jack and a preamp-out, and definitely solid state. Extremely loud for a tiny little peice like this, I never take it above 3. It's served me well for years as a home amp and a booster for recording direct-to-4-track stuff with a synth or guitar. Definetely a great beginner's amp, but obviously not suited for anything more than sitting at home.

The distortion is crunchy and really sounds like Minor Threat, if I were to compare it to any band's sound. Clean sound is definetely crisp, basically adds nothing (which can be a good thing, really), but it can really pull out the tone in the sound.

I bought it broken for $20, had it repaired for $20, and have never had a problem since. And I haven't exactly treated it very well.

Never had to deal with the company.

If it were stolen or lost, I probably wouldn't replace it. It's still a great amp for beginners, and that's what it was intended for. I bought it because it was cheap and I was just starting out, and I haven't yet been disappointed by that purchase.

Unsure about which year, you may check at peavey's homepage or something. It has 2 channels, Clean and Lead. It has in addition 2 mode settings, Modern or Vintage, to form the sound. It has a 3-band EQ, pre- and post gain for the Lead channel, Cd input, Headphone jack.
It is a transtube amp from peavey, it means that it is designed to sound like a tube amp in a way.. (A little unsure)

It has the minimum of features that you would expect from a guitar amp today, but its ok.

I use it with my Epiphone Les Paul, with a double set of open coil humbuckers. I think it produces a great sound on the clean channel. The distortion is not that good, but for a beginner or just to practise a bit its ok. I use an Boss Ds-1 pedal with the clean channel and i just love the crunchy, good sounding distortion it gives. The Clean channel is very good, but when you turn it up on max volume it tends to be a little distorted.

The distortion as I mentioned is not the best, its only just ok. Its not clear at all, and it sounds a bit bad, not great to use when you play metal, rock etc.

On the lead its a bit noisy, but very little on the clean channel. Anyway, it doesn't bother me with a bit noise, its just charming

But overall, the Clean channel brings this amp up.

I surely can depend on it, but it is a bit small for a bigger gig (15 w), but i would surely bring it around to play some local "concerts" for a small amount of people, in smaller rooms.

It has never broken down for me! And its damn solid, just as every peavey.

Have not needed to contact them, but i'm sure they are nice folks.

I have been playing for a year with electric guitars.
I would surely bought it again, if I were to choose between 15 w amps.

This was my first amp...10 years ago. I just found it while at my parents' home for Christmas, visiting with my wife, and brought it back home for low-volume practice.

See eveyone else's review for features. Let me just say, though...this thing can be loud for 15w solid-state. Wish it had reverb, but the 'verb would likely have sucked anyway.

I own two other amps, a Roland JC-120, and a Badcat Black Cat Reverb 1x12". I play at home a lot, and either amp has too much volume for quiet practice.

Been playing 10 years, all styles from Pumpkins to Santana to BB King to the Eagles to indutrial to country to jazz. Everything. I use a Gibson Blueshawk and a Gibson Nighthawk (2-pu version), as well as an Ovation CS257 quilt-top, through a Digitech RP-20 preamp/processor and into the amp.

The clean sound is dead and terrible. I have to use a tube clean setting on the RP-20 to get a decent clean sound. Could this be fixed by putting in a $70 Celestion 8" speaker? Probably, but why bother?

The distortion is actually not bad, though! Two knobs, SUPERSAT and POST, that both have to be at least on 1 in order for there to be any sound, so you need to mix them to get your sound (a versatile design).

The SUPERSAT knob is basically a fuzz-type gain, and it can actually be pretty smooth and thick, but you'll never find a tube sound in it. Noisy as hell, though. The POST is like a BOSS Overdrive pedal, maybe a little more steril. I actually do use the distortion on the amp some, as its easier to make on-the-fly adjustments than it is on the processor. Good compression, too.

All said, except for the worthless clean, this amp actually has a pretty good distortion tone, and as much volume as you'll ever need unless you are in a band.

For what it is, a 7. On an all-inclusive scale, price irrelevant, a 2.

In 2 years of ky beating it up in high scool, and my dad using it for 8 more years, its never failed once. SHows no more wear today than it did when I bought it used 10 years ago (I was at least the 3rd owner even then).

If you're a pro and use a processor to get your tone for home practice, or a kid getting started, it's a great little kick-around amp. And a great value for $80!!!

If you're looking for a natural tube tone or acoustic practice amp, its lacking, but then you'll need to spend 3-10 times as much anyway for a small amp that can do those well.

My friend owed me some $ for studio time. He gave me part of the money and later when I asked him about his little practice amp, he offered it to me and I went for it. So I have nothing in it unless you count services / studio.

I've been just playing with it here in the control room, I'm kinda tickled with it. It really isn't a bad little amp at all.

It's a 15 watt sold state combo amp with 2 channels, clean and lead. The clean Channel has a single volume knob, the lead channel has "pre gain" [preamp volume] and "post gain" [power amp, or 'master' volume]. The tone stack is thus: Low, Mid, High. There's a Vintage/Modern switch, which is basically a high boost {'vintage') and low boost ('modern'). Oh, and there's a CD input and a headphone jack. The headphone jack automatically disengages the speaker when phones are plugged into it. I doubt I'll ever use the CD player input, but I'm sure somebody somewhere is using theirs.

I have a strat with a humbucker at the bridge, a couple of Les Pauls and a Squier SuperSonic that I'm rather fond of.

I've been recording little bytes of this thing on my system, and it sounds a lot bigger than it is. It has a lot of ass for just having a single 8" speaking in a tiny opan back combo.

Mainly, I wanted to comment that I'm really kind of stonished at how good this little amp sounds. The clean sound is very palatable. I remember back in the 80s I had a couple of solid state marshall amps, and the clean channels were useless, horrible sounding. It sounded better to just plu into your stereo. Not so with this guy. It's decent. The high gain sounds are the funnest though, it has that old school hot rodded sound, punchy bottom end, and more highs than you'll need.

I wouldn't use this amp on a gig. Well, maybe a super quiet gig. But I would definitely record with it. I bet this amp will last a long time....

I give this amp an 8. It's a tough little unit, a mouse that roars. For such a small, cheap thing (I think they're retailing pretty low), it's impressive, and potentially useful.

This amp was made in 2003
I play mostly blues and some classic rock, this amp allows me to practice both without complaint.
15w- 8" speaker. Clean and Lead channels with modern and vintage voicings, CD/Tape Input & a Headphone jack, all you need to practice at home.
I use this to practice in my living room, it is well suited for that use.

I have a Hamer SFX-2 and an Epiphone LP Std Plus, both work well with this amp during practice.
The only pedal I use is a DigiTech Bad Monkey to get a taste of Texas Blues.
The amp is quiet as a mouse when sitting idol.
I only use the Clean channel when practicing, if I need something more, I hook up the Monkey.
I don't use the Distortion on this amp and I don't play it with the Volume set above 4.

I don't know what it would take to kill this thing, I give it a 10.

Never had to deal with them.

I've been playing off and on for more years that I care to think about, played piano & keyboards before switching over to guitar.
If it was lost or stolen, I'd be ticked, and then go buy another one.
This amp is well suited for practice at home,a friends, or your hotel room, but nothing bigger. The only thing I'd change is the speaker, it could use a 10" instead of 8".

The most important thing to remember about this amp is that it a "Practice" amp and isn't meant to be anything else. If you need to practice with a band or even a friend who plays loud, you need to look at another amp.
If you only need something simple, that lets you get in your daily/weekly practice, then take a look at this. For the price, it will get the job done and leave you enough cash to get a decent Guitar.

2 canales (limpio/saturado)
Modo "Modern" y "Vintage" para el canal saturado
Volumen de canales independientes
Ecualizacion compartida a 3 bandas
Salida de auriculares, entrada de CD
(Se hecha de menos la reverb, pero ya esta el modelo Blazer para ello)

Para ampli de casa cumple perfectamente mis necesidades (excepto por la carencia de reverb)

Toco mayormente rock y metal (utilizo una ibanez tipo RG con Dimarzio PafPro - Blue Velvet - ToneZone). Realmente el ampli tiene suficiente ganacia para tocar de blues a metal, otra cosa es la calidad de sonido que saca...
El canal limpio tiene cierto pase; pero lo que es el canal saturado es verdaderamente lamentable: suena granulado y con poca deficion, terriblemente frio (en los tonos mas altos tengo la sensacion de estar matando gatos)

Solo he oido sonar mas o menos bien este ampli una vez le pongo una pedalera de efectos delante (merito de la pedalera, obviamente ??)
No le pongo un 2 porque lo reservaria para otros especimenes como el MG10 de Marshall (otro que tal) y un 1 no se lo merece porque realmente si puede emitir un sonido claro y definido (aunque mas bien eso dependera nuestras manos)

Unicamente lo tengo para practicar en casa. Seria horrible depender de el en un directo.
Debo decir que en 5 a?os no he tenido casi ningun problema hasta hace poco: el ampli tiene mas volumen del que su cono (su altavoz) puede soportar. Haciendo el tonto (poniendolo a algo mas de la mitad de volumen durante bastante tiempo) ha dejado de sonar "todo lo bien que sonaba"; si, ahora aun suena un poco mas a chicharra (increible).

La construccion parece muy estable y duradera (debieron preveer las patadas que iba a recibir)
Le pongo un 4 por la cantidad excesiva de volumen que permite sacar. Por lo demas bien.

No he tenido que tratar con el proveedor.

Llevo unos cinco a?os tocando la electrica.
Elegi este ampli porque no tenia ni idea de amplis cuando lo compre (era el tipico pack de guitarra + ampli + correa + puas + afinador + estampitas de la virgen etc...)
Por si no ha quedado claro: no recomiendo para nada este amplificador.
Dentro del rango de precio hay opciones mucho mejores que esta, desde luego (apa?ados estariamos)
Lo puedo dejar en la puerta de casa sin temor a que me lo quiten (no lo volveria a comprar, de hecho estoy mirando ya otros amplificadores transistorizados para tocar en casa).