Peavey Special 130

ok,it's a 1986 peavey special 130..2 channels,which can be footswitched in and out of,reverb is footswitchable as well....it has an effects pre that i never use,for fear it would destroy the processor i use.
i would like to find a way to re eq the distortion on the dirty side,i could use a graphic eq,but it's still really really fuzzy sounding.
the clean however,is a thing of beauty...
the amp has quite a few controls which you can use to really fine tune the sound...i set it up this way,and then just run a processor onto the front of it(pod XT live)and it sounds HUMONGOUS.

i can't believe it's a solid state amp,it's so warm,and lush...

it also has the original black widow speaker in it,as well....

i use it with an es-335,a strat,a tele,and a 12 string acoustic,and it makes all of them sound wonderful.
i will not turn it up past 4..even on stage,or in a studio...to do so would be ridiculous...it almost made my 4X12 pop from the sheer volume it can make,it's almost like spinal tap,it's so silly.

the clean stays clean,probably even at 10..tho i'd likely be a few buildings over if i did that.

well,the fuzz isn't really to my taste...so i don't use it too much.it will nail the skynerd sound utterly,especially with a tele.

it's over 20 years old,all i had to do to it was clean the pots,and make sure the ground works...i also had to armor-all the crap out of it,there was sooo much dust on it.it looks almost brand new...

i'm sure it will survive the next 6 ice ages because it's a peavey..the stuff they build,simply LASTS.

they sent me a manual within 24 hours..i highly recommend anyone else has one of these,get the manual...it really helps understand what is going on with the controls.

playing for over 20 years now(i'm 38) playing pro for 14 of them...

i would try to find another of them,they seem like a rare bird tho...

get a good distortion,a delay,chorus,maybe an eq...and you're set.
well,the distortion on the amp is a highly subjective thing,i guess...some like it,some don't.i'd rather use an old pro co rat,and get my goodies that way.

just remember...it is LOUD...do not stand in front of it while it's going full tilt boogie..you will hurt yourself.

It seems to be loaded with features to be discovered

I don't know yet - Speaker is missing. Need Info.

According to what I have read here, it is a survivor.

Not sure yet.

OK - Truth - My son in law and I are on the way to my house from his and there it is sitting in a dump pile. I looked at him and said, that's a Peavey Amp, stopped picked it up and put in my van. Now I'm trying to learn more about another mans trash, my new found treasure.
Yep, he plays, I'm learning, have one Peavey Audition 20, Happy with it, been around musicians a bit in my life.

This unit has been outside in a pile for a while, we will see what happens next.

I bought this combo in 1980 after someone broke in my house and nicked my cabinet I was using with an old tube amp. Actually I think its a Special 120 and not a 130 so it is probably the first of a kind.

I thought it had loads of knobs and stuff at the time and loved the ability to switch channels with foot switch so I could play solos in the middle of songs.

Reverb is pretty good. It has line out, extra speaker sockets etc. I suppose modern amps have more features but I think it was brilliant for its time.

It is ridiculously powerful for its size.

Never got a sound I really liked. I was playing with a Manson Kestrel guitar for most of my gigging days. It didnt compare to my old Selmer tube amp in warmth but I suppose it was more controlable

It is impossibly loud. I was playing a large venue once - maybe big enough for 700 people or so. I put it up to level 3 without using the PA. I was told to turn it down. I dont understand how it can be so loud.

Works fine after 27 years. What can I say?

Never had to bother. I'll give a 10 for the hell of it.

Playing since 1979. Now just started playing bass and have a Yamaha RBX170 and an Ashdown MAG Combo 300w.

I chose it for its sheer power - I didnt realise that I would never need all that power at the time.

You cant expect tube style warmth of sound but I would really miss it if I lost it.

I bought my Peavey Special 130 about 20 years ago. Since then, I've only purchased one other amp, and the only reason I did that is because neighbors that live about 10 miles away were complaining about me disturbing the peace---the volume was only on 3! I use my new amp for situations that call for low volume (i.e. late at night), something my Special 130 is incapable of. As far as features go, this amp is pretty basic, but it's met my needs for 2 decades. Now that I have my new amp, I don't get bothered by the police anymore.

In case you didn't catch my hint above, this amp is one of the loudest things you'll find on planet Earth. I've worked at airports all over the country for the past 13 years, and I have yet to find a jet engine that can compete with my Special 130. I once plugged in my wireless, turned my amp up to 5, walked 1,000 feet away (about 3 football fields, the maximum distance for my wireless), and my eardrums were still aching from the volume! Playing at live venues, I've never had it past 3 or 4. One downfall is that the transition from 0 to 1 does not exist. It just all of a sudden goes from nothing to loud, thus the reason I purchased a second low-volume amp. Between the aforementioned jet engines and my Special 130, I'm practically legally deaf.

This amp is extremely dependable. People that see it think that I just recently purchased it because it's in such mint condition. Little do they realize that, over the past 20 years, I've leased it out to military and law enforcement personnel for use as a bullet-proof barrier for their assault vehicles, I've lent it out to cruise lines as a back-up anchor for their mega-ships, it's been used as a counterbalance on several large draw-bridges, some county governments have used it on multiple occasions for their tornado warning system (just one amp for the whole county), physicists have run extensive tests on it thinking this chunk of black hole that fell from space could finally lead to the unified field theory, etc. Seriously, it's so indestructible that it looks like it's brand new. This thing has been dropped more times than I can count, and all that happens is the floor gets dented and I lose a few toes. Although It becomes increasingly more difficult to stand now that I'm down to only two toes, I will say my arms are so ripped from hauling this thing around, I tear my shirt sleeves everything I flex my biceps! Special 130 is better than any gym I've ever joined.

The only time I called them, they told me they didn't have any foot surgeons on staff, and that I should go to the emergency room. But they were very nice about it as I recall. It's a little hazy. I was in a lot of pain. Lost the big toe on my right foot that time. No, I take that back, it was actually the fourth and fifth toes on my left foot. When I arrived at the E.R., the doctor advised me there were also traces of blood down the sides of my neck. I told him not to worry about it, happens all the time, eardrums exploded, no big deal.

If someone ever plotted to steal my Special 130, I would pop a bag of popcorn, pull up a chair, and watch the amusement unfold before my eyes. That's like a car thief trying to hand-carry an 18-wheeler off of a truck lot. Good luck! If they did manage to get it out the door, I'd just turn on my wireless, remotely activate the battery pack I have slipped into the hollow area on the back of the amp, strike a single power chord, and wait for the paramedics to scrape them off the roof over my front porch. Then, after the crime scene guys were done doing their thing, I'd grab the forklift and haul my little sweetie back into the house. There she'll stay safe and secure until I get that urgent, late-night call from the military or one of the cruise lines in desperate need of her services. I love my Special 130!

THIS LITTLE AMP HAS 'BIG-AMP'FEATURES IN A SMALL PACKAGE.HAVE HAD
A PAIR OF THEM BOUGHT ON THE SAME DAY IN 1987. HAVE USED THEM SINGLY
AND AS A STEREO PAIR. A LITTLE HARD TO USE UNTIL YOU GET USED TO THEM, BUT NOT REAL ' TUFF ' ! VERY GOOD AMPS ! ! !

SPECAIL 130'S HAVE GOOD TONE'S AND LOT'S OF " PUNCH "!

AVE HAD MY SPECIAL 130'S FOR OVER 17 YEARS , GUESS WHAT ? THEY HAVE
NEVER LET ME " DOWN "!

CUSTOMER SUPPORT HAS BEEN "GREAT" , I HAVE NEVER HAD TO USE THEM FOR
ANYTHING BUT INFORMATION ! I HAVE 10 OTHER PEAVEY AMPS AND THE COMPANY
HAS ALWAYS BEEN " COURTIOUS " AND " RIGHT-ON-THE-BALL " .......

I HAVE BEEN 'VERY-HAPPY' WITH ALL MY " PEAVEY " PRODUCTS IN MY 40 YEARS OF PLAYING . 25 OF THOSE YEARS WITH " PEAVEY " EQUIPMENT .IN MY
OPINION ," FROM THE 'BOTTOM' OF THEIR - LINE, TO THE 'TOP' THE BEST
YOU CAN 'BUY' FOR YOUR ' DOLLAR ' !!!!!

I think the amp is about 20+ years old. I bought it about 8 years ago and it was really old then. It has a clean and distorted channel and a high and low input jack. It is certainly not lacking in power though with 130 mind blowing watts. I am scared to turn it up past 3. It goes to 10. I bought it as a practice amp, mostly because it was really loud, and when I was 16, that was all that mattered.

I am trying to get a brit pop sound out of it, and there is no acheiving that. It has a very decent clean channel if that is what you are going for, but there is no warmth to it. Forget distortion. It is horrible. When it is at a low volume setting it sounds decent, but when you crank it up (i.e. jamming or gigging) all you get is feedback and fuzz. You lose any melody you have in the waft of noise that accompanies the 130 watts

I have had the amp fall out of my car when I was driving and it still works fine. I think when I replace it, I am going to have to remind myself to be a lot more careful with the new amp, because even after target practice, I am sure the amp would still work fine.

Haven't ever dealt with the company. I bought it used, but from everything I have ever heard, they are great.

I am giving it only an average rating, but for the money, you get what you pay for. If it were lost or stolen, I would be thankful for the insurance money to put to a more decent amp. I love how solid it is, but there is no getting a decent distorted sound out of it through the distorted channel.

My dad owns this amp, and we compared it a Marshall AVT-20, Marshall AVT-50, and Traynor YCV-40. This amp will play quite loud, but all three of the other amps beat it in sound quality. The Marshall AVT-20 makes a better practice amp because of its better overall sound and ability to distort correctly at lower practice volumes. The Marshall AVT-50 also sounds better overall and plays nearly as loud, plus it has much better and more versatile distortion and comes supplied with a footswitch. The Traynor YCV-40 sounds better than the other three on all counts, costs the most, and has mostly tubes in the signal path. The AVT-50 and YCV-40 were each upgraded with a Celestion G12H80 speaker and went up another notch in sound quality. The AVT-20 was upgraded with an Eminence B-102 10" extended range bass/keyboard speaker and now makes an excellent acoustic amp as well. The Peavey Special 130 is now so far behind in sound quality that my dad wants to sell it. The sound is grainy and harsh in comparison, sounding thin and solid state in nature. For low volume practice at home, he actually prefers the little Kustom Tube 12.

It should be fairly reliable, but this one just sits at home as a practice amp so it hasn't really been proven in pro use.

You could buy it for the reliability which is probably above average, but the sound quality is definitely of the harsher soild state variety, not like the best modern solid state. I've heard much worse, but I consider the sound just passable to my ears. Buy it for a good cheap starter amp and use as a backup when you get a really good tube amp. These things run cool sand are known for reliability but be prepared to accept mediocre sound quality.

Very powerful little amp. Very clean, but good distortion controls on dirty channel. Small, but heavy...I used the power amp inside as a mono PA...handled bass great.

Recently compared this unit to a tube Fender bandmaster head and this peavey is missing the bottom end. If I thin out the Fender on the bottom, the peavey sounds very much like it...even the distortion. But without the bottom...it ain't even close.

25 years LOUD and clear always. Recently developed a transformer buzz...probably from using the power amp as a small mono PA.

Who cares

I love it's ruggedness, power and small size. I'm looking for a warmer tube sound and this ain't it. Preamp may do the trick..

2 channels, the clean one sounds great when played with a good guitar. it will even make cheap guitars sound good when used with the reverb. the distortion is somewhat muddy, the mids are best when turned down. Ive played gigs, mostly punk / metal, and always have always been the loudest musician there.

the clean channel is excellent. again, just get external effects, a good multi sound foot pedal works great. the distortion stinks. i play it through two peavey 1510 speaker cabinets and you can hear it literally for miles. never had had it turned up past 4. (i think it goes to 11)

Ive spilled beer on it, burned it, tossed it around in the back of a truck, its been through heat and cold and never a single problem. It is the most reliable piece of equiptment ive ever owned period.

never had to deal with them.

i wish the distortion was better, but the technology available today makes that factor obsolete. The clean channel is louder than hell with whatever effects you want to plug into it. Perhaps there are better amps out there, but id buy another one if this one ever got stolen. Im sure it will never break. Its heavy enough to withstand a tornado.

I have had this amp for 10 years, it was 5 years old supposedly when i bought it second hand. This amp is OK for a solid state amp. At least it has some character. It is sturdy however grossly overpowered for its size. I have had to use effects or a Pod to get good sounds. I bought it because my old Fender Vibrolux was too noisy and too heavy for my liking at the time and I was now playing in church so the volume wasn't needed.

I have used a 1968 Gold Top Les Paul, PRS Custom 24 and a Mex strat throught this amp. Without effects it is too cold for my liking. It is a good amp to use with a Pod as it hardly colours the sound. I play pop and rock mainly in worship bands and it was really good at deep sounds woth my Les Paul before it was stolen (big drag). It has a mid freq parametric which is of some value.

The distortion channel is useless. The clean channel is OK but a bit colourless however it was much better than a lot of other solid state amps. It sounds better than nearly all the solid state amps I tried at the time and certainly better than all the other Peavey's that I tried (excluding the valve amps). It is loud. I rate is as a 5 because it halfway to a good sound.

Hard to give a good rating as the amp itself is rock solid however it is way overpowered for it's size and I have blown two speakers. And I hardly ever got it's volume past 25% both master and normal volume controls.

N/A I bought it second hand and have not contacted Peavey at all.

I have been playing over 25 years with a wiode array of classic valve amps and I am now moving on from this amp back to a valve combo. I admit it does have its uses and is ahead of most solid state amps of its time. It certainly is very good as an onstage monitor for a Pod or with effects. It is generally reliable excepting speaker failures. I would not buy another one but may keep it for a backup or for use in my studio. I doubt it I would get much resale value for it. I would recommend it for players starting out as a good introduction amp.