Peavey Special 130

I'm not sure what year the amp was made in, but my school has had it for a while. I've played jazz guitar for several years (I'm the MO All-State Jazz guitarist) and it works well enough. It has built-in distortion and reverb and a three-band EQ.

I use this amp with an Ibanez AF 120 full hollow jazz guitar with the stock humbucking pickup. Frankly, I think the amp sounds dead. I've played my guitar through a Crate solid-state amp and a Marshall Valvestate amp, and I love the warm tone I can get. When I use my guitar with this Peavey, it sounds dull and lifeless. The high-end isn't as clear and punchy as I'd like it to be, and the amp shakes and rattles whenever I turn up the volume. I've never tried the distortion.

This amp is built like a tank. It weighs about fifty pounds, more than you'd expect for such a small amp. It's been dropped, kicked, and sat on, but it still works.

I haven't dealt with them.

I've been playing for four years. I own a Crate GX-15 practice amp in addition to this. The Crate's tone is immeasurably better than the Peavey's. If it were stolen, I'd persuade my band director to buy something else! Maybe this amp is good for rock, but it sounds like crap on the clean channel.

I purchased this amp around 1987. I play country, beach, and classic R&R, mostly on the clean channel. The features are already listed, so I won't repeat them. I wish this and all guitar amps had a frequency compensated XLR output, but they are quite rare. This amp has more tonal control than any amp I have ever owned. I especially like the semi-parametric midrange. I have gigged with this amp 20-40 weekends a year from small clubs to large festivals. It's heavy by today's standards (55 lbs ???), but it has a decent speaker.

I mainly play through a tele with EMG pickups. I can get a good clean sound with no problem. I run the low, high and presence about strait up (5), and set the mid controls around 2-3 on both inner and outer control. I like the mid-boost switch on the distortion channel; it tends to give a harder driving sound, but I'm a country player, so what would I know. The reverb is not nearly as good as the one on my Classic 30. The Scorpion speaker is a good balance between weight and sound - infinitely better than the Blue Marvel (I A/B'd them with the Classic 30 - Peavey is doing itself no favors by selling that speaker).

After 15 years of gigging, the nut came off the reverb switch on the foot pedal. It's never broken down and I don't bother with a back up; hey, it's a Peavey.

Never had a Peavey product fail (and I've owned a bunch), but I ordered some pots and knobs that I knocked off another amp, and they were very responsive.

I like this amp fine. I would like to try a new Bandit with a good speaker side by side to see how it compares.

good. I like them. The gains are good for what i need, but the for crisp, thick distortion, or a heavy medalish sound i would use a pedal. other than it being heavy, it is really nice. i have had mine for about a year now. I play in aggersive punk band and i am the loudest out of us. It can "out loud" several amps
2 channels(switched by foot pedal)

Clean= crisp to thick to thin to twangy. a lot dependes on the guitar you are usin. i use a jackson and my clean is loud and super clear. The distortion is good, but not that fuzzy. kinda unique.the reverb is great too. you can switch from it on the fly with the foot pedal. (mine sucks cause i broke my reverb coil, but it was good before then). You can get almost any sound you want out of it. it is simple but does just as much as those larger ones. Plus pumping 130 watts out of it, it is LOUD. the clean is louder than the pre and post gains though, but if you run a pedal off of your clean gain, then you get an extremly loud whatever the hell pedal you are using.

great. it is a rock. I am not sure how my reverb coil broke though, most likly age with out maintainence or something stupid i did

N/A

good amp worth the money. show ready. plug in and be loud kinda thing. the distortion is better if you use a pedal

1982 special 130 used originally for Jazz band in High school. Very clean sound. Big Boingy reverb, don't use too much of that. Very bad distortion sounds, so use a tube pre-amp Lots of EQ available. Tons of power available. Practice amp now, some studio work. A nice sound for Solid State on the Clean channel.

I use all style guitars through this amp from modified teles to custom strats. Using an old Tube Works preamp and the Clean channel with a Tele is a really nice backup sound for blues. It is my backup for long weekend type club gigs. Use your favorite foot pedals to color the sound.

In the shop one time since I purchased it new in 1982. 20 years with one small problem, the input on the high channel cam loose. Changed the speaker out to an EV 200 watt and that makes it sound a lot better than the origianl Scorpion. A bulletproof amp. Unreal. Dropped, kicked beer poured in it, never even blew a fuse.

have dealt with Peavey on other pieces of equipment and have not had very good experience with them or the dealers. Hey this is cheap stuff so don't argue the small things.

Have played for 32 years now. Every kind of gig and every kind of music. Lots of other amps in my collection. A favorite is the Carvin VT50 tweed head through a 410 box. GREAT TONE. Marshalls, Traynors, Bassmans. Nobody would be stupid enough to steal the Peavey with all that other gear around. Great starter amp for garage bands.

this is a pretty nice amp; solid state,130 watts into 1 12'' speaker. it's prob a mid to late 80's or early 90's model, i don't know exacty. i bought it used for about 180 and i liked it. it has clean and distorted channels (footswitchable) and reverb (also footswitchable). it has a pretty good clean channel which is very loud(i turned it up to 2 and it was too loud for band practice with another guitar, bass and drums)and the distortion channel which is ok but it is quieter than the clean channel. it would be good to use if you have a distortion pedel but not so good if you're looking for an amp w/ good distortion. it has plenty of power even for small concerts and it has 2 parellel speaker jacks so that u can use the internal speaker or and external one or both. it also is not to haevy for 130 watts.

i have an ibenaz grx40 with a humbucker and two singles. not the greatest guitar but i like it. i play punk, rock and emo, and it put out pretty well. it is extremly loud but not that many options; only one 4-band eq and pre, saturation, and post volume on the distortion channel; and the distortion sounds muddy if you turn the saturation up too much, but the clean channel is awesome loud and clean even if you turn it up. if it just had a clean channel i'd give it a 9 but the distortion is just ok

it's pretty reliable, it works well when its on and doesn't give any trouble.

i only went online to get an owners manual because i bought it used and it didn't come with one. it wasn'tt hard to find on the website so i don't konw, never dealt with them, i guess thats good.

ive been playing a little over a year and that was my first real amp(i had a 6 watt praice one). i bought it out of sorta a last resort because the place i got it from screw up my request 2 times before. i was originly going to get a crate w/ 2 12's and 120 watts, i forget which model so i got this one and it was good. if it were stolen i would prob upgrade to one with 2 12's and better distortion(like what i have now, a peavey stereo chorus 212). i like the clean channel alot but the distortion is only ok. i would recommend it to anyone, especially teens like me, in bands with not to much money too spend but if u want to upgrade in the near future the trade in value is not that high. get it if you need something loud and clean and you have pedels, you can alsohook it up to a cab or half stack if you need more vloume.

It must have been made in the '80s
I found it very versatile, and was impressed at the "Metallica" tone you could get out of it.(have to scoop out mids)
This amp has clean and dirty channels, and reverb, all footswitchable.

I bought this amp at a time when I was not playing out with anyone, and found it too much just to play at home with.

I played it with a Gibson Sonex with humbuckers. Mostly Southern rock and classic rock ala Cream and Led Zeppelin. Very suited for classic rock.

Lots of sounds can be had by dialing up the 3 band EQ and the "mid Shift"

Distortion is versatile, from overdrive to Metallica style.

I did not gig with it, I foolishly sold it off (to a guy who was gigging) and wish I still had it.

He told me the speaker went, but he was able to get a basket from Peavey to get it going again. Apparently the basket is cheaper than getting an entire speaker.

Never dealt with Peavey, but they publish the manuals on the net for free for almost everything they have out there. I think that is really cool of them.

I had been playing about 10 years when I had this amp. It is plenty loud for playing out.
Get one if you can. If you don't like the distortion tone, you can run a good pedal (like a Tubescreamer) into it for your tone.

Its loud, and reliable, and not glamorous enough that someone will steal it - nearly perfect for the gigging player./

Eighties solid state guitar amp. Very loud.

This was my friend's amp. He had it in his closet because he thought it was broken. I played around with it and found that the speaker was shot. It didn't work at all.
Well, I took it apart and made a head out of it. It was loud. Very loud.

That's about it. I just thought it was funny that I turned it into a head.

It sounds like an amp form the 1980's. that's the best description for the sound.

it's not necessarily bad, but that's the only sound you can get out of it.

this amp is ideal for metal or punk or anything else that needs volume and clarity.

it's not going to break. it can't break. it's too loud to break. and i've never heard of anyone having problems with peaveys (other than that awful logo they had).

who cares?

it's not a bad little amp. i don't particularly like it, but i didn't mind playing through it.

I'm sure there is plenty of features listed prior to my post, but here's some highlights: clean channel w/pull bright; distortion channel w/pull bright on gain knob, saturation (distortion) knob, and a master volume for that channel (you have to match the two channel volumes as you like). With the footswitch unplugged, the amp defaults to the the distortion channel. This is not a bad idea, though as you can get plenty of great clean sounds from the distortion channel (read on).

Shared 4-band EQ with parametric mids: not a lot of control here, but usable nonetheless. Master reverb knob; on/off only with the footswitch. Effects loop on the back. 130 watts of solid-state power through one 12" speaker. LOTS OF VOLUME!!! I can hang with a Twin when using this amp.

Guitars used: Fender Strat, home-made Tele, and a Yamaha Les Paul-styled guitar with Duncan HBs. I play rocked-up Texas honky-tonk music where twang is the thang. But, I've done metal and jazz tunes with it in the past as well.

The Clean channel is very clean with little or no distortion. The distortion channel won't do much for you. It's probably fine if you're into the seventies-thing, but if you want to do Pantera covers, then you better get a pedal of some kind. The amp doesn't produce a lot of bass, so even with a pedal, don't expect it to knock down walls. In fact, I did get the speakers to "whoomp"-out while I was using a distortion pedal with dropped-D tuning to play a hard rock cover song. Didn't blow it though.

As I said, the clean sound is very good, especially on the distortion channel. My favorite setting was turning the gain all of the way up, the saturation all of the way down, and the highs cranked up. Use a Tele bridge pickup or a Strat in position 2 (bridge & middle) and you get clean twang with just a hint of break-up, which is the way I like it. I give it an 8 here because of the lack of a singing high-gain lead tone.

It's solid state: either it works or it doesn't. I threw it around a lot, whether into the trailer or into the back of my truck. No complaints.

I bought it used, so there was no warranty. There was a bit of "fuzzyness" to the sound, so I troubleshot it down to the speaker. Called Peavey, and they recommended I buy a new basket and use the old magnet. I think it cost me $30 or $35. Problem solved. That was cool of them.

Been gigging for 11 years now (I basically started gigging as soon as I started playing). There are a billion of these amps out there, either as a Special, Bandit, or whatever; they're all similar. They will give you a huge amount of power for very few dollars. I bought it because I played on a few of them in junior college and liked the sound. If it got stolen, I would go find another; I love that dirty clean sound!

PEAVEY SPECIAL 130 - I GUESS IT MUST HAVE BEEN MANUFACTURED BETWEEN 1980 AND 1988. I BOUGHT IT USED FROM ANOTHER MUSICIAN OF A CHRISTIAN GOSPEL ROCK-POP BAND IN 1989.

2 CHANNELS - A) DISTORTION WITH PRE-GAIN WITH PULL BRIGHT, SATURATION, POST-GAIN CONTROLS B) CLEAN WITH ONE GAIN CONTROL WITH PULL BRIGHT ALSO. EQ. CONTROLS ARE LOW, MID WITH SHIFT-Thin TO Fat KNOB, HIGH WITH PULL THICK, AND PRESENCE. A REVERB CONTROL. I WISH IT HAD INCLUDED VIBRATO/TREMOLO OR CHORUS CONTROLS TO EXPAND ON IT'S SOUND. 130 WATTS WITH 1 12" SCORPION SPKR. WITH A ONE INCH HOLE IN MIDDLE OF IT'S HUGE MAGNET, EXT. SPKR. JACK, PRE-AMP OUT AND POWER AMP IN JACKS, FOOT PEDAL JACK FOR CHANNEL SWITCHING AND REVERB ON/OFF.

THIS AMP IS REALY LOUD BECAUSE OF IT'S 130 WATT POWER COMBINED WITH A PEAVEY SCORPION 12" SPEAKER WITH THE ONE INCH HOLE IN MIDDLE OF IT'S HUGH MAGNET (WHY ?, DON'T KNOW. BUT I THINK IT CONTRIBUTES TO IT'S OVERALL SOUND). I PLAY WITH MY FENDER LEAD II FROM AROUND 1982, I GUESS; (CHECK MY REVIEW ON IT IN THE LEAD II SECTION ELSEWHERE). WHEN I USED TO PLAY MY LEAD II WITH EITHER A FENDER TWIN/VIBROLUX OR SUPER REVERB TUBE AMP WHENEVER I HAD A CHANCE, (BECAUSE I COULD NEVER AFFORDED ONE); I ALWAYS LOVED THAT THICK, BOUNCY, RICH, UNIQUE RYTHM TUBE SOUND AND TONE I COULD CRANK OUT FROM THEM. BUT WHEN FOUND THIS SPECIAL 130 AND BOUGHT IT JUST TO PRACTICE AT HOME; IT COULD REPRODUCE ALMOST 90% OF THAT FENDERISH TUBE AMP SOUND I LOVED SO MUCH TO MY AMAZEMENT. BY JUST ADJUSTING THE MID CONTROL TO 2 OR 3,THE SHIFT -THIN TO FAT SETTING TO AROUND 6 TO 7 AND LOW TO 3 OR 4 (HIGH AND PRESENCE WITH PULL BRIGHT ON TO VARY THE TONE TO MY TASTE), I CAN OBTAIN THAT SOUND I WANTED SO BAD TO PLAY MY UNIQUE RYTHM. THIS AMP CAN PUT OUT A WALL OF SOUND SO THICK WITH ALL THE LOWS, MIDS AND HIGHS AT HIGH VOLUME WITHOUT DISTORTION THAT STILL IMPRESSES ME. YET THIS AMP IS VERSITAL ENOUGH TO CREATE ANY TYPE OF SOUNDS. I HARDLY USE THE DISTORTION CHANNEL. BUT WHEN I DO, SETTING THE PRE-GAIN AND SATURATION CONTROLS TO MAXIMUM, AND THE POST-GAIN CONTROL TO AROUND 2 TO 3; IT DISTORTS GOOD FOR MY TASTE AND STILL CAN HEAR ENOUGH THICK, BASSY TONE WITH LITTLE FLATNES AND OF COURSE, NO HIGHS. I'VE TRIED OTHER PEAVEY AMPS, BUT COULD NEVER OBTAIN THE SOUND AND RYTHM I LOVED AND YERNED OF SO MUCH. THE EQ.'S LOW-MID-HIGH-PRESENCE COMBINATION WITHOUT SHIFT-THIN TO FAT KNOB SOUNDED TOO CHEAP AND MY RYTHM WOULD SUCK SO MUCH, LIMITING MY EXPRESSION AND FEELINGS ON MY FENDER LEAD II GUITAR.

IT IS SO HEAVY TO CARRY BECAUSE OF IT'S SPEAKER'S HUGH MAGNET I MAY SOMEDAY PUT CASTERS FOR CONVENIENCE BEFORE I GET A HERNIA, UNLESS YOU LIFT WEIGHTS. JUST A LITTLE BEAT UP EXTERNALLY ONLY. THE FOOTPEDAL WAS DAMAGED, SO I BY MISTAKE OR NEGLIGENTLY THRU IT AWAY INSTEAD OF HAVING IT FIXED. SO, FOR THE MOMENT, ONLY THE DISTORTION CHANNEL WORKS WITHOUT THE FOOTPEDAL. LUCKILY, I CAN STILL GET THAT THICK, RICH, FENDERISH SOUND I LOVE BY LEAVING THE SATURATION TO 0 AND BOTH PRE AND POST GAIN CONTROLS TOGETHER AT THE SAME LEVELS I CHOOSE. I THINK, MY RYTHM SOUNDS A BIT BETTER HERE THAN IN THE NORMAL CHANNEL WHEN IT WORKED. THE ONLY REALLY NEGATIVE ASPECT THAT I HAVE CONFRONTED IS THE FOLLOWING: I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S BECAUSE OF THE AGE OF THE AMP (1980'S) OR SOME OTHER FLAW. WHEN THERE IS LOW-VOLTAGE IN MY RESIDENTIAL AREA, THE AMP WILL NOT SOUND IT'S BEST (OBVIOUSLY)! WHEN I AM PLAYING AT A GIG OR AT MY PENTECOSTAL CHURCH AND A BASS IS PLAYED WITH A PEAVEY KEYBOARD AMP NEXT TO MY AMP, IT APARENTLY, FOR SOME STRANGE REASON, TENDS TO SAP SOME OF THE VOLTAGE AWAY FROM MY AMP WHEN THEY'RE CONNECTED ON THE SAME MULTI-OUTLET. ADD THE LOW-VOLTAGE PROBLEM SOMETIMES IN THE AREA, AND YOU GET AN IDEA OF THE FRUSTRATION I FEEL. THE SOUND WOULD TURN OUT TO BE EITHER THE FOLLOWING: 1) MUDDY 2) FLAT 3) NO LOWS BUT WITH HIGHS 4) NO HIGHS BUT WITH LOWS 5)NO MIDS BUT WITH LOWS AND HIGHS 6) MIDS WITHOUT HIGHS AND POOR LOWS 7) CRUMMY RYTHM WITH NO BOUNCE, LIFE, JUICINESS AND EXPRESSIONS ETC. BESIDES THESE INCONVIENCES WHICH OCCUR 4 OUT OF 10 TIMES, I STILL LOVE THIS AMP. MAYBE I SHOULD CONNECT MY AMP TO A SEPARATE OUTLET, AND A VOLTAGE REGULATOR/CONDITIONER TO SEE ANY GOOD RESULTS. I RECOMMEND HIGHLY THIS AMP. IF YOU CAN FIND ONE OUT THERE.

NEVER NEEDED TILL NOW

IF THIS AMP WERE LOST, STOLEN OR DAMAGED FOR GOOD, I WOULD TRY TO GET AN IDENTICAL ONE OR BETTER MODEL WITH FULL EQ. WITH SHIFT -THIN TO FAT CONTROL TO GET MY FAVORATE SOUND AND PLAY MY RYTHM STYLE.

This is an interseting amp. It was made back in the early '80's. When I attended GIT, Frank Gambale and Scott Henderson used to use this amp.

I recently bought 2 to run in stereo with a Ymamha DG stomp.

I use this setup in clubs and find it very versitile.

I reset the tone knobs to match a Fender Twinn Clean, then use the stomp to add overdrive etc.

It's light, reliable and effective. When you are p;aying in a live situation, it can't be beat.

Again the idea being small, loud, tone, cost effective.

Very dependable, no reverb tubes setting me back whinning!

It's transistor, it's lasted along time....I don't care.

Most of what I play comes from my inflection on the guitar, the notes I choose, etc.... I wanted a cheap great sounding rig, this was it.

No tube crackling, no Marshall lugging...it meets my needs .